Tag: Babylon

Film Facts: 5 Things to Know About ‘Babylon’ Starring Brad Pitt & Margot Robbie

This week, Babylon is coming to the big screen, telling a story of the decadence, depravity, and outrageous excesses of Hollywood at a time when silent movies are being taken over by the “talkies” or films with sound, following individuals who are affected by this huge shift in the entertainment landscape. Check out the trailer for Babylon below:

Before Babylon hits theaters this week, we’ve rounded up a few facts about the movie that you might want to know. Check them out below:

1. It stars Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Tobey Maguire, & more.

Babylon creates a picture of Hollywood through the rise and fall of several characters during its transition from the silent film era to the talkies. These characters include Brad Pitt’s Jack Conrad, an experienced silent film actor; Margot Robbie’s Nellie LaRoy, a self-proclaimed star; Diego Calva’s Mexican film assistant Manny; Tobey Maguire’s drug-addled James McKay; Jean Smart’s Elinor St. John, an established gossip columnist; Jovan Adepo’s jazz trumpet player Sydney, and Li Jun Li’s Lady Fay Zhu, a Chinese American title card writer and cabaret singer.

“I went back and studied [silent films],” Brad Pitt shared in a featurette for the film, talking about how he prepared for the role. “I watched a lot of Gilbert, Fairbanks, and Valentino. There’s a real charm in those performances,” says Pitt. “Silent films didn’t have dialogue to rely on, they only had the occasional title card, so the performances have a style to them that’s different than what we have now.”

2. It comes from the director of ‘La La Land’, Damien Chazelle.

Babylon comes from French-American filmmaker Damien Chazelle who directed the musical movie La La Land, which won multiple Academy Awards in 2017 including Best Director. While La La Land follows the people who are trying to make it big in Hollywood, Babylon depicts the opulence and debauchery of Hollywood and the madness that comes along with it.

3. There are some pretty shocking scenes that might surprise you.

Babylon didn’t hold back in depicting an era of excesses in Hollywood with certain scenes that would shock moviegoers. One of these scenes include a party-turned-orgy, which Margot Robbie described as “mad” in an interview with The Independent.

“When I read the script, I was like, this is like La Dolce Vita and Wolf of Wall Street had a baby – and I love it. But I was like, are we allowed to show that? Are we allowed to show that? There were so many scenes where I was like, a) I have no idea how I’m going to do that, and b) are we going to get away with this?” Robbie explained.

Photo: Paramount Pictures International

4. Margot Robbie improvised a kiss in the film.

In an interview with E! News, Margot Robbie reveals that the scene where Nellie kisses Brad Pitt’s Jack Conrad was not in the script, and that she was the one who suggested it.

“”I said, ‘Damien, I think Nellie would just go up and kiss Jack,’” Robbie explained. “And Damien was like, ‘Well, she could—wait, hold on. You just wanna kiss Brad Pitt.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, so sue me. This opportunity might never come up again.’ And he was like, ‘It does work for the character,’ and I was like, ‘I think so.’”

Photo: Babylon trailer

5. The film’s characters were inspired by real-life people.

While the film is fictional, the characters were inspired by real people that also made their mark in Hollywood. Jack Conrad was inspired by John Gilbert, one of the silent movie era’s biggest actors whose career suffered after the talkies boomed; Nellie was originally inspired by Clara Bow, who was also starred a big name silent films and transitioned to the talkies; and Lady Fay Zhu pulls inspiration from the legendary Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong. Other characters are also inspired by real-life celebrities that the Hollywood history-savvy might recognize.

Photo: Babylon trailer

Babylon opens in cinemas nationwide this Wednesday, February 1. Book your seats in advance and buy your tickets here.

January 30, 2023
REVIEW: ‘Babylon’ and the wild, crazy, over-the-top love (and hate) letter to Hollywood

Damien Chazelle seems to have directed and co-written a companion piece to his highly celebrated and award-winning movie ‘La La Land’ with his latest offering, Babylon. While ‘La La Land’ explores and navigates through the idealism and hopes of a couple trying to make it big in Hollywood and the music industry in Los Angeles as it comes crashing into reality, ‘Babylon’ feels more like a celebration and a condemnation of that same world. While ‘La La Land’ is tempered and controlled, ‘Babylon’ is wild and excessive, given to moments of grand spectacle and reveling in the chaos of its narrative. While ‘La La Land’ is personal and intimate, ‘Babylon’ brushes with big strokes and can feel very cold and uncaring.

