The first time I heard the name Damien Chazelle, it was at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker Jason Reitman was there as the producer of an under-the-radar short film called “Whiplash,” starring J.K. Simmons as a gnarly band instructor. “This kid is talented,” Reitman said of the film’s young director. I blew it off.
A year later, the feature version of “Whiplash” exploded out of Sundance and then everyone knew the name Damien Chazelle. By the time the awards season rolled around, his tight little potboiler about a battle of wills between a drummer and his instructor was a Cinderella possibility in the Oscar race. But no one expected it to walk away with three Academy Awards until it did exactly that.
If “Whiplash” was the warning shot, “La La Land” is the heavy artillery. A love letter to Los Angeles inspired by the musical stylings of Jacques Demy...
A year later, the feature version of “Whiplash” exploded out of Sundance and then everyone knew the name Damien Chazelle. By the time the awards season rolled around, his tight little potboiler about a battle of wills between a drummer and his instructor was a Cinderella possibility in the Oscar race. But no one expected it to walk away with three Academy Awards until it did exactly that.
If “Whiplash” was the warning shot, “La La Land” is the heavy artillery. A love letter to Los Angeles inspired by the musical stylings of Jacques Demy...
- 8/31/2016
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Variety - Film News
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