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La La Land

Yes, One Last Top Ten List

February 26, 2017 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Yes, tonight is Oscar night

Yes, it’s the end of February.

Still, I wanted to wait until I’d seen enough of last year’s films to truly give a proper ‘Top Ten’ list… and that takes time.  While there were many films that could have been on here, I felt that these were my picks as the ten most engaging film experiences I had in 2016.  Do you agree?  What would be on yours?

10) Doctor Strange – I admit it.  Over the last two years, I’ve grown tired of Marvel’s overall repetitiveness.  While they often create interesting characters, they often lack in bringing anything particularly new.  Doctor Strange was the exception to the rule.  By introducing magic into the MCU, director Scott Derrickson also introduced a heart of spirituality that has often been lacking from the franchise.  It would take a lot for me to enter a Marvel film into my Top 10 but I couldn’t deny this pleasant surprise from an appearance.

9) Sing Street – This little rock n’ roll film film from the director of Once is pure joy.  The film moves along at a solid pace and the characters fit well with the world in which they exist.  Despite their youth, they struggle with the effects of poverty and tensions within 1980s Ireland but they find hope as the come together in their music.  Also, it’s a ton of fun.  And ‘Drive It Like You Stole It’ will stick in your head all day.

8) Kubo and the Two Strings – While this likely won’t win Best Animated Feature tonight, it really should.  This surprise is all about the power of our stories and how they drive us.  The animation is simply beautiful–given to look like paper themselves, re-emphasizing the story motif–and the film is simply amazing.  See it.

7) Birth of a Nation – Yes, it has it’s issue.  Yes, it’s controversial… but there’s a lot of good in this Braveheart-style film (which was, incidentally, ‘mentored’ by an uncredited Gibson.  Much of the backlash towards the film was related to writer/director Nate Parker but the film itself is focused and has much to say.  The story of Nat Turner is one that Parker wants you to experience and feel, and personally, I felt he accomplished this.  In addition, the film has lots to talk about who owns the Scripture, which I found very interesting.

6) Silence – This film breaks my heart–not because of the torture scenes of Christians but actually due to the lack of support it received from the Evangelical community.  Seen as one of the biggest bombs of Scorcese’s career, it really is only because people didn’t show up.  The quality of the film is superb and provides a riveting challenge to faith while also demonstrating the value of it.  Frankly, the church missed out on an amazing opportunity.  This film was brilliant.

5) Jackie – To me, this was undoubtedly one of the best scripts of the year.  Following Jackie Onassis on the week after JFK’s assassination, this character study was a fascinating exploration of the relationship between fame and politics.  Portman’s performance is, in my mind, the best lead actress of the year (though she likely won’t win the Oscar).  She plays Jackie O with ferocity and fragility and it’s truly something to see.

4) Hail, Caesar! – Clooney arguing the Communist dialectic.  Channing Tatum tap dancing on a table.  “Would that it t’were so simple?”  This Coen brother’s comedy is hilarious in its absurdity but also an interesting look at Hollywood’s connection with faith-based culture.  I laughed.  A lot.  And it earned them.  Definitely one of my favourites of the year.

3) Arrival – I love thoughtful sci-fi… and Denis Villeneuve… but this film earns the position based on it’s own merits as well.  While not truly a ‘twist’ ending, the film’s finale does bring everything together in an engaging and thought-provoking matter.  Plus, I found the exploration of language and suffering is moving.  I’d say more but the less you know before you see, the better.

2) La La Land – Yes, it’s good.  I’ll admit it.  I simply don’t get the emerging backlash against the film.  It’s fun, the music is wonderful and the performances engaging.  Chazelle proves yet again that his direction is something to be noticed and the set design is eye popping.  More importantly though, the story does have something to say by talking about the tension between nostalgia and moving forward.  Does it deserve 14 nominations?  I struggle with that… but it’s a worth Best Picture film should it take gold tonight.

1) Moonlight – No other picture surprised me as much as this film did this year.  Moving and powerful, Moonlight explores sexuality and masculinity in an urban African-American setting that is rarely explored.  The slow, panning camera let you feel each moment as Little grows to Chiron and transforms to Black.  In the end, this film simply gave me more to think about than any other film this year.

Filed Under: Film, TIFF Tagged With: Academy Awards, Amy Adams, Arrival, Birth of a Nation, Caesar!, Dr. Strange, Hail, Jackie, kubo and the two strings, La La Land, Moonlight, Oscars, Silence

3.13 Finding Ourselves in the MOONLIGHT

February 25, 2017 by Steve Norton 1 Comment

http://screenfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/3.13-Moonlight.mp3

This week, Steve welcomes back Audra Grey-Choy and Shelley McVea to wrestle with issues of identity, sexuality and cultural definitions of masculinity in Barry Jenkins’ MOONLIGHT!

