best film: La La Land. With 18 months left I have La La Land as the second best film of the 2010’s decade. Obviously if that holds up, with approximately 10 decades worth of cinema history, it would make La La Land a monstrous achievement. The film is ambitious and the high visual style is used to tell a small love story. It borrows from Demy, I Am Cuba, Hitchcock, and Manhattan while being completely its own work. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are much more than just lucky bystanders witnessing Chazelle’s genius, and this is no ensemble film. It’s a two-person show-piece in front of the camera from an acting standpoint and Gosling is excellent.
best performance: La La Land. Being this good in a film this good does not happen often for actors. When it does you have an achievement that is truly special. Gosling is charming, natural and funny. He also shows believable angst and frustration. He’s believable as a talented musician (that piano work pays off) and of course that look—at the end of the film prior to the flashback—is Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind-esque. It’s part of the arftorm’s history and most memorable images.
stylistic innovations/traits: I think it’s to say Gosling has emerged as the best actor of his generation (depending on how you define generations). He’s the first actor to get nominated for Best Actor was born after 1980 and has taken on challenging roles working with bold auteurs. Of his nine films in the archives to date, six to seven of them are in their respective years’ top 10 and he’ lead (or co-lead)in all but The Big Short. This number swamps someone like Peter O’Toole though, like O’Toole, Gosling has been excellent in one of the best films of the decade (La La Land). He’s no chameleon but has adopted Steve McQueen’s (or Ryu’s) non-verbal underacting lineage. Unlike McQueen, he’s working in some of the best films of his time. He’s one of the best five male performers in 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2017.
directors worked with: Refn (2), Cianfrance (2) and then Chazelle once (with another one coming in fall 2018) and Villeneuve once
Top 5 Performances:
- La La Land
- Drive
- Blade Runner 2049
- Blue Valentine
- The Place Beyond the Pines
Archiveable films
| 2006- Half Nelson |
| 2007- Lars and the Real Girl |
| 2010- Blue Valentine |
| 2011- Drive |
| 2012- The Place Beyond the Pines |
| 2013- Only God Forgives |
| 2015- The Big Short |
| 2016- La La Land |
| 2017- Blade Runner 2049 |
I‘m not a big fan either but what do you think about Nice Guys?
@Pouria – I think it is solid. I’ve seen it a few times actually. I’m not the biggest admirer of Shane Black as a director. I owe Kiss Kiss Bang Bang another visit. I think everyone thinks that’s his best film
Thanks for the reply.By the way i‘ve asked you a question through Contact Us but i‘m not sure how would i get the response, i asked about your opinion on Denis villeneuve
@Pouria– big admirer of Villeneuve. I had him on the honorable mention for best director of the 2010’s (so he’s top 15). Three films in the top 100 of the 2010’s decade (Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049)— I came around on Enemy after a second viewing and that is superb as well.
It looks like Gosling has taken a nap after First Man(2018).Who would have thought he would go 3 years without a film.I ain’t that impressed with the projects he is attached to either.Working with Anthony and Joe Russo certainly ain’t like DiCaprio coming back with a bomb with Tarantino after three years without a film.
@Anderson- haha love the “taken a nap” way of saying this. And I agree- not the most exciting of upcoming projects.
An interesting thing about the book Dune is that the main antagonist, the Padishah Emperor, is 72 years old, but he looks to be in his 30s because of his usage of spice, the main resource in the book, which prolongs his youth and life. In Lynch’s Dune, some of this storyline was changed as the Emperor’s age was changed to be over 200 years old, accounting for Jose Ferrer’s advanced age by the mid-80s.
Since the Padishah Emperor is not set to appear in Villeneuve’s first Dune film, do you think he could be played by Ryan Gosling in the second one, or perhaps Jake Gyllenhaal?