* * * * (Out of * * * *)
1. A Field in England (2013)
2. Kill List (2011)
3. High-Rise (2015)
4. Sightseers (2012)
* * * * (Out of * * * *) (Short Cinema)
1. The ABC’s of Death (2012)
(Segment: “U is for Unearthed”)
* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)
1. Down Terrace (2009)
NOTE: This review was not written by me, it was written by my good friend Yaseen Fawzi, whose reviews I regularly post on here because regardless of whether or not I agree with him on the film, I do love what he says nonetheless. Even though I have not seen La La Land, it does not look very interesting to me, but that is beside the point. Anyway, here is Yaseen Fawzi’s review and I hope you enjoy it 🙂
La La Land
Review by
Yaseen Fawzi
December 25, 2016
As indicated by the title, La La Land is the first big-screen musical to arrive in quite some time. The story centers on the meeting of aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) and jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) as they both struggle to pursue their dreams of becoming big shots in Los Angeles and become romantically involved. Once they arrive there, however, they both face obstacles that hinder their individual pathways to success and put their delicate love affair at risk. As they reach their triumphs, Sebastian and Mia must choose what is more important in their lives: fame and success or romantic aspirations.
This picture written and directed by Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) carries the traditional aspects of many of the classic movie musicals and puts a fresh spin on them, from the classic boy-meets-girl love story and elaborate choreography to the pastel-colored costumes and evocative lighting. At the same time, however, the film keeps itself up-to-date by reflecting on the realistic struggles Sebastian and Mia go through in their careers, with the former’s traditional jazz sensibilities clashing with the sounds of modernity and the latter attending audition after audition. Easily the standout sequences include a Griffith Observatory montage and the splendid finale, brimming with color and reminiscent of Singin’ in the Rain and An American in Paris. The songs and score, composed by Justin Hurwitz, evoke memories of Hollywood’s Golden Age and its memorable musical numbers by Rodgers & Hart and Comden & Green. The opening number, Another Day of Sun (preceded by the ‘50s CinemaScope logo), gives the audience a clear idea of what they’re in for by transporting them back to the days of Gene Kelly, when song-and-dance routines were routine, even in the middle of a traffic jam. All of these significant features and more add to the power of what great musical cinema can convey.
Gosling and Stone have a natural chemistry on par with that of Fred and Ginger, especially during their dance numbers. They also have such beautiful singing voices, and this is most prominent in the recurring musical motif City of Stars. John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, and J.K. Simmons deliver effective supporting performances, but it is Stone and Gosling who are truly front-and-center. Even their dialogue feels succinctly believable and down-to-earth, despite their song-and-dance tendencies. Stone, in particular, has an especially distinguishable screen presence that puts her in the same league as Judy Garland, while Gosling seems like the modern-day reincarnation of many of our favorite song-and-dance men from the Golden Age.
In what has been a tumultuous year, La La Land serves as both a bright spot and a fantastic tribute to the movie musicals of days gone by.
* * * * (Out of * * * * “Ya-stars”)
This review was not written by me, it was written by my good friend Yaseen Fawzi. I wanted to share some of his reviews by posting them on my website. All credit goes to him, not me. He writes a lot of great reviews and this is yet another one. I am aware that Arrival came out in early November (this is now December). Nevertheless, he wrote a great review as always 🙂 Here is Yaseen’s review of Arrival below:
Arrival
A Review
by
Guest
Reviewer
Yaseen Fawzi
December 22, 2016
In Arrival mysterious spacecraft land on Earth and a team of investigators, led by linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), to look further into this situation. The arrival of these visitors, called heptapods, begins to raise questions about who or what they are. Banks and her team race against time to figure out how best to communicate with these unusual beings. As she unravels the mystery surrounding the spacecraft, Banks takes a life-threatening risk that could potentially make or break the whole of mankind.
Based on a short story entitled Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang and the latest directorial effort from Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario), the film is not a science fiction story in the traditional sense of the term. Instead, it can be regarded as an allegory for discovery of one’s self, and joins Interstellar and 2001: A Space Odyssey as a film that raises scientific questions about humanity itself. Because the heptapods use symbols as their language when communicating with the human characters, this plays a key role in the film’s themes of interaction with different cultures, and the paranoia that can arise from misinterpretation. The visual motif depicting numerous international broadcasts of the heptapod spaceships further reveals how this is also a major international conundrum.
Adams gives one of her best performances as Louise, who is trying to put herself back together after the loss of her daughter. She carries the weight of the film and never lets go as she struggles to make sense of what is going on around her whilst interacting with these heptapods. There is a great degree of subtlety and nuance in Adams’ performance that makes Louise all the more endearing and relatable. Some of her more memorable scenes are outside the pod with Renner portraying Ian, containing the best, most natural dialogue from Eric Herresier’s screenplay. Supporting players Forest Whitaker and Michael Stuhlbarg also portray their roles as Col. Weber and Halpern with a greater degree of sympathy and complexity than the typical military operatives seen on film.
The stone-shaped pods and squid-like heptapods are thoroughly designed, with their glass environment retaining the appearance of a waterless aquarium. Villeneuve creates graceful compositions of science-fiction scenery on par with Kubrick’s imagery in 2001, and the slow, melodic editing by Joe Walker and muted cinematography by Bradford Young add to its claustrophobic atmosphere. Adding to all of this is Jóhann Jóhannsson’s haunting music score, which is just as mysterious as the heptapods themselves.
Arrival is a fascinating glimpse into human behavior and interaction with the unknown, making it a science fiction film open to various re-interpretations upon multiple viewings.
* * * * (out of * * * *) “Ya-stars”
* * * * (Out of * * * *)
1. Day of the Outlaw (1959)
2. Crime Wave (1954)
3. House of Wax (1953)
4. Pitfall (1948)
5. Ramrod (1947)
6. Dark Waters (1944)
7. Man in the Saddle (1951)
* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)
1. Carson City (1952)
2. Springfield Rifle (1952)
* * * * (Out of * * * *)
1. A Place in the Sun (1951)
2. Shane (1953)
3. Giant (1956)
4. Alice Adams (1935)
5. Annie Oakley (1935)
6. I Remember Mama (1948)
* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)
1. The Talk of the Town (1942)
2. Vivacious Lady (1938)
3. A Damsel in Distress (1937)
4. Woman of the Year (1942)
5. The More the Merrier (1943)
6. Swing Time (1936)
7. Gunga Din (1939)
* * * * (Out of * * * *)
1. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
2. Anger Face (1953)
3. Bonjour Tristesse (1958)
4. Laura (1944)
5. Daisy Kenyon (1947)
6. Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
7. Such Good Friends (1971)
* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)
1. Fallen Angel (1945)
2. The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
3. Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
4. Advise and Consent (1962)
5. The 13th Letter (1951)
6. The Cardinal (1963)
7. Whirlpool (1949)
* * * * (Out of * * * *)
1. Mamma Roma (1962)
2. The Canterbury Tales (1972)
3. Accattone (1961)
4. A Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) (1974)
5. The Hawks and the Sparrows (1966)
6. The Decameron (1971)
7. Teorema (1968)
8. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
9. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
10. Medea (1969)
11. Pigsty (1969)
12. Oedipus Rex (1967)
13. The Anger (1963) (co-directed with Giovannino Guareschi)
(Documentary)
14. Love and Anger (1969)
(Segment: “The sequence of the paper flower”)
15. Love Meetings (1964) (Documentary)
16. Notes Towards an African Orestes (1970) (Documentary)
* * * * (Out of * * * *)
1. Pandora’s Box (1929)
2. Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
3. The Loves of Jeanne Ney (1927)
4. The Threepenny Opera (1931)
5. Joyless Street (1925)
6. Westfront 1918 (1930)
(I saw it on an old VHS Tape)
7. Kameradschaft (1930)
(I saw it on an old VHS Tape)
8. Secrets of a Soul (1926)
* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)
1. The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) (co-directed with Arnold Fanck)
* * * * (Out of * * * *)
1. All About Eve (1950)
2. Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
3. Julius Caesar (1953)
4. No Way Out (1950)
(No relation to the 1987 film)
5. The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
6. People Will Talk (1951)
* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)
1. A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
2. House of Strangers (1949)
3. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
4. Guys and Dolls (1955)
5. Sleuth (1972)
(Not the 2007 version)
* * * * (Out of * * * *)
1. Gun Crazy (1949)
2. Cry of the Hunted (1953)
3. The Halliday Brand (1957)
4. The Big Combo (1955)
5. Terror in a Texas Town (1958)
6. So Dark the Night (1946)
7. My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)
8. The Undercover Man (1949)
(I saw it a long time ago on TCM)
* * * 1/2 (Out of * * * *)
1. A Lady Without Passport (1950)
2. Retreat, Hell! (1952)
3. A Lawless Street (1955)
4. Desperate Search (1952)
5. 7th Cavalry (1956)
(I saw it on an old VHS Tape)
cinematiccoffee 