Set during the time in Hollywood when the innovation of sound movies (also known as ‘The Talkies’) had come crashing in on the silent film era, ‘Babylon’ is the story of several characters who try to find their footing in the changing landscape of entertainment. They range from the experienced silent film actor Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), to the self-proclaimed star Nellie LaRoy (a bombastic Margot Robbie), a Mexican film assistant with big dreams named Manny (that arresting Diego Calva), the established gossip columnist Elinor St. John (by a riveting Jean Smart), a jazz trumpet player named Sydney (Jovan Adepo), and a Chinese American cabaret singer and title writer for films, Lady Fay Zhu (played wonderfully by Li Jun Li). These six (and a whole lot more) come crashing into each other in what is supposed to be both a fairy tale and a cautionary one at the same time.

Photo: Paramount Pictures International

Not only is the cast huge, Chazelle goes on overdrive, trying to out-Baz Lurhmann in grand spectacles by filling his camera frames with a mass of people in the throes of chaotic frenzy. The movie is over three hours long (188 minutes, approximately) and the first act alone is a 40-minute party scene where Chazelle introduces all the characters. There’s a huge orgy – graphic nudity, an overabundance of drug taking, and a lot of dancing – which is to set the tone of the film regarding Hollywood’s excesses. The whole sequence is just an exercise in indulgence (both thematically and filmmaking-wise). But amidst this madness, there is a very interesting, very human moment that occurs: when Manny and Nellie meet and in a cocaine-driven scene end up talking about their hopes and dreams and their love for Hollywood and what the movies mean to people. It’s a very strong scene that manages to nicely contrast the wild debauchery outside their room.

Photo: Paramount Pictures International

From that first meeting, we discover Manny and Nellie’s rising through the ranks, we get a full 360-degree view of the madness of movie-making, from Jack Conrad’s multiple marriages and the inevitable decline of his career, we see Sydney find success, and then face the brutal fact of racism (in the most painful of ways), and Lady Fay, a lesbian, meets the pushback of conservative voices in the latter part of Hollywood’s evolution. And in the center of this is the rise and fall of Manny and Nellie, whose love for this world is not enough to surmount the obstacles ahead.

Photo: Paramount Pictures International

Throughout its running time, ‘Babylon’ is excessive and big. It can get exhausting but it is filled with moments of hilarity and large-scale cinematic moments that would wow anybody. It’s so extra in everything that when it does slow down and quiet down, those moments become so golden. These are most noticeable in Manny’s scenes of self-reflection and a brilliantly written and acted scene between Brad Pitt and Jean Smart as the fading actor goes head-to-head with the columnist on the power and price of fame and glory and immortality.

Photo: Paramount Pictures International

Without a doubt, there’s a lot of love about the industry in ‘Babylon’ but there’s also a lot of hate. What the film lacks is some underlying message that can somehow take all this chaos and bring it to a proper catharsis. The ending attempts at a ‘Cinema Paradiso’ sort of poignancy but the madness and the horrible parts of the film tend to float to the surface and overshadow the good. The ending doesn’t feel as cathartic or as powerful as it is intended because, in the process of going hyper-real and crazy throughout the film, the love and the humanity of it are completely stamped out by the finale.

Magnificent performances from the cast and Justin Hurwitz did a brilliant job with the musical score but while Chazelle was filling up his screen with a spectacle, he failed to land the emotional punch. It’s enjoyable but you have to have the stomach for it.

My Rating:

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Babylon opens in cinemas nationwide on February 1. Buy your tickets here.

January 30, 2023
New Movies in Philippine Cinemas this February 2023

After greeting the year 2023, we are now to celebrate the season of love this February! This month, cinemas are offering an exciting lineup of films you’ll love, from a new M. Night Shyamalan thriller to a star-studded flick about the early years of Hollywood!

On this list, we’ve rounded up the movies you can catch in cinemas this month of February. Check them out below:

Babylon

February 1

Starring Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Tobey Maguire, and Diego Calva, this film follows the rise and fall of ambitious dreamers during an era of decadence, depravity, and outrageous excess in Hollywood.

