Dec 25, 2016

hyped

 

Dec 25, 2016

im hard

 

Dec 27, 2016

Going to post some movies I like occasionally. Links will expire eventually. Grab them while they're fresh.

 

Dec 29, 2016

Silence is pretty major. Though not without its flaws, which may be expected from a decades-in-the-making passion project, it's a challenging, nuanced work of considerable depth.

 

Dec 30, 2016

Just did my first ever two movies at a theater in a day that wasn't some trilogy.

Jackie and La La Land

Gonna let them digest

 

Jan 2, 2017

Finally caught up on Manchester By The Sea and I'm still completely stunned. I need to watch it again asap

 

Jan 2, 2017

Wrote a long piece on my mixed feelings about La La Land, which to me is a near masterpiece but ultimately a miss.


La La Land 2016
★★★★½ Watched 01 Jan, 2017

Published at Aesthetics of the Mind:
bit.ly/2i1altk

La La Land and Film Criticism’s Malleable Perspective on Homage and Originality

Since its premiere at Venice, Chazelle’s third feature, La La Land—a euphemism for a fantasy world, also seen as LA—has met critical acclaim, mainstream approval, Oscar buzz, a critical backlack, a re-examination, and Oscar pundit denial and defense. It now stands on tenuous footing within the cinephile realm. This resembles closely my own grappling with the film. A minor shift in one’s perspective seemingly alters the quality of this film. This is not how film ought to be acknowledged, however, and I’m going to use this piece to tackle the many points of conversation within La La Land, from homage and originality to cinematography and music to realism and escapism.

Inarguably, La La Land is well crafted, approachable, and more interesting than 90% of mainstream films today. It is at once a throwback to the Golden Age of Cinema as well as an original illustration of contemporary culture. It is at once a display of bravura cinematography and jazz scoring as well as showboating pat-on-the-back display of pop culture. It is at once a flight of fantasy as well as a determinedly down-to-earth evocation of reality. It straddles these antipodal modes of cinema carefully, implying that originality and homage, high and low art, exuberance and melancholy, and realism and escapism can sit cordially beside one another. Effectively, La la land is the product of a keen original mind who has sentimental yearnings for the past. His excitement to renew yet revolutionize the films that shaped his upbringing is La La Land’s greatest claim to fame yet also an easy target for its dismissal. Chazelle’s worldview seems to conflict in a similar manner to Keith (John Legend) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) who debate about the purity of a dying art and the necessary means to revive it through re-actualization.

La La Land is the re-actualization of Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg, amongst others, in an effort to revive its infectious spirit. Chazelle and composer Justin Hurwitz would apparently discuss Umbrellas in college, their mutual favourite film—and a personal favourite of my own—and it serves as their primary inspiration in making La La Land. They ostensibly made La La Land to enliven audiences spirits the way Umbrellas and those other classics enlivened themselves, but they also made La La Land as a personal venture, with an effort to transform and revolutionize the Golden age itself. The issue here is that the filmmakers use concepts and ideas from one worldview as a means of informing a worldview quite disparate from it. This may be interpreted similar to the supposed bastardization of Jazz which is thematically woven into the film. Jazz has developed from an artistic form of communication to free form be bop to innocuous elevator music and worse. Sebastion is one of few who recognizes this, and so he loves and laments traditional Jazz. Oppositely, Keith sees a future for Jazz music. This conflict is analogous to the one inherent in La La Land; the film displays an obvious admiration of tradition with a purist sensibility while simultaneously choosing to look into the future and be read as a work of originality.

This steers one’s critical perspective in opposing directions. Do we see the coupling of homage and originality as a form of love+revolution or of exploitation+bastardization? With La La Land’s complexity, it is—quite incredulously—all of the above.

