Tag Archives: musical

La La Land (2016)

La La Land review

written by Souranath Banerjee

A Classic is born and it will make you sing and fall in love all over again!

My Ratings: 4.3/5

The original 1953 20th Century Fox logo reappears on the big la- la-land-posterscreen and makes it seem even bigger, and then the magic begins!

Yes, the resurrection of the old Hollywood charm, that feeling when the white shoes start tapping in rhythm and the dialogues metamorphose into soothing songs – the sheer magic of experiencing a musical, an odd combination of a modern classic!

And you are lost in the darkness of the theatre, well suspended on your disbeliefs, wondering in a world so full of love and dulcet melodies, absorbed in the sheer beauty of brilliantly choreographed, colourful, talking Cinema!

“How are you gonna be a revolutionary if you’re such a traditionalist? You hold onto the past, but jazz is about the future.”

Director Damien Chazelle‘s love for Jazz was pretty evident in his previous film Whiplash but this time he makes a more definite statement – a desperate effort to save Jazz!

And thus he join hands with Ryan Gosling who learns to play piano like a professional just for this film, and then Gosling’s chemistry la- la-land-poster1with Emma Stone (undoubtedly one of the best actresses at present) is just so sublime! When they dance looking at each other’s eyes – that’s a major part of the ‘magic’ in the film that I was talking about earlier!

Long song and dance sequences masterfully choreographed that takes Justin Hurwitz‘s music to another level; great camera work and colour play by Linus Sandgren and crisp editing by Tom Cross. But again along with superlative directional capabilities thanks to Damien Chazelle‘s brilliantly written love story!

Recommended only for those who adore Jazz, Musicals, Ryan GoslingEmma StoneDamien Chazelle and powerful Cinema!

P.S – Oscar winner J.K. Simmons makes a guest appearance where he seems to hate good music!

Poster courtesy: www.impawards.com.

Into the Woods (2014)

My Ratings: 2/5.

With three Oscar nominations Into the Woods is probably the most popular fantasy musical drama of this year.

into-the-woods-poster2Directed by Rob Marshall who seems to be a specialist in musicals as he made Chicago (2002) and Nine (2009) in the past; but this time though he fails to leave a mark of that extent.

Into the Woods starts with great anticipation; a certain hope for a unique story, brilliant music and some superb acting performances. But instead the film takes a path too lengthy and unnecessarily complex and soon becomes boring.

Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, the Wolf, Rapunzel, Magic beans and the Witch – different fairy tale characters connected and linked in the story but unfortunately not used wisely enough. They are all mixed up, comes in and goes haphazardly as if unsure of their own motives in the film.

into-the-woods-posterFrom the start it seems like a children-movie but somewhere along the line the film looses it’s target audience and tries to punch-in heavy dozes of romance and drama (totally unnecessary).

An array of powerful actors Meryl StreepEmily BluntAnna KendrickTracey UllmanJames CordenChris Pine and even Johnny Depp for a short mischievous role.

Neither scripted nor edited to it’s maximum potential; an innovative concept that could have been a great film.

Do think twice before you venture Into the Woods, you may get lost (both literally and metaphorically).