‘Babylon’ movie review: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie set ablaze this frenetic, frantic tribute to Hollywood

Yes, Damien Chazelle’s love-letter to Hollywood is over three hours long, but it does zip by in a hectic cavalcade of colourful excess. Carrying on the fast food analogy, continued consumption could make you sick and there is much in Babylon that could make you nauseous, including projectile vomiting and hawking great gobs of saliva. Babylon Director: Damien Chazelle Cast: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li Story line: How a young immigrant rises up the studio ranks to become an executive and the characters that help or hinder him on his path Run time: 189 minutes The term ‘Babylon,’ like Kandahar and Samarkand, is evocative, a shorthand for arts, culture, oppression and excess. Fun fact; the Bible refers to Babylon as Babel, and Brad Pitt, who kills it as silent movie star Jack Conrad in Babylon, also featured in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Oscar-winning Babel. Apart from Conrad and Manny, there is brash, aspiring starlet Nellie LaRoy, risqué cabaret singer Lady Fay Zhu, the trumpeter Sidney Palmer and gossip writer Elinor St. John.