Before the Oscars had been announced this year I had already seen both La La Land and Moonlight, and within the week of nominations I'd added Hidden Figures to my list.
La La Land - having really enjoyed Damien Chazelle's Whiplash last year, I have to admit I had been looking forward to La La Land months before it came out. The story focuses on an actress and a jazz musician who meet and fall in love while pursuing their professional dreams. The songs and dances are fun, the references to classic Hollywood films (and specifically musicals) are great fun for the film buff, and the simple storyline of the film made for a great viewing, I'm not sure how well it would stand up to a rewatch, and it didn't knock my personal favourite musical of 2016 (Sing Street) off of it's perch, but La La Land was a fun, frenetic film that basically had "Oscar Contendor" watermarked on every frame.
Moonlight - Barry Jenkins moonlight follows a young gay man named Chiron through three periods of his life, the beginning of adolescence, teenager, and as a young man, and examines how he interacts with his friends, society and culture. To date this is my favourite of the Best Picture nominees as the story was quite strong, the acting was incredible, and the film was an incredibly immersive experience. Well worth the watch and heartily recommended.
Hidden Figures - This was a delightful film that showed me some history I had been entirely unfamiliar with (not unlike The Dish (2000), director Theodore Melfi's film follows three different wormen working in three different departments at NASA during the early 1960s and told three pretty great stories. A fun film with an important story to tell.
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