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goddamnit I messed up the title  Written and directed by Academy Award (R) nominee Damien Chazelle, LA LA LAND tells the story of Mia [Emma Stone], an aspiring actress, and Sebastian [Ryan Gosling], a dedicated jazz musician, who are struggling to make ends meet in a city known for crushing hopes and breaking hearts. Set in modern day Los Angeles, this original musical about everyday life explores the joy and pain of pursuing your dreams. Music by Justin Hurwitz Cinematography by Linus Sandgren Editing by Tom Cross Rotten Tomatoes score 93% - Critics Consensus: La La Land breathes new life into a bygone genre with thrillingly assured direction, powerful performances, and an irresistible excess of heart. Saw this last night finally and was blown away. My one-line review would be that it's a beautiful love letter to the golden age of Hollywood. Emma Stone was incredible, pretty much perfect casting for her role. Her voice felt fragile but capable, which was appropriate for her character. Ryan Gosling was a little too charming at times for his character and his voice felt a little more out of place (especially compared to the extras who all had "too clean" studio voices), but his performance more than made up for it. Their dance numbers in particular were great. I won't go into much plot-wise because it's nothing ground breaking or terribly fresh, but the direction, music, and performances more than carried it and made it great, enough so that by the end you felt a real sense of attachment to the two characters. The plot reminded me of 500 Days of Summer, in a lot of ways, but felt more real. Chazelle's style is turned up to 100 here. If you liked his direction in Whiplash you'll probably enjoy this as well. Sometimes the musical numbers can get a little frantic and hard on the eyes, but overall the film is snappy and sharp, with the same great editing as his last movie. The music is a great mix of big band Hollywood swing musical numbers, somber piano, and a few modern songs thrown in from John Legend. The cinematography was very strong, blending soundstage and real environments seamlessly and using incredible lighting effects throughout the film. Linus Sandgren (Joy, American Hustle) feels like he's taking a few pages from Lubezki and classic Hollywood and blending them into something new, and it works great. I would say this is firmly in my #1 of the year slot, with Hell or High Water in second. If you enjoy classic Hollywood or musicals this is right up your alley, but it's also charming and modern enough for broader audiences. Smart filmmaking, a script with a lot of emotion and laughs, infectious songs, and charming performances make this a strong contender for the best picture Oscar. Bottom Liner fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Dec 26, 2016 |
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Dec 26, 2016 18:34
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I'm very disappointed that neither the soundtrack nor the score features the cover of I Ran. But yeah, I too am one of the unique snowflakes that enjoyed this movie, even though I have no love for the movies that it pays tribute to. I would see it again just for the ending/epilogue, that whole thing is just fantastic from start to end.
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Dec 26, 2016 19:10
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It's funny, we saw this and then watched White Christmas at home last night, which I grew up with but never really cared for. All of a sudden I was engrossed and loving White Christmas as well. This movie is some serious magic.
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Dec 26, 2016 19:20
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I really loved this movie a lot, but the entire time I couldn't help but think that it was a Hollywood version of The Last Five Years. Dealing with fulfillment of passion while in a relationship and two artists in vastly different mediums, but one is set in New York (and has a novelist and a wannabe broadway actress), and the other is set in LA (with a jazz pianist and wannabe movie star).
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Dec 26, 2016 20:29
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I loved this movie so much. The songs are fantastic, the movie is shot extremely well, the colors were brilliant. My sole complaint is that John Legend is not much of an actor. Whenever he had a line reading it just totally sucked me out of the movie, especially the whole "you're a traditionalist" scene. I enjoyed his singing, however.
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Dec 27, 2016 08:10
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His character bothered me a bit too, because in that scene I bought what he was saying. Yeah, they were mixing in some new fusion sounds, but it was still jazz. The concert scene we saw next was completely different and I had a hard time buying the shift in tone. Very minor nitpick, and it served the story so I didn't think any more about it until now. Question for you guys, were some of the close up shots just straight up out of focus? It was noticeable throughout, but especially during Mia's song/audition. I assume it was my theaters projector being off, but other times the picture was sharp and crisp so I'm not sure. A lot of that stuff was shot shallow depth of field, so it could be just soft focused, especially with the camera being so active in the scenes. I hope that's not the case though, because it ruins a lot of the visual work if so. Bottom Liner fucked around with this message at 08:26 on Dec 27, 2016 |
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Dec 27, 2016 08:23
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I loved this movie SO much. Especially that epilogue  During the whole final sequence this old lady in front of me was so confused, she kept asking her friend what was going on.
