a while back
(on another site),
i wrote about how
art begets art?-
in that case how
love for the game?Bloodborne
led to a renewed
dip into
Lovecraft

several whiles back
(on a currently dead?blog),
i wrote about how
faves lead to proselytizing –
how when we love something
(in that case,?Bloodborne’s?
forebear,?Dark Souls),
we naturally want
to tell everyone,
so they may love it too

(i also,
in?each case,
related what i was saying
re: art, proselytizing, etc.
to God
(surprise))

now, here, i want to
say (and do) something similar –
interrelated/interconnected –
re:?current Oscar top dog
and Hollywood darling
La La Land

by way of micro-review
(micro since so many
words have been spilt
already along these lines),
lemme just say:
La La Land was great;
like, really great;
like, to me, it deserves
how ever many Oscar nods
it’s been nodded

i mean, somehow,
like?a filmic magic trick,
La La Land managed to be
classic without seeming formulaic,
nostalgic without seeming disingenuous,
an homage without seeming?cute,
timeless without seeming stale

was it the great casting?
music?
acting?
writing?
cinematography?
music?
choreography?
music?
its situatedness in place/time?
just something about it
that makes you?want to
give in and go along with it,
right from the start?

yes.

anyway, it’s legit great;
greatly legit;
but that’s not really
the main thing i want to say
now, here

really, i mainly want to
say?(now, here)?five things

1.

you should go see
La La Land

2.

and you should
take everybody else with you

3.

cuz art that’s exemplary,
and amazing, and wonderful,
memorable and high quality,
carefully crafted and
expertly done –
art that’s?truly?artful;
art that speaks;
art?that’s just plain?good –
it?deserves?to be seen,
to be understood and appreciated
(not alone because
doing so also cultivates?us)

4.

and cuz people collectively
need to know that kind of art
when they see it;
and cuz the best way
to help that happen
is to show them bunches of it

(i know?my initial instinct,
upon realizing?i was in the
presence of something special
with?La La Land,
was to see it again
and take my kids;
to help them see:
this is how it’s done,
this?is something
beautiful that means something;
understand,
appreciate,
be cultivated by it)

5.

and all this previous stuff –
about art,
about?appreciating it,
about sharing it with others –
cuz God

cuz God made
and digs
and wants us to dig
great art,
not alone because
doing so also cultivates?us
(Paul says in Philippians: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”)

cuz God made
it so that
learning comes by example –
speaking a?writer’s
words after her,
following a
choreographer’s footsteps,
tracing a pianist’s keystrokes,
so that we may also
artfully write, dance, make music
(Paul says in 1 Corinthians: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

and,
therefore,
the world –
this world –
will always,?always,
need more writers,
dancers,
music makers;
will always need more
artists;
will always need more
great art;
will always need more
things?like?La La Land,
and people to see?them,
and people to tell others
to see them?too