free flow of the partying and filmmaking seen previous. Chazelle builds a fascinatingly and intoxicatingly slow scale and scope, presented largely, it would seem, in an effort to internalize and draw focus to a film that is otherwise just about a parade of Manny is clearly moved beyond tears. We feel like someone’s thrown a pie in our faces. The real movie we just saw is about people screaming m_____f______ and f____, with the only message being that Hollywood is s___. purpose, but it nevertheless proves to be a somewhat engaging blend of true-life chronicling and fictional characterization. The film is not for A Panoramic Canvas Called Babylon (1080p, 30:50): The "wild time" that was Hollywood of the 1920s: life and partying,

The big, colorful and noisy Babylon is oppressively off-putting, and no deep thought is required to explain why it wasn’t a hit. Word of mouth likely did the job, as most audiences would find it unpleasant at best and at worst intolerable. Personal tastes vary, but I know nobody who would think the movie’s excesses were entertaining. If I were to take a date to this picture, within three minutes I’d be telling the person, ‘it’s perfectly okay if you want to walk out right now.’ As for myself, I’m terminally curious. Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie are favorites. Babylon may do much better on disc and streaming than it did in theaters — a lot of moviegoers out there are just as curious as we are. The steel spike needle wasn't even on the edge of the record, it was just hovering above it off to the right. the "last hurrah" of the silent era during a mesmerizing sequence in which various films are being shot in tandem, practically right next door to each The film itself is also an exercise in excess as, from the dawn of the sound movies forward, it pulls in various directions, but never without leaving The film has an ‘R’ rating, and the roughest it gets is some flashes of simulated sex at the orgies. Random breasts are flashed in mastershots so crowded with action that we don’t know where to look or what’s important.

Babylon: Other Editions

workspace and the evolving lifestyles and life events that define them both on camera and off of it. The film is bloated and struggles to hold direction The performances are all fantastic, other than a weird and creepy appearance by Tobey Maguire in a subplot involving a dungeon, S&M, and a carnival geek that is completely out of place and an unnecessary means to push forward the eventual direction of the plot. We were as disappointed by Babylon as anybody, but trying to nail down why that was so makes me doubt my own judgment. Was I too narrow-minded with edgy material? The first comments I read from critics-reviewers I respect didn’t engage very deeply, as if they felt aesthetically pole-axed too. It’s not the kind of movie that invites one to take a stand Pro or Con. It instead makes one recall Susan Sontag’s articulate, Cassandra-like 1996 essay The Decay of Cinema (paywall, sorry). Plot: What’s it about? Video: How’s it look? Audio: How’s it sound? Supplements: What are the extras? The Bottom Line Plot: What’s it about?

A full orchestra plays accompaniment on location for a giant battle scene? Who could hear them? Silent directors often used a few musicians to provide intimate moods for dramatic scenes. particularly soaking in the opportunity to act with near limitless inhibition, whether she's acting within her part in a film-within-the-film orIt isn’t enough for Manny to be in a tight spot — he has to suffer a flaky Classical Allusion to Orpheus or Dante’s Inferno. With this episode, Babylon really could be the subjective nightmare of a scandalized censor, tortured by hallucinatory visions of Hollywood as Sodom and Gomorrah. The Costumes of Babylon (1080p, 2:51): As the title suggests, this piece goes in-depth (as in depth as it can in under three Starring: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, Jean Smart, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Samara Weaving, Eric Roberts, Lukas Haas. This is a period-based film that has a specific visual aesthetic which comes through quite naturally in this Ultra HD rendering. It’s a stylish visual film, that adheres to color grading and cinematography which is designed to underscore its thematic tone. Color reproduction is consistent, with primaries like blue, red and green appearing richer, and more delineated. Secondary hues look great, although not appreciably better. The increase in resolution is appreciable, especially wide-angle shots which look simply terrific. Close-ups tend to offer refinement and deeper resolvable texture on surfaces and physical features compared to the Blu-ray. The differences, while not staggering, are easily discernible.