Barbra Streisand didn’t think the ‘A Star Is Born’ remake was all that original

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One of my favorite moments from the 2019 Academy Awards was when Barbra Streisand came on stage as a presenter, and everyone in the audience and at home thought she was going to introduce the clip package for A Star Is Born, which had been nominated for several Oscars that year. Considering Streisand had starred in the 1976 version, it seemed like it would be a cool moment. Instead, Streisand introduced the clip package for her favorite film that year, BlacKkKlansman, much to the delight of Spike Lee. As it turns out, Streisand didn’t hate Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s remake, but she just didn’t understand why they made something so similar to her version with Kris Kristofferson. She chatted about just that a few days ago:

Babs is not happy with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s 2018 remake of “A Star is Born.” After previously celebrating the musical drama, Barbra Streisand is now taking back her praise. While appearing on the Australian talk show “The Project” to promote her new album, “Release Me 2,” the 79-year-old seemed to blast the film for its unoriginality.

“At first, when I heard it was going to be done again, it was supposed to be Will Smith and Beyoncé. I thought, that’s interesting. Really make it different again, different kind of music, integrated actors, I thought that was a great idea,” she said. “So, I was surprised when I saw how alike it was to the version that I did in 1976.”

“The Way We Were” actress starred in the ’70s-era flick with Kris Kristofferson. Their film was a remake itself of the 1954 George Cukor-directed version starring Judy Garland and James Mason.

“I thought it was the wrong idea, but, look, it was a big success, so I can’t argue with success, but I don’t care so much about success as I do originality,” Streisand continued.

Before Cooper, 46, and Gaga, 35, solidified their places as stars of the new film, actors such as Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio had been in talks to star. “A Star is Born” swept the 2019 awards season, including eight nominations at the 91st Academy Awards. It won Best Original Song for “Shallow” at both the Golden Globe Awards and the Oscars. The movie also scored four wins at the Grammys that same year.

[From The NY Post]

Yes, I remember when Beyonce was attached to the project – Bey was supposed to do that remake for years, and I think for a time, it was supposed to be Bradley Cooper AND Beyonce? I might be remembering that wrong. In any case, Bradley Cooper was just like “we have to just get this film done,” and he reworked the script, got financing and hired Lady Gaga. Personally, I thought the film was pretty cheesy and unoriginal, but Streisand is right, it was very popular.

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Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, ‘A Star is Born’ IG.


https://www.instagram.com/starisbornmovie/

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16 Responses to “Barbra Streisand didn’t think the ‘A Star Is Born’ remake was all that original”

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  1. Maria says:

    The popularity of the main song escapes my understanding.

  2. minx says:

    Well, since it was the fourth version, I would agree.

  3. Merricat says:

    Granted, there are scenes missing from the Judy and James version, but it was great, and frankly, I don’t think Barbra evolved the plot that much. I haven’t seen the Gaga version.

  4. Sealit says:

    Wasn’t it the fourth remake of the movie? I could google it, but I’m pretty sure I watched one from the 30’s with my grams.

  5. Pancake Bacon says:

    Did it need to be “original”? What mattered is that movie was GOOD.

  6. Becks1 says:

    HA, I saw this headline and literally my first thought was “I loved when Barbra came out and presented for BlacKKKlansman and not A Star is Born.” To me, that showed exactly what she thought of the movie. I haven’t seen it so I don’t have an opinion on the actual movie, but I wasn’t sure why we needed another remake of it.

  7. Ann says:

    It was popular because of Gaga. She comes with a built-in audience. Success doesn’t mean quality. I never saw this movie, any version of it, so I can’t say if it was good or not, just that the success doesn’t surprise me at all because of the Little Monsters specifically. A Beyonce version would have done just as well for the same reason.

    • Ann says:

      I’m not a Gaga fan (I don’t dislike her, just not into her) but I really liked the movie and learned to appreciate her talent when I saw it. I knew she was hugely talented but she has RANGE. And Cooper let her outshine him, he’s not a scenery-munching actor, but good at sharing the screen, which is unfortunately not always the case.

  8. August Rain says:

    Found it so boring that I stopped watching mid-way. I thought we were over the Cinderella-Pygmalion complex? It was definitely over-hyped.

  9. Lightpurple says:

    Hey, Barbra, your version was unoriginal too

  10. Noki says:

    I have only ever seen Gaga and Bradleys version and to me it was an Ok movie. And as far as a remake with black actors,i dont think its necessary and Beyonce is a very poor actress.

  11. Ann says:

    I didn’t think it was a great movie, but it was a very good one and thoroughly engaging. The main actors had terrific chemistry, and the music got me singing….and crying. I didn’t like the transformation of Gaga’s character but I guess that’s part of the point?

    I mean, it’s a classic story and that’s why it keeps getting remade. It had been almost 50 years since the Streisand version, so a new one seems in order to me. It would have been great to see it with Beyonce but I don’t blame Cooper for just wanting to get the movie done. You can wait around in Hollywood for years and never see your project come to fruition. You have to grab the bull by the horns.

    Anyway, not a perfect movie and not all that original but given that her own version was a remake too, I’m not sure who she is to criticize for that aspect of it. Barbra is great but she’s pretty full of herself. Rightfully so, but still. Gaga was amazing in the movie and more than worthy enough to fill her shoes.

    I like the song “Shallow” but to me the best one was “Always Remember Us This Way,” which was the original song that Ally, Gaga’s character, sang by herself that really got her noticed. I loved her performance of that song.

  12. T says:

    I absolutely hated this movie, but only because of the way they portrayed Cooper’s character’s rehab. No real sponsor would EVER leave a suicidal recovering alcoholic alone. It was disgusting and as the spouse of a wonderful man in recovery who has worked the program and gone through his own hell to get to this stage of life, I found it offensive and dangerous.