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La La Land |OT| Not quite Mia tempo

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Saw it again tonight. It really elevated it for me. The music cues/lyrics especially.

You know how Halloween has the Michae Myers theme? City of Stars will forever scare me more than that did when I was a kid.
 

catmincer

Member
Amazing movie. I saw my partner cry for the first time ever after watching it.

The trailer they showed did not do this justice at all.
 

JMizzlin

Member
I just got back from it. Oh my god. Beautiful film.
The final number gave me incredible An American In Paris vibes. I have a particularly strong memory of that musical so had quite an emotional response and found myself momentarily caught between the film and the past. It was an incredible feeling.

The colours were tremendous, too. Every dawn/dusk scene had perfect lighting and it was all just so romantic.

I need to see this again.
 

Simo

Member
So myself and my wife watched this last night. Beautiful film and we both thoroughly enjoyed it but it was an ordeal getting into a showing. lol

We're in Michigan near Ann Arbor but we decided to forego going to Rave's Cinemark and travel to little extra distance and time to the Emagine in Canton since it's a more deluxe and premium theater. Well we get there and all showings are sold out. So if course we haul it back to the Cinemark one and find the showing is sold out but we're able to get tickets for the next one 2 hours later. lol We bummed around the area shopping till Showtime and came back to see the movie theater was packed and our showing sold out, good thing we bought the tickets ahead of time.
 

Matush

Member
So how was it for people who do not enjoy romantic/musical movies? It is getting huge amount of praise from everywhere but I'm not fond of those two genres.
 

SOME-MIST

Member
I could have seen it at the Chicago international film festival in October for $50/ticket and I'm glad I didn't do that (and saw Paterson instead). I set my expectations a little too high and ended up disappointed. The trailers/teasers really made it seem "out there" but it ended up being far more literal than I anticipated. On the other hand I loved the jazz segments and laughed pretty hard during the
pool party scene
.

The girlfriend felt the same way tho she liked it a little bit more than I did which I'd probably attribute to her being a theater actress in primarily musicals.
 

shira

Member
So how was it for people who do not enjoy romantic/musical movies? It is getting huge amount of praise from everywhere but I'm not fond of those two genres.

I don't really like musicals but this director and composer are really really good together. The music is fantastic. I would give the spotify album a demo and if that at all has your head bobbing then at least you will like the musical part https://open.spotify.com/album/210TVSS3dwIQgPIMUvm6TE

It's a boy meets girl story with ~10 songs inserted in a 2 hour movie. So it's not like they are singing and dancing the whole time.

The two major themes are Hollywood and jazz. EVERYTHING about this movie is Hollywood and jazz.

If you don't like music at all then it's definitely not for you.
If you don't like movies about relationships it's definitely not for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ytwTO6jXhA

Anyone seen this review?? Made me feel very different on the character Mia..

Coal mining? This person is legit crazy.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
So how was it for people who do not enjoy romantic/musical movies? It is getting huge amount of praise from everywhere but I'm not fond of those two genres.

I work in theater and live entertainment and I think most musicals turn into sing-talky unimaginative emotional manipulative tripe. I loved La La Land. I thought the music was spot on, not only catchy but just plain good music. The throw back aesthetic was executed incredible well and fills the movie with a lot of interesting hard to miss little details. The choreography and cinematography were all excellent and I loved the focus on long single takes. Its just a damn well made movie and one of the few musicals I've liked in the last couple of years. I even think Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling weren't the best dancers or singers but they had enough charm and were good enough to more than pull off their roles.

Not only that but it isn't some saccharine mess but was rather bitter sweet and I loved a lot of the themes whether it was the take on following your dreams or about why Jazz is special.
 

Schryver

Member
Loved it. The ending isn't what I expected but it's probably a better movie for it. It's also pretty awesome that I live just a few miles from the pier and the Lighthouse Cafe where they shot some of it. I definitely need to visit that club now
 
Glad that more people have gotten to see this film over the holidays. I really should try to see it again, considering I've been constantly listening to the OST. Definitely going to pick up the BD when it comes out.

