First Man (2018)

Immersive and boldly chosen visuals and sounds on the ships (blurry, claustrophobic, loud) are paralleled by more shaky-cam close-ups and tense drama on earth, leading to stunning physical and emotional release on the bleak, vast, and silent lunar landscape (Gosling is solid throughout). The blip on the radar is how the great “Whitey on the Moon” critique (“I can’t pay no doctor bill, but Whitey’s on the moon”) is only followed up with, well, more movie about white guys going to the moon.
8

La La Land (2016)

1

A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles. (IMDb)
Fresh right from the unabashedly joyous opening song to its road rage at first sight (such humour is tastefully dotted throughout). Their ever-after isn’t what it could have been either, but the plot’s interplay between love and individual aspiration (each are marvelously portrayed by Gosling and Stone) shows it isn’t necessarily a bad thing–a nuance that adds depth to the film’s cute romance and gorgeous aesthetic of dream-like colours and camerawork, scrumptious sets, and magical music.
8.5/10 (Amazing)