Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10?):  5    In perusing the year-end lists and reviews, I noticed a trend whereby professional and non-professional cinephiles alike seem to register a measured – if not, suspicious – appreciation for writer/director Damien Chazelle’s awards-bound musical, La La Land.  Chazelle certainly offers up plenty of familiar ... Read More »

Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10?):  8 The screen is black.  There is the sound of a single wooden drumstick striking a snare.   Then again.  Then again, faster.  And faster.  A train is leaving the station … “One night in 1937, a teenage musician called Charlie Parker joined a queue of ... Read More »