The Girls in the Band

BY: Claire Connors

If there’s one film that is capturing praises across the board at this fall’s film festivals, it’s Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, A Star is Born. The fourth reboot of the classic tale, boy meets girl, boy makes girl famous, boy meets a tragic end, is getting such rave reviews, it looks like Lady Gaga, the film’s heroine, will be making room on her mantle for her first Oscar come next year’s Academy Award Ceremony.

Women rock stars is a popular theme this year, with three feature films arriving in the coming months, and the Joan Jett documentary Bad Reputation coming out on September 28th. All three features star fantastic actors playing all kinds of awful people, but hey, that’s the life of egomaniacal but ridiculously talented singer/songwriters, isn’t that right, Courtney Love?

Her Smell

First up is Her Smell starring the normally luminous Elisabeth Moss as the raw punk rocker, Becky Something, a possibly bi-polar singer with a nasty drug and alcohol habit. The films opens with Becky’s near-self destructing performance onstage which spills over into an afterparty in the green room filled with sycophants willing to enable this lunatic’s obnoxious and unbearable behavior. As Becky struggles to find her “quiet place” backstage via shamen who follow her around spitting holy water and lighting smudge sticks, her infant daughter is precariously tossed in and out of the arms of various supporters, placing this film almost into the “horror” category, it’s so frightening to watch. As Becky’s bad behavior increases and tensions escalate, it becomes clear that something needs to be done, but what and by whom? Take your pick from the excellent supporting cast: Eric Stotlz plays Becky’s handler/manager, models-turned-actors Cara Delevingne and Agyness Deyn and Gayle Rankin (so good in Netflix’s Glow) are her alarmed bandmates, and Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) is her ex-husband desperately trying to normalize his daughter’s relationship with her mother. Love or hate the character, this is truly a tour de force performance by Moss, in a year where she’s given only tour de force performances in The Handmaid’s Tale and The Old Man and the Gun.

Her Smell opens September 29th.

Vox Lux

Natalie Portman stars in this musical drama about Celeste, the teenaged survivor of a school shooting who is “discovered” when she and her sister (Nymphomaniac‘s Stacy Martin) sing a song they’ve written about the tragedy at the memorial service seen around the world. Written and directed by Brady Corbet (The Childhood of a Leader) as a rockumentary, we watch as Celeste, with the help of her manager played by Jude Law, transforms into an international adult pop star, and see just how awful that lifestyle proves to be. As more tragedies befall her and our world (terrorist attacks plague both New York and Europe), Celeste becomes a diva with no boundaries in her debauchery. It’s not a pretty picture that Corbet paints, but with Portman in the role, there must be room for empathy for such a loathsome character. Oh and Sia provides all of the music for this film, so it’s definitely a must-hear.

Lux Vox opens soon.

Alright Now

Finally we have the comedy, Alright Now, about what happens after the fall of a rock star. Avengers actor Colbie Smulders plays Joanne, a 90s rock icon who’s lost her mojo. After her boyfriend leaves and her band falls apart, she drunkenly applies for classes in a local college, hoping for a fresh start in a new profession. In the process, she loses the old sycophants who used to placate her and gains new, true friendships…and maybe starts a sweet romance with a pleasantly plump fellow who makes her laugh. Sounds like a smart career move to us.

Alright Now is in theaters now and available on Amazon Prime.