Bloody hell! I dared not see this movie in the cinema, because all the plebs were bitching about how awful it was. You know what? It ain't awful at all, it is freaking awesome. What a ride! The first hour is insane, but the last 2 hours are really great too, if a bit slower paced. I don't really regret I didn't go to the cinema though, 3 hours is too long a runtime for any movie, but it's easier handled at home with as many breaks as you like.
- The first half hour is an insane party that involves drugs, booze, naked women, an elephant, perverts, fornication and a great band playing some weird jazz/rock fusion horn thing. It is quite a ride and if you ever throw a party like this, please make sure to invite me!
- The next half hour is an insane view at an outdoor filmset where they shoot lots of silent movies simultaneously. The filmset sequence is just as insane as the elephant party.
- The rest of the story is about how the movies in Hollywood went from being silent movies and then became sound movies. It happened very quickly and it had a great impact on some of the actors and movie crews. It wasn't an easy transition with lots of new technology and skills to master.
We follow two actors of the silent era who both enjoy great silent movie success but don't adapt well to the sound era.
- Nellie LaRoy [Margot Robbie] is a Jersey born girl who wants to become the star she always thought she was. Nellie is a "the light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long" type of girl. She is going full throttle with a lot of cocaine and pills, and she's also having a huge gambling addiction.
- Jack Conrad [Brad Pitt] is already a big silent movie star but he is hit just as hard when it all begins to change. Jack is living the good life in a huge mansion, changes wife every year, and drinks and fucks his way through the good life.
- The real main character is however Manny Torres [Diego Calva], who is a Mexican who works his way up the ranks and ends up as a movie executive for a big studio. He has a hopeless crush on Nellie, and she is not exactly very good for him.
- The last character, I'll mention, is Sidney Palmer [Jovan Adepo] who is a black musician we follow from the silent era and into the sound era where he decides he's had enough of what Hollywood has become, and becomes a club musician instead.
All the actors are great. You could say they over-act at times, but it is clearly a dark comedy as well as a drama, so they should overact. It's part of what makes it so entertaining.
I think the plebs maybe didn't get the humor... The movie is fucking hilarious too. I laughed out loud a lot of times. I usually hate movies that run for this long. Now I've watched it twice, first on streaming and then on the 4K Bluray I just bought. I love it.
Woke info: this movie managed to incorporate a black musician, an Asian lesbo, and a lead Mexican character in these 1920-30s settings, without any of it feeling forced or out of place. This is how it's done right, Woke fuckers!
The images and the soundtrack are both brilliant. The 4K Bluray has Dolby Vision and it looks awesome. It also includes a bluray with bonus material.
Rating: 
Movie Title: Babylon
Director: Damien Chazelle
First Release: 2022
This Release: 2023
Genre: Drama
RunTime: 189
Actors: Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Brad Pitt, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li
Movie Format: 4K Ultra HD Bluray
Movie Label: Paramount
Content Type: Movie Review
Language: 
Updated: 2023-07-28 23:19
Created: 2023-07-28 22:06
