First Man (2018)

 

 

A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969. 

 

Excellently produced and quite realistic rendition of the first moon landing is fully focused on Neil Armstrong and who he was, very successfully so, enhanced by Gosling's immersive performance, but somehow misses out on giving both the man and the mission any substantial meaning.

La La Land (2016)

While navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.

Meticulously and beautifully crafted reconstruction of a classic Hollywood musical - together with its hollowness, the romance never shows any spark; that said, Damien Chazelle obviously has a serious problem understanding what jazz is.

Whiplash (2014)

A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.

An extremely well-made and intense drama with a grand performance by J.K. Simmons; unfortunately, it seems to consider jazz (and music, for that matter) to be some kind of competitive high performance sport, and the ambitious student is nearly as disagreeable as his sadistic mentor.