'La La Land' wins the first of what's likely to be many, many prizes

‘La La Land’ wins the first of what’s likely to be many, many prizes

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone star in “La La Land.”

By Glenn Whipp

Sept. 23, 2016 8 AM PT

Welcome to the Gold Standard, the newsletter from the Los Angeles Times that helps guide you through the ins and outs of the awards season leading up to the Oscars.

I’m Glenn Whipp, The Times’ awards columnist and your newsletter host.

The Toronto International Film Festival has wrapped and Damien Chazelle’s magical musical, “La La Land,” took the event’s coveted People’s Choice Award. This is a populist honor, voted on by Toronto’s festival-goers. Recent winners include “12 Years a Slave,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “The King’s Speech.” It’s another solid indication that “La La Land” is a movie destined for some serious love when Oscar nominations are announced in January.

I put “La La Land” in the pole position in a piece I wrote post-Toronto, looking at how several of the year’s awards contenders fared at the fall festivals. “Moonlight,” “Loving” and “Manchester by the Sea” all received bounces too.

“Hidden Figures,” a look at three black math geniuses who helped astronaut John Glenn make it to space, looks promising as well, judging from the several scenes Fox screened at Toronto. Look for “Hidden Figures” to make an Oscar-qualifying run late in the year, followed by its wide, commercial release on Martin Luther King weekend in January.

Also wrapping up Toronto, Times film critic Justin Chang shares his festival experience, which put his abysmal summer of moviegoing into the rear-view mirror.

Actors Mahershala Ali, from left, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Alex R. Hibbert, writer Tarell Alvin McCraney, director Barry Jenkins, actress Naomie Harris, and actor Andre Holland, from the film "Moonlight."

Warren Beatty returning to the spotlight

It has been 15 years since Warren Beatty made a movie, 2001’s poorly received “Town and Country.” And it has been 18 years since he directed one, the freewheeling political-comedy “Bulworth.”

So his upcoming film, “Rules Don’t Apply,” which has Beatty playing eccentric business titan Howard Hughes, is a must-see, if only because this Hollywood legend just doesn’t make many movies. And at the age of 79, it’s doubtful Beatty’s going to suddenly become prolific. Is this his cinematic swan song? And if so, has Beatty — who wrote, directed and produced “Rules” — crafted a movie worthy of capping a career that has included landmark movies like “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Reds”? Maybe that’s too much to ask. But one can hope.

“Rules Don’t Apply” will premiere Nov. 10 at the American Film Festival’s AFI Fest in Hollywood. And it was recently announced that Beatty will receive the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film on Dec. 1 at a benefit evening at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Warren Beatty stars as Howard Hughes in the trailer for “Rules Don’t Apply.”

‘Queen of Katwe’: A ‘quietly radical’ inspirational sports film

“Queen of Katwe,” the true story of a young Ugandan girl’s unlikely journey to become a chess champion, opens today. It’s a fine movie and one that received a rousing reception last weekend when it screened for academy members at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. It’s probably an Oscars tweener but certainly a movie that’s worthy of consideration. For the time being, Disney is concentrating on its commercial release and not planning much of an awards campaign.

The Times’ Mark Olsen spoke to the movie’s director, Mira Nair, in Toronto and made a strong case that the film is “quietly radical.”