It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present.

Do you believe that someone out of the past can enter and take possession of a living being?

We may be through with the past, but the past is not through with us.

Welcome to the next picture show, a movie of the week podcast devoted to a classic film and how it's shaped our thoughts on a recent release.

I'm Tasha Robinson, finally back from my whirlwind tour of film festivals of North America, and I'm here with Scott DeVis.

Keith Phillips.

Genevieve Kosky.

Here on the next picture show, we believe that no film exists in a vacuum and that all culture is more interesting in context. So every week, we get together to talk over a classic film and consider how it relates to a current movie. This week, we're all very glad to be unstoppably famous on a level where our success and glamour will never diminish and no one will ever question our contributions to cinematic criticism. Keith, want to stand up on the red carpet,

take a few bows, and tell us about this week's pairing. I suppose I could deign to do that.

This week, we're considering a franchise that isn't exactly a franchise, at least not in the modern sense. The tradition of a star is born goes back to 1937 and is script written by

Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, and Robert Carson, but supposedly inspired by the real-life marriage of Barbara Stanwick and Volvo comedian Frank Fay. The original movie, okay, what is that noise? Oh, no, that's our next big podcast star. Actually, Genevieve, could you just step in here and finish up this week's pairing summary? I was thinking we could use a fresh new voice here. Me? Yeah. Okay,

if you insist. Um, I wasn't really finished with... The new film A Star is Born is a directorial

debut of actor Bradley Cooper, who also stars its country rock singer Jackson Maine. It's also the first

starring film role for Stephanie Germanada, better known as Lady Gaga, who's had a few cameo spots

in movies and TV,

but has never taken on a role of this depth before. But it's nowhere near the debut of the

Star is Born plot line, which dates back to 1937. The film has been remade three times in America

alone, first in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason in the lead roles, then in 1976

with Chris Christopherson and Barbara Streisand,

and now again in 2018. In each case, the story follows a successful male star who's dealing

with substance abuse problems in seeing his career fate, and a young ingenue he pushes toward

fame, just in time to see her eclipse him. There have been a lot of differences in the versions

...