From Damien Chazelle, the director of Whiplash, La La Land, and First Man...

Babylon
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10640346/
December 25, 2022 = Limited
January 6, 2023 = Wide
Theatrical Exclusive

A good friend from my theatre days in LA, Troy Metcalf is in this...he is VERY excited for us to see his scenes so I am looking forward to it.

That's awesome.

I watched that and have no idea what is going on. Is it a parody of Hollywood culture? I saw orgies, blood, drugs, and just random goofy shlt.

But her accent….

All in on this one. Looks wild. Chazelle doesn't miss and the cast looks great.

This is is starting to hit my newsfeed. Time to go find the TCTTs thread and bump it to the top

At first glance I see Babylon starring Brad Pitt and I'm thinking sequel to that stupid Babel movie or some sci-fi ***** Then I see the poster and I pivot to thinking of a great show Babylon Berlin. Then I see Damien ****ing Chazelle and 1920s Hollywood and I am all in. Love it and I know 100% there's already a TCTTS thread

The first reactions dropped a couple night ago and they're unfortunately all over the place, to the point where I don't know what to make of them. Some call it an indulgent mess (the majority), while others are absolutely raving about it (the minority). Gonna be interesting to see where things eventually land.

Yeah could this be a big turning point for his career after First Man disappointed. I'm very intrigued.

With a 3 hr 10 min runtime, and a trailer that lacks a narrative focus or spine, I'm not hopeful. That said, it obviously features a killer cast, and *does* look fun, so who knows...

New trailer...

Bird Poo said:

---

I watched that and have no idea what is going on. Is it a parody of Hollywood culture? I saw orgies, blood, drugs, and just random goofy shlt.

---

That was my first thought. A movie about how evil, corrupt, perverted and out of touch Hollywood is normal society.

It looks like a mash up of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Moulin Rouge, and The Aviator.

pretty sure there were allegations that Robbie was getting groped in that red dress in some of the scenes

So nobody has seen this yet?

Aust Ag said:

---

So nobody has seen this yet?

---

Sounds like almost literally nobody.

$1.47 million in 3,343 theaters on Friday (by comparison, Avatar is in about 4,200).
$590,000 on 12/24
$1.44 million yesterday
$1.88 million today

Not exactly what you were expecting with Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Olivia Wilde, and Tobey Maguire in the cast.

Then again, it seems remarkably myopic to put out a 3+ hour R-rated movie all about Hollywood two
days before Christmas and expect it to do well at the box office.

Basically, this. After multiple trailers/TV spots, I still couldn't tell you what, exactly, this movie is about. And because of that, I haven't rushed out to see it. I'll probably check it out once I'm back in LA next week, but I'll be seeing it more out of obligation than anticipation, and this is coming from a huge Damien Chazelle fan…

When will studios learn that if you want your film to connect with Gen Z, you need to hire people from Gen Z to run your TikTok/Instagram campaigns. There is *so* much material in the film that could’ve done extremely well on those sites, but you’re left with things like this: pic.twitter.com/TQ5tmosanh

— Diego Andaluz (@thediegoandaluz) December 25, 2022

I didn't even realize it came out last week. Even if I'm interested in it, I'm not interested enough to sit for over 3 hours to watch it, 3 hours is too much for any movie IMO. I know that RT isn't the best indicator for whether a film is objectively good or bad but if the critics are at 56% and the audience is at 48% then I can tell you it's going to be a tough sell to a large portion of the public, including myself. Based on a quick search online it looks like this movie cost between $100MM - $110MM to make, this is going to be a massive financial failure.

I know Margot Robbie is nekkid in it, but I ask myself, could it possibly be better than her in Wolf of Wall Street?

an idea: get 100 people to watch the Babylon trailer and ask each of them to try to guess what the movie is about

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) December 26, 2022

Fennessey said on the Big Picture the other week that Babylon is either the best, or worst film he's seen this year IIRC. He was just bummed he was the only one at The Ringer that had seen it and couldn't have a conversation with anyone about it yet. That to me says the movie is insane, he's a Chazelle fan, and it disappointed him.

Speaking of The Ringer they had another movie draft last week, 2019, and it's another fun one. Those are easily my favorite podcasts they do. I never anticipated that Sean would pitch an absolute fit when CR drafted Avengers: Endgame before him. I enjoy all of them, but they're even more fun when one of them gets pissed at the others for taking something they wanted.

