1. Chazelle - This is incredible work for someone so new to the scene. It's not my favorite of his - I prefer La La Land from a technical perspective and Whiplash from a story-telling perspective. But First Man has everything one could want from a fairly straight-forward biopic about Neil Armstrong. I read a critic (or film blogger, I can't remember who it was to give proper credit) who commented that Armstrong was a boring man who did one extraordinary thing, and at first I thought that was incredibly insulting, but it's honestly pretty truthful. Now, I guess we probably should re-examine the word "boring" as an insult because, let's be honest, a lot of "boring" people get shit done. Chazelle's films are so different that it's hard to see the most glaring similarity - all 3 of them are about people overcoming obstacles to accomplish a "mission", so-to-speak. There are a few things about the story that I really appreciated - the two that come to my head right away are the use of silence once in space (it's sublime) and that they don't dramatize the tension between Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (it's there, but not focused on at all). There are also some things I could have done without (I groaned out loud with the whole bracelet thing. I knew it was coming, but I was hoping it wouldn't end that cheesily) and I could have easily cut 30 minutes of the film (making it tighter, a little more tense, and efficient - as I think Armstrong would have wanted). Overall though, it's my favorite film of the year so far, and will likely make it to my Top 10 - which makes Chazelle 3 for 3. There's clearly influences - from Spielberg to Nolan to Greengrass, and I don't think Chazelle has his own style quite yet, but he's got plenty of time.
2. Gosling - Not Gosling's best performance (we all know what his best work is and will likely always be), but still pretty solid. He's smart in sticking to roles that best suit him (it's either quiet and reserved or charming and smug, he's brilliant at both). I admit that when this was first announced, I could not picture it. Even though the role fits to his strengths, I didn't believe that he could pull it off. I still believe that someone else might have been better suited to the role, but I can't really think of a specific actor that would have a similar appearance and be in that age range. I will be frustrated if this earns him an Oscar nomination, though.
3. Foy - The standout performance is clearly Claire Foy. Just brilliant. She took a simple, cliched "supportive housewife" role and set the bar for every actress going forward. I thought it would be hard to see her as anything other than The Queen (which she does perfectly), but she proved me wrong with Unsane. Wouldn't it be awesome if she was nominated for Actress (for Unsane) and Supporting Actress (for First Man)? And what if she won both of them? Has that ever happened before? Interesting thought. Anyway, the rest of the cast is also wonderful - whatever happened to Patrick Fugit? He was so popular after Almost Famous (an overrated movie, in my opinion) and then he just...disappeared. Also, it is practically a given that this film will get nominated for an Oscar simply because Coach Taylor is in it and he has been an Oscar Lucky Charm for a few years now (Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Carol, Manchester by the Sea). His agent is very smart.
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