Third time viewing and it's finally settled into my top five. This time I was more focused on the filmmaking, having been so wrapped up in the characters and the MacGuffin-ridden plot before—has anyone counted how many Dutch angles are in this thing? One aspect that struck me this time was the amount of blindspots in the mise-en-scène: quite often there'll be a ledge or a wall that seems to conspicuously cut off part of someone's body for no apparent…

La La Land (2016) is the type of film you wish you saw more often, one that's equal parts joyous, intelligent, and technically marvellous. Musicals made in the Internet era have the difficult task of providing more than a YouTube playlist can offer; something as flaccid as Les Miserables (2012) is genuinely benefitted by isolating its highlights. But Damien Chazelle's tribute to Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and Golden-era glitz massively benefits from starring two of cinema's most charismatic leading performers:…