Despite there being so many visuals that have stuck with me, I really have a lot of fondness for
the whole party scene, especially the guys who jump into the pool in their suits, during "Someone in the Crowd". Coupled with the pause in the song before it kicks in as the guy jumps and falls into the pool, so dope.
 

shira

Member
I saw this last night. I liked it but didn't come out of it feeling like it was the movie of the year or anything like that.

Movies about Hollywood are total Oscar targeted.
It might not mean much to you, but that's huge for the Oscar vote circlejerk
 

HeelPower

Member
This is...a pretty "good" movie.

Aspects that were outstanding were : music,cinematography.

Otherwise there is a lot to criticize here.I am honestly shocked at the kind of universal acclaim its getting.

I think that the main duo never truly hit it together ,and their singing was pretty poor,especially Gosling's.The script,plot,dialogue are shockingly poor as well.

Its sweet,cute charming ,but far from the greatness that it is purported to be.
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
Movies about Hollywood are total Oscar targeted.
It might not mean much to you, but that's huge for the Oscar vote circlejerk

I don't know if they are targeted, or if it's just a combination of:

Hollywood types making movies about what they know and breathe - Hollywood. Because they know that material so well, it comes across as authentic and genuine.

The people who vote on the Oscars are Hollywood types. Thus movies about Hollywood resonate with them emotionally. If they are made authentically and honestly, they hit even harder.

I think people think it's about Hollywood, but it's honestly just more about psychology. The people who make movies are good about making movies about the universe they live in (surprise surprise) and the people who vote on the Oscars relate highly to movies about the universe they live in (surprise surprise)

(and as someone who sees the Hollywood sign from my house and lives amongst the dreamers this movie is about, I know my opinion is hopelessly colored, just like Almost Famous is hopelessly colored for me after traveling around as a teenage journalist etc)
 

y2dvd

Member
So how was it for people who do not enjoy romantic/musical movies? It is getting huge amount of praise from everywhere but I'm not fond of those two genres.

I don't watch either but I loved La La Land. It did a great balance of being a musical and still telling a story in a traditionally cinematic way.
 

shira

Member
Otherwise there is a lot to criticize here.I am honestly shocked at the kind of universal acclaim its getting.

The script,plot,dialogue are shockingly poor as well.

Its sweet,cute charming ,but far from the greatness that it is purported to be.

Did you notice the themes of the movie?
Do you make a movie/club that people want to see or the movie/club you want to make?

On a different level it's superb. My interpretation is that Chazelle and Hurwitz
are Gosling and Stone in a metaphorical sense - one trying to make movies the other one trying to make jazz happen in the 21st century

If you didn't know the screenplay was written
5 years ago.

I am still thinking about the movie.

No doubt this movie deserves true credit for bringing the musical into the modern era.

It successfully adapted film conventions ,once thought out of date , into the 21st century without ever feeling like a pointless retread of the past.

Its not some detached period piece.Its thoroughly modern.

"5 years later" is referencing the timejump in the movie.
Chazelle couldn't get La La Land made because he was a nobody.
Then he nailed Whiplash and all of a sudden he was living the Hollywood dream.
 

HeelPower

Member
Did you notice the themes of the movie?
Do you make a movie/club that people want to see or the movie/club you want to make?

On a different level it's superb. My interpretation is that Chazelle and Hurwitz
are Gosling and Stone in a metaphorical sense - one trying to make movies the other one trying to make jazz happen in the 21st century

If you didn't know the screenplay was written
5 years ago.

I am still thinking about the movie.

No doubt this movie deserves true credit for bringing the musical into the modern era.

It successfully adapted film conventions ,once thought out of date , into the 21st century without ever feeling like a pointless retread of the past.

Its not some detached period piece.Its thoroughly modern.
 
Glad that more people have gotten to see this film over the holidays. I really should try to see it again, considering I've been constantly listening to the OST. Definitely going to pick up the BD when it comes out.

