If you have only heard about La La Land, you may be wondering what all the song and dance is about. But if you have been tracing its trajectory for a while, you’ll know that song and dance is the whole idea. Winner of seven Golden Globes and six Academy Awards, the 2016 Hollywood blockbuster has got viewers leaving the cinema with a tear in their eye, a song in their heart and a clear six inches of thin air between the soles of their shoes and the pavement.
Written and directed by Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), La La Land has respect for movie tradition, in the sense that it references some of the best elements of the big studio musicals that were last in style in the 1960s – the kind with sun-drenched boulevards, sorbet-colored minidresses and
The film is dotted throughout with production numbers by Justin Hurwitz that are more than enough to qualify La La Land as a musical, but not so much that the characters are subordinated to the songs. There’s this essential mundaneness in the way they perform – it slows things in the best way and brings Seb and Mia down to human level. We’re not looking at spectacle. We’re looking at people expressing their feelings, joy, melancholy and desire. However, Chazelle’s highlighted accomplishment has to be the movie’s perfectly crafted finale which takes place five years after the main action. “It's not that I literally write the last scene first, but it's just nice to know what your destination is, and then just backtrack, or figure out what is the most elegant way to build to that.” – the director explained how he did it on an interview with Cinema Blend. The film switches to a dream ballet of everything we’ve seen up until that point, only with a few vital differences. In other words, we get to see our initial expectations play out, represented by dance sequences, shadow plays and home video-style recreations of the life not lived. Whether La La Land’s ending plays as sad or happy surprisingly comes down to how much faith we have in happy endings in the first place. It’s easy to think that dreams don’t come true, and that love only exists in motion pictures. But La La Land serves to remind us that movies can still be magical, and they provide a channel for us to see miracles in the world
Two of the greatest stories told about the city of Los Angeles come from different art forms, but both tell just as equally thought-provoking tales. Twilight: Los Angeles, written and performed by Anna Deavere Smith, is a one woman play that recalls several interviews of LA community members that talk about their experiences during the 1992 Rodney King trial verdict. Crash, directed by Paul Haggis, is a story about racial tensions amongst citizens of Los Angeles. Although both stories tackle similar issues, they differ in terms of critical race theory, feminist views, and their narrative structures.
“There once was a time in this business when I had the eyes of the whole world! But that wasn't good enough for them, oh no! They had to have the ears of the whole world too. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK!” (Sunset Boulevard). The film Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder focuses on a struggling screen writer who is hired to rewrite a silent film star’s script leading to a dysfunctional and fatal relationship. Sunset Boulevard is heavily influenced by the history of cinema starting from the 1930s to 1950 when the film was released.
The noir style is showcased in Sunset Boulevard with its use of visually dark and uncomfortable settings and camera work, as well as its use of the traditional film noir characters. In addition, the overall tone and themes expressed in it tightly correspond to what many film noirs addressed. What made this film unique was its harsh criticism of the film industry itself, which some of Wilder’s peers saw as biting the hand that fed him. There is frequent commentary on the superficial state of Hollywood and its indifference to suffering, which is still a topic avoided by many in the film business today. However, Sunset Blvd. set a precedent for future film noirs, and is an inspiration for those who do not quite believe what they are being shown by Hollywood.
The film, Fruitvale Station, is based upon a true story of a young, unarmed African American male, Oscar, who was shot by a Caucasian BART police officer. The film displays the final twenty-fours of Oscar Grant’s lives going through his struggles, triumphs, and eager search to change his life around. There will be an analysis of the sociological aspects displayed throughout the movie that show racism, prejudice, and discrimination.