La La Land hits many right notes, but its greatest flaw is inconsistency. If La La Land is supposed to be a throwback to Jacques Demy (Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Young Girls of Rochefort) and Gene Kelly (Singing in the Rain, An American In Paris), the one major thing it is missing is the whimsy. Jacques Demy in particular created through cinema a world all his own. Throughout his filmography, there are even recurring characters, such as Lola and Raoul Cottard from his debut film Lola, who return in subsequent films. It is a measure of maintaining continuity and suspended disbelief within a complex world of fantasy. This world of Demy, as its called, is finely documented by wife and fellow New Wave Filmmaker Agnes Varda in the feature Jacquot de Nantes and the documentary The World of Jacques Demy. She illustrates the world as one of childlike wonder and sensitivity replete with fantasy, melancholy, and whimsy. In Demy’s films, the vibrant colours, sensational musical numbers, and spectacular dance choreography are a testament to his boyish charisma, and it is through his charisma and childlike wonder that his fantastic world becomes so inviting. This lovable charm belongs to the ‘World of Demy’ which Chazelle unevenly attempts to bring back to life.

In spite of this, when La La Land is on point, it hits all the right notes. Quite frankly, it is a film which Demy himself would have loved, even if it doesn’t have the boyish charm that makes his own films stand out. The opening number, which is a clear reference to the opening number of Demy’s Young Girls of Rochefort is full of life, whimsy, and charisma. Its vivid colours and spectacular choreography—both of dancers and camera—echoes the worlds of Jacques Demy and Gene Kelly. When the intertitle “Winter” arrives, however, we recognize that we are not in the world of Demy or Kelly, but in a distinct place where the melancholy is more intense, the concepts are more complex, and the fantasy has a bitter feeling of impossibility. Yet it is a world that wishes to continue revering the world of wonder, fantasy and whimsy that it at once subverts. This may come off as hypocritical or even indulgent, but only if seen from that particular perspective. From another, it comes off as ambitious and passionate.

La La Land’s plot is virtually lifted from Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Though the meet-cute is much more protracted in La La Land, both films follow the romance of a couple stripped apart when duty calls. In one it is for service in the war, for the other service in a band. Chazelle’s film uses a modern obstacle to drive the couple apart, their careers, but the result is the same. They separate, long for one another, and meet briefly several years later to wonder ‘what if?’. The use of intertitles demarcating time and even the font is lifted from Umbrellas, and the store “Parapluies” on the Studio lot signals its inspiration. The subtlest, most effective touch of homage comes when Mia (Emma Stone) is writing her play; the woman in her one woman show is named Genevieve, the name of Catherine Deneuve’s character in Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Also subtle are certain melodies riffed from Michel Legrand’s work with Demy which include even a part from Demy’s underrated fairy-tale Donkey Skin.

These elements of homage surely satisfy the cinephile. All the references to Casablanca, Sunset Boulevard, Rebel Without a Cause, Bringing Up Baby, Notorious, Singing in the Rain, An American In Paris, Flight of the Red Balloon, and many others work in a way that The Force Awakens, for example, simply did not. La La Land displays adoration of these films without relying on our recognition of them. Yes, Ryan Gosling swings around a lamppost like Fred Astaire, but this is rather subtle, isn’t it? And how many people caught the boy with the red balloon? Who of you have even seen one of Demy’s musicals?

But La La Land is nowhere near as vibrant as those technicolor gems of the 50s and 60s; in fact, it is moody as h--- with vignetting often utilized to draw focus inward on a particular character during emotive moments. There’s a certain darkness to La La Land, both physically and psychologically, that does not exist in those films of fantasy. There is also a certain brightness to La La Land which does. It continually sits between the two.

Authenticity and high or low art aside, there are the more easily observable elements of plot, acting, and music to be considered. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are phenomenal actors, but were they right for their roles? Most people would agree, it seems, that they are not the greatest singers or dancers. But if you look at the musical scenes themselves, what is there to be disappointed by? Whatever people say about Stone’s quirks or Gosling’s demeanor, take one look at the Mia’s audition scene or Gosling convincing her that she’s ‘good enough’, and tell me they were miscast.

