La La Land’s “Another Day of Sun” as Utopian Entertainment
La La Land’s opening number, the dance performance “Another Day of Sun”, is about much more than just dreaming the traffic fantastic.
Damien Chazelle
Hollywood Is a Helluva Drug in Damien Chazelle’s ‘Babylon’
Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt’s characters burn the candle at both ends in Damien Chazelle’s rollicking and ridiculous epic cautionary tale, Babylon.
‘La La Land’ Is a Delightful Return to Mise en Scène Cinema
The melancholy in this film's musical sequences serves as commentary on cinema’s bygone capacity to produce a unique kind of magic.
The Best Films of 2016
PopMatters presents a list of the best films that surfaced in 2016 and impressed us with their cinematic visions of where we’ve been.
TIFF 2016: ‘Denial’, ‘La La Land’ and ‘Jackie’
Best Picture and Best Actress nominees? Day 5 dipped into 20th century history for Holocaust deniers, musicals and a famous First Lady.
‘Whiplash’ Isn’t Merely a Vehicle for J.K. Simmons
Whiplash is too lean and too driving to turn into a mere actor’s vehicle. J.K. Simmons remains an impressive part of an impressive whole.
London Film Festival 2014 Day 7: ‘Whiplash’
A pupil/teacher story dressed up as a battle-of-wits thriller, the pushy, over-hyped Whiplash fails to impress.
There’s Blood on the Drums in ‘Whiplash’
In Whiplash, all the visual and aural magic comes from Andrew's (Miles Teller) precise and jazzy drum solos.