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 La La Land 

Rate This Film
A 72%  72%  [ 18 ]
B 20%  20%  [ 5 ]
C 4%  4%  [ 1 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 4%  4%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 25

 La La Land 
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Extraordinary
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Post Re: La La Land
The ending montage got me.

The more I think about the movie the more I like it, although I do think it kinda drags when Ryan's character joins the band but eh.


Sun Dec 11, 2016 6:55 pm
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Sbil

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Post Re: La La Land
La La Land is a dazzling, transcendent, heartbreaking, heartwarming, fluttery piece of magic. I honestly felt like my soul was leaving my body during this movie and bouncing around the theater tapping my toes. It's exactly what we need right now. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are everything and anything. It's perhaps my favorite film musical I've ever seen, and instantly vaulted onto my list of favorites. Everything I want from cinema, and then some. A


Mon Dec 12, 2016 12:47 am
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Post Re: La La Land
Though I really liked him (as usual) Ryan Gosling is mostly, well, Ryan Gosling here. He does not transcend his persona as much as Emma Stone does. Both have incredible chemistry, though.

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Mon Dec 12, 2016 1:11 am
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Post Re: La La Land
Though good, I always wonder what the point of movies like this is. I mean, thematically, there is nothing new here.

Spoiler: show
I often find that these movies that make two characters seem to perfect together and go out of their way to establish chemistry seem to purposely have them go their separate ways....just because? It makes the viewer feel stronger emotions? I thought it was obvious he was the authentic and less likely to sell out ultimately.


I found this to be all too predictable, TBH. Especially as it went on. I don't think anything here is overly extraordinary other than the performances. And to Lecters point, Gosling was Gosling. He's always good, never amazing. Emma Stone, however is beyond criminally charismatic. Emma Stone is the actress J-Law fans dream J-Law to be.

The 2000s are still waiting for their truly transcendent film about the meaning of life, the maturation and coming of age at various times of life set to our contemporary reality. Something like THE GRADUATE. Something that leads to a stronger understanding of the human experience, of life, etc.

The younger millennial generation started understanding life as the world changed (9/11) and entered the working world, eager to pursue their dreams, to find a collapsing economy; a crippling world handed to them by a more selfish older generation who betrayed them.

There is an incredible story, somewhere in there, about the perspective these people will carry forward in life having come of age through such remarkable times.

Seeing films, such as this, that hint so strongly at & in some ways come so close becoming a truly authentic and insightful piece of art but just...don't take any risks or push any limits...almost makes me dislike the film more than I otherwise would. Missed potential here story wise sadly.

Though Emma Stone has it in her...more than any real "it girl" actress in a long, long, LONG time.

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Mon Dec 12, 2016 1:45 am
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KJ's Leading Idiot

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Post Re: La La Land
publicenemy#1 wrote:
The ending montage got me.

The more I think about the movie the more I like it, although I do think it kinda drags when Ryan's character joins the band but eh.


Yeah that's when the music stops but then it is also one of the most essential part of the movie given the ending. Simply put its one of the most important parts of the movie that is not done well. Also look at how the band is ditched after its purpose, we just never hear another word on it, like its too easy to come out of a contract.


Mon Dec 12, 2016 2:31 pm
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Sbil

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Post Re: La La Land
Jack Sparrow wrote:
publicenemy#1 wrote:
The ending montage got me.

The more I think about the movie the more I like it, although I do think it kinda drags when Ryan's character joins the band but eh.


Yeah that's when the music stops but then it is also one of the most essential part of the movie given the ending. Simply put its one of the most important parts of the movie that is not done well. Also look at how the band is ditched after its purpose, we just never hear another word on it, like its too easy to come out of a contract.


Wait, what?

SPOILERS

Spoiler: show
He's in the band, they have the fight over it, her show bombs, they break up, she goes back home, then she has the audition. Then it's 5 years later and he has the club. Obviously he finished with the band sometime before that.

This seems like some nitpicky nonsense tbh.


Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:01 am
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KJ's Leading Idiot

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Post Re: La La Land
I was talking about the days of audition. Before it he doesn't have time for her and suddenly he can? Personally I would have loved to see more about Gosling's character as well but I guess the intended shock factor wouldn't be as big.


Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:55 pm
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Extraordinary
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Post Re: La La Land
Saw it again, flowed much better. The ending still got to me.