That said, the two major techniques of Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg which Chazelle chose not to poach are perhaps the two techniques La La Land most needs: firstly, the actors in Umbrellas lip synched, professionals were dubbed in, and professional dancers were hired as actors. Secondly, the entire film is sung. On the first technique, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are good singers, but not great ones. They both had their shot at singing careers, one from Reality TV and the other from the Mickey Mouse Club, and neither of them succeeded. Why they sing their own parts is certainly up for question. On the second point, the entirely sung dialogue of Umbrellas is exactly what makes it unique. When asked about it, Demy said that the purpose was to create a cohesion from beginning to end. He didn’t like how musicals would have a start and stop to the music scenes and would alternate between the two. He wanted to create a film without interruption. His execution of this essentially brings about an aural version of the long take… no blinks, no interruptions, just a consistent flow of sound. Since La La Land’s seemingly greatest flaw is its consistency, perhaps it is because the film feels like it is made up of interrupted pieces, sections which add up to a whole but do not form a cohesive work of art.

This is all besides the final scene of the film, though, a scene which works on every level that Chazelle wishes to implement. It is glorious, masterfully crafted, cohesive, whimsical, nostalgic and original, escapist and realist all at the same time. It is 15 minutes of brilliant cinema, while the rest remains in limbo between a classic and something that falls just short of.

89/100 – Excellent.

 

Jan 6, 2017

Ok I kinda hated American Honey.

 

Jan 6, 2017

For me, it was just...okay. It certainly has an infectious energy, but it's scant on character or sociological detail.

I just saw Julieta myself and kinda hated it.

 

Jan 7, 2017

what about Risky Business tho

 

Jan 7, 2017

 

Jan 8, 2017

Out of 75 movies seen, my list of favorite movie stuff from 2016:

Favorite Films
1. Toni Erdmann
2. Right Now, Wrong Then
3. OJ: Made in America
4. Moonlight
5. Paterson
6. Silence
7. Elle
8. Manchester by the Sea
9. The Lobster
10. The Witch

Honorable Mention:
The Measure of a Man, Demon, Everybody Wants Some!!, Sunset Song, Cemetery of Splendor, The Fits, Under the Shadow, The Handmaiden, Love and Friendship, Sully

Key Films Not Seen: Cameraperson, The Love Witch, Aquarius, Chevalier, Neon Bull, Kaili Blues, Fences, 20th Century Women, Edge of Seventeen, Cosmos

Best Actor:
1. Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
2. Peter Simonischek, Toni Erdmann
3. Vincent Lindon, The Measure of Man
4. Andrew Garfield, Silence
5. Tom Hanks, Sully

Best Actress
1. Isabelle Huppert, Elle
2. Kate Beckinsale, Love and Friendship
3. Sandra Huller, Toni Erdmann
4. Emma Stone, La La Land
5. Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch

Best Supporting Actor
1. Glen Powell, Everybody Wants Some!!
2. Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
3. Andre Holland, Moonlight
4. Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
5. Jeff Bridges, h--- or High Water

Best Supporting Actress
1. Lily Gladstone, Certain Women
2. Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
3. Kristen Stewart, Café Society
4. Janelle Monae, Moonlight
5. Jena Malone, Neon Demon

Best Director: Maren Ade, Toni, Erdmann; Runner-Up: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Best Screenplay: Maren Ade, Toni Erdman; Runner-Ups: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight; Whit Stillman, Love & Friendship

Best Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, Silence; Runner-Ups: James Laxton, Moonlight; Diego Garcia, Cemetery of Splendor

Best Score: Yeong-wook Jo, The Handmaiden; Runner-Ups: Mica Levi, Jackie; David Wingo, Midnight Special

