It's all about "the New Girl in Town", where the racial and sexual politics underlying music/dance genres are exposed by their contrast. Or the joke right after when Michelle Pfiefer complains to Queen Latifah that they used this same song, and she responds "they wrote it". Or back at the beginning how the ticking clock turns into the beat for "Nicest Kids in Town". Or in addition to being plain catchy and smartly written bangers, the best of the songs…
I watch Sorkin I think the same way others watch schlocky exploitation films or silly rom-coms. As in I think you have to take them on their own , quirky banter and sanctimonious centrism and all. Sure this ultimately isn't as radical as it thinks it is, and manipulates certain things to focus on what Sorkin is interested in (although I'm not sure anybody needs Sorkin to give his opinion on the Blank Panthers - "take off your very scary…
Lumpy and sincere, stop-motion as a viscerally handmade tale. The heightened bleakness and subsequent quirkiness sometimes overpowers the story, like an imbalanced Roald Dahl story, but the sentiment builds to a strong emotional crescendo and it's storybook voice-over narration makes the pace snappy.
The leads inherent charm is doing a lot of heavy lifting here in a film that sadly leaves lots of emotional investment to implication; both the romance and its bittersweet tragedy. For a film about fleeting moments all the good flirty down-time is skipped over and it's only the grand highs and lows that we get space with (the birth sequence while a bit broad was a highlight). My judgement may be a bit harsh since I like both actors and it's an easy enough watch but it doesn't quite earn its sentiment and largely feels like wasted potential.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
"Mabel's a delicate, sensitive woman", a co-worker says to Nick. "Mabel's not crazy", he barks back, an aggressive defence that also rings as self-assurance. Mabel is expected to be maternal and accommodating but also to keep her emotions in check, and it feels like the weight of these conflicting gender roles is what sends her into exponential hysterics, rambling out of control from the expectant gaze of others (even if her 'illness' is deliberately vague). Gena Rowland's performance is highly…
An orgiastic, decadent ode to pre-sound Hollywood which is honestly closer to Wolf of Wall Street/Elvis than The Artist; even if you can tell Chazelle lacks the authentic coked-up sleaze to quite pull this off. But he comes close a couple times and during the opening half when it leans into a fun extended montage of crazed filmmaking and parties (complete with Intolerance-inspired crosscutting around getting that "One Perfect Shot") Babylon basically sweeps you away. Particularly given that bumping jazz…
