Reviews & Ratings for
La La Land (2016)

I HATE musicals. I have a real dislike for them from Chicago to ma ma mia to hairspray. I wasn’t even going to see this one, but somehow I ended in this movie.
And…
I am GLAD that I did! From the very first moment, this film captures your eyes and presents what it is all about. The story is typical but presented VERY strongly with the musical numbers and very moody dialogs. I haven’t seen ANY musical other than sound of music before this, so I can’t say how this rates as a musical, but I can say, as a film it rates VERY high.
Coming to the performances, Ryan Gosling and Emma stone are flawless in their roles of frustrated musician and struggling actress. Their delivery, looks, singing, everything is perfect. Their chemistry is alright though, nothing out of the ball park, but not fully unbelievable like Emma stone in Spiderman.

Now coming to the most important part of a musical. The songs.
They start big and keep the momentum going, the movie does slow down a bit in the second half with fewer songs, but the ending makes up for it. The jazz based songs were pretty good and even the modernized bastardized version of jazz presented is also foot tappingly good. Every song has its own distinctive flavor and the main theme song and its music will play in your head long after the movie has ended.
The direction, cinematography, editing, everything is flawless in this film.
I predict an Oscar win for best picture and cinematography. Best original song / Score is also likely.

Rating: this is a SOLID 9/10. I enjoyed it just as much as I liked Rogue one which also came out this week. That is saying something on how good this film is. So musical and romance aficionados will love this one… give it a try!

La La Land - Visually and Musically DIVINE. The title itself says a lot about the realism of the film. Today, I got to know all the answers to why this movie got as many as 14 nominations in the 89th Academy Awards. The story revolves around Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress who falls for a struggling pianist named Sebastian (Ryan Gosling). John Legend and Rosemarie DeWitt also had important roles to play. I won't say anything further about this magical film as it can't be described in words. The climax serves as the best part of the film. Not to mention, you will get to know its merit after watching only 15 minutes. Damien Chazelle's screenplay and direction played the trick here. It's a romantic fairy tale with soulful music by Justin Hurwitz. The music is so excellent that I am not able to judge which one was the weakest track. Well choreographed songs, superb dialogues and the stylish technique are just added perks for this flick. After Whiplash, Chazelle would surely stun you again with this musical piece of art. Won't be surprised if it wins the Oscar.
Note :- You are bound to fall for the songs, 'City Of Stars', 'A Lovely Night' and 'Audition' to name a few.
Warning :- It's a musical with more music and less dialogues, hence not everyone's cup of tea.

While stuck in Los Angeles traffic, aspiring actress Amelia "Mia" Dolan has a moment of road rage directed at Sebastian "Seb" Wilder, a jazz pianist. After a hard day at work, Mia's subsequent audition goes awry when the casting director takes a phone call during an emotional scene. That night, her roommates take her to a lavish party in the Hollywood Hills, promising her that someone in the crowd could jump-start her career. After her car is towed, she walks home in disappointment.

This movie is great it had a beautiful story and wonderful characters in that world. This movie has great performances, but what really struck me was how gorgeous this movie is the cinematogrophy is just amazing every scene, every shot, is just wonderful! The music in this is just great, That piano melody is stuck in my mind as it probably was in everyone's minds, this is just over all a wonderful movie.

A master piece . The best you can get of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. The last 15- 20 mins of the movie can be a revolutionary period of world cinema . Taking the Western Cinema to a new high .

I knew I was going to love La La Land, Damien Chazelle's new film musical, but I wasn"t really ready for how it made me feel watching it in the theater today. Damien Chazelle blew me away with Whiplash, an intense movie about a jazz drummer which opened Sundance a few years ago, and garnered J. K. Simmons a Supporting Actor Oscar. The success of Whiplash let him make the musical movie he"d always dreamed of. I went to see La La Land alone today because I. Could. Not. WAIT, but I will be dragging everyone I can to go see it on the big screen. I want to see it as many times as I possibly can. Critics have swooned, even Manohla Dargis wrote about how swept away she was watching it the second time. I love movie musicals. I live and breathe them. I fell hard for Fred Astaire, adore Gene Kelly and the list goes on. Those films of the past had magic. Yes, they were earnest and wore their heart on their sleeve, but can anything convey like a song that heavenly feeling of falling in love? Musicals have fallen out of fashion in cynical Hollywood as of late. They are rare or you have to watch a Disney animated film to see one. I have turned to Indian films to get my musical fix. Today, in the theater, Damien Chazelle gave me the most precious gift. He gave me a Hollywood musical, steeped in the traditions and with a love for Hollywood musicals of the past, and also fresh and adult and modern. The movie made me smile from the first frames as an LA traffic jam leads to people getting out of their cars to dance and sing. Read the rest of my review here: https://moviemavengal.com/2016/12/17/la-la-land-this-movie-is-so-glorious-i-actually-cried-tears-of-joy-in-the-theater/