Read the full article on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/fc-at-venice-2018-thoughts-on-damien-chazelles-awesome-neil-armstrong-biopic-starring-ryan-gosling/
I don’t understand embargoes at a film festival. I mean, I’ll respect them. I just don’t see the point. When a big movie opens on thousands of screens, you see why they don’t want reviews till a certain point. If the reviews are overwhelmingly negative, it could impact ticket sales — so on, so forth. But at a festival where there are, at most, a few thousand attendees, the embargo makes little difference. Whether an insta-opinion is tweeted out seconds after a press show or a full-on review is published only after the first public screening has begun (which is how Venice wants it), it still means that only the people at that public screening get to watch the film without knowing what the critics thought. When the reviews get out, the minute after the public screening begins, the whole world knows.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2018 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
vinjk
August 30, 2018
Great review! Must catch this movie in theatre…
LikeLike
Srinivas R
August 30, 2018
A delicious review of what seems to be a wonderful movie. Its awesome to read review of a movie you have enjoyed. I hope some of our film makers take inspiration for upcoming biopics in Bollywood.
LikeLike
Vikram S
August 30, 2018
Can’t wait to see it when it gets to India
LikeLiked by 1 person
MANK
August 30, 2018
Damien Chazelle (whose Whiplash I loved, but whose La La Land I thought was overrated)
For us indians, all Hollywood musicals (particularly the recent ones) are overrated 🙂 and i say rightly so. i never understood the appeal or the oscar nominations for movies like Moulin Rouge, Chicago and god forbid , the wretched Les Miserables. The old classics like Singing in the Rain or My Fair Lady had their charm and appeal and deserved the accolades
In an age of anything-can-be-shown with special effects, Chazelle opts to show practically nothing that’s… special. If spectacle is what you’re after, First Man isn’t your movie.
Then this isn’t my movie. who wants to see a jagged , cinema verite version of a space movie. i would rather watch the classically spectacular 2001 space odyssey a few more times.
LikeLike
boredguys
August 30, 2018
Excited to hear your thoughts on Yorgos Lanthimos’ Favourite. Killing of a Sacred deer was painfully thrilling.
LikeLike
Anu Warrier
August 30, 2018
La La Land overrated? Thank you, BR! I could fall on your neck and weep with joy to hear that. What a soppy, syrupy, idiotic movie that was! And the Oscars fiasco just capped the whole terrible mess. and god forbid , the wretched Les Miserables.
@ MANK: Oh, thank you, thank you! I hated it with a vengeance, but the theatre I watched this in, gave the film a standing applause. Everytime they make a noise about ‘Bollywood musicals’, I rub this film in – we do this so much better. (Well, they did, as well – just not in Les Miserables.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Madan
August 31, 2018
I loved Chicago. The chemistry between the three leads was terrific. It was essentially a fun film, unlike Les Miserables (which is why I didn’t like it so much). That said, I get why we Indians don’t dig Hollywood musicals and it’s probably because they insist on using those boring old jazz pop/Broadway style tunes. Those tunes are attractive but not absorbing in the way good Indian film music can be. If they used R&B or even rock, it would work better. I suspect that’s also part of why Whiplash worked because it showed the cutting edge of jazz and not the lazy, sleepy stereotype of it.
LikeLike
Vivek narain
August 31, 2018
We don’t even know for sure that moon landings did take place, and it wasn’t a hollywood shoot at area 51. Like some diabolical organisations fronting a man for top political post because his only antecedents are talking glibly and rolling eyes forever. Armstrong might have been the poster boy with the talent of a b-grade movie hero, for all we know. You make some genuine progress and acquire an impressive inventory,and then you add a whole lot of dummy stuff to boost your image to unbeatable heights.
LikeLike
Mank fan
August 31, 2018
Chetta, we know why you found la la land overrated. You might want to give first man a shot too, you will be able to elaborate on why BR liked the movie so much.
