La La Land • Page 2

Thanks! That was my favorite scene as well. She's one of my favorite actresses, and I think that scene is her best work yet.

 

I got to see 2 advance screenings of this and I've listened to the soundtrack basically everyday. I pass by so many of the murals and sights here in LA all the time, not to mention the small nods at traffic, culture, the industry, and parking. I fucking love this movie. I've tried to sell people on this but they stop hearing me once they are aware it's a musical. I see it as an homage to musicals, jazz, and Los Angeles. There's certainly a lot of dialog and it's not "all" singing in a sense that I think turns people off.

Once people see it, the only complaint I've heard is with the last 5 min alternate ending thing. I personally thought it was brilliant and realistic ala 500 Days of Summer.

I love all the songs but I hope Emma Stone's Audition song takes the Oscar. Last time I got chills like that was Anne Hathaway's "I Dreamed A Dream"

 

People who like this should check out the Umbrellas of Cherbourg and the Young Girls of Rochefort. Chazelle is pulling hard from Jacques Demy (toeing a line between influence/homage and simply being derivative).

 

I've been wanting to see those after seeing them referred to in so many reviews

 

Yeah it's sad how many of my friends have been turned off by the word "musical." Also that ending has immediately become one of my favorite sequences in all film history.

 

Agree w/ everything except one thing. I think it pokes fun at the pretentiousness of LA, when the studio execs are more interested in their smartphone than Mia's auditions.

 

It. was. amazing.

I choked back tears several times, especially at the end. Listened to the soundtrack on Spotify as soon as I got home.

 

I was watching White Christmas a few weeks ago and thought to the family how we never see movies like that anymore, and debated whether they would be successful nowadays. Aside from the film versions of Broadway plays, or animated Disney movies, it just doesn't happen anymore.

Then we heard about this movie 20 minutes later. Haven't been able to see it yet. Liked the review though.

 

It premiers the 20th of January here in Poland, can't wait to have a moment one evening and catch it in the cinema, should be good.

 

Finally seeing this tonight! Super excited.

 

Thread's old, sorry for posting. I have seen La La Land six times in the theater now. Does anyone else find La La Land covers positively intolerable? A couple of Kashi-eaters swooning preciously and gazing while butchering the music. I can play the piano and get my girl friend to come over and sing along but I'm not going to because I'm not a douche. Emma and Ryan make the film and now matter how cute someone is, you are not doing it justice. Once LLL got big, these people churned out the covers. To quote Sebastian, "they worship everything and value nothing." Anyone agree or am I just a grandpa. Again, adore La La Land, hate pretentious, precious La La Land covers.

 

Interesting, not to shoot you down but I think there are about a hundred better parts. I've seen La La Land so many times that I may need to see a doctor, and each time, I find something new to love. I thought the "Someone in the Crowd" segment was the musical high note for Emma, and while the film's mantra I find "Audition" very bland. Current favorite scene: Pool party. Emma Stone is flawless when requesting "I Ran" and douchey Ryan is so funny! How many times you seen it, my man? Just curious, it's personally like a drug to me.

 

Yes, the film has many strengths and strong sequences. But "Audition" is the culmination of Emma Stone's arc, about wanting something really badly, trying really hard for a really long time to achieve a goal, questioning whether or not you're good enough, and going for it again, ready to face the pain of rejection for the millionth time because it's part of who you are and it matters that much to you. It hit me on a personal level pretty hard and I liked that aspect of the film more than the romance between her and Gosling or the flashy dance sequences, both of which were good, but "Audition", that moment, and what it speaks to for Emma Stone's character, is the only moment that really separates La La Land from the Gene Kelly and Jacques Demy musicals it's paying homage to (in addition to the contemporary comedic beats, which are great). So that's why it's my favorite part.

 

Yeah, "Audition" is the peak. It's not my favorite one of the songs to listen to on the soundtrack, but it's the most moving moment of the film and the part that will win Stone the Oscar.

 

I dunno, no nominated performance this year was as complex, nuanced, and psychologically demanding as Isabelle Huppert's in Elle, and I wouldn't be surprised if she won it. Deservedly, as much as I loved Emma Stone in this.

 

You've probably talked about this before, but what are your thoughts on Amy Adams not getting nominated?

 

You weren't asking me but I've seen it thrice. Still hoping to catch it in IMAX before it leaves theaters. I haven't found an IMAX showing near me yet, though. I'll point out though that I think it's weird to call "Someone in the Crowd" Stone's "musical high note" because she has so little singing in that song. She sings a few words back at her apartment, then she has the one short verse in the bathroom at the party before the song breaks down and time slows down--which is a pretty incredible sequence, nevertheless.

 

She was great in Arrival so I guess it's a bummer that it was nominated and she wasn't. She's one of our best working actresses and should have won by now for Junebug or the Master or Doubt. But Annette Bening deserved recognition for 20th Century Women, that's a bigger miss.

 

Haven't seen it, but not a chance. Not with a SAG winner in the Best Picture frontrunner that the entire Academy loves. That would be one of the biggest upsets in the history of the category.

 

Then I suppose I'd be the only person not surprised if it were to happen. Not that I think it will, I just think that there's a chance.

 

Stone probably is the second most vulnerable of the season frontrunners, but I just don't think she's losing.

 

I'm with you. I think Best Actor is the only category where La La Land is guaranteed to lose, but I can also see Huppert taking Actress, especially coming off of the Golden Globe and the critical acclaim for her role in Things To Come. It's so crazy to me that neither Things to Come nor Elle received a Foreign Film nod.

 

I don't love the movie but Natalie Portman in Jackie has some striking moments, and puts forth near perfect physical affectations amidst harrowing emotional truth in despair, violence, and grief, while Ruth Negga is completely thoroughly her character in Loving, pushing and pulling amidst complex wrestling with racial identity and interracial relationships. Again, I love Emma Stone's performance in La La Land, but Streep's Florence Foster Jenkins aside (which I haven't seen), I think hers is unquestionably the safest performance of those nominated. Which doesn't diminish how good she is, and, if anything, highlights the absurdity of award shows for movies when her, Huppert, Portman, and Negga are being measured against each other while doing such wildly different things.

 

Actually, of its 14 nominations, I think La La is guaranteed to lose two. You know, since it will lose Song to itself.

I don't doubt that they're all terrific. Only nominated performance I've seen is Stone's, so when I say that I think she will win, it has more to do with momentum than quality (though I do think she was fantastic and has been deserving in the past). I agree that Stone's performance isn't really comparable to some of the heavier dramatic work in the category, though. For instance, it's very different to perform in a musical with comedic elements (and play a brand new original character) than it is to play a historical figure in a serious, heavy biopic.

 

Punk.

:P

I almost made that joke, but technically the FILM would not be losing the CATEGORY, humph humph.