Favorite Scenes:
1. Birthday Party, Toni Erdmann
2. The Greatest Love of All, Toni Erdmann
3. Black Philip Speaks, The Witch
4. Horseback Ride, Certain Women
5. Diner Scene, Moonlight

Most Anticipated 2017
1. Untitled PTA Movie
2. Wonderstruck
3. Beguiled
4. The Lost City of Z
5. Okja
6. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
7. Song to Song
8. A Quiet Passion
9. Sierranevada
10. Logan Lucky

Full list of Movies Seen: http://letterboxd.com/aversaci/list/2016-ranked/

@Vahn @FilmAndWhisky @Papa Andy @Dew @Charlie Work @Pinhead @BobbyDigital @Swizz

 

Jan 8, 2017

When @Twan doesn't have Natalie Portman at number 1

 

Jan 8, 2017

@Twan some dope picks - glen Powell, Kristen Stewart in supporting. Not picking on you but personally I felt monae had too small a role in moonlight to warrant my list though she was good -- still need to see hidden figures. Digging the Elle and Witch love too.

 

Jan 8, 2017

I liked Portman's performance, but it's the sort of highly mannered biopic turn that generally isn't my taste. To be fair, with her Marilyn Monroe-esque delivery, her approach does work for the film since it's a movie very conscious of the nature of performance and its role in shaping historical perception.

To be honest, I struggled a bit to come up with up 5 supporting performances that I really liked. Monae's part is small, but she left an impression for me (I also didn't see Fences or 20th Century Women, which had the acclaimed turns from Gerwig and Davis).

 

Jan 8, 2017

Portman top 3 female performance of the decade

 

Jan 8, 2017

Sonia Braga's performance by far da best imo.

 

Jan 8, 2017

Tfw Twan doesn't put Malick at the top of his anticipated list

 

Jan 8, 2017

Alas, my mixed feelings on Knight of Cups knocked it down a few notches. Still hyped though, plus I did really like the 45-minute IMAX version of Voyage of Time.

 

Jan 9, 2017

This is my current list, which I used for Next Projection's awards, published today: http://nextprojection.com/2017/01/08/2016-next-projection-awards/

I Intend to publish an article on finalized selections at the end of the month after I catch up on some films I have yet to see.
My letterboxd ranking is here: https://letterboxd.com/kamahmed/list/2016-ranked-watchlist/


Best Films of 2016:
1. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)
2. Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan)
3. Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt)
4. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
5. La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
6. Silence (Martin Scorsese)
7. Things to Come (L’avenir, Mia Hansen-Love)
8. KONELINE: our land beautiful (Nettie Wild) (Canadian release only)
9. Elle (Paul Verhoeven)
10. Hello Destroyer (Keven Funk) (Canadian release only)

My list is comprised of films released commercially in their Country of Origin during 2016. I have not included some of my favourite films seen in 2015 which were 2016 releases within the U.S., though I recognize that some critics use American dates as their reference point. To acknowledge this, I share here a select list of late 2015/America 2016 films which would otherwise compete for my top 10.

1. Cemetery of Splendour (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
2. Right Now, Wrong Then (Sangsoo, Hong)
3. Embrace of the Serpent (Ciro Guerra)
4. Murmur of the Hearts (Sylvia Chang) –YET TO BE RELEASED IN NORTH AMERICA.
5. Louder Than Bombs (Joachim Trier)
6. Human (Yann Artrus-Bertrand)

A few Honorable Mentions of the regular kind: Everybody Wants Some, Spirit Unforgettable (Pete McCormack), Knight of Cups (Terrence Malick), Arrival (Denis Villaneuve), A Quiet Passion (Terence Davies), Aquarius (Kieber Mendonca Filho), Maliglutit (Zacharias Kunuk), Sunset Song (Terrence Davies), Old Stone (Johnna Ma), Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier), The Other Half (Joey Klein), Werewolf (Ashley McKenzie).

