adonis98-743-186503 A tour into the heart of a Hollywood family chasing celebrity, one another and the relentless ghosts of their pasts. Maps to the Stars is another weird looking movie from director David Cronenberg but unlike Cosmopolis this film has a cast of great actors and yet they are getting wasted in this black comedy, satire of a film that goes nowhere with the only actor being really good is Julianne Moore but besides that everyone else is just there John Cusack is a jerk in the whole film, Robert Pattinson is kind of the same, Olivia Williams is kind of a mixed bag and Evan Bird alongside Mia Wasikowska are just weird and insane. Wanna see a great Cronenberg film? Go watch The Fly it has great actors, performances and story 5/10.

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.

dee.reid What hasn't been said about David Cronenberg, that highly divisive, controversial Canadian born-&-bred cinematic auteur? Well, Cronenberg is one of my all-time favorite directors, and I've seen many of his films over the years - "The Fly" (1986) is his masterpiece, in my honest opinion; "Eastern Promises" (2007), his most mainstream feature to date, is not far behind, as well as "A History of Violence" (2005), "Dead Ringers" (1988), "Videodrome" (1983), "eXistenZ" (1999), "Scanners" (1981), and "Crash" (1996).I have now arrived at his latest - 2014's "Maps to the Stars." In borrowing some of the words used to describe Cronenberg's earlier "Eastern Promises," "Maps to the Stars" crosses many borders, and pushes many boundaries. Like nearly all of Cronenberg's work since the beginning of the 21st century, crossing borders (mixing different elements from different film genres together) is increasingly becoming his most frequent mainstay. His other mainstay - pushing boundaries, usually with extreme sex and gore - is the one consistency held over from his earlier science fiction, horror, and psychological thriller films.Since the beginning of the 21st century, Cronenberg has also been becoming increasingly more mainstream - especially ever since his ultra-gruesome crime-thriller "A History of Violence" in 2005 brought him to the attention of the Hollywood mainstream. He's gradually moved away from the "body horror" and science fiction films that defined much of his earlier career, which began in the early 1970s, and has been making more psychological thriller-type films - in line with his earlier "Dead Ringers" and "Naked Lunch" (1991), and perhaps "Crash," too - but still retaining his usual explorations of bodily destruction, graphic depictions of sex, and dark psychological traumas."Maps to the Stars" aims to be a mercilessly savage deconstruction of Hollywood sleaze, self-absorption, and depravity - as well as a relentless deconstruction of the cult of Hollywood celebrity. It's a darkly comic anti-Hollywood satire/comic thriller that's part comedy, part sit-com, and part "soap opera from Hell" (as one previous viewer put it) that takes on a number of disturbing subjects that cannot be revealed here for fear of possible spoilers. The screenplay by Bruce Wagner (from his novel "Dead Stars") tells two separate, yet interconnected stories.The first deals with Hollywood actress Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore, fully embracing a savagely tongue-in-cheek portrait of drug-addled Hollywood starlet egotism). Segrand is the aging, over-the-hill daughter of the famous Clarice Taggart (Sarah Gadot), who rose to fame in the 1970s before she tragically died in a house fire on Christmas Day in 1976. Segrand, who stands in her mother's shadow (while also having haunting visions of her mother's ghostly apparition), wants desperately to play her late mother in a remake of her most famous movie, "Stolen Waters."The second story tells the tale of a wealthy TV psychologist named Stafford Weiss (John Cusack), who's on the talk-show circuit promoting his latest self-help book. His wife Cristina (Olivia Williams) is hardly a stay-at-home mom as she manages the career of her 13-year-old child-star son Benjie (Evan Bird), who's looking to make a comeback after a stint in rehab.Connecting them all is the mysterious Agatha (Mia Wasikowska), who arrives in town and befriends a Hollywood limo driver/aspiring actor/aspiring screenwriter named Jerome (Robert Pattinson, from Cronenberg's earlier 2012 "Cosmopolis"). Agatha eventually gets a job as Havana's personal assistant. Agatha also carries with her some dark personal secrets - a number of very troubling, very dark personal secrets - that will certainly unravel as she ingratiates herself more deeply within the lives of the increasingly desperate and unhinged Havana, and the highly dysfunctional Weiss family."Maps to the Stars" is a confounding film, yes - but not in the way some of Cronenberg's earlier reality-distorting head-scratchers were, like "Videodrome," "Naked Lunch," or "eXistenZ." No, "Maps to the Stars" is more perplexing in its multiple, but intersecting story lines, back-stories, and characters. None of the characters are particularly likable or sympathetic, but that's sort of the point. (Though, it must be said that some sympathy can be heaped upon young Evan Bird as Benjie Weiss, who seems to have no control over his destiny in Tinsletown. And Robert Pattinson's Jerome appears to be the only sane character in the film, and the only one who comes out of this film relatively unscathed - physically and psychologically.) You aren't really meant to like any of the characters, as that is in line with the film's portrayal of the insulated depravity and overall insanity of Hollywood fame and the resulting psychological traumas endured by many of the principal cast members."Maps to the Stars" is certainly up there with many of David Cronenberg's other work. "Maps to the Stars" may have also been a wake-up call of sorts for Cronenberg, too, I imagine, considering that he's spent much of his career in his native Canada (this was his first film made in the United States). If only the film had garnered more mainstream attention, then Hollywood could see its glaring ugliness reflected back at it in the mirror. That's probably why it got so little attention by the mainstream Hollywood press, but, whatever.(As rap group Public Enemy said in 1990 - "Burn Hollywood Burn"!)8/10P.S.: Just when you thought you'd seen it all with "Maps to the Stars," Carrie Fisher herself pops up in a hilarious cameo. (Seriously, I thought I'd never see her in a David Cronenberg feature.)

nms1982 This is a twisted and quite dark movie and though in one scene I had a visual effects qualm it is well-executed and has a good cast. Julianne Moore in particular stands out, in a less common sort of a role for her: a pathetic, vacuous megabitch. A worst-of-the-worst past her prime movie star, who has sex with her emotionally unstable assistant's new boyfriend to momentarily feel better about herself and because she can. It is great to see her get her just desserts though shortly thereafter when said assistant (Mia Wasikowska) loses it. This film is a worthwhile and unique, no holds barred look at Hollywood scumbags/idiots. Mr. Cronenberg unsurprisingly is relevant and continuing to make solid pictures, in this case another disturbing one--which I was pleased about (my favorite of his movies are either disturbing, violent, or both; this is both, though mainly the former). Julianne Moore's character, the Benjie character, and others are quite hateable/reprehensible. You feel bad for Wasikowska's, in the milieu despite her not being soulless. This is the kind of film that, by the bleak end--which follows upon a not much less bleak beginning and middle--will leave the viewer likely feeling icky and depressed, and a bit worse about human beings, especially L.A.-based actors and other celebrities. It certainly has its place. I didn't feel there was anything gratuitous about the script. Cronenberg fans and cinephiles should give it a watch--maybe just one, ever--(even if only for Moore's performance) if they don't mind a serious downer.