Review of "La La Land": Singing In The Pain

A musical in the spirit of MGM's glory days?
Sure, Disney's done that for years, mainly with snow princesses, beauties and beasts. It's tough to do that with regular actors.

It's been a dream of Damien Chazelle to make such a film, especially after his excellent debut as writer and director of Whiplash. It came true in a big way when La La Land premiered in Venice last summer, then slowly but surely caught the eyes and praise of critics everywhere. It's only been in release for three weeks, and if it hasn't reached the hinterlands, it will very soon.

The story is about two people with dreams:  Mia (Emma Stone), a barista who dreams of being an actress, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz pianist who prefers traditional jazz and wants to open his own club.
They sort of meet in a traffic jam, but see each other at a restaurant just as Sebastian is canned for not following the set list. They don't hit it off at first, but in musicals like these, they do.

What's interesting is that we get a good look at their struggles. Mia tries to do an emotional scene but she's not even allowed to finish it. There's also a string of auditions that also don't go well. It's hard to figure anything else until Sebastian is forced to play in a band doing the worst '80s covers ever.

The main romance is depicted in excellent dance routines in classic L-A locations, even a routine at the Griffith Observatory that defies gravity. Their duet of the main song, "City of Stars" is also dreamy.
Things start to look up when Mia hopes to premiere a one-woman play while Sebastian joins a jazz band that becomes way too commercial, even if John Legend leads it. However, the love Mia and Sebastian share starts to fray, especially when she wonders if Seb is happy playing music he doesn't really prefer.

Usually in musicals, such a couple will wind up happily ever after, but Chazelle prefers to make one that's more realistic. Does that include "hopeful?"
Well, Mia does one more audition, and how Stone sells this story just may be enough to fend off a tight race for Best Actress at the Oscars next February. It's basic, but it blows you away.

Gosling and Stone make a fine romantic couple, as they did in two other movies. That may have helped here. They are a wonderful couple of dreamers who may reach their goals, but will have to make some sacrifices along with way.

It's going to battle Fences and Manchester By The Sea when award season gets underway in a few weeks, but La La Land shows that original musicals, just like the old days, can still be made.

Review of The Big Short: The Crash of 2008 For Dummies

What can you say about a movie that explains why the housing market, and the American economy in general, nearly collapsed due to Wall Street fraud better than the Federal Reserve and CNBC..and what they use are Selena Gomez playing blackjack and Margot Robbie in a bathtub in what seemed to be a deleted scene from Wolf of Wall Street?

Adam MacKay, best known for Will Ferrell comedies, wrote and directed a nasty reminder of what happened in America just eight years ago, and how we didn't notice because we were distracted by other things. MacKay uses clever ways to explain complex terms by sub-prime mortgages, CDOs and bond ratings.

The main players are Michael Burry (Christian Bale), who heads a mutual fund, Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), who works for Deutsche Bank, Mark Baum (Steve Carell), who runs a small investment firm, and Charlie and Jamie (John Magaro and Finn Whittrock), two guys who made it big by betting against stocks. They all figure out that banks try to get people to invest in mortgages that are not as rock-solid as they think. Anthony Bourdain turning old fish into a new fish stew is the best analogy, and that's really in the movie.

It's really interesting how Burry and Baum come to the conclusion the economy is in big trouble but no one wants to believe it. Baum is especially upset, mostly because he's trying to recover from a personal tragedy. They're all stunned to see empty homes with the owners long gone because they can't pay their mortgages, bond rating houses admitting they'll overvalue just to keep customers and even people who issue bank loans to get commissions without verifying if the prospective homeowner could afford it or not.

Carell is very good as Baum. Those who still identify him as Michael Scott in The Office will be surprised how angry he gets over all of the fraud that's going on.. Bale as the laid-back Burry doesn't do much aside from defending his decision to invest against the mortgages, but you can see the stress when things don't happen as he expects...and why. Gosling is also good, especially when he uses a Jenga game to show how fragile the housing bubble is. Let's not forget Brad Pitt as Ben Rickert, who used to be in banking, and is very cynical about what's happening. He'll still help Charlie and Jamie, though.

The real tragedy is how the crash of 2008 affected the characters, the investment houses and their employees, and people who were economic collateral damage. Even though some got rich betting against the economy, they aren't exactly proud of it (except for one). Besides that, no one learned a thing. It's still a great way to be reminded what happens, as this person says...



For the record, we're still wondering how banking can get into rehab after this.

My Talk Show Double-Header

Usually, a person has to make a choice when heading to Warner Brothers: either attend a taping for Ellen DeGeneres at 4 PM or Conan at 4:30.
Tough choice. Not today, I got to see both. Thanks, Ellen.

