Review: La La Land (UK Cert 12A)

Damien Chazelle's Whiplash was one of my favourite films of 2015. So it was with a great deal of anticipation that I went in to see Chazelle's latest film, La La Land.

A paean not only to Los Angeles, but to film, to music, to love, La La Land follows jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) as they meet and fall in love against the backdrop of the City of Angels.

Where do I start? Chazelle's direction is astonishing and technically accomplished right from the get-go, where a traffic jam on the LA freeway bursts into a huge song-and-dance number. There's a beautiful sequence set in the Griffith Observatory where Sebastian and Mia's relationship intensifies, but Chazelle's directorial flair can also be seen in the smaller, more intimate, scenes where the relationship drama plays out.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone play off each other nicely; this is their third collaboration on screen after Crazy Stupid Love and Gangster Squad and they really sell the relationship. Gosling plays Sebastian's earnestness about the purity of jazz with passion and commitment, whilst Stone's Mia is no blushing ingenue- she's a few years into her career, still schlepping to auditions, but not yet disillusioned enough to stop her dreaming. There's able support from Rosemarie DeWitt as Sebastian's sister Laura who makes the most of her single scene, whilst there's also a cameo for Whiplash's J.K. Simmons as Sebastian's boss.

Justin Hurwitz's score is beautiful and the songs range from the upbeat- the opening 'Another Day Of Sun' and the party number 'Someone In The Crowd'- to the melancholic- the beautiful 'City Of Stars' and Mia's 'Audition (The Fools Who Dream). As with all musicals, you do have to accept the inherent ridiculousness of people suddenly bursting out in song, but, if you can't do that, then you really don't have much business seeing a musical to start with.

It's a beautiful film, visually sumptuous, cracking soundtrack, a wryly funny script (also written by Chazelle) with two wonderful lead performances and a nicely bittersweet edge to cut through the candyfloss. I know we're only just getting started with the year, but already I can see this being one of my films of 2017.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

La La Land is on general release from 12th January 2017.

Awards Season 2017: Golden Globes Winners

Last night, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of this year's Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film, in a ceremony hosted by Jimmy Fallon for the first time.

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Moonlight

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): La La Land

Best Director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Actor (Drama): Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Best Actress (Drama): Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Supporting Actor: Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Screenplay: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Original Score: Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)

Best Original Song: 'City Of Stars' (La La Land)

Best Foreign Language Film: Elle

Best Animated Feature Film: Zootopia

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Meryl Streep


La La Land has broken the record for most Golden Globes won, winning every award it was nominated for, and coming away with an impressive haul of seven gongs.

A couple of surprises with Isabelle Huppert and Aaron Taylor-Johnson winning Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor (I still can't believe Taylor-Johnson was even nominated for his atrocious turn, let alone won) but everything else went to who was expected to win, it seems. 

Meryl Streep used her acceptance speech to launch a brilliant and blistering attack on president-elect Donald Trump for generally being a descipable human being whilst several people made the joke that the Golden Globes would be wound up under Trump's presidency because it's got the words 'Hollywood' 'Foreign' and 'Press' in it.

In the TV awards, Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman all took awards for their roles in The Night Manager whilst The Crown took Best Television Series (Drama) and Claire Foy took Best Actress (Drama) for her role as Queen Elizabeth II.

Tomorrow (10th January) we get an Awards Season double-whammy (you lucky, lucky people) with the announcement of the Producers' Guild Awards nominations AND the BAFTA nominations as well. 

Review: Moana (UK Cert PG)

The fifty-sixth animated feature by Disney, Moana tells the story of the headstrong daughter of a Polynesian tribe leader, who must cross the oceans to reunite an ancient goddess with her missing heart and stop the blight on her island. Along the way, she recruits Maui- a legendary shape-shifting demigod who stole the heart in the first place.

The film is beautiful. Well, that goes without saying, but everything is so vibrant and detailed- even down to individual blades of grass and the skin texture beneath Maui's tattoos (things that you might not usually notice). From the lushness of Moana's home island Motonui to the vast oceans and the underwater Realm of Monsters, it's a real treat for the eyes.

