LA LA LAND

LA LA LAND: An homage to those wonderful musicals we grew up with, this film had me from the very beginning... a square black and white screen with the word...."inemaSco" which of course widened, got colorful and said CincmaScope.... And we're off ....A traffic jam on an L.A. freeway and, in turn, the drivers get out of their cars, until we have a mass of singing and dancing motorist all over the place.... and that's all takes place before the opening credit.   If you are a fan of musical (which I am)  this one delivers big time.  Big razzle-dazzle time.  Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone helm this beauty (photography...another homage, this time to Technicolor) and they couldn't be better.  Gosling even does his own keyboard work (He's a jazz pianist) and they both sing and dance splendidly.   The plot is more or less how they fall in love and out of love and.... well, just go see it.  It's up for numerous Golden Globes including Best Picture, Actor and Actress with Oscar nominations in the future, I'll bet.  It's just La La Lovely!

COLLATERAL BEAUTY

COLLATERAL BEAUTY:   Every Christmas must have at least one tear-jerker of a movie and this is it.  Will Smith portrays Howard, a successful New York ad executive who, after going through a tragedy retreats from life, writing letters to "Death," "Love" and "Time." His co-workers (Edward Norton, Kate Winslet and Michael Pena) do their best to bring him back to reality and hire a few actors (Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jacob Latimore) to aid in the process.  This movie has some slow moments as the story unfolds but all of the performances are top rate and the surprise ending will totally catch you off guard.  It is also beautiful to look at, shot during the Christmas season in New York City when many streets are lit up in their finest.  While not a great movie, it is, nonetheless worth catching but bring Kleenex.

HACKSAW RIDGE

HACKSAW RIDGE:  Directed by Mel Gibson, this film relates the extraordinary true story of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who nonetheless served his country during WWII and saved seventy-five men in one of Okinawa's bloodiest battles.  And that is the plot, in a nutshell.  Now,  about the film....it is brilliant, mesmerizing, unsettling and probably the best movie I've seen so far this year.  Oscar worthy as Best Picture and Director (unless there is a backlash against Mr. Gibson for past sins).   But looking at the film as a whole, it is on my ten best list and a true work of art.  With sterling performances by Andrew Garfield and a surprisingly brilliantly dramatic portrayal by Vince Vaughn, I'm hoping the Academy will honor their efforts as well.  FYI, the first hour and a half explores how Mr. Doss arrives at his moral code of ethics, falls in love, and begins his journey.  The last 45 minutes throws you into the heat of battle (He with no gun and only his desire to be a medic) and it is relentless in it's portrayal of the horrors of war.  But it is also strangely poetic in the use of camera angles and slow motion.  And I insist that you see it. It will bother you, yet make you cry, upset you, but lift you up.  It is a gem.