January 11, 2017 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Damien Chazelle: The “La La Land” Interview
lines so well. I think
yours was the fi rst Rot-
ten Tomatoes review of
it. “La La Land” is sort
of like “Guy and Made-
line, but with a budget.”
[Chuckles]
With Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
D
amien
Chazelle
wrote and direct-
ed the Academy
Aw a r d - w i n n i n g
“Whiplash,” which land-
ed fi ve Oscar nomina-
tions, including Best Pic-
ture and Best Adapted
Screenplay for Chazelle.
The movie won a trio of
Oscars in the fi lm edit-
ing, sound mixing and
Supporting Actor (J.K.
Simmons) categories.
In 2013, his short fi lm
of the same name won
the short fi lm jury prize
at the Sundance Film
Festival.
Previously,
Damien wrote “Grand
Piano,” starring Elijah
Wood and John Cusack,
and co-wrote the hit hor-
ror sequel “10 Clover-
fi eld Lane,” starring John
“
Director Damien Chazelle
not yet produced.
Damien shot his fi rst
feature fi lm, Guy and
Madeline on a Park
Bench, while still an
undergrad at Harvard
University. The criti-
cally-acclaimed
debut
was named the Best
First Feature of 2010 by
L.A. Weekly and was
described as “easily the
ning a record 7 awards.
Kam Williams: Hi
Damien.
Congratula-
tions!
Damien
Chazelle:
Thanks, Kam.
KW: Not that I’m at
all surprised by your
incredible success. Af-
ter all, back when you
I liked the idea of doing an American answer
to the French answer to the American musi-
cals, if that makes sense
Goodman. His screen-
plays for “Whiplash” and
“The Claim”
both appeared on the
Blacklist, the annual sur-
vey of the most-liked mo-
tion picture screenplays
best fi rst fi lm in eons” by
Time Out New York.
Here, Damien discuss-
es his latest movie, La La
Land which just swept
the Golden Globes, win-
released your fi rst fi lm,
“Guy and Madeline on a
Park Bench,” I told any-
body who’d listen, “Ap-
preciate Damien now
and avoid the rush!”
DC: I remember those
ALBINA MINISTERIAL ALLIANCE’S
CITY-WIDE
DR. MARTIN LUTHER
KING, JR.
CELEBRATION
FEATURED SPEAKER:
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler
SUNDAY
JANUARY 15, 2017
4:00 P.M.
Maranatha Church
4222 NE 12th Ave., Portland OR 97211
503-288-7241
KW: Well, I loved it! It’s
#1 on my Top 100 List for
2016. And I started my re-
view saying, “If you only
see one movie this year,
you need to get out
more. That being said,
“La La Land” is the pic-
ture to catch.”
DC: Thanks! I’m
thrilled you liked it.
KW: I’ve seen four
times already. It’s a
movie you absolutely
have to see on the big
screen.
DC: Yeah, part of my
hope was to make a
movie meant for the
movie theaters, in the
old-fashioned sense
of a fi lm designed
for a group of people
to watch on the big
screen. I think that
old school idea was so
beautiful, kinds like
those roadshow mu-
sicals from the 1950s
and 1960s.
KW: The fi rst time
I saw it was with fellow
critics, and everybody
applauded when the clos-
ing credits started to roll.
That was the fi rst time
in ages that there was
a standing ovation at a
fi lm critics’ screening I
attended. We’re a jaded
lot that’s pretty hard to
impress.
DC: That’s awesome!
KW: I understand that
this movie took six years
to make, partly because
other studios were will-
ing to greenlight the proj-
ect on the condition that
you agreed to substantial
revisions, like changing
the ending and the music
from jazz to rock.
Read the rest of this interview
at TheSkanner.com
Movies cont’d from pg 6
Steenburgen and Paul
Reiser.
Everybody Knows...
Elizabeth Murray (Un-
rated) Meryl Streep nar-
rates this reverential ret-
rospective about the late
Elizabeth Murray (1940-
2007), a single-mom who
overcame considerable
obstacles en route to
becoming a prominent
modern artist.
Go North (Unrated)
Futuristic sci-fi set in
the wake of an apocalyp-
tic castrophe which has
left the planet without
any adults. Ensemble
includes Jacob Lofl and,
James Bloor, Sophie Ken-
nedy Clark and Patrick
Schwarzenegger
(Ar-
nold’s son).
Ok Jaanu (Unrated)
Romance drama, set in
Mumbai, about an am-
bitious couple (Shrad-
dha Kapoor and Aditya
Roy Kapoor) forced to
pick between their ca-
reers and following their
hearts when work threat-
ens to pull them apart.
With Naseeruddin Shah
and Leela Samson. (In
Hindi with subtitles)
Reset (Unrated) Dance
documentary
chroni-
cling the eff orts of chore-
ographer-turned-artistic
director Benjamin Mil-
lepied to rejuvenate the
Paris Opera Ballet. (In
French and English with
subtitles)