La La Lied

Introduction

This is my thesis on why La La Land is a bad movie on both a screenwriting and technical level, this will be broken down into different sections. I would also like to mention that this is being posted before the Oscars so I have no idea whether the film done well or had a Boyhood moment.

The Current State of the Industry

Its no secret that the film industry is currently in a bad state, the quality of films have diminished substantially over the past couple of years. The rise of the "Cinematic Universe" and reboots have been a source of this decline in quality. So within the darkness of Hollywood we do get some glimpses of hope, Star Wars Episode VII was an example of doing a reboot and a major blockbuster well and of course there have been some really good smaller films.

The majority of independent films are not good they are plagued with filmmaking problems, usually understandable problems but none the less they are still average films. The biggest problem plaguing a lot of films not just independent films is that of appealing to pretentious audiences and critics, this is a big problem. Referencing other films and the industry making the audience and critics feel important, the problem with this is the fact that it does not actually add to the substance of the film or filmmaking but makes the film and director/writer come across as shallow.

The solution to the problems are simply not to treat your movie as a way to show off your film knowledge and just make the best film you can. Keeping a film within the context of its universe is the key to having your film stand the test of time. So if filmmakers could stop referencing other movies in their own and just keep your films as its own entity.

The Art of the Comeback

As previously stated references need to stop in films, The Godfather never had a scene where Marlon Brando looks at the camera and goes "I could have been a contender" and then the audience claps because they get the reference. Its seriously a cancer than needs to stop in films, the sooner we get away from this trend the sooner we can start to enjoy films again.

Doing a throwback is different from referencing, a throwback takes a lot of skill to pull off, just look at the original Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark they are perfect throwbacks, using iconography and themes to then tell an original story and make a really good film. In recent years we have not really got a good throwback film, or at least a major blockbuster. The horror genre has been very good at the throwback film but we need a major Hollywood blockbuster throwback. La La Land could have been that throwback, and this could have been one of the best films of the decade. The problem is we got a film with references and not a throwback.

Musicals are a dying breed, the last big musical was Les Mis and to be perfectly honest it was a good film. Im not saying that musicals need to return in a big way but it could be a genre that could be great again. Making a throwback musical would require a lot of research and effort to craft a good original musical that has the feel of a 50's musical.

So why is it that the film feels nothing like a 50's musical? .It claims to be this throwback and a homage to the classic musicals, but the film it resembles the most is Xanadu. I find it weird that the people bringing up the classic musical argument has clearly never seen a musical made before 2000. It is clear that this film was made to appeal to a mass audience who would overhype it to hell, the film is nothing like a 50's musical.

Remembering Whiplash

Since i first saw Whiplash my opinion has vastly changed on it, i started out loving Whiplash and now find it a good film with problems. Whiplash is a very good first film, a breakout film and so i can understand there being problems, mostly filmmaking and screenwriting problems that come with a relatively new filmmaker. My biggest problem with Whiplash is the script, having Miles Teller be a vessel for Damien Chazelle to force his opinions onto the audience but we will discuss that further on. Overall Whiplash is a fine film to get your feet wet within the industry, but the minor problems with Whiplash were surely going to diminish over Chazelle's career.

New Year, New Disappointment

After 2016 the film industry needs to start improving and with the release of La La Land i thought that this could be a good omen for 2017 but instead it damn near killed 2017 for me. Luckily T2 Trainspotting, Lego Batman and The Great Wall are good films and already show that 2017 is better than 2016 but La La Land was a massive disappointment to me.

Chazelle - The Character

Now La La Land and Whiplash both have something in common, both the main characters are agents for director Damien Chazelle to express his opinions to the audience. Both Ryan Gosling and Miles Teller really like jazz and Damien Chazelle's screenwriting won't let the audience forget both of the characters constantly have to tell the other characters how good jazz is. It starts to become annoying because they come across as one dimensional.