LikeLike
Akhilan
August 31, 2018
Guess I’m in the minority here, but I absolutely loved La La Land… The visuals (particularly the staging and picturization of Another Day of Sun and Planetarium) along with the beautiful soundtrack will stay with me for years to come… But more importantly, Gosling and Stone brought gravitas, a certain vulnerability and a sense of familiarity to their characters that felt original and so refreshing to the genre… Their struggles, their aspirations and dreams; they felt like people I could actually bump into…
Gosling didn’t have to unabashedly dance like a Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire nor did Stone have to belt it like Julie Andrews… For me that would’ve felt totally anachronistic and out of place… It’s about creating a tone, texture, and subsequently communicating an emotion that feels authentic to that milieu… And Chazelle interpreted/reworked the musical as a genre in a way that felt contemporary, real, intimate, melancholic yet dreamy and magical all at once… Therein lies its triumph… Overrated…?! How about, a masterpiece…
LikeLike
brangan
August 31, 2018
Madan: I love Chicago too. The songs and lyrics are amazing, and I actually like the old Broadyway style show tunes/lyrics.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Madan
August 31, 2018
BR: To me that kind of music needs really top notch singing to make it come alive. And because Hollywood insists on making the actors sing, usually the singing is adequate but not amazing. If they could embrace playback and get a Liza Minelli to voice the jolly tunes or a Linda Eder for the melancholy ones, it would work better. In Les Miserables the singing was particularly lacking, especially Russell Crowe but Hathaway’s rendition of I Dreamed A Dream wasn’t much either.
LikeLike
writeawordatatime
September 2, 2018
The films when opening at ‘1000s of theatres’ already have Their reviews out at the first screening, press screening before and ticket sales are affected. Thee is nothing of an embargo for a released film. Am talking of West fests and markets.
But these big five , four film fests, none of the films are out yet for the viewing public in the theatres. They are not released. Some still looking at distribution options at the festivals. Pl who come to the say Venice, are not for reviews. Its a prestige viewing for them and anyone who attends. Not sure what exactly your gripe is? ..
LikeLike
writeawordatatime
September 2, 2018
Sorry, Typos. To avoid typing on phone. And there is no edit feature here.
LikeLike
KayKay
September 4, 2018
MANK & The Warrior, ceh! What’s with the hatred for La La Land? Oscar material? NO. But worthy of derision? Also NO. The ending, for me, redeems it. Like Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya, that “twist” is a sucker punch to the gut. So much regret, so much longing …ok, maybe I was at the appropriate “Head Space” while watching it. And I love Emma Stone.
LikeLike
KayKay
September 4, 2018
MANK & Warrior..ok I get that musicals ain’t gonna floor us, given that even in an Indian Version of Rambo, the hero takes a time out from the carnage to sing 6 duets, but I put this challenge to you? When’s the last time we had a TRUE BLUE Indian musical, as in Music is interwoven into the themes and narrative fabric of the film? Or where the narrative is rendered musically for the most part? We don’t have musicals do we? We have 180 minute melodramas punctuated with filler songs, perfectly timed for a piss or smoke break…because you can catch that shit on YouTube back home.
I put Hollywood Musicals on a different plane to Indian movies on that account. Not saying they’re superior but it’s not an apple to apple comparison.
Just off the top of my head when I think of a “Musical” Indian movie titles that flash immediately to mind is “Shankarabharanam”. “Ninaithale Inikkum” and to a certain extent “His Highness Abdullah” and “Bharatham” and I’ll even throw in a small allowance for those ’80s R.Sunderrajan flicks centred on a talented singer (usually “Mic” Mohan) that you caught only because of a killer Raaja Score.
LikeLike
KayKay
September 4, 2018
“God forbid , the wretched Les Miserables.”
Ok so this movie curdled your Milk of Filmic Appreciation as well?
Why, bro why???
An Epic Weepie of a Man who cannot overcome the inexorable pull of his tragic Fate, with songs aplenty and close-ups of teary eyes and running noses?