Knock at the Cabin

February 1

From M. Night Shyamalan, this thriller follows a young girl and her parents whose vacation at a remote cabin turns into a nightmare when four armed strangers appear, forcing them to make an unthinkable choice to stop the apocalypse.

The First Slam Dunk

February 1

Based on the hit sports manga and anime Slam Dunk, this film follows Hanamichi Sakuragi and the Shohoku team as they face off against the Sannoh High basketball team.

Spellbound

February 1

A Filipino adaptation of the South Korean film of the same name, Spellbound tells the romantic tale of a magician and a girl who can see dead people.

Titanic (Remastered)

February 8

In celebration of the film’s 25th anniversary, revisit the tragic tale of Jack and Rose as they meet, fall in love, and fall victim to the sinking of the Titanic.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance

February 8

After a business deal that went bust, a struggling Mike Lane is given an opportunity he can’t refuse, prompting him to return to the stage one last time with a hot new roster of dancers to train.

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania

February 15 | Buy Tickets

After an attempt to communicate with the Quantum Realm, Scott Lang, his daughter Cassie, and Hope and her parents are pulled inside where they encounter the dangerous Kang.

Empire of Light

February 22

From Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes, Empire of Light is a compelling drama showcasing the human connection’s power during turbulent times.

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[Note: release dates for movies in Philippine cinemas this February 2023 and film lineup are subject to change without prior notice. For more upcoming movies, click here.]

January 27, 2023
Brad Pitt, a Silent Movie Star at the Top of His Game in “Babylon”

“Brad’s one of the few people today where you get some sense of what the old school movie star really might’ve been like,” says Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle (La La Land, First Man). “That sort of larger-than-life aura that a star of that time could exude seemingly effortlessly. That’s the thing with Brad, especially at this point in his career. You don’t see the work… it’s completely invisible and effortless. That’s part of what’s so magical about it.”

We first meet Jack Conrad (Pitt) when he arrives at the Wallach party with his soon-to-be ex-wife, Ina (Olivia Wilde). Jack evokes the likes of John Gilbert, Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino, leading men of the silent movie era. When he makes his entrance at the party, Jack feels like the adult in the room, but it’s clear that he is ready to partake in the festivities if the right situation comes along.

“Jack is sort of the uber movie star,” says Chazelle. “He’s the highest grossing leading man in the world when we meet him. He’s one of those guys who has reached the apogee of stardom right at that moment, and the kind of hysterical love and admiration that he inspires, at a moment in time when the whole concept of movie stardom was still relatively new, is really hard for us today to fathom.”

In a throng of admirers, Jack knows just enough about everybody in the room to address them and make them feel special, even for a brief moment, without pausing for a beat on his way to the bar. Everyone wants a word with or a glance from the most famous man in the movies.

“Having him play a movie star of this era felt meta in the most beautiful way,” says Chazelle. “But it also gave us something to collaborate on together, because the story became a canvas that he could inform with his own experiences, so that you could see the humanity underneath — the vulnerability, the insecurity.”

To play a silent film star, Pitt also did his own research. “I went back and studied. I watched a lot of Gilbert, Fairbanks, and Valentino. There’s a real charm in those performances,” says Pitt. “Silent films didn’t have dialogue to rely on, they only had the occasional title card, so the performances have a style to them that’s different than what we have now.”

In cinemas across the Philippines starting February 1^st, Babylon is distributed by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Connect with #BabylonMovie and tag @paramountpicsph

Photo & Video Credit: “Paramount Pictures International”

January 23, 2023
Margot Robbie, a Force of Disruption in “Babylon”

When Margot Robbie read the script for the first time, she says it was the strongest reaction she had ever had. “My team was actually a little alarmed at my intensity,” says Robbie. “I was like, ‘I have to do it. This role is mine.’”

“For a role like Nellie you need an actor who truly has no fear. Someone who can take the screen as though she’s grabbing it by the sides and shaking it to do whatever she wanted to do. That, to me, is Nellie. That, to me, is Margot. In many other respects they are incredibly different people, but there’s an energy and fervor and hunger that they both share,” says director-writer Damien Chazelle.

While Nellie’s character is inspired by a myriad of silent film stars, it was the true-life story of Clara Bow that really helped Robbie understand Nellie.