Wed Dec 14, 2016 2:02 am
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Post Re: La La Land
I had huge expectations for this movie and it exceeded and then some. It was a lovely, lovely movie that grabs you from it's first moments and doesn't let go until the beautiful ending. It's almost like an out of body experience watching it, as you constantly feel like you're on cloud nine. Emma Stone is fantastic here, giving her best work (and that's a high compliment, as I found her performances in Birdman and Easy A sensational) and deserves the Best Actress Oscar tenfold. The cinematography and direction and AWE worthy and it would be a shame if they weren't recognized. I really enjoyed Moonlight, though I found it flawed. I'm glad there is a movie in the running I now can be behind 100%. Just a beautiful movie.

A+

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Top 10 Films of 2016

1. La La Land
2. Other People
3. Nocturnal Animals
4. Swiss Army Man
5. Manchester by the Sea
6. The Edge of Seventeen
7. Sing Street
8. Indignation
9. The Lobster
10. Hell or High Water


Sat Dec 17, 2016 1:21 pm
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Extraordinary
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Post Re: La La Land


:tears:


Mon Dec 19, 2016 8:38 am
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Post Re: La La Land
Saw this again today. This movie is pure magic :wub2:


Sat Dec 24, 2016 1:02 am
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Sbil

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Post Re: La La Land
I saw this again today. It was possibly even more magical the second time around? I can't remember the last time, if ever, I saw a movie that just transports you into another dimension of pure bliss so easily and assuredly.


Mon Dec 26, 2016 12:03 am
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Post Re: La La Land
La La Land didn't work for me. Sure there are some great musical numbers staged in awesome real LA location shoots - Emma Stone is adorable and so is Ryan Gosling. The problem is the material between musical numbers - the script is so weak - it varies from grating to mopey and back again. A director with a surer hand on the genre would have tightened those up with the lighter or spoofier tone needed for this film to coalesce into a true movie musical. As a fan of movie musicals, I am greatly disappointed with La La Land. *C+*


Mon Dec 26, 2016 2:10 pm
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Sbil

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Post Re: La La Land
tree and a half wrote:
La La Land didn't work for me. Sure there are some great musical numbers staged in awesome real LA location shoots - Emma Stone is adorable and so is Ryan Gosling. The problem is the material between musical numbers - the script is so weak - it varies from grating to mopey and back again. A director with a surer hand on the genre would have tightened those up with the lighter or spoofier tone needed for this film to coalesce into a true movie musical. As a fan of movie musicals, I am greatly disappointed with La La Land. *C+*


As if the denizens of KJ needed more proof that this movie is great...


Mon Dec 26, 2016 9:21 pm
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Post Re: La La Land
The Slant review covers many of my own concerns with this "ambitiously mounted but strangely neutered musical".


Mon Dec 26, 2016 9:50 pm
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Post Re: La La Land
Negative Slant reviews are also the best recommendation a film can get.

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Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:00 pm
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Post Re: La La Land
Movie musicals are a relative rarity in the 21st century. Ones not based on a long-running Broadway production (or a well-known band or musician’s canon) are nonexistent. So it is heartening this anomalous, creative, and romantic film is such an unqualified triumph. Charting the Los Angeles-set romance of a barista aspiring to act and a gifted-but-undiscovered pianist who dreams of opening his own nightclub, the story starts with a spectacular song-and-dance number on a freeway during rush hour, and the resulting incandescence never dims. Free of cynicism and powered by joy and heartache in equal measure, the film knows when to loudly embrace old-fashioned, writ-large spectacle, but also when to become quiet and focus on the central relationship’s nuances, and Ryan Gosling and particularly Emma Stone deliver committed and vastly charismatic performances.

A

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Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:02 pm
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Sbil

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Post Re: La La Land
David wrote:
Movie musicals are a relative rarity in the 21st century. Ones not based on a long-running Broadway production (or a well-known band or musician’s canon) are nonexistent. So it is heartening this anomalous, creative, and romantic film is such an unqualified triumph. Charting the Los Angeles-set romance of a barista aspiring to act and a gifted-but-undiscovered pianist who dreams of opening his own nightclub, the story starts with a spectacular song-and-dance number on a freeway during rush hour, and the resulting incandescence never dims. Free of cynicism and powered by joy and heartache in equal measure, the film knows when to loudly embrace old-fashioned, writ-large spectacle, but also when to become quiet and focus on the central relationship’s nuances, and Ryan Gosling and particularly Emma Stone deliver committed and vastly charismatic performances.

A


:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


Tue Dec 27, 2016 12:54 am
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Post Re: La La Land
Dr. Lecter wrote:
Negative Slant reviews are also the best recommendation a film can get.

