La La Land may have lost out on the Best Picture Oscar to Moonlight at the very last minute, but it remains one of my favorite movies of the decade so far. That was an incredibly contentious awards season, filled with hit jobs, attack pieces, and fierce competition. The La La Land backlash was swift and intense, and the heavy front-runner never quite recovered from the media narrative surrounding it. However, the modern musical didn't suffer THAT much at the Oscars. The film still won 6 Academy Awards, including Best Director for Damien Chazelle, who became the youngest winner in that category in history. After the one-two punch of Whiplash and the 2016 musical masterpiece, Chazelle will have huge expectations on him for the foreseeable future. He's developing two major TV series, but first, he'll be re-teaming with Ryan Gosling for a biopic of Neil Armstrong. First Man has Oscar contender written all over it, and it's undoubtedly one of the must-see films of the year in my book. Last night, Universal finally released the intense first trailer. Watch it below!
When First Man was announced, I thought it was a fascinating choice for Chazelle to follow up his box office smash/awards juggernaut with a conventional biopic. I knew that a Neil Armstrong movie would put him right back in the thick of the awards race, but I initially wasn't sure how a Chazelle movie would work without the musical component, nor was I sure if this was a daring enough choice post-La La Land. In recent months, Chazelle and his team have done everything to emphasize that this will not be the movie we thought we were getting. The director has been selling First Man as a big, gripping action film, equipped with IMAX-sized setpieces and relentless intensity. I've even heard the phrase "Whiplash in the space program" thrown around a few times. All of that is enormously exciting, and it's all on display in this fantastic trailer.
The film looks gorgeous, and I'm glad to see Chazelle re-teaming with Oscar-winning cinematographer Linus Sandgren. After the bright colors and luxurious feel of their last collaboration, it seems that Chazelle and Sandgren are going for something completely different here, emphasizing the grain of the images and the stark beauty of space exploration. Beyond Sandgren, Chazelle's entire team is practically back, including composer Justin Hurwitz and editor Tom Cross. While we don't get to see or hear their work in this trailer (unless the dramatic music is a Hurwitz composition), their return is note-worthy.
Ryan Gosling is a great actor, and this could be his Oscar winner if Universal's awards publicists play their cards right. The supporting cast is stellar as well, from Claire Foy to Kyle Chandler (though I will say the moment he writes "MOON" on the chalkboard is unintentionally hilarious). But more than anything else, I'm excited to see how this trailer plays on the big screen. Chazelle and the studio have been hyping up the scope and scale of this movie, almost to the point that it feels more like a Christopher Nolan movie than anything else. And if you're me, that's very exciting news.
First Man will arrive in theaters on October 12. Look for more on the film as the fall festivals approach.
Image courtesy of Universal
When First Man was announced, I thought it was a fascinating choice for Chazelle to follow up his box office smash/awards juggernaut with a conventional biopic. I knew that a Neil Armstrong movie would put him right back in the thick of the awards race, but I initially wasn't sure how a Chazelle movie would work without the musical component, nor was I sure if this was a daring enough choice post-La La Land. In recent months, Chazelle and his team have done everything to emphasize that this will not be the movie we thought we were getting. The director has been selling First Man as a big, gripping action film, equipped with IMAX-sized setpieces and relentless intensity. I've even heard the phrase "Whiplash in the space program" thrown around a few times. All of that is enormously exciting, and it's all on display in this fantastic trailer.
The film looks gorgeous, and I'm glad to see Chazelle re-teaming with Oscar-winning cinematographer Linus Sandgren. After the bright colors and luxurious feel of their last collaboration, it seems that Chazelle and Sandgren are going for something completely different here, emphasizing the grain of the images and the stark beauty of space exploration. Beyond Sandgren, Chazelle's entire team is practically back, including composer Justin Hurwitz and editor Tom Cross. While we don't get to see or hear their work in this trailer (unless the dramatic music is a Hurwitz composition), their return is note-worthy.
Ryan Gosling is a great actor, and this could be his Oscar winner if Universal's awards publicists play their cards right. The supporting cast is stellar as well, from Claire Foy to Kyle Chandler (though I will say the moment he writes "MOON" on the chalkboard is unintentionally hilarious). But more than anything else, I'm excited to see how this trailer plays on the big screen. Chazelle and the studio have been hyping up the scope and scale of this movie, almost to the point that it feels more like a Christopher Nolan movie than anything else. And if you're me, that's very exciting news.
First Man will arrive in theaters on October 12. Look for more on the film as the fall festivals approach.
Image courtesy of Universal
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