La La Land (2016)

[filmlover]

5 hours ago, Jason said:

An aside: I tried to look for some internet commentary on this, on this site as well as using Google, and couldn't find any. Was the camera going very slightly out of focus during the more fantastical scenes like the opening number, or the floating at the observatory? I thought that was clever, but it was so subtle I couldn't be completely sure.

I've seen the movie twice and didn't notice either time.

[Goffe]

I could hear myself breathing as City of Star was reenacted for a last time. I could feel teardrops of wonder and empathy falling. I felt. 

 

Chazelle did it, he knocked out of the park, again!

 

La La Land is beautiful, exciting, and most important of all, REAL.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Goffe

[FilmBuff]

A bit late since I saw it a month ago, but here's my review. Saw it again in Imax this past weekend. I apologize for grammatical errors.

 

La La Land 

 

Negatives 

 

The only real negative I can think of with this movie is the movie runs a little slow for me during the 2nd act, but this is a very nitpicky thing for me. The only other thing I can fault for is not really a negative for the movie is the sound system at the local AMC theater. Goodness, something was off soundwise. The movie going experience was well worth the price of admission, but the music and the score was almost deafening. Had to cover my ears a couple of times. Movie theater seemed a bit louder than usual. Again not a negative on the movie, just a criticism leveled at the movie theater. Fix your sound equipment!

 

Positives.

 

OMG? Where do I start. The technical aspects of this movie are amazing. The musical score, the film editing, the cinematography, the songs, everything was just pitch perfect. The cinematography was absolutely gorgeous. First time in a long time a movie made me want to go visit a city(Los Angeles). This movie did a great job of sweeping me away with a 'old school' feel, but also a nice mix of "modern" feel as well. I loved this film was a love letter to all those old school musicals in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, but this movie also stands on its own a musical masterpiece. I've been playing the music repeatedly on Spotify. Even the less memorable songs are still great. City of Stars is probably my favorite. Audition(A Fool's dream) is probably my second. 

 

For 2 hours, I was swept a long in a whirlwind of the lives of these two people(Gosling and Stone). The ups and downs of these two people as they struggle through the ups and downs of living theirs dreams. The chemistry like many have mentioned is a amazing. Crazy, Stupid, Love was one of my favorite comedies this decade, and I wanted to see these two again in another film. They totally nailed it in this movie. They are so so good together. I thought Gosling was good in this movie, but Emma Stone completely outshines him, specifically in the 3rd act of the movie. I definitely thought she was 'good' in the movie up until act three, but I didn't understand how she was winning so many awards until act three. She absolutely crushes it in the 3rd act. With a moving solo act(audition), a scene where Gosling missed her acting performance, and the dinner scene where the two leads have a big argument. What she did in this movie is incredible. The combination of singing, acting, performing, and dancing. Great job. She moved me too tears twice.

 

I'm not a huge a fan of musicals, but what this movie did for me was incredible.  No other movie in 2016 (with the exception of Arrival)moved me in a way like this movie did. A month later I can stop thinking about this movie. The ending was truly heartbreaking. One I didn't see coming, but understood why after leaving the theater. They both got to live their dreams even if it meant them not ending up together. Chazelle is an amazing storyteller able to wrap things up with incredible endings. Did it with Whiplash, and pulled it off here(La La Land) as well. 

 

I truly think in 10-15 years people will see this a classic Musical film. Just like Sound of Music, Chicago, Grease, et al

 

A+ Only other movie this year to get an A+ besides Arrival.

Edited January 19, 2017 by FilmBuff

[cannastop]

1 minute ago, FilmBuff said:

The only other thing I can fault for is not really a negative for the movie is the sound system at the local AMC theater. Goodness, something was off soundwise. The movie going experience was well worth the price of admission, but the music and the score was almost deafening.

Did you watch it in Dolby Cinema?

[MikeQ]

I really wanted to love this film. I really wanted to love it. But it just didn't enchant me in the way it could have.

 

One of the issues for me is that the characters ring somewhat hollow. Emma Stone is wonderful, and Ryan Gosling is solid, but I don't feel like I really know these characters. Part of this, I believe, is that while the song and dance is good, not much of it emotionally resonates with me - the spirit and passion are missing.