For the first time in six years, she decided to do a live show at 11 AM to talk about the Emmys, and basically hang out with Harry Connick Jr. Makes sense. She was concerned about the temptation to swear...and fell into it a couple of times. So did Harry, basically because he objected to a couple of things she wrote about him in her new book coming next month. They had a guy with a delay button, but he may not have made it on time. Of course, if Ellen did this on cable, she wouldn't need a delay button. Just ask Conan.

Aside from that, it was a great show. They threw in a live interview with Emmy Prom Winner Melissa McCarthy, coming soon to SNL. Ellen liked doing a live show, and may do it again...and she should. Now that Oprah has retired, someone has to do a post-Oscar show at the Kodak or El Capitan. Why not Ellen? Do that for the Grammys and Golden Globes, too.

After that, I walked down Forest Lawn Drive to head to gate 8 to get my Conan ticket. I had so much time left I walked to get a Subway sandwich.The show was unusual. First, I got a FRONT ROW SEAT! I got a great view of Conan in the monologue, but got blocked by cameras once we got to the guests.

No matter. This was pretty unusual because it revealed a deep, dark secret: they tape guests out of sequence, just like other talk shows. That's why I had to see tonight's show to see how Ryan Gosling really did when they taped the interview a few days ago. I am ticked off I wasn't there, because he was weird...in a good way. Especially when he accused Disney of breeding a new species of cats. He also gave Conan a replica of the jacket he wore in Drive. It was too small for Conan. Gosling will get Oscar buzz by interviews alone, especially how he did with Conan.

So who did we see instead of Ryan? Taylor Lautner, who taped his interview for Abduction a week early. He was OK, but what really made the interview was a clip from a movie he made when he was 8. Imagine Tayor as a male version of Hanna, eight years old, taking down a nasty bald guy twice his size..and yet he smiles like an eight year old. Funny! It airs next Monday.
This was also the second time I saw him with Conan. The first time was at the Tonight Show two years ago.

Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls was actually pretty good, especially when she chided Conan for staring at her breasts, and delivered a killer Britney Spears impersonation.

So, after three days, I have seen celebrities, a very good movie and two talk shows. Not bad. Tuesday is Universal Studios, Kimmel with Simon Cowell, and a social media mixer. Wednesday is the last day when anything I want, including buying new Guild stuff, and maybe being at a red carpet.

Drive, he said..is what you should see

It makes sense that a quarter mile away from the Regal L-A Live Theater, you'd see a really big billboard for what may be the hottest film around. In this case, the movie would have been more effective than the billboard.
Ryan Gosling has been many things from a romantic lead in The Notebook to a ladies' man in Crazy Stupid Love. He was even Young Hercules a long time ago.

That's why seeing him in Drive will blow your mind. He is a driver for hire. You have him for five minutes, no questions asked, whether it's being part of a robbery or even doing a movie stunt. He's a man of few words, bit he is focused and intense. Just look at the opening scene, where he tries to hide from the cops after a robbery. There's a good reason why he's paying close attention to the Clippers game on the radio. The camera also looks at the back of his jacket, a scorpion embroidered in gold. It is symbolic of what he is: cool and collective until it's time to act.

He crosses paths with Irene, a young mom played by Carey Mulligan. It seems her role isn't that much, but she is also conflicted about things. Her husband is about to leave prison, and she wonders if they can be a real family again. It's safe to say Ryan, known only as The Driver, is keeping an eye on them.

The Driver also has hopes for the future. He and a fellow mechanic named Shannon (Bryan Cranston) hope to get into NASCAR, and figure the Driver can do it for them. They get help from a local hood played by Albert Brooks. Now, forget Brooks' comedies. He ca play a real bad-ass guy you don't want to make angry.It's amazing he never got a chance at this before. It's quite a journey how he starts as a possible sponsor for the Driver's dreams, and winds up as his enemy. He's an easy Oscar nominee only because he does a great job here.

Anyway, the Driver decides to help Irene's husband with a robbery to get him away from the hoods that are threatening him. Everything goes wrong, and it happens so suddenly you'll wonder what happened. That's the thing about this movie: when people get killed, it's done very quickly and very suddenly.

Another unforgettable scene happens in an elevator where the Driver and Irene kiss while a suspicious looking guy is with them. You will not believe what happens after that, but it defines who the Driver is, in every way.

This is a fantastic crime movie that may seem slow, but once something happens, you won't forget it.

I had a chance to see Drive in the "Premiere Cinema" section, which I guess is the "big room" at the L-A Live Multiplex. Still, the #2 screen is also very big and comfortable. So, that's how I spent my first day in Los Angeles. I'll have a busy Sunday and Monday for different reasons, but I expect them to be enjoyable.