"Manchester by the Sea" and "Moonlight": The difference in art

"Moonlight" is the weirdest movie that has been nominated for SAG Awards this year. Why wasn't "Birth of the Nation" nominated at all?

I will say that it is the movie that should never been nominated. I still don't understand what did Barry Jenkins try to show in this movie? What did he want a viewer to take away from it?

From the beginning till the end, the movie felt dry. I didn't see any plot that moves the movie along. There wasn't even a real conflict or climax that would lead the hero toward some kind of resolution. The story felt numb.

The acting was good. It wasn't stellar but, at least, the character's aspirations and struggles were shown clearly. What I wanted to know more was what happened to Juan and his girl, Teresa as our hero grew up?

Moreover, I couldn't understand what were the actors saying for most of the movie. I do understand that they were portraying the local culture. However, the pronunciation must be clearer. Actors are storytellers and to make a story compelling, an actor mustn't talk just quickly with a local accent and mannerisms, but s/he must talk clearly that a viewer would be able to understand what is being said. Otherwise, everyone watching will be lost in translation.

Though the movie was a negative experience for me, I liked how the local culture was portrayed. Yes, similar culture I've seen portrayed in real life, on TV, and in movies many times. But this was its own especially when Juan tried to befriend Little without trying to sell drugs to him; that relationship was refreshing. And search for love was familiar yet novel and unique given the setting of the movie.

Therefore, if you want to see it, go ahead. However, I wouldn't recommend it.

_____________________________________________________________________________

"Manchester by the Sea"

The beginning of the movie was disappointing. It was very slow. However, we learn about our hero though it wasn't exciting. However, when the conflict occurs and movie unravels, I felt like I hit a wall of bricks. That was a powerful moment when the viewers learn why Lee Chandler behaves so gloomy and depressing. After that, the movie just grows and becomes a powerful force.

Casey Affleck is superb and carries the movie on his shoulders very powerfully. In fact, the cast of the movie is very good from young to more established.

One weakness, I found was the strange way flashbacks are introduced. Sometimes I found them confusing because I couldn't make connection between the past and present. Flashbacks are just dropped on a viewer out of nowhere until one gets used to them; not in my case.

I would encourage anyone to see the movie because it is the story that we all fear of happening to us either in the present or in future. As a result, on some level, we can relate to this movie because it isn't rushed. It is about life. And such a movie is now a rarity with good story line, good acting, and good directing.

Oh, the soundtrack is perfect, I think.

"Fences" analysis

The movie "Fences" is powerful and worthy of being nominated, but it's not the greatest movie among the competition to be awarded a prize. Of course, the movie is better than "Moonlight."

The movie was adapted from a play of the same name and directed and starred by Denzel Washington.

The first Act was the most boring due to lack of actions and a lot of monologues; talk about actor's practice to talk so much. The other two acts were again with a lot of conversation but with more actions and unbelievable performance by all actors especially by Viola Davis. (The ensemble was wonderful too; chemistry was evident from the get-go).

The problem of the movie was that it was adapted from a play. So, the movie did feel like a play one could see on a stage. "Fences" reminded me of the movie and a play "Raisin' in the Sun." Therefore, seeing the same exact set  throughout the film was boring; reminiscing about the past was just that and a viewer had fill in the blanks and imagine that past; there was clear delineation between different acts like I just could pause the movie and go for a drink -- this was a bit of throw off as well. In the end, I was truly glad when the movie ended because I felt like Denzel Washington was dragging a cat by its tail. Some scenes and conversations, especially in the first act, should've been shortened.

Denzel Washington's performance was really good. It reminded of the similar character he portrayed in the "Training Day", which was almost the same action by action. Viola Davis was in the world of her own, and I believe she eclipsed Washington's performance and everyone else's for that matter. The rest of actors provided a good support to our main character, as mentioned before.

Last, but not least, the movie showed a piece of a life of African-American community. However, unlike "Moonlight" which was unique to African-American and even Hispanic communities, "Fences" showed its internationalism. Similar themes mentioned in the movie could be related by other in many parts of the world: adultery, reminiscing about the lost past, being jealous of younger generation and stopping the young from going for their dreams, taking advantage of a disable person (it could be family or not), hating a system that stops a person from being more than he could be, and disrespecting and being bored of one's life that is comfortable but in which nothing really happens.

The movie is powerful and could leave you, after watching it, a bit unnerved, hopeful, and maybe make you re-evaluate your own life. If that happens, then I believe "Fences" was a success as a movie and a story. And that is a bigger award than any statue that it might receive during this politically charged award season.

I recommend to watch this movie either by yourself or with others. (Possibly consider having a bottle of wine next to you to get through the boring parts).

"La La Land" -- Singing and Dancing through life to love

“La La Land” is a movie just like “Artist.” Both movies harken back to when Hollywood was creating stories that took us to lands that were beautiful, magical, and somewhat sad. They are popular because they are nostalgic. Because as viewers we desire to truly escape, at times, from the reality we live-in. Today, movies are not completely escapism. They take our modern lives and blow them up on the big screen. As a result, we don’t escape the reality, we continue live in the world though watching others suffer is more entertaining. However, these types of movies are not inspirational or magical. Therefore, when movies like “La La Land” comes along, without searching for it, we truly see the magic that we try to create in our lives.

Of course, there are differences. “Artist” was a movie that looked at the beauty of Silent Pictures. “La La Land” takes us back to the time when silver screens were flooded by beautiful and entertaining musicals with singing, dancing, romance, and melancholic ending. For actors, these movies were and are a pleasure to perform in. For viewers, regardless whether a movie is good or not, such movies are a pleasure to watch. In fact, “La La Land” is only second true musical this century that was created. The first was “Mamma Mia.” Both movies were popular and have been darlings during the winter award season. So, was “La La Land” a good movie?

The movie is beautiful, magical, inspirational, thought provoking, with wonderful acting, with terrific script, and, what looks like, a spot-on director. Yes, the ending is not traditional American ending. However, the movie is set in our time. The ending is very appropriate because in our lives, we are too obsessed about reaching for the stars than reaching for comfort and happiness when being with another human being.

“La La Land” is also a movie that took musical and dancing cues from different movies. Even the story line could be found in movies that were created over 30 years ago. For me, I saw similarities of certain scenes, that I associated with, from “Singin’ in the Rain”, “The Artist”, and “Umbrellas of Cherbourg”. However, these associations made movie more enjoyable and exciting to keep-on watching and enjoy it.

Damien Chazelle was able to bridge brilliantly the past and present. He connected jazzy tunes of this movie to our modern times where culture of relationships are more complex and confusing than ever before. In the end, the movie is about love and deciding between having love and happiness with another human being or find the same thing in your dreams. To have both is rare and most will fail in one or another. And all we have are the decisions we make throughout our life, and we must learn to live with those decisions the best we can because the alternative is too gruesome and tragic to think. And that what the end of the movie, the very last scene, was all about. I connected to it for very real, and I understand it all too well.

I would definitely recommend to anyone to see this movie. And after you see it, think about it, give yourself time to think, and then watch it again. Yes, it is one of those movies that will touch your heart and soul, and you can watch over and over again. Enjoy the “La La Land”: its dancing, music, cinematography, songs, and the beauty of the story that we call life that is true not just on the screen but also spills into our real life.