La Haine’s translated name, “Hate”, is very fitting. The movie centers around 3 friends, Vinz, Hubert and Sayid, after some Paris riots in 1995. Following the protests, their friend Abdel was taken and beaten by the police. The friends hear about it on the news, and the rest of the movie is kinda of just a snapshot of their day. My friend described it as a realistic glimpse into what life would have been like for a young Parisian in the projects during the riots. I think aesthetically the movie is done very well, the shots are intentional, the score is minimal but suspenseful, and the entire movie is in black and white. I remember reading somewhere that the civil rights photos were shown in black and white to make them feel older. I don’t know how true that is, but I find that the film grain, along with the grayscale, makes La Haine feel much older than 1995.

If you love something, set it free

La La Land is a musical about Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and their pursuits as creatives. Emma wants to be an actress while Sebastian wants to be a professional jazz pianist. It was a great movie. The plot and musical numbers were great. Mia and Sebastian’s lives started separately, and as the story progressed, their love and passion intertwined. I loved one of the themes of the movies about the importance of the arts. Sebastian explains that Jazz is dying because it’s treated as background or elevator music. He sees it as a story, there’s context to the notes, and they have to be observed and appreciated. The music needs to be in the front, not the background. The set design was amazing. I was looking around during every musical number, trying to take in as much of it as possible. I have thoughts about the ending, but I’ll save them for the spoiler section after the movie list.

This is a movie that needs a spoiler-free section and a spoiler section. The spoiler section will be below the movie list!

This is an amazing movie, there I say “Goddamn Cinema”. I was hooked the entire time, although I was confused at the beginning with people’s names and how they were connected. The actors were great, Jack Nicholson plays crazy so well. Leonardo’s fear and desperation to stop being undercover for his own safety felt so real. Mark Whalburg was good comedic relief in the scenes he was in. The score was phenomenal, and added to the suspense. If I had to summarize the movie, it would be the cops and robbers version of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I did not see the ending coming at all. It was based on an HK movie called Internal Affairs, and I will have to add that to my list. This was a 5/5 movie, next week is La La Land!