TCTTS said:

---

Basically, this. After multiple trailers/TV spots, I still couldn't tell you what, exactly, this movie is about. ...

---

To quote Tobey Maguire quoting Damien Chazelle: "If your parents are into orgies, bodily fluids and Tobey Maguire with decayed-yellow teeth, then DEFINITELY bring your parents!!!!"

Also, I recommend reading Tobey's recent AMA.

Max Power said:

---

Fennessey said on the Big Picture the other week that Babylon is either the best, or worst film he's seen this year IIRC. He was just bummed he was the only one at The Ringer that had seen it and couldn't have a conversation with anyone about it yet. That to me says the movie is insane, he's a Chazelle fan, and it disappointed him.

Speaking of The Ringer they had another movie draft last week, 2019, and it's another fun one. Those are easily my favorite podcasts they do. I never anticipated that Sean would pitch an absolute fit when CR drafted Avengers: Endgame before him. I enjoy all of them, but they're even more fun when one of them gets pissed at the others for taking something they wanted.

---

Ha, can't wait to listen to the 2019 draft. And yeah, they're certainly at their most entertaining when they're at odds, especially when they're actively trying to screw each other over. Between the 2019 draft and the Mission: Impossible - Fallout Rewatchables that just dropped, I've got two great episodes queued up.

I listened to a good bit of the MI: Fallout podcast this morning while I was working out and it's solid. I disagree with their take that Top Gun: Maverick made this movie by comparison less impressive. I'm still 100% on the Fallout corner, I really enjoyed Maverick but I prefer Fallout. I did lol when one of them said Henry Cavill is too attractive to want to kill half the world's population.

Nice. And I'm with you. As much I love TG:M, it's Fallout for me, if only slightly. Every last sequence is incredible, and the climax/helicopter chase is one of the most impressive, endlessly entertaining action sequences ever put to film.

Man, this movie is absolutely bat**** - It's like Once Upon a Time In Hollywood and Boogie Nights set in the roaring 20's, but with a huge cocaine hit of Wolf of Wall Street for good measure. Ultimately I loved it, but there are some scenes that are pretty over the top. I really don't quite know how this movie got made with the cast and budget it did. I'm not surprised at all it's bombing hard because three hours is just too long for almost any movie these days, and there's so much that will turn off the average moviegoer. That said, I was thoroughly entertained for just about all of it, and it works a lot like Once Upon A Time in Hollywood with extended scenes that are individually very rewatchable.


Random thoughts

This movie is going to be very polarizing. Probably a "hate it or love it" for most. I think eventually it will fall into cult status.

Another incredible jazz soundtrack from Chazelle/Hurwitz. Very Cowboy Bebop-esque if that's your thing.

There are scenes that are downright amazing in their spectacle/technical prowess, and scenes that I cannot believe made it in (not a bad thing necessarily).

Chazelle is an absolute master at writing and directing, but this is going to be a turning point for his career after First Man and now this looking like a mega-flop. I think he'll bounce back with a strategic crowd-pleaser though. Even with this, there's no denying how good he is.

This movie is not going to help with the perception a lot of America has of Hollywood... which I dunno, maybe that's the point?

TCTTS said:

---

Some call it an indulgent mess (the majority), while others are absolutely raving about it (the minority).

---

Your reaction is the first thing to truly have me excited for this. Great breakdown. I've been waiting months for the new Landmark theater to open near me, it finally did last week, and I'm gonna make this my inaugural viewing as soon as I can.

TCTTS said:

---

Your reaction is the first thing to truly have me excited for this. Great breakdown. I've been waiting months for the new Landmark theater to open near me, it finally did last week, and I'm gonna make this my inaugural viewing as soon as I can.

---

Fwiw, I think you will agree with me on just about everything, and will overall love it... looking forward to your thoughts

I wasn't crazy about the "over the top"-ness of the first party scene (some people walked out ) but enjoyed most of the rest of it.

The guy who played Manny was great

When you walk out of a movie do they give you your money back?

Sea Speed said:

---

When you walk out of a movie do they give you your money back?

---

They bought their tickets; they knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash.