La La Land
Watched this twice already and just in love with the music, production design, actors; almost everything. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling is just the best on-screen couple nowadays. It is so easy to be in love with this film and also it is easy to hate it/nitpick it. Reading it from a different angle it has all the stuff that anyone can nitpick (mansplaining, whitesplaining you name it). But to me my biggest complaint about this film is that the film strictly homages to musicals of yore but never making itself a fully fledged musical. Sure it has big numbers and non-stop songs, but only until the middle of the film. Nevertheless, still a great film to be watched for the years to come. And don't you just envy Damien Chazelle? His first theatrical film was a dark horse Oscar contender and won some, his second is now an Oscar frontrunner and will definitely win some. La La Land: rated 3.5/4.Arrival
Denis Villeneuve might be one of those few import directors who just killed it in Hollywood. With one Villeneuve we also have like five Florian von Donnersmarck (who I thought, in his defense, made a highly enjoyable The Tourist). His films have a subtle trademark with their long slow pans and wide perspectives. Arrival is my favourite of his, and that just shows how he developed all these years from Prisoners (my least favorite), Enemy, and Sicario. Amy Adams had a commanding role in this film and the supporting actors don't disappoint at all, especially the very underrated Michael Stuhlbarg. Music, courtesy of The Theory of Everything composer Johann Johannson, is crazy good and it adds a different layer to the film (check out Heptapod B on YouTube). And goddamn, the cinematography in this film is so good. I actually checked out Pawn Sacrifice after watching Arrival just to see Bradford Young's work. If it were up to me, Oscars for Best Actress and Best Cinematography is a lock for win. Screenplay deserved a nod but not a win, thanks to those few lines of cheesiness at the end. Arrival: rated 4/4.Live By Night
Probably the inherent drive to watch this film is because Ben Affleck is Batman and he's going to write and direct the Batman film. Live By Night is, of course, a step down from his previous directorial efforts. My favorite of Affleck is still The Town, because I thought Argo was too much of a Hollywood self-pat in the back, so I was quite excited to see him back in the outlaw/gangster business. The film itself is beautiful to see and has great production design and costume. But adapting from a book is never easy and those films always risked of underdeveloping supporting characters, most felt here is Zoe Saldana and Sienna Miller's and they didn't deserve to be underdeveloped. Ben Affleck himself is quite good in this film (I still mentally comparing him to his Daredevil days because I watched that film too much on TV), but the best part of this film is Chris Messina and Elle Fanning, now I have to see The Neon Demon. If anything, Live By Night should be an exercise in genre and in writing for Ben Affleck, before he unleashes his superhero pic that could enrage a certain group of stupid nerds if done even a bit wrong. Live By Night: rated 3/4.The Great Wall
There's quite a lot to be excited about this film actually. Director Zhang Yimou is one of China's best and teaming up with Matt Damon for an epic colossal fantasy pic. Sadly, not so much. Is it just me or did I expected Matt Damon and some colorful Chinese army battles a big giant monster? Because first, the monsters are not that impressive. Second, CGI looks like it comes out of a Chinese film (because... this is a Chinese film now that Legendary is bought by Wanda Dalian), but seriously, it should be a lot better. There are some bright spots scattered throughout the film, but mostly nought. I almost fell asleep in the final battle but one thing for sure, that Jing Tian girl cannot act, she was just spouting lines. The film's crime is not whitewashing on the actors' side, but whitewashing from the script. The opening text states that the film was one of the legends from The Great Wall of China but guess what? The story and screenplay was written by at least four white people. And guys, at least name your controversies right if you want to talk about Matt Damon's character, this film suffers from 'white saviour complex', not whitewashing. The film felt very much like a corporate film, casting local popstars instead of local actors, hiring big name director just for the name, and hiring a familiar, likable and somewhat bankable Hollywood actor in the lead. I feel like Matt Damon would not even show up for a cameo had this film was funded fully by a Hollywood studio. But thank this film for giving Pedro Pascal the exposure he should have by now. The Great Wall: rated 1.5/4.Pretty good for a comeback right? Up next is the annual watch list and some Oscars predictions as soon as the noms dropped tonight.
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