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.13 Moonlight

A very special thanks to Audra (Adonai Creative Arts) and Shelley for coming back on the show!

Filed Under: Film, Oscar Spotlight, Podcast Tagged With: Academy Awards, Barry Jenkins, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Janelle Monáe, Jimmy Kimmel, La La Land, Mahershala Ali, Moonlight, Naomie Harris, Oscars, OscarsSoWhite

In Defense Of My Best Picture Pick “LA LA LAND”

January 27, 2017 by Chris Utley Leave a Comment

In defense of my Best Picture choice LA LA LAND…

First of all, as a Black man, some folks may be SHOCKED 😱 that my choice is neither Moonlight nor Hidden Figures nor Fences (my STRONG #2 choice for the big prize).   You shouldn’t be shocked.  I’m a film lover first.   Through and through.  I study the history and I soak up the artform.  The language of Cinema pours out of my pores.  I don’t make choices on what movie to see or what film should win out of the lens of my Blackness.  I judge on heart – as in which film, which nominee captures my heart as a cinephile.

This year, THAT film is LA LA LAND.

Here’s the deal.  The film doesn’t really GET you the first time you see it.  It’s a musical… but not the modern day jukebox type that intersperses the songs we know in a brand new story.  This is a ‘built from the ground up’ original musical.  You sit in the theatre, popcorn in hand, learning new music that you have never heard until the lights dimmed.  You sit there watching them dance on the freeway and watch Ryan and Emma bickering and singing and loving and singing and fighting and singing and ease into the ending. To the naked eye, you’re like “O…..K. That was cute.  Don’t know if it’s all that great, but it’s cute.”

But then you go home and in the randomness of your day, you start hearing “City Of Stars” in the recesses of your mind.  You recapture the moment when Emma sang about “The fools who dream.”  And then you a mad dash to download those songs on your musical device or watch them on YouTube. And you catch the specific lyrics and piece them together with the story you saw a few days/weeks earlier. And then the tapestry of the story re-knits itself together in your earbuds. And your “eyes” begin to open and understand why they danced on freeways, flew in planetarium displays in Griffith Park, and auditioned about fools who dream.

Because, if you’re a film lover, we are those fools.

We could be watching football, coding iPhone apps, coaching little league, making sweaters for our families. But no. We spend our weekends and weeknights searching online for movie tickets on Fandango, chasing free screenings, writing articles for ScreenFish, or READING the articles other people wrote.  😜

Why?  Because we are those fools.

LA LA LAND is a film for those fools. For every girl who hitchhiked or took a bus or drove from Michigan to LA chasing a dream. For every dude who plays in some band in his garage hoping to get to the Sunset Strip venues so they can blow up. It’s for every writer, poet, painter, starving actor/actress/wannabe filmmaker who dreams in spite of it all. It’s for everyone in this town who’s heart aches and breaks. For everyone who’s life is a mess because they won’t give up on the dream. For the dream makers. The dream workers. The dreamers.

LA LA LAND is about us.

Filed Under: Editorial, Reviews Tagged With: Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone, La La Land, musical, Oscars, Ryan Gosling

See La La Land & Take Everybody Else With You

January 26, 2017 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Editorial, Film, Reviews Tagged With: art, children, Christian, Emma Stone, example, God, Jesus, La La Land, modeling, movie, Oscar, Paul, quality, review, Ryan Gosling, spiritual

3.8 Dreaming in LA LA LAND

January 8, 2017 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

http://screenfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/3.8-La-La-Land.mp3

For our 1st ep of 2017, Steve welcomes Kevin McLenithan (co-host, Seeing and Believing) to sing the praises of Damien Chazelle’s LA LA LAND! In a great conversation, they talk about the tension between nostalgia and reality as well as finding a balance between love and purpose. In addition, the guys also reveal their Top 3 Movie Moments of 2016!

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.8 La La Land

A special thanks to Kevin McLenithan for coming on the show!  You can hear more from Kevin on the Seeing and Believing podcast with Wade Bearden and read his work at Christ and Pop Culture!

Filed Under: Film, Podcast, Reviews, TIFF Tagged With: Academy Awards, awards, Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone, Golden Globes, JK Simmons, La La Land, Love, movies, musicals, nostalgia, Oscars, Ryan Gosling

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