2024 was an odd year for film
I previously reviewed Nickel Boys and touted its masterful encapsulation of maintaining humanity through oppression.
Cinema is dying. It’s hard to believe given the glut of options we have being released every week on the myriad of streaming services that lay themselves at our feet for a mere pittance, but it’s something I ungraciously believe. A body without a soul is nothing more than a corpse and a movie without a point is no different. A lot of the movies I’ve seen in the past couple of years have had nothing to say and if a movie has no voice, then it has very little point in existing. But every so often, there is a flicker of life in the midst of every ashen pile that reminds you even embers may burn again. Babylon is one such flicker and Damien Chazelle is the perpetrator of this.
First and foremost, this film is not a love story or even a drama as Chazelle has done in the past. Rather, it’s an epic, which I would categorize as a genre all on its own. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself seeing one being made today after I, along with the other great film writers at the Knockturnal, discussed this topic on one of our more recent podcast episodes. An epic is an old style of making movies, filled with grand shots and numerous plot lines, but with an overarching theme. These are films that have incredible scope and often span years, acting like literal novels come to life. Each scene is less a fluid story and more a highly connected and interrelated series of vignettes that epitomizes the central theme and often time period. Babylon is very much so an epic which follows the lives of different characters during the late 1920s in Hollywood as the industry moved from silent films and the raucous age of the roaring 20s into the slowly sterilized but pioneering golden age of film which began with the onset of “talkies”, films with sound.
Babylon essentially opens on a large, off the rails party filled with every form of debauchery you could imagine, as well as you few you didn’t. The music is bombastic, the setting is ostentatious, the attire of the party goers is shocking to say the least, and their behavior is purely a degeneration of social norms. In fact, the scene itself is loud in every single way you can imagine, aside from the dialogue, which is almost unintelligible. At first, I thought this was a shortcoming of the sound mixing team when I realized that this was the point. Drowning out the sound of dialogue is the pure spectacle of the moment. Not to mention the fact that Chazelle is such an adept storyteller that even without understanding what’s being said at all moments, it’s clear what’s taking place. This opening act spans the first thirty or so minutes of the runtime but it perfectly exemplifies the spirit of the film and the silent era: it’s one large party that’s hit its peak, but it’s on its way to a downturn.
It’s beautiful and is not unlike the rest of the film which carries on for another 150 minutes to a total runtime of three hours, which sounds like a lot, but it’s not. Most movies I find myself watching today are so slow and poorly placed that I’d rather repeat a year of high school than finish the sleepy mess I was watching. I’ve seen movies this year with the usual 120-minute runtime that were 90 minutes too long. And yet, Babylon almost feels rushed at 3 hours. I actually wish it was 4 hours. The only flaw I could find in this movie is that because it tells the stories of so many different characters, there are scenes which aren’t given enough time to breathe and there are no scenes that I would cut. That and the fact that writing dialogue has never been Chazelle’s strong suit.
This is an interesting review to write. I’ve been a writer for nearly seven years and in that time I don’t believe I’ve reviewed a single epic. It takes me back to my days in film class and learning why John Ford’s How Green Was My Valleywas a masterpiece, even though it never really quite clicked for me. Looking back, I was too young and unbothered to understand the depth of that movie, but today I can appreciate the beauty of it. Babylon is much the same in that I don’t believe this film will receive the audience reaction it deserves. Honestly, I’m not even sure it’ll receive the critical praise it’s rightly owed. It’s a bold step that seeks to revive something from the past that most have decided to leave in the grave it found itself in. However, Chazelle has shown that once again in this film that he has in the past, anything old and underappreciated, like the genre of musicals, can still work if under the watchful hand of an extremely talented auteur. That is what Chazelle is now, by the way. With this film, I feel the argument is more than clear cut than ever that he is a true auteur, one who can tackle and navigate the choppy waters of the most under-appreciated and overlooked genres. Looking at this film as a standalone piece of work may seem like an almost experimental test of what a movie can be. A take on an old format. However, consider this in the work of everything Chazelle has done and it makes for an incredibly interesting piece to the creative psyche he portrays so well in his work.