The Vanity Fair review you quoted earlier in this thread criticizes the exact same aspect of the film that I did in my review and that Slant does in their review.

Dr. Lecter wrote:
Looks like I am not the only one who noticed the shift in the film's middle:

Quote:
But then the next stretch begins. As Sebastian finds a successful if not entirely satisfying career in music, and Mia tries to put together a one-woman show, the music suddenly stops. Almost literally. While we do see Sebastian playing with his band (led by John Legend), the musical-ness of La La Land drains away, ceding to a basic relationship story we’ve seen many times before. There’s still enough charm innate to this project to hold our attention, but the specialness of the film’s beginnings is sorely missed.


http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/201 ... and-review


Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:48 am
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Post Re: La La Land
It was very good. I do feel that the hype surrounding this movie will hurt it; I feel anyone walking into this movie having heard how great it is might be disappointed.

There is so much that is great but there are a few things that keep it from being truly great. First of all, the musical numbers are fantastic. Even the ones that sounded meh on the soundtrack worked wonderfully in the film. The opening number in the highway is fantastic and isn't done justice without the visuals to accompany the music. The best number in the film is Audition, and I really liked how they had its chords playing throughout the movie. It's certainly the film's earworm and the one that will hopefully win the Oscar if something from La La Land is destined to beat "How Far I'll Go. "Someone in the Crowd" and "City of Stars" are also catchy. "A Lovely Night" has the film's best dance sequence, but the song itself is just okay. The only flat out failure is the John Legend song.

The film isn't a Broadway musical like I hoped for, but it is a musical, in that the music is absolutely integral to the film. Besides the film's six Broadway type numbers, there are several truly mesmerizing sequences of dance, piano and other instrumental music.

The acting is great. I definitely could see Stone win the Oscar. Gosling is also very good here; he deserves a nomination I think. The ensemble is also great (and full of only the most attractive people I've ever seen. Like her roommates were all crazy 11's.

Where the film falters a bit is the story. The story that there is is very good, and had the film been much shorter, this could be an A+ movie. But as it is, there is a bit too much downtime. I did feel a little restless during certain points, and I could feel my audience was that way too. My dad really hated the movie because of how slow t was. The movie needed its down moments, but the proceedings could have sped up a bit.

It's not quite as good as the hype. It is in no way better than the majority of Disney's output, or films based on Broadway musicals like Chicago, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, Dreamgirls, Les Mis or Into the Woods. But it is a very easy recommend, and it wouldn't be a shame to see it win Best Picture.

A-


Tue Dec 27, 2016 11:10 pm
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Post Re: La La Land
David wrote:
Free of cynicism

um

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Tue Dec 27, 2016 11:29 pm
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Post Re: La La Land
I went to see La La Land for a second time and I stand by my original review:
tree and a half wrote:
Sure there are some great musical numbers staged in awesome real LA location shoots - Emma Stone is adorable and so is Ryan Gosling.
If I was solely reviewing the big musical sequences and the performances therein, I would rate La La Land an *A*


tree and a half wrote:
The problem is the material between musical numbers - the script is so weak - it varies from grating to mopey and back again. A director with a surer hand on the genre would have tightened those up with the lighter or spoofier tone needed for this film to coalesce into a true movie musical.
There are long stretches of these inbetweens, after the boffo first 40 minutes, where the music amounts to a a single piano key plinking out one of the themes or no music at all. The story does not pick up the slack. The musical goodness does not return until the final 20 minutes of the film. Rated independently, the inbetweeners would get a *D*


tree and a half wrote:
As a fan of movie musicals, I am greatly disappointed with La La Land. *C+*
No one is more disappointed at my review than I am. :(


tree and a half wrote:
La La Land didn't work for me.
I've still got one more viewing of La La Land coming up next week, with my old movie musical posse - perhaps some heretofore hidden qualities of La La Land will yet reveal themselves to me.


Thu Dec 29, 2016 7:12 pm
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Post Re: La La Land
This movie is absolutely wonderful

A+

thompsoncory wrote:
Dr. Lecter wrote:
I've come to the coinclusion that it is the best live action musical since Moulin Rouge!


This.


And this

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Fri Dec 30, 2016 4:09 am
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Post Re: La La Land
I didn't love the film as much as I hoped, as I simply didn't click with Ryan Gosling's character (his performance was good, but the character grated me). That said, I loved the ending. Beautifully done.

A-


Fri Dec 30, 2016 4:51 pm
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Post Re: La La Land
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Can't wait to see it again and the ending was so well done, I'm still thinking about it.


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