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Dec 27, 2016 20:11
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This was absolutely worth driving an hour to Indianapolis with my family and a head cold to catch. The way the lighting seamlessly transitions into musical numbers is phenomenal.
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Dec 27, 2016 20:50
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Bottom Liner posted:
I noticed the same thing. I suspect this may have been the hardest movie to pull focus for since the 90s heyday of kinetic camerawork so I can understand some fuzziness occasionally but I remember fairly static shots that looked out of focus. Maybe everybody is a little out of practice shooting on film nowadays.
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Dec 28, 2016 06:05
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Was this shot on film?
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Dec 28, 2016 06:51
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Yes, at least the dance numbers were, and a lot of long one takes at that. Some of the interior shots look more like they were shot on Alexa's similar to The Revenant (the low light bedroom scene comes to mind), but I can't find any confirmation of anything but film.quote:Panavision XL and C Series Anamorphic lenses with some modifications Bottom Liner fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Dec 28, 2016 |
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Dec 28, 2016 07:25
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I liked the film while watching it but have taken a hard turn as time has passed. Outside of the epilogue's musical scene, which I loved, the movie is totally forgettable. For a musical, the music is mostly underwhelming. The opening number drags on forever and does nothing for me. City of Stars is a good earworm. Mia's Theme works in the context of the film but is overplayed (and, while not a critique of the film, the song is way too abrupt on the soundtrack). Emma Stone's big number fell flat for me. I think this is partially because the film does a poor job of establishing stakes. I did not at all feel invested in her journey to becoming a big movie star. And several character choices make no sense to me, including Sebastian's complete abandoning of Mia and then the fight that takes us into the climax of the film, which seemed like a cheap way to advance the story. By the time we see the epilogue, I'm left wondering: okay but how did any of this happen based on what we last saw? If the story is about the growth of these two, can we actually see it on screen? It strikes me that this would be a far better short film capped by that musical epilogue, which was incredibly moving. And while I think it's unfair to condemn the entire film for it, I can't help but agree with the critics who pointed out that the "white man saves jazz" plot is awful, especially when the foil is represented by John Legend depicted as a total sellout.
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Dec 28, 2016 17:28
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i am the bird posted:And while I think it's unfair to condemn the entire film for it, I can't help but agree with the critics who pointed out that the "white man saves jazz" plot is awful, especially when the foil is represented by John Legend depicted as a total sellout. It made perfect sense to me. White people co-opt a thing and want to keep it exactly as it is out of purity, while black people are out there actually making new poo poo. Just like the golden age of jazz.
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Dec 28, 2016 17:43
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DC Murderverse posted:It made perfect sense to me. White people co-opt a thing and want to keep it exactly as it is out of purity, while black people are out there actually making new poo poo. Just like the golden age of jazz. Ha, I agree that this is certainly what white people do. The film portrays Sebastien as righteous in his pursuit, which is where the critical icky feelings come from. I don't want to stress this as the reason for disliking the film, though. In any event, I appreciate the movie for what it is but it falls flat for me upon further reflection and I don't think I'd revisit it. City of Stars is great, though.
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Dec 28, 2016 17:51
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i am the bird posted:Ha, I agree that this is certainly what white people do. The film portrays Sebastien as righteous in his pursuit, which is where the critical icky feelings come from. I don't want to stress this as the reason for disliking the film, though. The problem isn't that Sebastian working with the band is selling out, it's that it's keeping him and Mia apart. In the big concert scene, Sebastian isn't humiliated the way he was in the cover band, he actually seems to be enjoying it, but Mia is devastated. She's having the reaction he has to seeing her give up to move in with her parents. She's not completely right that he's given up on his ambitions, but there is a lack of fulfillment there. However, working with this group and making peace with the fact Mia and him are going to have to take separate paths is what allows him to fulfill his more personal dreams five years on, and that's what the message is to me: there's no perfect fantasy musical number path their lives could have taken where they followed their dreams and didn't make sacrifices, and that's something everyone has to accept.
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Dec 28, 2016 19:23
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This movie was loving amazing. My mum the 60+ year old musical lover didn't like it, citing the songs as forgettable and the actors as poor singers/dancers. I feel like this isn't meant to be consumed like an old fashioned musical but rather a loving reference but 'time to move on' film with excellent character actors. The 'surprise dinner' scene was balls to the wall as far as acting goes. I cried. The end.