In Whiplash, Miles Teller has a scene where he talks to the "normal" members of his family and has to explain why jazz is so important. This scene is only here for Chazelle to show off his interest in jazz. When Ryan Gosling started talking in La La Land i knew exactly what Damien Chazelle is about. Ryan Gosling has many scenes where the film stops for him to explain to the audience why jazz is so much better than all this modern music, especially the scene where he flat out says that the majority of 80's pop is not real music and how he is a real musician. These scenes are only here for Chazelle to come across as a deep filmmaker who has a passion for jazz and that makes him superior to us and i'm not standing for it. Chazelle also references himself at points with Whiplash being thrown out there a lot going as far as to include JK Simmons in the film playing essentially the same character, its not clever Chazelle it comes off as masturbatory and pretentious.

Chazelle also enjoys showing of his film "knowledge" in Whiplash its when Miles Teller went to see Rififi at a cinema, this is Chazelle screaming at the audience saying how he "knows" movies and then La La Land takes this to the Nth degree. The first instance is when we see a "The Killers" poster in Emma Stones apartment, Jesus Christ this just irks me so much, its clear that Chazelle wants the audience (and the academy) to know how good his film taste is. Ryan Gosling has an entire subplot where he feels compelled to explain to Emma Stone how she MUST see Rebel Without a Cause, this scene sent me into a rage in the cinema, its so clear that Chazelle is a very shallow filmmaker who relies on his "knowledge" to get by and lets be real his filmmaking technique is not that great which leads us to...

Chazelle - The Filmmaker

Chazelle is not the worst when it comes to cinematography or style he is just a film student with a budget. Nothing about his style is revolutionary and his quick cut edits of food need to stop. When watching La La Land you get the impression that Chazelle wanted to be recognised for the film making when a film makers goal should be to have really good cinematography and camera movement without drawing attention to it, this is the same problem i have with Birdman. Opening the film with 'presented in cinemascope" was also a pretentious way to open your film and a clear sign that he was pandering to the academy, it also did not help that his film in terms of visual flair looked rather bland. La La Land looks like those Nike or Adidas adverts that play before the film rather than a 50's musical.

So we have established that Damien Chazelle is a shallow filmmaker who resembles a film student more than an auteur, he is not the worst director working today, but certainly not Oscar calibre. Whip-pans by the way are nothing special.

Modern Times

This may sound petty but i feel that if the film was supposed to be a "throwback" why was it set during modern day. Having the film set in a contemporary time, especially now, only hinders the film and including many modern aspects like iPhone ringtones snap the audience away from what they are watching, the film making and screenwriting are very hypocritical with what Chazelle wants to preach to us. He has Gosling talk about how great jazz is and then have Gosling horrified at the fact that there is a modern edge to jazz but then makes a movie that feels like modernising something that should preserved as it was. This is one aspect of Chazelle that really gets under my skin, he is a hypocrite and the worst type of pretentious hipster film maker. The entire film felt like Will Smiths white dad in Focus, just awful dialogue that is supposed to come across as edgy but just seems silly.

The Film Itself

The film feels like a modern day interpretation of a musical by that i mean its very muddled and has direction issues and the end result is a bland mess. The music in La La Land is nothing special with only two songs in my memory those being City of Stars and Another Day of Sun, I don't enjoy either of them. La La Land also has a strange pacing issue towards the middle of the film where it slows down to explore the characters more and there is a lack of any musical number until the last 20 minutes. To me it felt like an idea more than a screenplay, Damien Chazelle wanted to win an Oscar and the best way to win an Oscar is to include content about Hollywood and also be a musical. As I said before the story feels like the story of Xanadu smashed together with Whiplash, the most interesting part of the film being the plot about Gosling wanting to open a nightclub, that would have made a far better film.

Lighting is the Key to All of This

This film looks awful, its an ugly film to look at, the majority of it is washed out and dull, the foreground and background constantly feel separated. Why is it a trend now for films to look less cinematic than they did ten years ago, it really makes me angry that La La Land gets all this attention and praise whilst looking like trash and a film like Silence gets little attention and looks stunning. People are stupid and it annoys me that its only a select few people that can see through this facade that Chazelle has. This film needed to be colourful and yes you can say that the costumes were colourful, but it is vibrancy of the frame that i am talking about. A dull image is a sin, how can we be in 2017 and have films that look like they are 1950's industrial movies.

