Moonlight (15, 111 mins, ★★★★)
If La La Land carries away the Best Picture Oscar this year (to follow up it’s Bafta success) it will be a travesty. Despite the endless hype, the Hollywood-set musical, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is an irredeemably average and unoriginal love story that’s low on energy, invention and memorable tunes. Like its director Damien Chazelle’s previously over-lauded effort, Whiplash, it’s superficial in the extreme, to boot.
La La Land’s seemingly inevitable victory would be a pity not only because it’s dross, but also, more importantly, because there are a number of other Best Picture contenders that are many times better.
