Ari Aster's Beau is Afraid (formerly Disappointment Blvd.)

So a rewatch of Hereditary the other day (A24 did a $6 for 6 horror movies deal via its streaming setup -- I was very happy to catch Saint Maud at last) made me wonder "Well what's Aster up to now anyway" and that's how I learned that this is his next film's title, it's due next year, and what the hell at this cast:

Joaquin Phoenix
Nathan Lane
Patti LuPone
Amy Ryan
Kylie Rogers
Parker Posey
Stephen McKinley Henderson
Denis Ménochet
Hayley Squires
Michael Gandolfini
Armen Nahapetian
Zoe Lister-Jones
Richard Kind

...is it a musical? Aster allegedly calls it a horror comedy, which, how would I be able to tell the difference, really. Filmed in Montreal, and I guess this was a short promo clip from earlier this year though it's supposedly a fan edit from something else:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t9-oNRjwqY

Yeah, that looks like clips from You Were Never Really Here.

That makes a lot more sense.

Changeup in title!

https://www.indiewire.com/2022/12/ari-aster-a24-beau-is-afraid-joaquin-phoenix-poster-1234791453/

And we have a poster.

https://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Beau-Is-Afraid-810x1200.jpg

Oh.

“Midsommar” director Aster previously said his next film will be a four-hour-long “nightmare comedy” when “Disappointment” was officially announced in February 2021. While the plot remains under wraps, the film was described as an “intimate, decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.”

Yeah, fuck you. Congratulations in advance on your awards, though.

And indeed per that description:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnCahSBL344/

Trailer on Tuesday.

*scratches chin*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuiWDn976Ek

The use of New Yorker font feels like a warning. "If you proceed beyond this point, it's on you."

"The Mind behind"

damn, dude is making movies just with the power of his mind now

The New Yorker font makes the rest seem very Walter Mitty. But good to see Nathan Lane do a big movie role.

hahaha this looks fuckin wild

good to see the critics of ilx getting hung up on fonts and ad copy

Big Charlie Kaufman vibes here.

Big Charlie Kaufman vibes here.

Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, the New Yorker...all items very high on my "oh, FUCK OFF" list.

we know, don't see it

wow unperson, I gather you do not like anything about this movie. perhaps you'd like to post more about how much you hate this well before it ever comes out.

Hey this looks neat

Feels like a weird direction for him to go in, but I'm cautiously optimistic. I've liked all of his other stuff so far. I suspect a big Kaufman influence here. Based on Aster's prior work I'd expect this to have a lot more rough and interesting texture than Gondry's work, that feels like an unfair comparison.

this looks very fun

hoping more richard kelly than charlie kaufman

I’ve not seen his other movies but this looks fun

Per a report: "rated “R” for “strong violent content, sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, and language.”" Another day at the office!

Got some "I Heart Huckabees" vibes from that trailer.

Reviews are all over the place. Sounds akin to a few other infamously bonkers batshit indulgences, like "Southland Tales" or something.

hoping more richard kelly than charlie kaufman

― imago, Tuesday, 10 January 2023 17:43 (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

if it can remotely step to that towering masterpiece we're in for a treat

lol, it scans like "Southland Tales" plus Charlie Kaufman.

I have never seen an Ari Aster movie! Maybe this will be the first.

I think I've read three reviews now that use the phrase "big swing."

Well I saw it.

In sum:

https://media.tenor.com/U3GSJNoPsM8AAAAC/elmo-sesame-street.gif

Oh and BTW I am not kidding when I say this -- it's three hours long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psV-DcsnU1Y

great picks

hoping i love this bc the negative reviews are clearly out for revenge

This movie has arcs like it's an anime or something. The first arc really threw me off at first, I was like "wtf, is this movie super reactionary!?" It's like an exaggerated rural Republican fever dream of a dangerous big city. I mean, it had to be satire, though, right? But it goes so far with it I don't know if I could really say it earned it.

Mm, yeah. Being here in SF and all I can’t say that made me very sympathetic to the film out of the gate, precisely for the reasons you mention.

Beau is afraid, where do his intentions lay

This was a very silly and tiresome movie.

Finally saw this yesterday. I was the only one in the theater! Many laugh out loud while cringing moments. The four acts (urban hellscape, suburban family, woodland theater troupe, and mother's house) varied so widely in tone that they seemed to me like four separate movie ideas stitched together. And I thought the epilogue was a letdown. But overall I liked it, more or less. Preferably less, it didn't need to be three hours long.

The partially animated sequence is visually stunning, but the whole woodland theater segment seems superfluous.

The PERFECT film for Mother's Day. See it with a female relative you resent!

Not seen this yet but I'm told by a cineaste friend (and sometime poster) that this is the darkest and scariest film they have ever seen, and to approach it with extreme caution owing to Ari Aster being a master of psychological terror and a 'prick'

Friend has not seen Hereditary obviously.

They have! But they say this one goes way further into fiendish primal psych terror idk

Been dragging my heels on this, down to three more days in the theatre, and I don't think I can get out to see it.

hoping more richard kelly than charlie kaufman

it's much more charlie kaufman. basically synecdoche new york

I'm told by a cineaste friend (and sometime poster) that this is the darkest and scariest film they have ever seen

it's a comedy. quite dark at times, but not scary at all

I mean, it had to be satire, though, right?

it was obviously satire

Ari Aster being a master of psychological terror

sorry to knock on your friend but they are extremely psychologically weak if they think this is true

hoping i love this bc the negative reviews are clearly out for revenge

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, April 21, 2023 12:52 AM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

i think you'll like it. i understand people hating it, but i can forgive a movie with a few "bad" scenes if the good ones are extremely good, and the high points made it worth it. joaquin phoenix's performance is incredible

also the way this movie uses nathan lane and richard kind was just genius

music was amazing too... mariah carey "always be my baby" during the parker posey sex scene had me dying