Hell, we grew up with shit like this! Only our actors were called Shivaji and Gemini Ganesen and Savithri while Hollywood had to make do with The Wolverine, The Gladiator and Cat Woman (Ver.2) to trot out the histrionics.
LikeLike
KayKay
September 5, 2018
An amendment to the post above. Since I’ve Mind-Wiped that filmic atrocity called Cat Woman from my recollection (I maintain I haven’t seen that piece of celluloid flotsam although friends swear I was vanquishing a jumbo sized popcorn in the seat right next to them), Anne Hathaway is technically, Cat Woman Ver.3
LikeLike
therag
September 5, 2018
@KayKay I don’t know if we’ve had a Hollywood style Indian musicals. But regarding “Music is interwoven into the theme and narrative fabric” – What exactly do you mean here? Like “Nallamdhaana” in “Thillana Mohanambal”?
Pretty harsh assessment – that the soundtrack in Indian films do not take the narrative forward and act just as fillers. I agree that the soundtrack is usually not exclusively delegated the task of pushing the narrative forward. You can actually follow the narrative even without the songs. I don’t know why it turned out this way, but I am glad it is the way it is.
Some songs invariably become filler because of the number of songs required in a movie (commercial constraints). For ex. in Kaatru Veliyidai, “Saaraattu Vandila” and “Vaan” are mostly filler, while “Azhagiye” and “Nallai Allai” push the narrative forward. Well, ok, Azhagiye may be stretching it a little. Another film which could have been an amazing musical if not for the instincts of the director was Thaarai Thappattai, but the opportunity was mostly squandered. Uttama Villain was also a travesty.
LikeLike
Rahini David
September 5, 2018
I have such a love for Mary Poppins and Sound of Music that perhaps I just assume that all these Hollywood(?) Musicals were, are and will be great if only I spent time seeing them.
I love that song “We both reached for the gun” in Chicago. I haven’t seen that movie. But the song is a movie in itself. It brings so much glitter and deception and manipulation and media frenzy into it that it brings in all that needs to be said and how.
Do I miss that in Tamil Movies? Prabhu Deva songs that did not have much to do with the tone of the movie but great songs and dances make me feel that I was quite ok with songs that stuck out. I was sick and tired of Murali mopping about Heera in Idhayam and “April Mayilea” came as a welcome change to that otherwise wimpy movie.
But songs like “Padariyean Padipariyean” and “Oorellam Saamiyaaga Parkum Unnai” that are specific to that particular scene in that particular song are the best.
LikeLike
Rahini David
September 5, 2018
Happy teachers day, BR.
LikeLike
MANK
September 5, 2018
Ok so this movie curdled your Milk of Filmic Appreciation as well?
Ha ha haaaaaa, Kay Kay sir, couldn’t stop laughing at your foodie metaphor.
Yes sir,it did , by the 20th minute mark , i started praying someone would save me from this ordeal. A great musical works due to a perfect marriage between strong drama and good music\songs. i am afraid this atrocity unleashed by the director , whose main claim to fame is that he most unfairly stole the oscar from David fincher , doesnt have either, leave alone a good balance between the two. At least the movies you mentioned have some great music and vocal prowess by the likes of MSV,Raveendran master, SPB,Dasettan etc
Regarding La la Land , i just about agree with you. i didnt say it was bad , just that it was overrated. disagree that the final twist was a punch in the gut. One could spot that coming a mile away. At least for me it was very predictable. Kind of like a more lighter sunnier version of Scorsese’s New york New york. But i love both Ryan Gosling and Emma and their chemistry was fantastic, the song and dance routines weren’t bad either
LikeLike
MANK
September 5, 2018
Regarding indian musicals, i think hindi cinema have produced some good ones in the last 2 decade or more. Jhoom barabar Jhoom, Saawariya, Rockstar, Barfi and the Umraon Jaan remake were pure musicals. Umrao Jaan , i think is very underrated mainly because it starred Aishwarya Rai and it flopped. but i thought it was very beautiful were the songs carried the narrative forward, a little too self indulgent and too long, mainly JP Dutta got carried away with Ash’s beauty there
Then there were the average ones like Taal ,Jaane E mann and Jagga Jasoos and the really bad ones like Yuvvraaj ,which is the les miserables equivalent for me
South indian cinema has gone slow on the musicals mainly because the films have come to be split into either the big budget superstar movies which centered around the super heroics of the star or the more gritty indie movies which strives for realism ans hence avoid songs as much as possible.As opposed to the time when Ilayaraja was at his peak . Sindhu Bhairavi for me is the ultimate musical , where it look like the director and the music director is relentlessly competing to outdo each other and finally you have a great product.IR’s music could make even average fare like Karakkatakaran and chinna thambi – both of which can be considered quasi musicals- super duper hits
LikeLike
MANK
September 5, 2018
on teacher’s day, my favorite Vaathiyaar song 🙂
LikeLike
Mank fan
September 5, 2018
@KayKay sir, loved your comment and analogy, contrary to popular and Mank chetta’s opinion. Chetta’s hatred for modern hollywood musicals and love for jhoom barabar jhoom, sawariya, umrao jaan comes from the same source, although his passion for the same is unquestionable.