In Conclusion

Overall i would say La La Land is not the worst film ever but it does not deserve the majority of the praise it has garnered since its release. This was just my thoughts on why i believe that Damien Chazelle is a shallow filmmaker and why i personally did not enjoy La La Land. We shall see how it does at the Oscars but i have a sneaking suspicion that it will be another Boyhood, expected to sweep but fails. I can only hope. Here is to a better 2017 and I wish you all a good Oscar night and do remember that they don't really mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

Written By
Ashley Harvey

Oscar Predictions: 2017

The Oscars are tomorrow and here are my predictions, i will be listing my Think and Wants with a brief explanation on why i chose them. Now this year's Oscars are not the greatest and some of the nominations are pretty awful but here are the predictions.

BEST PICTURE

Think - Manchester by the Sea
This is the type of film that the Oscars love, its more about the performances than the film itself and it comes across as a "walking movie" it would not surprise me if this one best picture.

Want - Fences
Fences is the other realistic choice for best picture. Its a period piece and Denzel is no stranger to the Oscars.

Now i believe that if Manchester wins Denzel will win best actor. If Fences wins Casey will win best actor. If i were to go with what really should win then the answer will be Arrival.

BEST ACTOR

Think - Casey Affleck
This is the type of performance that all actors wins awards for. Casey is a good actor and does deserve praise but this comes across as typical Oscar bait

Want- Denzel Washington
Denzel is a great actor and consistently puts in decent performances and out of all the actors nominated he should win.

BEST ACTRESS

Think - Emma Stone
Now this is where my cynicism starts, she was not great in this film and should not win, but she will.
P.S I may be posting a blog about how i hate La La Land tomorrow.

Want - Natalie Portman
I can't explain why i want her to win but it just feels right.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Think - Mahershala Ali
Moonlight needs at least one win and this will be the one.

Want - Michael Shannon
Why not, i think is a fine actor, it will be novel.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Think - Viola Davis
People are raving about her performance and I believe she will win.

Want - Nicole Kidman
Again this is just one i feel will win.

BEST DIRECTION

Think - La La Land
Of course this will win, I personally don't see why it deserves any nominations but here we are.

Want - Arrival
I want this to win because I have faith in Blade Runner 2049.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Think and Want - Kubo and the Two Strings
This is one that deserves to win just because of the art style.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Think - La La Land
Again it will win for some reason.

Want - Silence
This film looks beautiful. Thats It.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Think - Jackie
Its a period piece in the 60's.

Want - Fantastic Beasts
The costumes looked very good shame about the overall quality of the film.

BEST EDITING

Think - La La Land
All the technicals will go to La La Land, if it gets one it gets them all.

Want - Hacksaw Ridge
War films usually win for editing.

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR

Think and Want - Star Trek

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Think and Want - La La Land

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Think - Can't Stop the Feeling

Want - City of Stars

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Think - Hail Caesar!

Want - Arrival

BEST SOUND EDITING

Think - Arrival

Want - Hacksaw Ridge

BEST SOUND MIXING

Think and Want - 13 Hours

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Think and Want - Jungle Book

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Think and Want - Fences

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Think and Want - Manchester by the Sea

Overall the Oscars are not important in the grand scheme of things and we will forget what wins in a couple of months. Look forward to my La La Land rant tomorrow.

Written By
Ashley Harvey

The Great Wall - Quick Review

This film was a watershed moment for me, being the first major Chinese blockbuster and to be honest they made a better blockbuster than the majority of what Hollywood has produced.

The film itself is rather decent nothing mind-blowing or great but a solid action fantasy but where this film succeeds and most others have failed is both in the script and the look of the film. Lets start with the script, again nothing great but what it set out to do it did well without having to make silly jokes or reference other films it was a film contained within its own universe. It has pacing problems in the beginning but when we are at the wall that's when the film finds its groove and keeps on going.