The movie, “The Perfect Dictatorship” (“La Dictadura Perfecta”), directed and produced by Luis Estrada and released in 2014, is a political, satirical comedy story of two reporters attempting to repair the image of a corrupt governor after he signs a deal with the boss of their television company, Television Mexicana. That’s one way we could describe the plot of the movie. Another would be that the movie depicts the inherent corruption of the Mexican government and the lengths to which they will go to retain (or regain) their reputation. Equally, we could see the movie as a demonstration of the corruption of the Mexican media and the ways in which the media influences and effects politics. In fact, the
poster typically has the white cowboy large, presented front and center, with the antagonists and co-stars all behind him. An iconic western, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, has a poster picturing the white cowboy alone. Clint Eastwood stands there tall, stoic, and singular. Typical of most other westerns, the white cowboy is the center of attention. Here, however, there are two non-white figures presented: Bart, the Black cowboy, and a large Native American chief. This movie poster has the same style as other westerns with the color and layout, but is unique in the fact that a black man is presented where a white man would normally be dominating. Once again, this makes a statement about racial improvements. Previously having a black man at
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
Sex, love, depression, guilt, trust, all are topics presented in this remarkably well written and performed drama. The Flick, a 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning drama by Annie Baker, serves to provide a social commentary which will leave the audience deep in thought well after the curtain closes. Emporia State Universities Production of this masterpiece was a masterpiece in itself, from the stunningly genuine portrayal of the characters of Avery and Rose, to the realism found within the set, every aspect of the production was superb.
A female in film noir is typically portrayed in one of two ways; she’s either a dependable, trustworthy, devoted, and loving woman, or she’s a manipulative, predatory, double crossing, and unloving temptress. Noir labels the cold hearted and ruthless woman archetype as a Femme Fatale. A femme fatale is walking trouble, and she’s aware of it. This woman is gorgeous, refined, eloquent, and commands the attention of any room she’s in. When the femme fatale desires something, she pursues it. If there’s an obstacle in her way, she overcomes it. If she can’t handle it herself, all she needs to do it bat her eyelashes and the nearest man is all too willing to take care of it for her. In essence, the most dangerous thing about the femme fatale is her
A League of Their Own (Marshall, 1992) explicitly characterizes an American era when a woman’s place was in the home. Even our modern perspective implicitly follows suit. Although women have gained rights and freedoms since the 1930’s, sexism remains prevalent in America. This film offers an illustration when men went to war and big business men utilized women as temporary replacements in factories, sports, and so on. Here, course concepts, such as gender socialization, gender expressions, role stereotypes, emotion expressions, and language, correspond to the film’s characters and themes.
Since the birth of movies, Hollywood has strived to delve into the human experience and present certain aspects of life to the general population. Mental disorders are just one of many topics that are often explored for use in the media. The film A Beautiful Mind focuses specifically on paranoid schizophrenia, and follows protagonist John Nash’s life as he lives with the disorder. The film details Nash’s presymptomatic life at Princeton University, follows him through the early stages of the disorder, and continues as the symptoms begin to overrun his life. Luckily for Nash, his disorder is eventually clinically diagnosed and he is treated. The movie not only shares the tale of Nash’s life, but also shares with audiences a lesson about the
The movie Doubt is set in a private Catholic School in 1960s. Sister Aloysius is the principal of the school, and Father Flynn is the clergyman in the church. While the movie deals with some moral dilemmas such as doubt versus certainty, rigidity versus openness and so on, the central theme of the story pivots on accusation on Father Flynn of child molestation. The story has a hanging ending where Father Flynn is proven neither guilty nor proven innocent. Based on the contents of the movie and my own analysis, I believe that certainty plays a bigger role in accusations and I believe that Father Flynn had been falsely blamed and I am also against the rigidity of the society.
“Good Night, and Good Luck” is a 2005 American drama film about how United States (US) was plagued by the threat of communism, creating a tense atmosphere within US in the early 1950s. Fear of communism was inevitable and Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin exploited those fears. CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred W. Friendly challenged McCarthy and aimed to expose him of his agendas. Although their actions brought about many consequences, the two men persevered in their stance and eventually brought down McCarthy successfully.
What does it mean to give yourself completely to your vocation or life? We find in a fictional story from Wes Anderson, his eighth feature presentation, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” What it means to be completely giving of oneself. Even though Wes’s movie is fictional, we find many deep and underlying themes, tones, and values. these are values are applications that anyone male or female that one can implicate in ones life to any situation. The main values we can find in the movie are simple, but can improve life ten-fold. Three easy steps to improving ones life are as stated: gratitude, positivity, and you must contribute yourself 100% of the time no matter how hard the road in front of you is going to
It is no doubt that Martin Scorsese has heavily influenced the emulating of American film making from European influences. He is a prime example of a ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ director, not only from his ethnicity and background, but from his sheer interest in this form