Vox Lux

Lots of vague ideas about "culture" are raised but by the midway point it becomes clear that the movie has little to say about anything. Its just a beautifully photographed vanity project.

Those who rated this poorly, clearly didn't get the deeper meaning: america as a pop culture figure, the "performance" of america in light of the tragedies since 2001, how "america" is an idea being sold to the world rather than the truth of what it really is, america not holding itself accountable and tackling the tough truths of what it really means to live in here. how the performance of freedom and liberty is just as evil as the terrorism we see so fiercely fight against.

This is a whole lot of movie with a lot of holes in its logic and through-line, including that Bronx accent Celeste seems to have acquired once Natalie Portman enters as an addled mother who is also an arena spectacle as a pop star with a serious drug problem. The people who were around young Celeste (played wonderfully by the lovely Raffey Cassidy) have oddly not aged (manager, agent) when they're around the adult Celeste played by Natalie Portman, who chews the scenery up but in the end delivers a strangely intense song and dance in concert. Flashy kaleidoscopic montages act as time-frame transitions as Celeste matures, and they actually work.

Started hot... then they went to Germany and it became like any other fictitious rock star film. Thankfully, it reroutes... but sadly returns to a typical fictitious rock star film. What it did was keep my attention and make me curious enough to see how it ends. And then nothing happens. And more importantly, it left me not knowing what exactly happened.

The worst 01 hour: and 50 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The worst of Natalie Portman ever!!!!!!!!!!!

Is there anything more vapid and self-indulgent than a film about the celebrity of celebrities? Mind you, I adore Natalie Portman and her performance in and of itself is outstanding, but the film itself is weak, aimless and an ode to narcissism. I tried watching a taped version and wound up zipping through most of it, so i'm not sure I can give a totally objective view, but that should tell you all you need to know.

I'm embarrassed for Natalie Portman anymore.

Spoilers: I'm Ga-Ga over Lady Nat-Nat! Talk about inhabiting a role, of Celeste, of selling out, in her black dance outfit reminiscent, on purpose for sure, of her in balletic "Black Swan." She, again dancing sexily in 2004's "Closer" with another star in this, real pro Jude. But her smart mouth and attitude in Vox Lux, The Voice of Light in Latin, named Celeste, meaning heavenly in French, and a Long Island accent were so spot-on for the role. Let the singing voice shine the light from heaven? Now? Is this really surrender, existential dancing around and singing with a gimmick format in a chaotic world? Are our values now degraded to that? Was she Ga-Ga and Madonna? As much spectacle and image as artistry? You need a gimmick? At first, I almost stopped watching. It seemed to have poor sound and filming, and be a hackneyed crack at: Life is tough after a school shooting even if you survive it, a young teen, Raffey as Celeste, turning to dancing and singing, pushed along partly by her survival status. Next thing, she hit the big time and turned into jaded Natalie later, and this film took off, and oddly, Raffey playing Celeste turned around and played older Celeste's daughter, Albertine. The always good Jennifer had a limited role. So the story really lurched into a soap opera about Celeste's messing up dealing with performing and fame and fortune and drugs and booze. But the how and beauty of her performance at the end was so good, you could ignore the songs, some kind of nondescript techno pop (some by Sia), as Natalie also advised teenie bopper girls on up to be themselves, not to be used, a message as old as Alice Cooper's "school's out forever" and Sinatra who "did it my way," and older. The subtext of it all is: Did Celeste really survive that school shooting or did it haunt her forever and lead to her self-destructiveness? We know it bugged her, as Natalie snapped off to reporters the minute details of her neck injury with a bullet still lodged in there after decades, and pain a part of life. The chaotic world was emphasized by the 9/11 plane attacks on the Trade Center, then 16 years later, four gunmen opening fire on beachgoers in Croatia. Let's dance and sing techno pop and listen to it because who knows when the next bullet gets us in this chaotic world? Just, Natalie forever, as that acting, singing, dancing IS real entertainment. Corbet pulled it off, threaded the needle that Celeste was a satire of a world gone at least half mad, but stood today in the film as good entertainment by Natalie. It seems that the human race has miles to go before we sleep in our rugged and ragged march from the cave to the ivory tower.

Fascinating, albeit not so intense study of the flaws of celebrity has style and a good script plus an amazing performance by Natalie Portman; interesting score composed and produced by Scott Walker.

This film is incredible and severely underrated. It's a tragic story of trauma and the dark side of fame. Celeste may be unlikable to the casual viewer but in reality she's an extremely caring woman, who suffers from savvier mental health problems and unintentionally causes pain to her loved ones as a result. Natalie Portman is absolutely fantastic as Celeste, as moving as her performance in Black Swan. The true star is Raffey Cassidy though, who plays young Celeste for the first half of the film and then her daughter Albertine for the second. Brilliant young actress.