Newcomer Auli'i Cravalho is absolutely brilliant as the voice of Moana. Impetuous, strong-willed and determined, Moana refuses Maui's claims that she's a 'princess' (with all the negative connotations that brings) and sets out to save her island. But she's not perfectly equipped to do so- whilst she has a love of the ocean, she's not a wayfarer (at least not to begin with)- and when she has her crisis of faith, you really feel for her. It's an impressive vocal performance.

The other really refreshing thing about the film is there's no love story; Moana isn't expected to wed anyone or finds a dashing young man on her travels. The relationship between her and Maui is one of a grudging friendship burgeoning into respect (even one of a mentor/mentee in places)

Dwayne Johnson is on top form as Maui, the cheeky, cocky demigod. He's a larger-than-life character and the idea of having his tattoos move is a fun one. Johnson's performance is solid and really works. Jemaine Clement (Flight Of The Conchords, The BFG) is similarly great as the voice of Tamatoa, a hoarding coconut crab who gets a trippy, psychadelic Bowie-infused number called 'Shiny'- and gets a good postcredits scene too.

Rachel House gives a warm and sensitive performance as Moana's grandmother Tala whilst Temuera Morrison (Once Were Warriors, Attack Of The Clones) and Nicole Scherzinger provide strong support as Moana's father and mother. Finally, Alan Tudyk is credited as Moana's pet chicken Heihei, possibly the stupidest creature to ever appear in a Disney film and also responsible for one of the film's finest visual gags.

The music- by Mark Mancina, with songs by Opetaia Foa'i and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda- is also really strong, taking inspiration from Polynesian instruments and sounds to create a sublime score. The songs range from the perfectly serviceable to the instant classic- with Maui's paean to himself 'You're Welcome' and Moana's heartfelt 'How Far I'll Go' the particular standouts.

All said, it's a wonderful story, superbly animated and performed, Plus it's got a cute pig and an army of sentient coconut pirates. What more do you like?

Before the film, there was an aminated short called Inner Workings which was a lot of fun- showing the battle between heart and brain in an unassuming office worker.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Tez

Awards Season 2017: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) Nominations

Yesterday (4th January) saw the nominations announced for this year's Writers' Guild Awards.

As I've previously said, I don't tend to focus on the screenplay Oscars (certainly not to the same degree as the acting and directing ones; I certainly wouldn't attempt to predict what would get nominated), but- as a writer and a film fan- I do have an interest in what's been nominated.

This year's nominations are as follows:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Hell Or High Water

La La Land

Loving

Manchester By The Sea

Moonlight

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Arrival

Deadpool

Fences

Hidden Figures

Nocturnal Animals

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Author: The JT LeRoy Story

Command And Control

Zero Days

I'm really pleased to see Deadpool recognised, especially as the rest of the nominees are more traditional awards fare. Although, the WGA have previous form in this, giving Guardians Of The Galaxy a nomination in 2015.

Interestingly, AMPAS (a.k.a. The Academy) have stated that Moonlight and Loving will be classed as 'adapted screenplay' for their consideration, so hopefully the abominable script for Nocturnal Animals won't get a look in there.

More awards nonsense on Monday (9th February) with the Golden Globes results.

Review of 2016: The Bad & 2017

Here is our return continued.... the Bad of 2016 and what's ahead in 2017!

Review of 2016: The Good

We're Back! A brand new PodCast! After some months off producing our Web Series Whovians (www.thewhovians.tv) we are back.

So please enjoy the first of a 2 part podcast - our review of 2016, part 1 The Good.

Happy New Year From The Watchers!

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone has had a lovely and relaxing Christmas and saw the New Year in with a bang. Whilst 2016 was a year with more than its fair share of woe, we hope that 2017 will be a good year for everyone.

There's an absolute shedload of brilliant, intriguing and (hopefully) spectacular films coming out over the next 12 months: Blade Runner 2049, Justice League, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, Fast & Furious 8, Thor: Ragnarok, Beauty And The Beast, Logan, Despicable Me 3, Ghost In The Shell, Wonder Woman and Star Wars Episode VIII, to name but a few.

We'll be giving our opinions on all these films and more in the upcoming year, so keep your eyes on the blog and your ears on the podcast (which we hope to do more of this year, as our schedules won't be quite as busy as they have been previously)

With all our very best wishes for a happy and healthy 2017,

The Watchers

(Rhys, Matt & Tez)