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Dec 29, 2016 11:07
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Ryan Gosling is perfectly charming.
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Dec 29, 2016 14:12
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I felt that this movie was a very nice but amateurish try at making an Old Hollywood type film. The songs weren't very good, it looked cheap and mostly felt like fluff. I enjoyed it, but as a serious Oscar contender it's a joke. Hail, Caesar! was not at all the same type of movie, but emulated the look of classic Hollywood much better and had a much, much better musical number than anything in La La Land.
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Dec 29, 2016 18:21
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It reminds me of The Artist, which was loved in the moment and then never spoken of again.
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Dec 29, 2016 18:24
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i am the bird posted:It reminds me of The Artist, which was loved in the moment and then never spoken of again. The Artist wasn't very great either, but looked a whole lot better than La La Land. I really think if Damien Chazelle would have waited to make this movie until he had the technical chops to do it, it could have been better. The script wasn't strong, and had too many cheap jokes (80's party, iPhone ringtone interrupting a song), but if it would have looked better it could have been more memorable.
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Dec 29, 2016 18:29
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Not sure your eyes or ears work  The soundtrack has been on repeat for me this week. The film was also gorgeous, especially the color and lighting work.I also thought the film did a great job of using a modern setting but making the story feel timeless and technology not really stick out despite the classic styling.
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Dec 29, 2016 18:31
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The very first scene was strangely lit (natural washed out looking lighting with hard shadows) and while a cool idea for a musical number, lacked good choreography and a memorable song. after opening with the hokey "this was shot in CinemaScope" card, I was expecting something that looked more "old movie" than "Target commercial." There's also a scene where we see Sebastian play the entirety of his bands lovely pop song on stage, and it is shot exactly like a concert film. I'm not sure why this scene was included, because they could have gotten the necessary info to us in another way. It was just a waste of time or a waste of opportunity to turn it into a fun musical set piece.
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Dec 29, 2016 21:17
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I laughed, I cried, I fell in love. A must-see for anyone who claims to like movies. My theater was packed for a 2pm midweek screening, too. Also who talks poo poo about The Artist? I just rewatched my blue of it a month or so ago. got any sevens fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Dec 30, 2016 |
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Dec 30, 2016 01:34
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This movie was good but I'm disappointed at the lack of musical dances in the 2nd half. Also, it's the whitest movie that ever did white. Oh and Jazz is not dying.
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Dec 30, 2016 02:19
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Hands down my favorite film of the year
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Dec 31, 2016 04:47
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I loved loved the musical sequences (scene at observatory is probably my favorite of the year) but everything else is so dreary. Why do they make Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling fight? And why are they not good at it?
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Dec 31, 2016 09:46
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Not sure how this would rank against my other 2016 films yet. But what I do know is that I haven't rewatched any film from this year yet, and I just saw this 2 days in a row. e: vvv oh yeah, I love it. Just not sure if it's, say, a #1 or a #5. feedmyleg fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Dec 31, 2016 |
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Dec 31, 2016 14:53
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feedmyleg posted:Not sure how this would rank against my other 2016 films yet. But what I do know is that I haven't rewatched any film from this year yet, and I just saw this 2 days in a row. It's loving good as hell, my dude.I don't think I've seen a movie that mastered color as well this year. Sicario had a perfect grasp of negative space, but that's not quite the same thing, and I don't think it used it as well or as consistently.
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Dec 31, 2016 15:44
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Dan Didio posted:It's loving good as hell, my dude.I don't think I've seen a movie that mastered color as well this year. Sicario had a perfect grasp of negative space, but that's not quite the same thing, and I don't think it used it as well or as consistently. Was Sicario this year? Jesus it's been a rough year. I can say safely both are in my top five for the year. Edit for phone spelling posting. Blah. LionArcher fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Dec 31, 2016 |
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Dec 31, 2016 19:38
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LionArcher posted:Was Sicario this year? Jesus it's been a rough year. I can say safety both are in my top five for the year. Sicario was last year. Hail Caesar was this year though, which feels crazy.