LikeLike
Honest Raj
September 5, 2018
My favourite vaathiyar song:
LikeLike
k1rithika
September 7, 2018
As far as as musicals go in South Indian movies, I thought Kirik Party did a great job. Or can it not be considered a musical?!
LikeLike
Anu Warrier
September 7, 2018
KayKay saar, sorry! But you can sit beside my husband and appreciate La La Land He likes Emma Stone as well. The film itself was a bad Bollywood ripoff. We do better – heck, SRK does better and I’m no fan of his Rahul/Raj. 🙂 Yes, the end of the film and the soundtrack were the only things that I liked about it.
I have loved the old Hollywood musicals – Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, My Fair Lady, Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain, West Side Story, High Society, An American in Paris, Oklahoma… But Le Miserables was, well, miserable. Russell Crowe made me want to shut him up every time he opened his mouth. Anne Hathaway did a better job, but the film itself was overhyped!
I agree that Indian films, especially now, aren’t true blue musicals. But our best directors knew how to use songs to pull the narrative forward. They weren’t mere fillers, just to show the heroine in several costume changes and to take the audience on a trip to a foreign destination.
In the new crop, Jagga Jasoos was a musical in the old sense of the word; a brave attempt but its commercial success, or lack of it, means we won’t be seeing any more experiments.
LikeLike
brangan
October 11, 2018
Dredging up this thread, given that the film is out this weekend…
LikeLike
Sai Raja
October 14, 2018
@BR, can you elaborate a bit on the part of La La Land being over rated?
LikeLike
Madan
October 14, 2018
“Anne Hathaway is technically, Cat Woman Ver.3” – Late to the riposte but since this’s been dredged up, there can only ever be one Catwoman and you know what I am talking about. And I love Hathaway too by the by, but she’s too nice to be Catwoman. Pfeiffer was the last glam gal. Hollywood actresses are pretty damn serious now. OK, excepting Reese Witherspoon, whom I haven’t seen in a film I liked in a long time sadly.
LikeLike
ramitbajaj01
October 18, 2018
The hall where I saw it, there were only 10 people present. And by the time the movie ended, we were left only 5.
Even in America, the movie hasn’t been able to recover its costs.
What has gone wrong? It’s the story of the First Man ever to land on the Moon. It was supposed to be a massive hit.
And even the director/actor are A-listers. Or is that’s exactly what the problem is?
Is the direction too subtle and nuanced, and therefore too oscar-esque to bring in masses? Did this story deserve a summer blockbuster treatment?
But the producers include Spielberg, who has dished out an oscar movie and a summer blockbuster in the same year in the past. So, surely they would have done the commerce calculations beforehand. Or, maybe they relied on the mass appeal of the story so much that they decided to give it an arty treatment. Too bad it tanked at box office.
LikeLike