The Criterion Collection

[SammyJankis]

The opening sequence to La La made me sink into my seat. I really wish Chazelle had cut that sequence like he initially intended. The rest of what followed is good stuff, however, and I find the backlash, even for the season, to be rather silly.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I'm starting to thing that these companies are only offering Filmstruck on their latest models to, well, make us buy the latest models. :/

Mubi recently launched on Roku and is working fine on my stick, so I'll try to stay optimistic.

And now I'm subscribed to Mubi again. Thank you.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

The opening sequence to La La made me sink into my seat. I really wish Chazelle had cut that sequence like he initially intended. The rest of what followed is good stuff, however, and I find the backlash, even for the season, to be rather silly.

I agree... And that makes 2 winners in a row for Chazelle, but man, oh man, how I wish that scene didn't exist. It did more to take me out I that film than the woman I sat next to during Manchester By The Sea. She was whistling through her nostrils. I somehow had not noticed until the most crucial plot development in the entire film. I turned to see if she was snoring and asleep, but she wasn't. Just breathing.

[Scottie]

Wait. People don't like the opening musical number of La La Land?

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Wait. People don't like the opening musical number of La La Land?

I think I count 4, maybe 5 of us..... At least

[Scottie]

[llj]

Originally Posted by Snicket

Hidden Figures is so easily written off as Oscar bait while La La Land, a film about how much Hollywood is so in love with itself, isin't Oscar bait? Even though it's clearly the front runner for best picture? How much more Oscar bait can you get?

Okayyyyy

Also gonna throw out this wild idea: Oscar bait films can also be great films.

Hidden Figures is the opposite of Oscar Bait since it's actually popular with mainstream audiences and made actual money.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Wait. People don't like the opening musical number of La La Land?

Chazelle mentioned on NPR that it was part of a longer opening he scrapped, but loved it so much that he had to keep it. I love it too, but it could easily be excised with no detriment to the film. The opening we get with Seb and Mia is perfect anyway.

To steer this back to the big ol' C, I'll say this: Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench would be a phenomenal addition to the collection.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by llj

Hidden Figures is the opposite of Oscar Bait since it's actually popular with mainstream audiences and made actual money.

So is La La Land.

[llj]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

So is La La Land.

That is true too, I definitely didn't deny that.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Snicket

Hidden Figures is so easily written off as Oscar bait while La La Land, a film about how much Hollywood is so in love with itself, isin't Oscar bait? Even though it's clearly the front runner for best picture? How much more Oscar bait can you get?

Okayyyyy

Also gonna throw out this wild idea: Oscar bait films can also be great films.

Good points all around.

I was initially suspicious of La La Land for the above reasons, in that it seemed like a Hollywood-loves-films-about-Hollywood sort of thing.

I warmed up to La La Land pretty quickly, though, because I liked the undercurrent of sadness and cynicism in the movie, where it is attempting to reconcile the "classic" art forms of film and music with today's atmosphere of studio compromises, digital releases, smartphones, and such.

Yeah, there's definitely an Oscar bait vibe going on, but the movie works nonetheless. The difference is that this particular movie was not predictable...at least not to me.

[jbieste]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I've seen 36 new movies from 2016. That may be a record for me. This was a good year for cinema. I usually struggle even to come up with 10 decent movies for an end-of-year top 10 list, but I had to leave several great films off this time.

I saw Moonlight last weekend, and loved it, but even that movie is a near-miss from my Top 10. I think that Naomi Harris and Mahershala Ali should both win Academy Awards for their supporting performances in the film.

I missed seeing a lot of highly-acclaimed 2016 flicks. Elle and Christine are two that come to mind.

A lot of offline friends keep telling me that I need to see Hidden Figures. I might go see it at a matinee this weekend, but, for the life of me, I just cannot get excited about this movie. Judging from the trailer, it has "predictable Oscar bait" written all over it. I could be wrong, though.

Concerning Hidden Figures, the movie is better than the book. Not sure what that says about the movie but it's not a good thing to say about the book.

[llj]

Originally Posted by jbieste

Concerning Hidden Figures, the movie is better than the book. Not sure what that says about the movie but it's not a good thing to say about the book.

For those wondering, it's a populist movie with populist storytelling and cliches. It is not an "art" movie in the sense of the word that Criterion fans use. It is not subtle in its messages and characters really tend to boil down to "good guys" and "bad guys" as they often do in mainstream movies. It is a historical story distilled down to pure crowdpleaser entertainment. It's a GOOD movie of that type, but you're not going into this with the mindset "I'm gonna watch ARRRT!"

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

A lot of people are disappointed that Amy Adams was not nominated for her work in Arrival, but I think that she gave a much better performance in Nocturnal Animals, and, as such, should have been nominated for her role in that one.

Nocturnal Animals is really something else. I've never so helpless while watching a movie. If you see it, then you'll know what I'm talking about.

Nooo she was much better in Arrival!

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by llj

For those wondering, it's a populist movie with populist storytelling and cliches. It is not an "art" movie in the sense of the word that Criterion fans use. It is not subtle in its messages and characters really tend to boil down to "good guys" and "bad guys" as they often do in mainstream movies. It is a historical story distilled down to pure crowdpleaser entertainment. It's a GOOD movie of that type, but you're not going into this with the mindset "I'm gonna watch ARRRT!"

I agree. I found this far more enjoyable than I expected I would. Nicely performed and well-made for the type of film that it wanted to be. Not horribly sentimental as I feared and gave the three some dimensions at times.

[UncleBuckWild]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Wait. People don't like the opening musical number of La La Land?

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I think I count 4, maybe 5 of us..... At least

Who are these people?

[jshaide]

Lincoln Center movie theater in Manhattan has this listing for May.

Stalker

Andrei Tarkovsky 1979 USSR 163 minutes Opens May 05, 2017
New Digital Restoration


Experience the mysteries and revelations of Andrei Tarkovsky’s visually extraordinary and philosophically provocative 1979 science fiction fable in a new digital restoration. A Janus Films release.

[nitin]

I found the opening to La La Land horrible and the whole thing was very shaky for me until it soared with the Emma Stone/Ryan Gosling park bench part. From 'City of Stars' onwards I felt it hit a very comfortable stride without ever soaring or plummeting as previously before.

It's a very good movie but I find some of the nominations staggering (screenplay and Gosling especially, the former was especially passable at best). Emma Stone was the best part of the movie and so I don't have any issues with her winning (or the movie), but it would be nice if the Oscars some day reverted back to actually rewarding the best in each category rather than nominating and awarding in a sweeping generalisation form and/or to promote some message.

[Member-167298]

Originally Posted by nitin

I found the opening to La La Land horrible

[senseabove]

I thought the first third of La La Land was a blast, but once the song and dance goes into hiding so we can focus on the completely uninteresting

[Show spoiler]success, meet failure, but wait, don't give up—surprise, success!

plot, the only thing keeping me engaged was my willingness to watch Ryan Gosling do just about anything and Stone's undeniable charm.

I also find Chazelle's conception of artistic authenticity, as evinced in both Whiplash and La La Land, to be puerile, bordering on offensive. If he were making movies that were in the least bit challenging, it would be slightly more palatable, but his completely ridiculous "sacrifice everything for your holy, pure art form" paired with something as populist and schmarmy as La La Land, plus all the "if you don't like La La Land you don't have a heart/don't know how to have fun at the movies/etc." commentary, just clash too hard for me.

What Chazelle does do well, it seems, is pick his collaborators: Whiplash was better than it had any right to be largely thanks to its editing, which earned that Oscar, and La La Land has a justified fair shot at cinematography and song.