I believe it was the director Howard Hawkes that once said that a good movie is one with a few good scenes and no bad ones. By that definition, Chazelle has certainly made a good movie and I feel it’s the best scale to grade this product by. It’s a piece of cinema for cinema lovers, but sadly, I’m not sure a regular audience member would enjoy this. I certainly don’t see a regular movie goer like my Dad going to a theater and saying it was time well spent. Movies of this style are ones that require an acquired taste, made specifically for the movie goer with a developed palate in the pursuit of something more that regular run of the mill production won’t provide. It saddens me to say that. I remember hearing people laugh at what may be one of the most tragic and heartfelt scenes of the film and thinking to myself that this is not going to be appreciated by movie goers and probably not even by critics. In time this film will get the critical praise it deserves, but it may go as a misunderstood masterpiece from an era where Hollywood had a creative drought.
Babylon will be in theaters on December 23rd, 2022, and I sincerely hope that against all odds that it’s a smash hit.
The annual Made In America Festival is taking place in Philadelphia this weekend and the lineup is jam packed. Bad Bunny, Tyler The Creator, Burna Boy, Snoh Aalegra, Jazmine Sullivan and more are set to take the stage at the Roc Nation led music festival during Labor Day weekend.
The name DIXSON may be unfamiliar to some, but his work in the music industry precedes him. He’s worked with some of your favorites including Beyonce, Chance the Rapper and Yebba. His most notable work is his collaboration with the Queen Bey herself for her song “Be Alive,” written specially for the Venus and Serena Williams biopic King Richard which follows their journey to success with the help of their father and coach Richard Williams.
The song also earned him his first Oscar and Golden Globe nomination this year for Best Original Song. While receiving these accolades so early in his career is the ultimate goal for artists everywhere, DIXSON doesn’t shy away from being transparent about his journey to get to where he is now.
“If I were doing this for just the press or the look, it would invalidate the art in a way. It’s really important to fight for your visions, fight for your goals, fight for having the right team around you. That’s super vital,” says the R&B artist.
We spoke with the singer-songwriter 48 hours before making his solo debut at Made In America and he spilled on working with Beyoncé and Chance The Rapper, his desire to get back in to acting and how artists should strive to create regardless of life’s obstacles.
I believe this is your first Made in America, how are you feeling about it?
It’s my first time performing as a solo artist. I performed in 2017 as a background artist. I feel good. I think I’ve been silently praying for this opportunity, to get in front of an audience. This is my first outdoor festival.
Spending years as a background singer, I played a bunch off festivals and I imagined being able to take one of the larger stages and this is really exciting for me at this point in my career.
One thing that really stuck out to me about you is that you play 11 different instruments. How did that journey start?
My parents made a conscious effort to let me explore the things I was interested in. So, my first instrument that I started playing was the drums and then I picked up the piano pretty quickly because my father was a pastor and he needed musicians. I learned how to play everything by ear, and as I got older my parents let me explore everything I was interested in. We always had instruments around the house.
So, it really just started with a home environment. When I was doing other things, I had an instrument in my hand. It was a desire. I really just wanted to know how these instruments works and how I can make them sound how I wanted them to sound.
Which instrument is your favorite to incorporate in music?
Lately my favorite is playing bass. It varies, it depends what I’m working on. But, right not I’m excited to get really good at playing the bass and I’m playing a lot of it on this upcoming project too.
DIXSON is set to release not one but two new albums this year. The first of the two-part project is 004DAISY and is dropping on September 16. His recent single “Cherry Sorbet” featuring Sevyn Streeter is a part of it and features a Beatles sample. The project also features appearances from Tinashe, Vic Mensa and LA-based band frontman Stolen Nova.
In the 70’s inspired music video, DIXSON and Sevyn are seen flirtatiously playing the cat and mouse game while singing about wanting to give in to their sexual chemistry.
DIXSON and Sevyn Streeter in “Cherry Sorbet”.
As a songwriter, you’ve written for films, like King Richard and albums like Chance The Rapper’s The Big Day and Beyoncé’s Renaissance. Is there a difference in the writing process when working on a song for a film versus an album? Is it easier to convey a message due to the visuals already existing, versus a song where you have to paint a visual with lyrics and your voice?
I don’t make one more difficult than the other. I try to approach every project with the same energy and passion. For King Richard, There’s not only visuals for the film but there’s also a mental picture. You go back and think of times you’ve seen Serena or Venus play on TV, or watch that many accomplishments happen in real time and you link those stories back to your own life and experiences, the experience of the artist that’s going to be delivering the song. There’s a lot of representation there.