Despite there being so many visuals that have stuck with me, I really have a lot of fondness for
the whole party scene, especially the guys who jump into the pool in their suits, during "Someone in the Crowd". Coupled with the pause in the song before it kicks in as the guy jumps and falls into the pool, so dope.
Yeah I came in a bit late so I almost missed thag spoilered part, glad I didn't
 

shira

Member
at least it was way better than the chemistry between sebastian and his sister.

I was somewhat surprised
the whole phone number she gave him never came in to play

I think that the sister and John Legend were supposed to be like the two opposite paths that were open to him.
Settle down and live the "normal married life" and then Legend was like the Devil. Sell your soul for money that you don't need.
 
Yeah I came in a bit late so I almost missed thag spoilered part, glad I didn't

Aside from the spectacular opening of "Another Day of Sun", the whole part of "Someone in the Crowd" - especially the house party was just so well done. The colors were amazing really.
 

SOME-MIST

Member
I think that the sister and John Legend were supposed to be like the two opposite paths that were open to him.
Settle down and live the "normal married life" and then Legend was like the Devil. Sell your soul for money that you don't need.
which makes sense, but you never saw her again and it felt completely pointless other than the chair in his club.
 

Vice

Member
which makes sense, but you never saw her again and it felt completely pointless other than the chair in his club.

You see her sporadically in the movie. You see her engagement and toward the end Seb plays piano at her wedding and they send him a Christmas card when he's in his new apartment.
 
Loved this movie! Finally opened where I live and got a chance to see it. It really felt like a magical, romantic getaway but with some genuine soul to it. This director obviously has a fascination for going after your dreams and I'm happy to follow him and his cast there.
 
Aside from the spectacular opening of "Another Day of Sun", the whole part of "Someone in the Crowd" - especially the house party was just so well done. The colors were amazing really.
Son of a bitch, looks like I did miss the opening song then. I don't remember the first one at all and I got there about halfway through someone in the crowd.

Shit.
 
Son of a bitch, looks like I did miss the opening song then. I don't remember the first one at all and I got there about halfway through someone in the crowd.

Shit.

All the more reason to go see this again!

Opening just so perfectly encapsulates LA...
in the winter, but also if stuck in traffic on any given day.
 
That was a good film. Stunning visuals, an incredible soundtrack and solid performances by the leads made this a fun experience. While I don't think Gosling or Stone ever reached the emotional highs Teller and Simmons did in Whiplash it was definitely there charisma that carried a large portion of the film at times. Then again, this film isn't trying to be as intense as Whiplash so I shouldn't really compare them in that regard. The story, while cliche, was very well executed. It's one of those movies you just love the longer it goes. There's a certain humor the film has in it that keeps the moving charming when it could feasibly crash if they overwhelmed with tension. All in all, this was a great movie experience to see on the big screen.
 
That last segment is one of my favorite things in all of cinema. My heart was pounding the whole time.

It was really good. I was kinda dissapointed that the musical-ness started to die off after the first third or maybe first half, and the story/script started to get a little weird during that time
one woman play? And why did all of Mia's friends from the beginning, if that's what they were, just kinda drop off the face of the planet?
But as for everything else, it was all fantastic.

I'll take style over substance any day ;)
 
Whiplash is more focused. I think this plays with the same thing (dreams/aspirations) but with a more complicated and broad stroke. Like the director had more paints to work with... if that makes sense

That's a good way to put it. I would say, though, that like Whiplash you will most likely leave the cinema stunned, dazzled. It really punched me in the gut at times and others I had this enormous smile on my face. The last act will have you reeling.
 

shira

Member
TIL Sonya Mizuno was in Ex Machina

Ns8qOTC.jpg

adnBBmU.jpg
 

jorgejjvr

Member
Hey guys, without spoilers.... Does this movie end in a happy note or sad?

My partner hates sad endings..... Like I they have to be together ever after at the end... -.-
 
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