Also a shout out to Eoin Duffy’s short I Am Here, an animated masterpiece of cinematic audiovisual ecstasy.

There are some major films I have yet to see, such as: Sieranevada, Cameraperson, O.J: Made in America, Austerlitz, Death of Louis XIV, Personal Shopper, I, Daniel Blake, and Paterson.

Best Films Without Distribution:

I was involved this year with programming of Canadian Features for the Vancouver International Film Festival. As a result, I’m aware of some incredible work coming out of my under represented home nation which has seen little to no commercial distribution.

1. Maudite Poutine (Karl Lemieux)
2. Lost Solace (Chris Scheurman) – Distributed within Canada by Raven Banner/Northern Banner
3. 1:54 (Yann England) – Distributed within Canada by eOne

Two of my favourite films of the year have yet to see distribution outside of Canada, in spite of receiving grand critical acclaim and awards within the nation: KONELINE: our land beautiful, Hello Destroyer. Some other great films from Canada, such as Okita’s Lockpicker, McKenzie’s Werewolf, and Bohdanowicz’ Never Eat Alone are still seeking international distribution.

Worst Film of the year:

1. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
2. Sausage Party
3. Loving – Seems to be the most overrated.


Best Foreign Language Film:

1. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
2. Things To Come (Mia Hansen-Love)
3. Elle (Paul Verhoeven)

Best Director:

1. Kelly Reichardt (Certain Women)
2. Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
3. Maren Ade (Toni Erdmann)

Best Screenplay:
1. Manchester By The Sea
2. Silence
3. Certain Women

Best Actor:

1. Peter Simonischek (Toni Erdmann)
2. Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)
3. Andrew Garfield (Silence)

Best Actress:

1. Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
2. Emma Stone (La La Land)
3. Cynthia Nixon (A Quiet Passion)

Best Supporting Actor

1. Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
2. Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
3. Ashton Sanders (Moonlight)

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Kristen Stewart (Certain Women)
2. Michelle Williams (Certain Women)
3. Deragh Campbell (Never Eat Alone)

Best Cinematographer:

1. James Laxton (Moonlight)
2. Van Royko (KONELINE: our land beautiful)
3. Mathieru Laverdiere (Maudite Poutine)

Best Youth Performance:

1. Sunny Pawar (Lion)
2. Madina Nalwanga (Queen of Katwe)
3. Alex R. Hibbert (Moonlight)

Best Animated

1. Mixed Match (Jeff Chiba Stearns) – (Partially Animated)
2. Zootopia (Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush
3. Sausage Party (Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon)

Best Comedy:

1. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
2. Everybody Wants Some (Richard Linklater)
3. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (Akiva Shaffer, Jorma Taccone)

Best Romance:

1. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)
2. La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
3. The Other Half (Joey Klein)

Best Horror:

1. Elle ( Paul Verhoeven) – In its own psychological way
2. 10 Cloverfield Land (Dan Trachtenberg)
3. Cadence (Alex Lasheras) – Film Without Distribution

Best Action:

1. Maliglutit (Searchers) (Zacharias Kunuk)
2. Captain America: Civil War (Anthony Russo, Joe Russo)
3. War Dogs (Todd Phillips)

Best Science Fiction

1. Arrival (Denis Villaneuve)
2. The Unseen (Geoff Redknap) – Film Without Distribution
3. 10 Cloverfield Lane (an Trachtenberg)

Best Documentary:

1. KONELINE: our land beautiful (Nettie Wild)
2. Spirit Unforgettable (Peter McCormack)
3. City 40 (Samira Goetschel

Most Anticipated of 2017:

1. The Lost City of Z (James Gray)
2. Untitled Hong Sangsoo Project with Isabelle Huppert and Min-hee Kim
3. Song To Song (Terrence Malick)


@Vahn @Twan @Papa Andy @Dew @Charlie Work @Pinhead @BobbyDigital @Swizz