S04, Episode 02

Beauty Of The Beast

Just when I thought 'I'm only going to watch this movie because of Emma Watson', here I was sitting two hours later in a massive movie theatre, among a bunch of 8 year olds, feeling, possibly more moved than any one of them. 

What a movie! I have been a fan of Emma's for 15 years, hashtag girl crush. I always liked Beauty and The Beast, it has been one of my favourites Disney cartoons of my childhood, along with Hercules and The Lion King. I had been apprehensive about re-creating the cartoons into live action films for years now, which is why I refused to go see the live action remake of Cinderella. But this one, I had to, it all added up, Emma, one of my faves..

It was a beautiful adaptation of the original, and the reason I call it an adaptation is because the only thing different was a couple of details were added to the story-which I won't spoil for you if you haven't seen it. Other than this, the film pretty much was an exact copy of the cartoon, and WHY NOT, there's a reason we fell in love with the 1991 release anyway. 

Re-watching it as an adult made me shake my head, nod along with many historical references, since it is taking place in provincial France of the 1700, which I now am educated about contrary to the 4 year old me who watched this film back in the 90s. I found it super interesting that the writers took a good opportunity to emphasise some of the messages in this film by adding lines or extra small scenes in order to convey them to the young girls, such as 'it's okay to be different', 'girls have the right to chose their destiny', 'they have the right to education', 'you should stay true to who you are'. And I didn't even find it cheesy. My favourite moment, regarding messages, was when Gaston claimed that 'it's the girls who play hard to get and stay classy that are the ones worth chasing'. I could hear the writer screaming in his mind 'you hear this ladies???' when he was typing this line. 

Emma's performance had a lot to do with making sure the movie stayed witty and timeless. Her modern-yet faithful to the script performance was the cherry on top of that magnificent production of a pie. I don't really need to praise the ultra-talented famous cast that was in the film, the names speak for themselves. Sir Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Kline and boy did I have no idea that Audra McDonald could sing like that. Okay, before you interrupt your reading of the post to go google who she is quickly, she is Naomi in Private Practice. So, yeap, hats off to the Casting Director.

And now a mention to what everyone is talking about, the incorporation of gay characters, references and a 'gay moment' in the film. Um, get over it? (I quote Sir Ian McKellen). Maybe we were too naive to realise that Le Fou was gay in the cartoon, I don't know, I cannot remember, and I don't have time to go back and watch it again, I have to get back to my research on family happiness in the 1800s according to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina because I have an assignment, yawn for you, but very interesting to this nerd here. But yes, there is a massive innuendo that Le Fou is either bisexual or homosexual and that this is great! There is a fraction of a second at the end of the film-SKIP a few lines, this is a SPOILER-where everyone is happy, dancing at the palace, and he is dancing with another bloke who had previously in the film, seemingly enjoyed it when he is forced to wear a dress while being attacked by Madame Garderobe. A possible crossdressing reference here as well, but once again, this is the writer's and the director's way of saying, hey it's OALL good. Hashat, be you. 

Beautiful costumes, design, special effects and montage. Emma's fresh performance would not be complete without Dan Stevens' adorable performance as the Beast. 

Who wouldn't have fallen in love with an educated, kind-hearted (in the end), blue eyed, tall, dark, and cute monster? Lads who shave chests and backs because they feel like 'they have to' but they don't really want to, hey be a cute beast. 

#HeForShe

PS: THIS MOMENT. I now want a mustard frock again.

Season 4, Ep. 01

La La Grande. 

(See what I did there?)

It's awards season, yay. Some of you may not care, but this is where my nerdiness has always lied. Every year, whether it's the Golden Globes or the Oscars, I clear my day, I sit on that couch and watch E! live from the red carpet until it's time to switch to Vibe (NZ channel), to watch the actual ceremony. What beauty, what class and what spirit of unison, love and support. It is simply, in my opinion, a beautiful season of celebrating the Motion Pictures, the creators of our form of entertainment, and the talent standing in front of the cameras whom we find ourselves attaching or relating to for a long time. It's the arts. And they make our wold go around. Celebrate it. 

I am a little behind watching all the amazing movies that have been released pre-award season, just in time to earn a nomination, I am dying to watch Moonlight and Lion. But first, I had to start with the SO TALKED about, La La Land. It's been on my list to watch for three reasons: a) it is an original modern musical, b) I've always liked Emma Stone,  c) I rank 'Whiplash' as one of my favourite movies. Creator of Whiplash, Damien Chazelle is the brains behind La La Land.

I had been so desperate to watch a fresh, new musical. Here we are, thinking good musicals don't get produced anymore, it's just an accumulation of the old ones, or remake after remake, but good ol' Damien proves us wrong. Considering he worked on this story in 2010 but was struggling to get the movie picked up by a company, he has done a-okay since then. 

The movie is about an aspiring, struggling actress and a musician who meet under funny circumstances and fall in love in Los Angeles. We get to see their chemistry bloom into the ultimate romance and in the meantime, how they are both dealing with their attempts to rise to success. 

There are incredibly relatable moments in the film. How 'Mia', Emma Stone's character, deals with rejection, which is a situation Emma Stone herself relates to, as for a good three years before she booked her first film, she lived Mia's life. Chazelle reveals a little part of himself in the film when Mia gets encouraged to write her own play, her own story, a one-woman show. This was pretty much his move into showbiz, when he wrote Whiplash. Footnote, Damien Chazelle was a drummer. Emma's performance was simply and purely outstanding. She portrays the disappointment, the embarrassment and the struggle in such a realistic way, anyone can relate to. Especially those who are trying to make their way up into this industry. Her best moment, was when she tells Seb (Ryan Gosling's character), that she doesn't want to keep pursuing this any more and why. And the reasons behind it, are reasons for which many artists who dropped out of the industry, that wasn't making them happy anymore, can relate to, including myself. 

Sebastian's character deals with the struggle of bringing fresh life into a bygone genre of music. He is so passionate about jazz, he has his own dreams but at the same time, gets influenced even by Mia herself that this is a dead genre and he needs to find a way to revolutionise it. Therefore he gets sucked in a job that he doesn't particularly love because 'this is what the people want'. Seb lets his insecurities cause him to make decisions when his heart is not entirely in it, because it makes more sense to the public, or to society. A wonderful lesson to be learnt. We all know people around us who make the same decisions because that's what makes sense to society, but their hearts are not in it. When Mia says to him "people love watching people who do things they're passionate about", in order to encourage him to follow his true dream of opening his own Jazz club, this is a clear message Chazelle wants to convey to us. 
Chazelle himself struggled with success, he dealt with the rejection and the disappointment but found a fresh way to write about his passions. It has been a long journey for Chazelle, just like it is for 90% of today's successful people, but here we are today watching, paying for and awarding this man for writing about his own passions. Hashtag, lesson learnt.

Beautiful music, costumes, performances and an amazing marriage of the old, dapper Hollywood essence with today's modern and technology based era. Overall, totally worth the praise, the awards and the buzz over this awards' season. Go. Watch. 

Toodles,
                                                                           Katerina