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Dec 31, 2016 19:51
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Watched this last night. I really enjoyed it, beautiful colors, good music, it was a great film. The story wasn't so interesting, but that's really an afterthought. One comment, though, is the movie had Mrs. McJerkface and I right up until the end but man them not ending up together really ruined our evening. I get it's trying to say something about how you have to pick which dream you want and go with it, and you can't have both, but I'd just like to see a happy ending in a movie once in a while. I hoped the final montage would end with them together and just not explain it, but that didn't happen so instead of leaving the theater happily humming the music we leave wanting to hang ourselves. I feel like it suffered from what a lot of smaller movies suffer from, the lack of a third act. Like they can get these characters off the ground, get us invested in them, but then they just don't know what to do with them. Since there's no huge monster to fight in Act III so they just sort of have them argue over something trivial, and then the movie trails off. Not that I wanted a huge monster to come threaten LA and they have to fight it with song and dance, but I'd settle for the the five years later to cleverly reveal that they are together, maybe he flew to Paris or something. Either way for the one movie a year I get to take my wife too (we have two kids and it's a hard to get a night away), it was a pretty good choice. She's been humming the music all morning, so it wasn't a total loss.
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Jan 1, 2017 14:35
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LionArcher posted:Was Sicario this year? Jesus it's been a rough year. I can say safely both are in my top five for the year. I definitely remembered seeing Sicario in 2016, but hey, I watched that movie a ton. My bad.
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Jan 2, 2017 06:10
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I loved it. Not an encyclopedic fan of the musical and romance genre, but I fall for movies that have a theme of artists trying to achieve their dreams. The cinematography/production/set design was stellar and I would describe it as almost fantastical. It seemed like a period piece in certain instances and the staging of some locations appearing like stage play sets was surreal. The vibrant colours, neon lights, and the cinemascope noise were a beautiful aesthetic that looked unreal in some of the wide shots. And yet the movie was also very realistic? Mia and Sebastian had great chemistry and I like how their singing voices were so ordinary. Ryan's wasn't even particularly good. Going in I didn't expect that Mia and Seb wouldn't end up together. I knew the moment that "five years later" appeared that the outcome would occur and would break my heart, and I was surprised at how angry I was that Mia started a family. I appreciate that the epilogue wasn't a perfect happy ending which made the "what if?" dream sequence that much more bittersweet. Sure, they got their exact careers but it makes me think there wasn't true happy ending in any way. This is going to stay with me for a long time. 'City of Stars,' 'Fools Who Dream,' and 'Start a Fire' are the only ones up for viable Oscar song nominations but I'm obsessed with 'Somewhere in the Crowd' and the piano intro of 'Another Day of Sun.'
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Jan 4, 2017 04:59
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Just got home from seeing it and I'm pretty sure the entire theater full of ladies was crying during that epilogue. I was drat near blubbering. I want to see it again.
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Jan 4, 2017 05:31
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Shneak posted:'City of Stars,' 'Fools Who Dream,' and 'Start a Fire' are the only ones up for viable Oscar song nominations but I'm obsessed with 'Somewhere in the Crowd' and the piano intro of 'Another Day of Sun.' What makes the other songs ineligible?
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Jan 4, 2017 06:34
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Start a Fire is purposely dumpster pop. Another Day of Sun is one of the best modern musical numbers period. Someone in the Crowd is a close second though.
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Jan 4, 2017 07:16
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The brief fantasy moment at the party in the beginning, where Mia walks through the snow and slow-mo dancers.... that was breathtaking. I'm buying this movie the day it comes out on bluray, even if it doesn't have one second of special features.
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Jan 4, 2017 15:09
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sexily posted:Just got home from seeing it and I'm pretty sure the entire theater full of ladies was crying during that epilogue. I was drat near blubbering. I want to see it again. P sure I was crying way more than any lady in my theater. As soon as 5 years later... appeared the dam started to break. The light of the club finished me off.
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Jan 4, 2017 15:32
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I'm torn on seeing this. On the one hand, it looks really bombastic and colorful, which I like. On the other hand, with Hugo, the Artist, and Hail Caesar in my recent memory, I'm sort of over Hollywood/LA writing itself a love letter again so soon. I am generally morbidly interested in the way Hollywood idealizes and white-washes its own past and I thought Hail Caesar was a fun, cheeky satirization of that tendency, but La La Land gives the appearance of earnest self-fellatio. But then again, if it's good, it's good.... so... I dunno.
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Jan 4, 2017 17:18
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The movie specifically tackles the way Hollywood idealizes and white-washes its own past. It also is a love letter to LA, but the grimy, strip-mall side of it. If it helps, the opening musical sequence takes place inside of a traffic jam.
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Jan 4, 2017 17:21
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