The story is about Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal who play "traders" in the east looking for black powder (gunpowder) they end up at the great wall of china and have to help the Chinese fight off a horde of monsters. That's it, it has a straightforward plot and sticks with it, no curve-balls just simplicity. Matt Damon is fine in the film not his best work but certainly not his worst and Pedro Pascal is good and convincing. The other actors are all fine in the film, no standout performances and overall it feels like a mid 2000's blockbuster in the same vein as Van Helsing or The Mummy.

Cinematography is what sets this film apart, there are problems but there is so much colour in this film and it is a welcome return to movies. Scale is also a part of this film, its not always present and sometimes the film feels claustrophobic but some of the wall scenes are huge. The CGI scenes in this were nothing special but they were not eye-gouging.The music was also very standard eastern fantasy affair but serviceable to the film.

Overall i think this a good steeping stone for the Chinese film industry to go mainstream and i encourage anyone to go see this film in the cinema, its not great but it is better than a lot i have seen in the past year or so. Definitely worth a watch.

7/10

Written By
Ashley Harvey

Black Rain - Hidden Gem

There are good films, there are good 80's films and there are good Ridley Scott films. Black Rain is all three.

I revisited Black Rain for the third time recently and it went from being a very good movie to being inside my top ten. Some could see it as cheesy or corny but this film does everything right for me. It might be the best non sci fi Scott film for me.

Black Rain tells the story of two New York cops, Douglas and Garcia, investigating Sato a member of the Yakuza in Japan after their escort of him went south. The Less said about the story the better, because it does unravel in a pleasing fashion and leads to a satisfying conclusion. One of those movies that could only have been made in the 1980's and it adds to the overall atmosphere of the film.

Ridley Scott knows how to make a movie feel atmospheric and Black Rain is no exception, New York feels dirty to be in and when we get to Japan you feel like you are with Douglas and Garcia experiencing a foreign land and how they operate differently. The film feels like Blade Runner without the Sci-fi, Blade Runner being my favourite film its easy to understand why i like Black Rain so much.

Now the performances are okay nothing that is going to win awards but very serviceable for the story and are in no way bad. Douglas does portray this American cowboy asshole really well and Garcia is good as the lovable sidekick to Douglas. Its a very good mix and Ken Takakura has the best performance in the film as Masahiro a Tokyo police officer who is at first reluctant to help Douglas and Garcia but ends up forming a bond with them. When the film slows down its a real joy to see these characters interact. Friendship is key in this film, its really nice to see how all three characters grow over the film.

Cinematography is perfect everything is cinematic about this film, dramatic lighting, sweeping shots and glorious landscapes. It truly does feel like Blade Runner which is arguably the most beautifully shot movie ever made. The action in this film is also top notch its a good case for why Ridley Scott is a good filmmaker. 

Hans Zimmer helms the score for Black Rain and it is one of the best scores for the time period, perfectly encapsulating a Japanese sound blended with other contemporary action scores, very bombastic and really creates depth to the film.

Overall Black Rain is one of the most underrated films of the 1980's and needs to be seen again by many people, it does stand the test of time and it is one of the best police action films ever made. I implore you to revisit this film, crank the sound up and enjoy Black Rain.

10/10

Written By

Ashley Harvey

My LaserDisc Journey: Pioneer DVL 909 Has Died.

Today is a mildly sad day because my Laserdisc player has finally decided to stop working. It is a Pioneer DVL 909 and when powered on all I get on the front display is "FLASH RD" i have no idea what it means and if anyone out there knows please do contact me, I would love to know the exact problem with my machine.

So how did I get into Laserdisc? Well it all started around 2010 I was fully into collecting Blu Ray's, DVDs and HD DVD's when one day I saw AVGN post a video about Laserdisc, I was amused by how strange it was to watch films on essentially a DVD that was three times the size. I liked the presentation of the films, in the vinyl style sleeves and the players really appealed to me because I am a massive fan of bulky electronics.

