La La Land

2016's "La La Land" directed by Damien Chazelle.

Starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, J.K. Simmons, and John Legend.

Winner of an Academy Award for Best Director (Chazelle), Best Score (John Hurwitz), Best Original Song (“City of Stars” by Justin Hurwtiz, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul), Best Production Design (David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco), Best Cinematography (Linus Sandgren), and Best Actress (Stone).

Also nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Gosling), Best Original Screenplay (Chazelle), Best Film Editing (Tom Cross), Best Costume (Mary Zopres), Best Sound Mixing (Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee, Steven Morrow), Best Sound Editing (Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou), and Best Original Song (“Audition: the fools who dream” by Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul). 

"La La Land" is a modern musical, featuring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a couple of Los Angeles entertainers trying to make it at their respective crafts. They live in tinseltown, where they meet, and after a rough start, fall in love. The expected ingredients for a swoon filled fantasy are all there, from the catchy songs of Justin Hurwitz, chemistry of Gosling and Stone, and their choreographed respective dancing/floating(!). Chazelle clearly pays homage to Minnelli and Demy in the catchy musical numbers, while attempting something new with the handling of the emerging realities of every day contemporary couple life. Gosling and Stone negotiate the realities of their respective industries, and the consequences to their relationship while attempting to become more successful.

I must confess that I am not much of a fan of musicals. For whatever reason, they often feel forced and artificial to me, and a part of that opinion is lacking in content that I plan on educating myself in (I despise “The Sound of Music” for example, being bewildered by it’s tone). But certainly you can add “La La Land” to my reasons to get into musicals, as I found myself whistling the music as the credits rolled. It’s a sign of “LLL”’s dominance that it had 2 songs nominated for an Oscar in best original song. As well, Chazelle earns his directing Oscar/screenwriting nomination, keeping things grounded in reality, despite fantastic scenes of characters floating through the air and traffic jam improvisational music numbers. While “LLL” may not have won Best Picture (for more than 45 seconds), it certainly is a modern classic for anyone who wants to escape to go singing in the rain, but then realize that's a real challenge in the realities of drought plagued Southern California.

4.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.