Babylon

This is a long one. And it gives you a bit of everything. The opening scene sets the stage nicely wherein you get some unhinged, behind-the-scenes look at how productions were (and are) put together.

I'd have given it four out of five stars initially (mostly on account of it being too long and over ambitious), but as time has passed it has stuck with me more than most other t hings. Especially when paired almost back-to-back with Spielberg's alleged love letter to cinema in "The Fableman", which I found to mostly be a stinker (David Lynch's cameo in that was perfect and there were insightful Hollywood elements, but mostly Fableman felt too "filter face" for Spielberg's experience to be anything worthwhile).

For Babylon, the cast was tremendous (Robbie, Clooney, Pitt, et al). And a special callout to Toby Maguire's brief but highly memorable portion in the middle act. It was the most terrifying performance of the Epstein class that I've seen given to date.

I'm a fan of cinema in general and orchestrating large-scale productions in any industry is fascinating to me, so seeing this peek behind the curtain in a grand and well-put-together film spanning decades of the film industry was a real treat.

If you want a long look at Hollywood with unexpected turns and an okay-enough conclusion, then this is for you.

But if you detest Hollywood, then don't peek behind the curtain to foment even more hate -- although I do hope you will at least begrudgingly appreciate that entertainment and culture are the USA's greatest exports, so don't give the uhh magic of the production process short shrift!

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