“Clara Bow had probably the worst childhood of anyone I’ve ever heard of,” says Robbie, referring to the trauma and abuse that Bow suffered as a child of poverty. “Clara’s parents never got a birth certificate for her because they had already lost two children, and they felt certain she would never make it past her childhood. When I read that, the character of Nellie really started to make sense to me. I could imagine she always felt that every day she was on the planet she was on borrowed time, so she was going for broke every single day.”

In an introduction befitting her wild nature, Nellie LaRoy first appears on screen as she’s careening her car into a statue outside studio mogul Don Wallach’s mansion. Nellie is determined to crash the party, so that all of Hollywood’s power brokers can witness the moment when a star is born.

“The operating principle with Nellie was that she’s a force of nature who just kind of crashes into everything that she encounters,” says Chazelle. “There’s a kind of magic that arises from that, and it’s part of why she becomes a star, but it’s also part of why she encounters so many problems in her career so quickly as well. She’s representative of that kind of wild-west spirit of the time where the old rules were out the window.”

Once inside the party, Nellie makes the most of her opportunity, mixing with all of the beautiful people while somehow standing out at the same time, and it all leads to her first big break in the business.

“This party scene shows how every little thing in Hollywood can lead to something big,” says Robbie. “It’s how I felt when I first got to L.A. too. There’s no roadmap of how to make it happen, but you know you need to make it happen, so you just do everything you can to create that moment. Nellie just instinctively knows that she needs to get into that party, because something’s going to happen tonight, and it’s going to be big,” she concludes.

In cinemas across the Philippines starting February 1^st, Babylon is distributed by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Connect with #BabylonMovie and tag @paramountpicsph

Photo & Video Credit: “Paramount Pictures International”

January 18, 2023
Oscar-Winner Damien Chazelle Explores Early Hollywood in “Babylon”

From Damien Chazelle, Babylon is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo and Li Jun Li. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

Babylon is the result of 15 years of research and world-building that started in Chazelle’s head long before he typed the first draft of the script and stepped behind the camera to bring his long-gestating epic to life.

“I wanted to look under the microscope at the early days of an art form and an industry, when both were still finding their footing,” says Chazelle, “and, on a deeper level, I liked the idea of looking at a society in change.”

“There was an incredibly diverse group of pioneers building an industry from scratch combined with a manic pace of creativity that created a strange brew of sex, drugs and music that may never be duplicated,” Chazelle continues. “It’s that alchemy that attracted so many fascinating characters to the edge of the desert to create a new industry and turn motion pictures into a new art form that was still really in its infancy when the movie begins.”

“That’s what I wanted to explore — the madness and the ambition and the drive of the people who were first in line in creating this art form and this industry, because through all the pain and the heartbreak, the highs and lows of their crazed lives, all that they gained and all that they lost, what they pioneered still lives on today,” concludes Chazelle.

In Philippine cinemas starting February 1, Babylon is distributed in the Philippines by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Connect with #BabylonMovie and tag @paramountpicsph

Photo & Video Credit: “Paramount Pictures International”

January 11, 2023
Music, Costume Design of “Babylon” Take Spotlight in New Featurettes

Paramount Pictures has just shared behind-the-scenes featurettes about the costume design and original score of the eagerly anticipated Babylon, in theaters across the Philippines starting February 1^st.

Step into the wardrobe of Babylon with costume designer Mary Zophres, and listen to a score for the ages from Academy Award winner Justin Hurwitz, composer of the original soundtrack.

Costume Featurette:

Scoring Featurette:

The job of creating a wardrobe that was both reminiscent of a bygone era but also timeless fell to award-winning costume designer, Mary Zophres, who reunited for the third time with director Damien Chazelle after working with him on First Man and La La Land, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.

“This is the kind of movie where the characters largely define themselves through what they’re wearing,” says Chazelle, “so that meant a lot of work for Mary, who was trying to carve out moments for these iconic outfits to give the characters their due at various junctures in the story.”

Diego Calva plays Manny Torres and Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in Babylon from Paramount Pictures.

Meanwhile, years before any cameras rolled on Babylon, Chazelle turned to his longtime collaborator, Justin Hurwitz, who has composed the scores for all of Chazelle’s films, including Whiplash, La La Land and First Man.

Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy and Diego Calva plays Manny Torres in Babylon from Paramount Pictures.

