SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

blanche-2 OMG - I don't know why I rented this film, but I didn't like it. Directed by David Cronenberg, "Maps to the Stars" from 2014 is about the seamier side of Hollywood. Believe me, after you see this, you'll have no interest in any side of Hollywood.The story deals with several different people. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack) is psychotherapist to the stars. He and his wife (Olivia Williams) share several secrets. Their teenage son, Benjie (Evan Bird), is a big star, totally obnoxious, and a drug addict, who refers to his assistant as a "Jew faggot." Now, someone on IMDb thought this kid was not totally unlikable. I did. Benjie has a sister, Agatha, who has been gone from the family for 7 years, under mysterious circumstances, after she set fire to the house. She actually is back in LA, at first unbeknownst to them, with a lot of burns on her body, working as a personal assistant to Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore). Havana's mother was a big star who died in a fire, so apparently, Havana feels connected to Agatha. Havana is an over-the-hill actress who wants to play her mother's role in a remake of one of her movies. Someone else is cast, but when that woman's little boy drowns, Agatha is thrilled. Agatha believes her mother abused her, and is in therapy with Stafford Weiss.Robert Pattinson plays an actor who works as a chauffeur. He's also writing a screenplay.After dealing with the drugs, the insults, the descriptions of what actresses let producers do to them to get roles, the threesome, the incest, the visions of dead children, etc., I was ready to slit my wrists.I'm sure Cronenberg fans will find plenty to enjoy here. I was left wondering why I watched it.

Johnathon Hand (jhan2294) Key Staff:'Maps to the Stars,' which released in 2014, is director David Cronenberg's latest feature film. I haven't seen any of Cronenberg's prior films, so I only have this film as reference when discussing him as a director and his artistic vision. The screenplay was penned by Bruce Wagner, who wrote and directed the 1998 film 'I'm Losing You.' The cinematography was handled by Peter Suschitzky, who has worked with Cronenberg before ('A History of Violence') as well as on 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.' The film's editor is Ronald Sanders, who also worked on 'A History of Violence' as well as the animated feature 'Coraline.' And the music was composed by Howard Shore, who is most known for his work on the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. Review:The film's narrative is loose, well suited for the psychological and thematic storytelling. Here, there isn't normal character archetypes or character arcs, such the hero's journey. Rather, the characters are all different windows from which we can gaze through to view the film's themes. One of these major themes is how scarred the cast of characters seem to be, haunted by their past. In fact, many of the characters are literally haunted by ghosts from their pasts, spirits who constantly remind the characters of their faults in past and present. More horrifying, some characters use their haunted pasts or the pain of others to full-fill their own desires. This is a fitting analogy for a film set in Hollywood, a place well known for full-filling the dreams of those willing to sell their bodies and souls. They want to get the part, they want to get high, they want to be sexually active, they want to be the center of attention. One character, played by Mia Wasikowska, is different as she is just as scarred on the outside as the inside, and she is seeking to make amends instead of selfish gain. However, all the characters eventually are their own undoing, destroyed by the truth they've been running from. The actors do a fine job, none stand out as particularly great or poor. Performances are cold when needed to present how the characters are self full-filling machines, and emotional when needed to observe the vulnerabilities of the characters. This dynamic works very well here, but isn't the best presentation of it I've seen in films either. The cinematography is rather exceptional and striking, being my favorite aspect of the film. Even more than the performances, the shots clearly highlight just how distant many of the characters are from one another, even when they are sitting next to each other. The characters are often shot in singles, which is especially noticeable during a board-room meeting with Hollywood executives. Rather than shoot the scene in a full, including all the characters in one shot and then cutting to closer shots when more dramatic content arises, the entire scene is shots and cuts of singles awkwardly speaking to one another. The editing is also great, leaving many horrific or tense moments to linger long enough to leave an impression, before cutting away to the next scene, implying that the characters have just "moved on" from said event. The musical score wasn't the most impressive, but it served best when further heightening the tension of the aforementioned horrific scenes. There is one scene in particular that should be highlighted as poor in an otherwise great film. Near the end of the film, one character is caught on fire and her husband attempts to put her out by pushing her in the pool. This is perfectly fine thematically, as death by fire and water is a common theme throughout, and I enjoyed the fact that the husband was so scared to get hurt by the fire that he takes his time go get a lawn chair and uses it to push her flaming body into the pool. However, what isn't admirable is the poor effects. The flames looked to be computer generated and uncanny. Also, the performance of the burning person isn't as horrific as it could have been, which is a fair criticism considering there is an extended scene where a character gets her head bashed in with a trophy. And the performance of the husband during this burning scene is also poor, almost comedic. This is a shame, as it happens near the end of the film, and I don't believe a humorous response is what was desired here.Verdict:'Maps to the Stars' is sexual, disgusting, insensitive, and brutally honest. But there is a melancholic beauty to it all. The film reveals the sick scars of glamorous or 'normal' life we tend to want to ignore, even if we suffer with them ourselves. The visual storytelling is superlative, the editing is spot-on, and the subject matter is thoughtful. On the whole, I highly recommend this film, particularly for film-buffs. I'm personally excited to view the rest of David Cornenberg's catalogue after watching this film.

Parker Lewis I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I selected Maps to the Stars for my in-flight entertainment. I thought based on the title it would be like an updated version of Robert Altman's The Player. I was wrong. Maps to the Stars has Mia "Alice in Wonderland" Wasikowska in a role that has an undertone of innocence, and the ending scene with her on screen brother was haunting. Benjie's line "13 summers...not so bad" was said with no hint of regret or resignation before the horrible deed is done.I loved the rivalry between Benjie and the child actor with red hair during the shoots of Benjie's summer camp movie. But again, what Benjie did to the child actor rival was horror or horrible.I do wonder if any of the characters have redeeming features. Maps to the Stars is definitely not a date movie.

Dr_Sagan Maps to the Stars is a relatively strong but somehow disturbing view of the life of Hollywood stars. Although, if that was actually the purpose of the movie, it should have a broader scope and less self indulgence.Anyway...this is the story of a strange family where, without their knowledge, a brother and a sister met, married, and have 2 children, a boy and a girl. The girl sets their house on fire () and they sent her to a far far away clinic until she was 18. Although the family (the 2 parents, and their son who turned to a star child actor) are very successful financially, they are very dysfunctional as a family and as persons.The movie is shot brightly and that is something that I liked, but the pace is inconsistent. Overall it has a surreal feel especially because the purposely blunt performance of Mia Wasikowska.Julianne Moore performance is a little over the top but it is effective. Evan Bird as the 13 yo spoiled child star gives a solid performance.David Cronenberg always tries to provoke, so expect some male frontal nudity, lots of screaming, and you even get to see Julianne Moore ...fart a few times while on toilet with constipation. Also the price for the ...feces of a movie star costs around $3000 each.Overall: For the purpose of showing a glimpse at least of the Hollywood madness this surreal movie is effective. For that purpose though, there are other movies out there, deeper and with more levels than this.