 

It wasn't clear to me why Sebastian and Mia had to break up - there didn't seem to be a strong enough impetus for them doing so - but this was something I could overlook for the purpose of the story. Then we flash forward to Mia, who is now apparently a big movie star. We see that her coffee is ready to go when she stops by the cafe, she has a big house, a handsome husband, and a nanny. I kept trying to figure out what this left with me by the end of the film when Mia and Sebastian have their knowing glance/nod/smile to each other, and I couldn't figure it out. It left me feeling kind of empty. Am I supposed to be happy now that Mia has become a big star? This doesn't inspire me.

 

Certainly the film that she gets to go work on in Paris is a very good set up, both because she is discovered and asked to audition by a talent scout who saw her in her one-woman show, a personal artistic endeavour of hers; and when she auditions for the film, the film is positioned as one with artistic integrity, with the comment that the character will be created around the actress, and so on. So we get the sense that is the perfect project for Mia, one in which she can obtain artistic fulfillment and have her genuine talents recognized and put to good use. But then there is no pay off - what we see when we flash forward confuses me. And while Sebastian's situation resonates more with me, the character isn't very likeable.

 

I wanted the film to sweep me up in a celebration of artistry and living a meaningful creative life, deep in spirit and soul, and it just didn't do that for me. I'm disappointed.

 

Peace,

Mike

[Noctis]

I loved this. I'm not a fan of musicals, but La La Land was incredible. The ending was beautifully bittersweet. It was perfect. 

 

A

 

Stone was sensational.

[CoolioD1]

people who say they're not a fan of musicals but loved this seemingly just aren't seeing the right ones. especially if you're praising the ending, which is just blending together the endings of An American in Paris and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Chazelle himself admits in several interviews to nicking a lot from those two in particular for this picture.

[Jake Gittes]

An American in Paris feels like it's three years long though. But anyone who loved this and hasn't seen Umbrellas and Young Girls of Rochefort (and maybe even Singin' in the Rain and Top Hat) should correct that immediately. You won't regret it. 

[CoolioD1]

jake no. i loved this movie but chazelle is NO vincente Minnelli.

[carolwoodpr]

I just saw this today and gave it a huge, resounding A.  I loved this movie, but what would I change if I was the director?  The ending, which made me cry, and I would put more songs in the movie, with lyrics.  Songs we can sing to.

 

In either case I thought it was brilliant and can't wait to see it again.  I think City of Stars will be the Oscar winning song, and this movie could very well win an Oscar.

[ChD]

Okay, I just watched this.

 

The last fifteen minutes of this movie were a masterpiece in my eyes. The directing, set pieces and score melted together perfectly. What the last fifteen minutes did to me, the rest of the movie failed: It made me care for these characters. That's the biggest issue I had with this movie: the screenplay was lacking. It seems the idea of amazing set pieces and songs came first, and then the screenplay was built around the initial ideas, which made it extremely underwhelming. It entertained with the music and set pieces and all that, but the story itself was extremely uninspiring. The performances were good, but I didn't see the Oscar worthy potential in them. I guess it's all subjective and that maybe I'm a little bit ignorant on this part, but I hope they win, because I like these actors, even though I failed to see the greatness.

 

Overall, I hope this movie wins directing and set pieces because it fucking deserves that. Same for score and original song. I just hope it doesn't win screenplay, because it doesn't deserve it in my eyes. Best Picture and performances I'm still split on.

 

B+

Edited January 22, 2017 by ChD

[TalismanRing]

I love musicals, I am I big fan of musicals.   I didn't love this.   A couple of great sections but not a great film and at times a mediocre one.

 

Gosling was charming enough to make a his character likable and Stone had one brilliant scene with Audition.

 

On a technical level it looked beautiful, especially the end fantasy montage which was wonderfully done even if I didn't buy into the laziness and cynicism of the breakup.   The take away is if she makes a film and is away for months does she also forget about her kid and husband until she accidentally runs into them 5 years later? 

 

The relationship and characters were too self involved and shallow for me to be captivated by the romance of it and there wasn't enough conflict for it to move me as a drama.  So it needed to succeed for me as a musical and it didn't.

 

The dancing - choreography was lacking and the skill by the leads was sub par.   Even the dancing high point - the opening scene got by more on it's energy and vitality than choreography.