“We wanted to give Babylon a musical universe of its own, a sound that wouldn’t be so anachronistic as to take anybody out of the 1920s, but also a far cry from the usual depiction of quaint 20s jazz,” says Hurwitz. “It’s a lot wilder and more aggressive. Something to keep in mind is that the music which was recorded and survived from the 20s is just a tiny sliver of the music that was actually being played in Los Angeles at the time. There was underground music that was never recorded. We wanted to imagine the depth and variety and wild range of sounds that could have been, though we’ll never know. Music that we felt hadn’t been depicted on film before.”

Jovan Adepo plays Sidney Palmer in Babylon from Paramount Pictures.

From Damien Chazelle, Babylon is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo and Li Jun Li. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

Paramount Pictures presents in association with C2 Motion Picture Group, a Marc Platt / Wild Chickens / Organism Pictures Production, a Damien Chazelle Film, Babylon. Written and Directed by Damien Chazelle. Produced by Marc Platt, p.g.a., Matthew Plouffe, p.g.a., Olivia Hamilton, p.g.a. Executive Produced by Michael Beugg, Tobey Maguire, Wyck Godfrey, Helen Estabrook, Adam Siegel, Jason Cloth and Dave Caplan.

Babylon stars Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, P.J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde.

Babylon is distributed in the Philippines by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Connect with #BabylonMovie and tag @paramountpicsph

January 5, 2023
WATCH: ‘Babylon’ Drops New Naughty & Nice Trailers Featuring Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, & More

The new star-studded film Babylon has dropped two new trailers dubbed Naughty and Nice. The upcoming movie is a period comedy-drama which depicts the rise and fall of multiple characters during Hollywood’s transition from silent to sound films.

Below are the film’s classy Nice trailer, and the wild Naughty trailer:

Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, the film stars Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Tobie Maguire, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Jean Smart. It is scheduled for a US release on December 23, 2022, and in the Philippines on February 1, 2023.

December 20, 2022
“Babylon” Nabs 5 Golden Globe Noms Including Best Picture

Director Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, the lavish and provocative epic tale about early Hollywood has just received five Golden Globe nominations including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Watch the film’s “Welcome to Babylon” featurette below:

Three of its principal cast members scored major acting nominations: Best Actress for Margot Robbie (as Nellie LaRoy, an unknown actress who is trying to get her big break into show business), Best Actor for Mexico’s Diego Calva (as Manny Torres, a young dreamer who will literally do anything for a Hollywood career) and Best Supporting Actor for Brad Pitt (as Jack Conrad, a silent movie star at the top of his game).

Brad Pitt plays Jack Conrad in Babylon from Paramount Pictures.

The film’s haunting music also captured a Best Original Score nomination for composer Justin Hurwitz.

Babylon opens in theaters across the Philippines on February 1st, 2023.

Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in Babylon from Paramount Pictures.

From Damien Chazelle, Babylon is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo and Li Jun Li. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

Paramount Pictures presents in association with C2 Motion Picture Group, a Marc Platt / Wild Chickens / Organism Pictures Production, a Damien Chazelle Film, Babylon. Written and Directed by Damien Chazelle. Produced by Marc Platt, p.g.a., Matthew Plouffe, p.g.a., Olivia Hamilton, p.g.a. Executive Produced by Michael Beugg, Tobey Maguire, Wyck Godfrey, Helen Estabrook, Adam Siegel, Jason Cloth and Dave Caplan.

Babylon stars Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, P.J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde.

Babylon is distributed in the Philippines by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Connect with #BabylonMovie and tag @paramountpicsph

December 13, 2022
WATCH: New “Babylon” Trailer Further Reveals Tale of Outsized Ambition

About Babylon

Paramount Pictures Presents A Marc Platt / Wild Chickens / Organism Pictures Production A Damien Chazelle Film BABYLON.

From Damien Chazelle, BABYLON is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, produced by Marc Platt, Matthew Plouffe, Olivia Hamilton, executive produced by Michael Beugg, Tobey Maguire, Wyck Godfrey, Helen Estabrook, Adam Siegel

Starring Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, P.J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde

Babylon is distributed in the Philippines by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Connect with #BabylonMovie and tag @paramountpicsph

Photo & Video Credit: “Paramount Pictures International”

November 29, 2022