Chance is an extremely visual person. So, as we work on songs he’s painting a picture for us as well. He’s telling us what he’s thinking, what he’s looking for. He is giving us his potential visual ideas so we had a lot to play with. I’ve been very fortunate to work with artists who have incredible visual sensibilities. I do too, I’m the same way. So, it works well for me that the people I collaborate with are also very visual thinkers, too.
When you’re writing for an artist other than yourself, how do you balance how much of yourself and your experiences to incorporate without going overboard?
I don’t limit myself in that way. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter who you’re working with, whether it’s Bey or another artist I’m realizing more and more that the human experience is the collective experience. Obviously, there are variables. There are very wealthy humans, and very sad humans, very happy humans but it’s all a human experience. I don’t try to limit what I write based on who I’m with.
On your social media, you’re always talking about the importance of versatility. Are there any other creative ventures you’d like to engage in? You were a theater kid growing up and we see musical artists transition from the studio to a movie or TV set in their careers a lot. Are there any other creative ventures you would like to branch out to? Would you consider acting?
I just auditioned for a role not too long ago for a TV show. So, I’m getting back in to it and just trying to make a soft re-entry back in to it. I haven’t been on a stage in a theater as an actor in a while. I have so much respect for actors and also just the workers in theater, television and film that I want to make sure that return in to that space is welcomed and not forced just because I’m having a rise on the music side of things. I respect all of these art forms deeply.
What advice would you give to independent music artists who are struggling with life’s limitations but are still passionate about creating?
One, you have to change how you speak about your work. Secondly, change your view of your experience as an artist. We could be struggling to pay pills, we could be struggling to manage family expectations, but if you have a gift and art that you’re making, as long as you’re not struggling to get those ideas out of your head and on paper, or whatever you record on.
It took me a long time to be interviewed let alone perform at Made In America. It took a lot of financial struggles and hardships to get to this space but you must stay in it. You have to stay in it because to not honor your gift is to not honor the giver and I think that’s the biggest mistake you can make as an artist.
If you stay in it, it’s bound to work. Your work will only get better and your audience will only get bigger.
Florian Zeller’s “The Father” starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman will premiere this week just before the Golden Globes.
The Oscar nominations are next week, and if the past is any indication, the final selections are going to be as annoying as Pinkfong’s “Baby Shark” song.
The 2019 Golden Globes red carpet awards had many celebrities in attendance strutting new fashion and beauty trends. With the help of Dove Hair and well-known celebrity hair stylists, stars like Constance Wu, Amy Poehler, Lili Reinhart to name a few stood out with must-see beauty looks.
I, Tonya directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Steve Rogers tells the story of figure skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) and the events that led to the assault of fellow competitor, Nancy Kerrigan.
The event celebrated W’s “Best Performances” portfolio, which appears in the magazine’s Volume 1, 2018, and the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards.
Kate Hudson set the Golden Globes red carpet and Hollywood abuzz as she made a dramatic entrance with an unexpected hair transformation – a fabulous, textured chin-length bob created by celebrity master-stylist David Babaii. Her eye-catching bisque beaded crepe cady bandeau gown was by Michael Kors.
The look was fresh and fabulous, flawlessly combining sophisticated 70-80’s film inspiration with Hudson’s cool boho chic. “We were joking around and just decided to cut it right before Kate started her make-up!” explained Babaii, “It’s all very Kate Hudson!”
How to get the look:
- Babaii started with damp hair, applying Pai-Shau Biphasic Infusion to quickly prime, de-frizz and nourish the hair without any residue. “I love the way it weightlessly hydrates.”
- Babaii then applied the lightweight Pai-Shau Royal Abundance Mousse for soft body and structure, and blow-dried the hair with his GHD Air Hairdryer using the GHD Paddle Brush to build in texture and movement.
- He then used a GHD’s new Platinum White Styler Flat Iron, taking random sections to shape and define volume and creating a wavy texture by curving the flat-ironed hair with his hands. “The platinum white styler is perfect for the control needed to get the precise texture we wanted.”
- Babaii finished the look with a touch of new Pai-Shau Sublime Hold Hairspray which created flexible hold without any build-up “We wanted to keep everything looking effortlessly light and natural.”
The entire collection of Pai-Shau hair care products are available exclusively at fine salons.
Visit www.pai-shau.com for more information.
She wore Forevermark Round Brilliant Diamond Drop Earrings in Platinum, Forevermark Diamond Eternity Band set in 18k White Gold, Forevermark Diamond Eternity Band set in 18k Oxidized Gold worth $1.3 Million.
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