 

The music - I thought it was funny she was complaining about all Jazz sounding like elevator music to her when that's what most of the music in this movie felt like to me and without the singing talent to elevate it.  Though Stone's acting did sell the hell out of Audition.   The only number I enjoyed for the music was the supposedly sell out Legend number .  I even enjoyed the A-ha cover song more than the rest.

 

I'm happy its successful if it means more original musicals in film.

 

B-

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2017 by TalismanRing

[Goffe]

the movie doesn't actually see Legend's music as sell out.

[Goffe]

btw I have moved Jacques Demy way up in my filmographies to marathon list.

[Arlborn]

This movie was everything I've hoped for as I constantly listened to its soundtrack and more. I adored it, my second 10/10 of 2016.

 

It felt real in a fantastic(the fantasy origin of the word) way, I could relate to a lot of it, I wasn't expecting that at all and I think that's what blew me away the most about it.

 

I cried throughout the whole final scene, it was a just masterfully executed and it brought the whole movie together perfectly. I wanted to watch it again the moment the credits started rolling.

 

 

[cannastop]

On 12/6/2016 at 11:39 PM, rjones1325 said:

If Disney decides to make a live action adaption of any given animated film like Zootopia, cast them as the leads, and it’ll work.

Got something for you:

Spoiler

 

 

Super corny fanart, but it's drawn well.

[Alpha]

I really enjoyed this. It's kinda refreshing to see an Oscar frontrunner that's not so serious about itself and it's themes, it's just a really well-crafted, crowdpleasing musical. I can see why the backlash has surfaced since it's pretty light fare, but I'd definitely see it again if I had the time.

 

A / A-

[Sam]

I never wrote a review for this even though I saw it ages ago. So well...

 

To start off, I loved the imagery. Cinematography, settings, atmosphere, all gorgeous. The homage to classic musicals and old -timey Hollywood were apparent, well crafted and expertly directed.

 

I enjoyed the music greatly. From the score to musical numbers. The melody and lyrics of all the songs were woven well into the movie. Mia and Sebastian's theme was a personal favorite.

 

Editing was also great. Especially the epilogue, that was superb. 

 

On the other hand, there were some glaring flaws that frankly, disappointing considering how this was my most anticipated movie of last year.

 

The writing was the biggest offender, especially characterizations. Both leads were thinly written. On some levels, I would say they're superficial and almost caricature-like. The characters were there solely to serve plot purposes, and that made it hard for me to connect or care about them. 

Some reviews mentioned that they feel like they cared/enjoyed watching the characters because it was the lovable Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling playing them, and not because it was Mia and Sebastian. That's exactly how I feel too. And it seemed that Emma/Ryan chemistry which was so present and intense in Crazy Stupid Love, was not much so here. 

I couldn't buy their love story, it was as superficial as their characters, which made the epilogue, even though excellently put together, rang hollow. It didn't feel like a grand big love, but rather a turning point chance encounter (if they had push their relationship as that only, then I would appreciate it more)

 

Ryan Gosling was out of depth here in terms of singing these types of music. Surprisingly, Emma Stone did a better job. Not excellent or anything, but she was more adequate. It helped too that Mia, even though painfully paper-thin, was more likable. Sebastian, not so much. I really can't imagine how much worse it would be had Gosling not be the lead actor. 

 

Also, I thought John Legend was miscast. I mean, on the musical front, he was great of course (a much needed force there). However, while I can see both sides of the arguments "Ryan Gosling saves jazz" vs. "John Legend had the last say on the jazz debate", still, if we had have a stronger actor who could sell that long opinionated dialogue better; I could definitely lean more towards that side of debate. But boy, John Legend delivered it like he was reading words off a teleprompter. 

 

Overall, it was quite enjoyable, beautiful to look at and many of the music/melody stayed with me. But because it was highly anticipated, the flaws also disappointed me more. 

 

Solid B+

 

Edited January 26, 2017 by Sam

[John Marston]

When the movie began with that part where got out of their cars and started singing some Disney Channel song I thought "crap, I don't think I am going to like this". But the the rest of the movie went along and I really liked it. 

Edited January 28, 2017 by John Marston

[Plain Old Tele]

20 hours ago, John Marston said:

When the movie began with that part where got out of their cars and started singing some Disney Channel song I thought "crap, I don't think I am going to like this". But the the rest of the movie went along and I really liked it. 

 

That was the high point of the movie for me.