O/T Film Musical? La La Land

Thank you, mistressjo. I might be able to listen to samples on (ahem!) Amazon, but I don't use iTunes or anything digital for buying/listening. I will see what I can find, as all I really need is a track listing, then, if I want to buy the CD, to see if it is available in the UK.

Oh my.

I am genuinely astonished by some of the response to this movie. It is not the best movie of the year. It is not even the best movie I've seen this month. Perhaps it's the way it's been hyped- maybe it just couldn't live up to that. It is probably the most ambitious thing I've seen this year (and that is to be applauded) but that doesn't mean it works.


First things first- I adore musicals.I was off on Friday and was so excited when I went to see it at the midday showing but I found it to be extremely disappointing.

The opening of the movie is stunning but it goes downhill quickly. For me, it felt like two movies meshed together, and neither were executed very well. It seems afraid to be a full blown musical and it does not work very well in the more dramatic moments either.

There are some high points. It has moments of absolute beauty where everything works very well- music, visuals, choreography. Though sometimes I felt that the set pieces were trying to emulate moments from Moulin Rouge etc and coming up short. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are charming and beautful leads but the material is so flat at times. There are visually superb moments but these are as many dull moments. I thought the pacing was just dreadful and I even considered walking out at one point. I heard a number of people making this point afterwards.

The score is brilliant towards the beginning but I felt it petered out for the rest of the movie and I found much of the score later on to be largely forgettable.

I was hoping for this glorious, sumptuous, mesmeric movie and it just isn't what I hoped for at all. I feel that they sacrificed what could have been a superb musical in favour of a sub par melodrama with a few songs interspersed. It all felt very disjointed. I did enjoy the ending of the movie as it was unexpected and deserves kudos as I imagine it won't be to everyone's taste.

I have a habit of seeing shows and movies I like a number of times but I just would not sit through this again. I'm not sharing my thoughts with friends as I don't want to influence their view but I will wait with baited breath for their reviews.

Is it possible you were to hyped up for this? I've done that to myself.

Leave it 24 months and try the DVD,  I do think there's a lot to be enjoyed even if I can see what you a getting at.

Well I'm sorry but it was rather Blah Blah Land for me... Too forced, the emotional change of gear from text to song too manufactured, too obvious the soundtrack was recorded in a studio, average singing and dancing (why does Hollywood cast actors and not singers in musicals anymore?), it had a clunky book and a candy floss simple story about love, chance, fate and serendipity... Emma Stone was great yes, the story was a nice look into the harsh reality of showbusiness - but Ryan Gosling is looking old, he didn't make me swoon and I question if he really did play the piano at all times. Hm.. Overall I don't get the hype, the currency and heart of the piece wasn't authentic, the choreography for 10 year olds and well..... I was bit bored. Give me Moulin Rouge anytime. La La Land is fresh and creative but it tried so hard to be unique fusing the Hollywood from yesteryear with iPhones and yoof culture of today awkwardly. Ultimately I think it was miss cast, it failed to offer the true social comment it tried so hard to find and it never reached its potential. An ambivalent sweet and sticky 6/10.

WestEndWendy, forgive me not quoting you but I'll probably mess up the tagging again!

Emma Stone is capable of singing better than she does in this. I saw her in Cabaret on Broadway. I think they've deliberately picked a 'naturalistic' singing style for the characters, though why they'd then pair that with a full orchestra is beyond me. It sounds odd - too obviously studio-produced.

I had mixed feelings.

I really liked the way it was shot, especially the final montage of how it 'could have been'.

I liked the choreography in the opening number.

I liked Emma Stone.

But I found the singing wishy-washy right from the start, and obviously done in a studio. I felt like everyone was lip-synching. So I agree with others on this.

I also didn't feel very involved with the characters. I don't understand why their relationship turned out the way it did. Seems a bit ridiculous that the issues involved wouldn't have come up in conversation sooner, or that they couldn't have overcome them if they'd wanted to. As Gosling says himself, there is lots of great jazz in Paris!

Definitely a movie with a few songs. It pretends to take on the musical aesthetic but is never totally on board with the concept if you ask me. It doesn't know what it wants to be.

Best review I've read!

I LOVED the pre-recorded tracks. This is what creates some kind of "better than reality" quality, which lifts the scenes and emotions. I cried almost 7 times during the film, just because of the sheer beauty. There is a scene where they sing "live" and that one actually took me out of the film, because suddenly it felt like I saw 2 actors struggling with the material and feeling uncomfortable. That scene was too literal. While the rest of the film is a triumph of the fantasy, which is what this artform should be.

I also loved the moments that has no specific reason, other than just conveying a certain mood/feeling, such as the opening number, the scene in the hills on the bench, certain montages, the scene on the pier, it kind of reminded me of Disney classics like "Sleeping Beauty". Where scenes as Gifts of beauty, I wonder/do you hear that' have the same kind of approach. It was extremely refreshing to see a film that dared to go there and embrace that. Taking a moment to appreciate the beauty instead of constant action, oneliners or throwing every moment away with a joke. This approach really supported the way the pre-recorded tracks worked so well.

It was a triumph of the fantasy and therefore it felt extremely raw, real and emotional. That is how this artform works.
I have missed this understanding in most recent (musical)films.

In addition to that, I thought is was very well acted, there were so many clever nuances in their scenes and loved the "could have been" montage and that (spoiler) even though they don't end up together, some bonds in life are different and good in another way. I loved the ending. And then the whole story of the struggle to achieve your career goals, the whole film actually was the opposite of a classic hollywood film.

I really hope other directors of future musicalfilms learn something from this.

For those complaining about the studio-ness of the songs, here's an interesting podcast about the recording of the Audition Song, which was done live, in a single take, when it was being filmed.
songexploder.net/la-la-land

And for me, I am firmly on the Love side.

I'm over a decade younger than Gosling and he definitely made me swoon. Not too old at all.

I came out singing 'Rainbow Connection' from the muppets.... im not sure if it was because one of the songs sounded familiar or because Ryan Gosling sounds like Kermit when he sings.

I wished they had changed the scene where she is auditioning for the not intrested casting people. She showed how easy it was for her to well up in tears, then everytime she did it for the rest of the film, i thought, oh shes acting, its not real. it took me out of the film for a while.