The Favourite (2018), Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz
Director Yorgos Lanthimos’s (The Lobster, 2015) latest film is a period piece that stars Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Olivia Coleman, Nicholas Hoult and Joe Alwyn.
Set in early 18th-century England, Lady Sarah, the close friend of a frail Queen Anne, steps in to govern England.
Soon, new servant Abigail arrives, and her charm endears her to Sarah.
The cast is great. I’m in to hear Emma Stone’s English accent, and for the delightful madness that is characteristic of a Lanthimos movie. I’m also in for the costume design.
Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone’s latest movie, Battle of the Sexes, has her in the role of former World number one tennis champion, Billie Jean King. Opposite Stone is Steve Carell as ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs.
Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Battle of the Sexes tells the true story of a very important 1973 tennis match between King and Riggs.
I’m looking forward to this one because I had no idea about the true story until now. King better win! That being the jist of how I feel. I’m a little less certain that she will because Carell’s character is a hustler after all. But then, this is a Hollywood movie.
Also, I just realised that the only Billie Jean I’d know of up to this point is the one in Michael Jackson’s classic song, ‘Billie Jean’. No doubt that Billie Jean King is NOT the one M.J. is singing about.
Starring Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, John Legend and J.K. Simmons, La La Landis the love story of a jazz pianist and an aspiring Hollywood actress. It is a well-told story that features great dramatic performances, good dialogue, beautiful cinematography, music and costume; I particularly love ‘that yellow dress’.
Written/directed by Damien Chazelle of Whiplash (2014),La La Land is a good movie that’s understandably most loved by fans of musicals. I must confess that, generally speaking, I’m not into musicals. Call it a consequence of my impatient nature, but most of the time, I’d much rather words were spoken rather than sung. The pleasing rhythm of well-written dialogue will always be preferred by me over the sounds of what is often mediocre singing, where musicals are concerned. And, if the singing isn’t mediocre, I find the voices to be regularly quite tedious.
In La La Land, there’s just no faulting the dramatic performances. The cast are a trust worthy bunch acting-wise. As for when it came to Gosling and Stone flexing their vocal chords in the name of song, there are definitely some moments of questionable vocal ability.
La La Land (2016), Emma Stone
I enjoyed the opening song at the start of La La Land, the big ‘audition number’ that Stone sings towards the end, plus the instrumental as the closing credits began. The rest of the music I honestly could have done without.
Watch La La Land for all the reasons it won all those Oscars, and because it genuinely isn’t a bad film. If Chazelle’s Whiplash managed to convince you that jazz isn’t all bad, La La Land is additional material to strengthen the argument.
When I realised that La La Land, the new movie starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone was written/directed by the same person (Damien Chazelle) who brought us 2014’s Oscar winning movie, Whiplash, I knew something worthy was coming.
The premise of the film is simple; a jazz pianist falls in love with an aspiring actress in Los Angeles (a.k.a. La La Land).
Teaser 1
Teaser 2
On account of director Chazelle’s musical background, it’s unsurprising that music is once again a key theme in one of his films. If somehow you haven’t already seen Whiplash, I urge you to do so at once.
The La La Land trailer piques my interest only slightly at this point. It’s probably something to do with the edit and what I imagine is my slight disinterest in watching Stone and Gosling as a couple once more. I first saw them cast opposite each other romantically in Crazy Stupid Love (2011). My fingers are crossed that I end up enjoying La La Land more than I anticipate. Especially considering my natural aversion to musicals.
John Legend, J.K. Simmons, Finn Wittrock, Rosemarie DeWitt and Sonoya Mizuno also star.
Crazy Stupid Love (2011), Steve Carell, Julianne Moore
Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Julianne Moore are the stars of drama/romance/comedy Crazy Stupid Love. A story about a man whose world is altered after what should have been a romantic dinner date with his wife becomes something else entirely.
Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, I tuned in because of Carell and Moore’s reputations; luckily, I found myself pleasantly surprised.
A big highlight for me is the scene with the valedictorian speech. That, and Gosling’s character, Jacob’s fashion sense.
I say watch Crazy Stupid Love for a reminder that humour is tragedy plus time. You’ll go through some emotions, but you will certainly laugh as well.
Crazy Stupid Love (2011), Ryan Gosling
Along with The Notebook (2004), Crazy, Stupid, Love is without a doubt responsible for a good number of Ryan Gosling crushes.
The Movie My Life 