aldri-39576

This movie has a much different feel than the original Stargirl, and I am still getting over the initial shock here despite enjoying the movie overall and its artful take on an age old theme. Indeed, there is a lot of beauty here - in the SCal scenery, characters, music and story. Stargirl as a character though is a bit on the innocent, wholesome side compared to those around her, and while this is important to the story, it somehow makes how her adventure in LA unfolds a bit improbable to say the least. Is she thinking things through as she makes her way out into her new world or just acting impulsively? As our talented lead, Grace VanderWaal imbues Stargirl with a unique blend of innocence and quirk, but while it is charming, she also projects a naivete that might shock even the original Stargirl. Maybe it doesn't matter and her mom who is wrapped up in her own problems doesn't care. In any case, I doubt most viewers will care either, while others may need to just be reminded that this is a Disney movie after all, and one refreshingly devoted to portraying a more sanitized version of the LA "follow your dream" experience. For the terminally jaded, it should prove a breath of fresh air, and under Julia Harts fine direction, the experience is really not so much "sanitized" as it is "artfully rendered". With lots of well chosen outdoor scenes throughout, this is partly why Hollywood Stargirl is in so many ways a very beautiful and moving film. And there is a lot of other stuff to like too. Various characters (Judd Hirsch, Uma Thurman) who cross Stargirl's path are turned into believers. Meanwhile Stargirl's mom can't balance her own needs with her motherly instincts. Two budding filmmakers also add fun and companionship as they have their own dream to fulfill. And then there is a really nice song writing sequence, followed by the realization you get that this song (Figure it Out) is propelling you deeper into the fantasy by virtue of the fact that it is such a great song. Suddenly, there is a lot more meaning to the film. I also enjoyed Stargirl discussing her past relationship with Leo, while bonding more deeply with her love interest here. It really shows you how Stargirl has matured, and how she now can put more of a historical perspective on her life. Her relationship with Evan is a deeper relationship as it should be, and adroitly handled with genuine emotion and tenderness.

Upon repeated viewing, all the little subplots and how they relate to the movie as a whole have fallen into place for me. The overall style which consists almost of a series of vignettes, typically alternating between muted and more manic ones, is extremely effective. That way we see the whole Stargirl throughout the entire movie, not, as in the original, a happy Stargirl for the first 45 minutes followed by an unhappy or wounded one. But my biggest question throughout gets back to Stargirl's true ambition in life. She didn't journey to LA to make it as I first assumed that she had. Her mom dragged her there. Once there, she is discovered more or less by accident, then only coaxed into performing more. And so her talent is unmistakable, but just as in the original movie, by NOT making it all about herself as someone with a bigger ego might've, she simply makes everyone around her a better person. Its as if her talent is used more to help others pursue their own dreams than it is to advance her own, but all the while not exactly turning down opportunities when they do come her way. This is IMHO the essence of Stargirl: devoted to entertaining while equally devoted to inspiring others to do the same. It worked in both movies but in wonderfully and totally different ways.

An inexplicable and bizarre movie/plotline from the sound of it. Watched a few scenes on YT, and have read the reviews. My apologies for maybe jumping to conclusions....but.....

Seemingly woke in its messaging like all movies today, we are I guess suppose to be charmed by this tale of two immigrants or sensitive souls battling not only the American west but also of course those bullying, uncouth trappers who came to America only to rape the landscape for profit. So one wants to open a restaurant, and needs taste testers for his recipes. Welcome to America, guys. Have I seen this plot before? No. Why? Because it would scarcely register a blip on most peoples meters...

So, yawn....... Yes, westerns have gone through several phases in their evolution over time. In the 70's there were many like "The Man who Loved Cat Dancing" that were more sensitive than past generations of films, but at least managed to not be preachy or anti American, and I loved that film. Many fond memories of that time.

But I dunno. So in their next incarnation, westerns will not have any starring characters that could be confused with the early pioneers? Early pioneers that, dare we suggest, might be further confused with rugged, self reliant and individualistic Americans who may have hunted game for survival? Should they all have been wisely consuming tasty cookies instead of the flesh of vulnerable species? We can ditch the fist fights and shoot outs, and still make a decent, sensitive western starring early settlers, many of whom were actually honest, hard working, devout, and generally peace loving.

I didn't hang around long enough to find out if any women were cast in this film, so what are we to conclude about that? Mmmmm..........

Sorry to sound bitter, but I'm not inclined to see my ancestors serve only as backdrops or bullying menaces to a humble immigrant's aspirations. More revisionist American history, of which there is too much of today. We can fill out the picture without implying that the early settlers contributed nothing, shot every living thing that crossed their path, and only came seeking to exploit the land for profit.

This will sell extremely well in China, which of course is where all the profits are today. Always the bottom line here......

Its 2021, not 1977. I know.........back then, sci fi movie making was still in its infancy. I need to take that in to account as I watch this movie again for the first time in decades. But..........

.......despite my efforts, I can't really appreciate this all that much even if I strip away everything I've absorbed from Hollywood since then - at least as to how the story unfolds and the characters are portrayed anyway. The latter are IMHO either annoying or boring (except Melinda Dillon), and you are not really given much chance to get to know them. There was a time in the 80's when a string of movies came out of Hollywood depicting children and families ("Honey I Blew up the Kids", "The Goonies" are two example) in ways that were considered novel and "contemporary". Well, many consider contemporary families to be dysfunctional, neurotic and.....annoying. Count me as one of those. These family scenes were typically uber informal, like "snapshots of a mundane suburban life" and meant to counter the overly sanitized images of families that came out of the 50's. Nice idea, but still off the mark. Perfect just got traded for dysfunctional. So this is how we progressed ultimately to single parent households maybe, LOL.....?

OK, well.......but I guess dysfuntional goes with the territory whenever ET's are involved. I mean, that ups the neurotic factor ten fold. I did like Tom Cruise in "War of the Worlds" because he and those around them keep their heads when they could've been losing them. But with "The Goonies" we had non stop screaming, and "Honey I shrunk the Kids" wasn't too much better. "2012" was another movie in this vein that was hard to swallow at times.

But back to the story - there was a sense of chaos and "whats going on?" in the beginning that might seem to have been designed to add intrigue, but it actually just made me go "So, whats going on?". Maybe lead me along a path more, i.e give me a few more markers along the way. I know the movie much better towards the end, and it is beautiful. But getting there? Its a miracle anyone got out of Indiana.

So I feel like this movie could have established "normalcy" before devolving into chaos, so that you could use it as a baseline for judging everyones actions later on. The ET's are coming, and we haven't gotten to know anyone yet. Before messing up my world, show it back when it functioned normally for comparison sake. Mailboxes are getting ripped apart here. Before that, show someone actually using one to retrieve mail. Stuff like that. Otherwise, you feel like your just stepping into a story half of which has already been told.

The ending of course is a classic. But backing up the truck as I did tonight was ....jarring. OK, time to go watch it again maybe. Or maybe I'm just one of those guys who can only take so much of Richard Dreyfus.

EDIT: watched it again and all the way through this time. It is still magical if tedious at times. Terri Garr was severely underutilized.

Not much character development otherwise. The saving grace here - a wonderfully uplifting plot and enchanting special effects, the newness of which in 1977 blew audiences away. Top scene - I loved how the aliens released the abducted ones first, and you can't see their faces.