I got a player in early 2011 that came with 40 movies a lot of them were run of the mill titles such as The Nutty Professor or Weekend At Bernies and some were decent titles such as Star Wars and Willow. Problem was the player itself was broken, the disc tray refused to open, a common fault with Laserdisc players. Soon after that I invested in a cheap single sided player but later that day i also won an auction on Ebay for the Pioneer costing around £130. So now I had two players.

I collected a few more titles but never went crazy with it like I have done with HD DVD and never really used to watch anything. The only real example of using it to watch something would be True Lies and that was only because i heard the Laserdisc was the best I personally could get.

Laserdisc was nothing more than a novelty to me and still is, I wont be discarding my player it will sit proudly in my room and i will keep some of the movies purely because they make good display pieces.

The thought of replacing the player has not really come to mind either, it was a niche format I adopted six years ago but never really invested in it. I find it funny that this happens after I post about reviewing dead formats. I will still be making an in-depth review and retrospective for Laserdisc I thought it would be good to mention that my player has unfortunately died.

So for now I say goodbye to Laserdisc, it was fun while it lasted.

Written By
Ashley Harvey

Dead Formats Society

This is going to be less of a real post and more of a blueprint of how I want to expand this blog. Other than having a deep passion for television and film, I am also very entrenched in the home theatre aspect of the industry.

Dead formats intrigue me so much and over the years I have dabbled in some dead formats HD-DVD and Laserdisc being the two major ones. VHS is also a dead format but most of us have experienced VHS which makes it less interesting to me. Superbit is also on my list, because i own two superbit DVDs but yet to try them.

So this was just a quick update explaining how I intend to expand this blog and with formats and home theatre being a major part of my home life I feel its a step in the right direction for this blog. So alongside my reviews and think-pieces I will be discussing, reviewing and detailing home theatre releases and formats.

Written By
Ashley Harvey

The Art of... China

With the recent release of The Great Wall I would like to discuss further my thoughts on how the Chinese film industry could be the best thing to happen to movies in the past ten years. It might sound strange but there is a lot that can be benefited from having another global powerhouse in the industry.

The reason why China could be the competitor over other countries such as Britain and India is purely the financial backing that comes with making major blockbusters. China is currently undergoing an economic boom which has seen them break majorly into Soccer and with the release of The Great Wall the film industry. 

Like soccer in China, The Great Wall has been able to lure a two major American actors to star. Casting Matt Damon is a statement because it is not a small film by any stretch of the imagination and pairing that with an established Chinese director in Yimou Zhang we can see that this is the first step in China establishing itself as a major player. With a budget of $150 million China could rival the production of American movies. Money is not everything though and quality is what could set China apart.

China could prove to be a haven for directors who want to make blockbuster movies without the studio involvement. Imagine directors who make quality small budget films given the opportunity to take their talents east and be given a budget and freedom. Its no secret that the biggest problem Hollywood has is Hollywood itself. The Hollywood studios need competition otherwise the quality will continue to deteriorate, China is a perfect rival to the studios of America. It could also be a great showcase for Asian talent to break into the mainstream. 

Competition is good for the industry because there will be a motive to start making quality again, and if China is smart about how they make movies it could be the jump-start the industry has needed for the past 10 years. Obviously there could be problems, the biggest being imitation, if the Chinese film industry starts making comic book movies of the same quality of Hollywood then we now have two major players who are saturating the market with mediocrity. 

The option is there for talent now, Matt Damon did it, and i can guarantee that many more people will jump ship in order to be more creative and to financially benefit from this ever growing economy and hopefully the quality of Chinese film could be better than that of Hollywood which in turn makes Hollywood try harder.

The industry is in a bubble at this point in time and soon its going to burst, by 2020 I predict. I have faith in China to provide a healthy competition to Hollywood, because without competition there is no reason to improve and then we will be getting the same old stuff year after year.

Overall I believe that China becoming a powerhouse in the film and television industry could be very beneficial in the long run. Hollywood needs to be rivaled and China could be the key. I hope The Great Wall does well financially and i hope that it is a good movie. A review could be on the horizon.

Written By

Ashley Harvey