{"id":8253,"date":"2023-03-26T09:39:54","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T13:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=8253"},"modified":"2023-04-23T13:39:36","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T17:39:36","slug":"damien-chazelles-babylon-is-not-very-loving-as-love-letters-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/damien-chazelles-babylon-is-not-very-loving-as-love-letters-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is not very loving, as love letters go"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2b50<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>Rating: 1 out of 5.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

Judging from the sprawl, spectacle, and general excess of Babylon<\/em>, I can only assume that the success of Whiplash<\/em> and La La Land<\/em> earned director Damien Chazelle a blank check. More the pity that he spent it on this navel-gazing love letter to Hollywood, from<\/em> Hollywood, as if anybody needed another one of those. Babylon<\/em> is not very loving, as love letters go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you can see through the effluvia (human and animal) splattered across the screen, its thesis is punishingly obvious: Hollywood is a grotesque meat grinder that consumes and discards beautiful young people, while preserving them forever in celluloid amber. It’s a dream factory, vomiting and excreting fantasies that are ersatz, ephemeral, and as worthless as prop money that washes away in the rain. Yes, and? Tell us something we don’t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extra credit to Chazelle for properly citing his sources in a pre-end-credits bibliographical appendix, even if it is in the form of a typical film geek’s YouTube supercut. Hey, maybe you’ve seen 2001: A Space Odyssey<\/a><\/em>? It’s pretty great, you should check it out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After suffering through these three hours of torture, the Paramount+ algorithm recommended Wolf of Wall Street<\/em>, which is (chef’s kiss) A+ if-you-liked-this<\/em>-cocaine-movie-you-may-also-like-this-other<\/em>-cocaine-movie pattern matching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like most filmmakers and movie buffs, Babylon director Damien Chazelle would appear to have mixed feelings about Hollywood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,2],"tags":[2152,140,2169,2168,2170],"class_list":["post-8253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1-star","category-movies","tag-2152","tag-brad-pitt","tag-damien-chazelle","tag-hollywood","tag-margot-robbie"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/babylon.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-297","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2071,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/a-man-alone-babylon-a-d\/","url_meta":{"origin":8253,"position":0},"title":"Vin Diesel is a Man Alone, in Babylon A.D.","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"December 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Vin Diesel has made something of a specialty in dystopian science fiction movies, possessed of astonishing visuals but horrifically bad scripts. I'm looking at you, Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick) Does he seek these kinds of projects out, or has he been typecast as a weary but action-ready\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/babylon-a-d.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/babylon-a-d.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/babylon-a-d.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/babylon-a-d.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/babylon-a-d.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":294,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-dork-report-for-june-22-2006\/","url_meta":{"origin":8253,"position":1},"title":"The Dork Report for June 22, 2006","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"June 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Why Hollywood never gets any work done. (guest submission from Insider Andrea) Spotted on the same site: a ratings schema I can get behind. When dating AOL, breaking up is not an option. Linking to this will score me points with my dork-loving girlfriend for weeks: Helvetica vs. Arial (no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Dork Report"","block_context":{"text":"The Dork Report","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/dork-report\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Dork Report","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1178,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/magnificent-seven\/","url_meta":{"origin":8253,"position":2},"title":"John Sturges honors Kurosawa honoring Ford in The Magnificent Seven","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven is Hollywood's answer to Akira Kurosawa's hugely popular Seven Samurai. It suffers in comparison, especially if, like this blogger, one watches them in quick succession. The remake is quaint, chaste, and dated in ways the fairly frank original isn't. To put it another way, Seven\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Magnificent Seven","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/magnificent-seven-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/magnificent-seven-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/magnificent-seven-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/magnificent-seven-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/magnificent-seven-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":288,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/kiss-kiss-bang-bang\/","url_meta":{"origin":8253,"position":3},"title":"Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"June 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Even if the marketing hadn't trumpeted the dramatic return of burnt-out Hollywood high-concept screenwriter Shane Black, it'd be painfully obvious Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a movie crafted specifically for the audience he practically created with his Lethal Weapon quadrilogy. The all-over-the-place plot leaves a few threads dangling (What happened\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/kiss-kiss-bang-bang.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/kiss-kiss-bang-bang.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/kiss-kiss-bang-bang.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/kiss-kiss-bang-bang.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/kiss-kiss-bang-bang.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":215,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-dork-report-for-may-3-2006\/","url_meta":{"origin":8253,"position":4},"title":"The Dork Report for May 3, 2006","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"How can I get the job of designing a fake internet for Hollywood? (spotted on Boing Boing) Behold! The atheist's nightmare. Whew\u2026 for a moment there I was afraid he was going to roll a condom onto it. (guest submission by Potassium-Rich Andrea)","rel":"","context":"In "The Dork Report"","block_context":{"text":"The Dork Report","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/dork-report\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Dork Report","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5686,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/what-are-men-compared-to-rocks-and-mountains-pride-prejudice\/","url_meta":{"origin":8253,"position":5},"title":"What are men, compared to rocks and mountains: Pride & Prejudice","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Who doesn't have great affection for the beloved 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice? But: I daresay Joe Wright's 2005 feature film adaptation (the one with the ampersand) is\u00a0my\u00a0P&P. It may be less faithful to the text, but that's fine; it's its own thing. It's delicious and I adore\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pride & Prejudice","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pride-prejudice-2005.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pride-prejudice-2005.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pride-prejudice-2005.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pride-prejudice-2005.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pride-prejudice-2005.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8253"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8606,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8253\/revisions\/8606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}