La La Demy Land

Now that La La Land is in wide release word of mouth from regular moviegoers (rather than critics) keeps expanding. As expected with Best Picture frontrunners, not all of it is kind. This unique and ravishing film has begun to suffer from the inevitable backlash.  Some of my musical theater friends are balking that neither star is a great singer, the songs aren’t sophisticated, and it doesn’t honor Hollywood musicals in the way they’d expected.

To harp on these issues misses the point of what director Damien Chazelle has created.  It's true that neither Emma Stone nor Ryan Gosling have Broadway-caliber singing voices, and it’s also true that future composers of musical theater are likelier to study Sondheim than Justin Hurwitz.  But Chazelle isn’t making a Broadway show, he’s crafting a wholly-original tone for a film, stealing bits and pieces from a wide variety of sources, and doesn’t seem interested in making a purely traditional Hollywood musical.

Chazelle has spoken in interviews about how the single greatest influence on La La Land were the two musical films of French director Jacques Demy:  The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and The Young Girls of Rochefort...

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The Oscar Week: Palm Springs to NY to LA

In this weekly feature from Murtada we follow Oscar contender appearances and interviews.

This week Oscar contenders were very busy, making numerous appearances from Palm Springs to New York and back to California for Sunday’s Golden Globes. From the ceremonial Palm Springs International Film Festival that basically gives awards to every single contender as long as they show up to their fund raising gala, to the more discerning New York Film Critics Circle awards, people like Casey Affleck, Jeff Bridges and Amy Adams got to test out their acceptance speeches while gaining face time with media and Oscar voters... 

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FYC: Lucas Hedges, Best Supporting Actor

by Brian Zitzelman

As a vital player in Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea, which at this point in the Oscar race appears a lock in many a category, if not particularly a frontrunner in any of them,  Lucas Hedges might seem preordained to be a member of the Best Supporting Actor club in the months to come.

However, Hedges isn't - hopefully - getting in by shear wave of momentum for the movie. His Patrick is a vital, memorable part of the Manchester puzzle...

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Viola Davis Joins the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Chris here. You might think that richly earned (and incredibly likely) Viola Davis's Fences Oscar march will officially begin this Sunday at the Golden Globes, but you would be wrong. It has already begun. Get ready for lots of love all around for one of our greatest actresses alive. She was just awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Davis was tributed by pal, idol, and devotee Meryl Streep at the unveiling, calling her "possessed of a blazing, incandescent talent".

You can call it an archaic pastime or doubt its significance, but a star on the Walk of Fame is a more than fitting achievement for a titan like Davis, especially as our time-honored institutions need to reflect diversity. With a hit television show, two Oscar nominations thus far, and a franchise on the books, it's surprising that it's taken so long for the honor. But just consider it the kickoff for the victory tour (let's call Critics' Choice the warmup). She's simply the person this Oscar season that you couldn't be happier for - unless maybe she'd be rightfully winning as a lead. Details.

Art Director's Guild Nominations

The Art Director's Guild can give us a taste of what's to come for Oscar but that's the reductive way of looking at it. By having multiple categories they give us a much better sense of what these craftsmen thought of the work done in any given film year... or at least told us which screeners they caught up with. Instead of 5 annual nominees like the Oscars, they have 15. Or in this year's case 16 titles (there was a tie in "period film").

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS won a surprise Academy nomination for Production Design (without an ADG nomination). Might CAFE SOCIETY (which *has* an ADG nomination) make the Oscar list despite a current low profile?

Which will go on to Oscar? (I'll have to rethink our chart which has four films which didn't score with the ADG in the top ten though one of them, The Handmaiden, still feels possible as a nomination since foreign films don't generally show up at guild awards before their Oscar nods) Oscar eventual lineup is remarkably similar from year to year in terms of how it pulls from the ADG nominations. For example, here is this decade thus far: 

2015: Oscar chose 3 from ADG's period pieces, 1 each from their contemporary and fantasy selections
2014: Oscar chose 2 from ADG's period pieces, 2 film from fantasy, none from contemporary. They filled the remaining spot with a film ADG had not selected (Mr Turner)
2013: Oscar chose 3 from ADG's period pieces, 1 each from their contemporary and fantasy selections
2012: Oscar chose 3 from ADG's period pieces, 2 from fantasy, none from contemporary.
2011: Oscar chose 2 from ADG's period pieces, 1 from fantasy, none from contemporary, and 2 films the ADG had not selected (Midnight in Paris & War Horse)
2010: Oscar chose 2 from ADG's period pieces, 3 from fantasy, none from contemporary.

The safest bet is that they'll do the same as usual this year with a 3,1,1 split for ADG's Period, Fantasy, and Contemporary fields. All the nominations are after the jump...

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