La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

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mfunk9786
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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#51 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Dec 16, 2016 12:37 pm

domino harvey wrote:I feel like 90% of the people who will be inspired by this film to move to LA and follow their dreams will be closer to that clueless writer trying to hit on Emma Stone at the party by talking about his prowess with words
It's cute that you think that many of the people who move to LA to follow their dreams will even be invited to a party like that. They'll be lucky to get a job at that coffee shop.


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The Narrator Returns
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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#53 Post by The Narrator Returns » Sun Dec 18, 2016 6:40 pm

I liked this a good deal more than most here, in that I pretty much adored it (that high may go down with time, but we'll see), although I concur with Domino and mfunk that the final sequence is the real show-stopper of the bunch.
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(my mind went more to the final scene of 25th Hour than Up, though)
Last edited by The Narrator Returns on Mon Dec 19, 2016 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#54 Post by dda1996a » Mon Dec 19, 2016 1:23 am

Both scenes have similar ideas, but I found Lee's way more powerful. Maybe being sent to prison is just more life changing, but LL Land lacked this inner connection to the characters. I like the film, but like in Whiplash I didn't feel like inside their heads,or at least had a deep connection with the characters. When Norton is all set to go to prison and his father dreams this fantasy for him, you feel a gut punch. Here I was enjoying the 50s musicals and Deny films references more than the film pulling my heart strings. I feel this might be Chapelle's biggest failing so far. His characters always feel too much like plot points (with one aspiration) rather than deep, interesting characters. I still enjoy his films, but that's why I liked both these films a lot less than most.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#55 Post by warren oates » Tue Dec 20, 2016 2:51 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
domino harvey wrote:I feel like 90% of the people who will be inspired by this film to move to LA and follow their dreams will be closer to that clueless writer trying to hit on Emma Stone at the party by talking about his prowess with words
It's cute that you think that many of the people who move to LA to follow their dreams will even be invited to a party like that. They'll be lucky to get a job at that coffee shop.
The point of the way the film plays this detail -- how talented young actors and artists could to be invited to parties with the sorts of people they've served coffee to earlier in the day, or work in the band or as servers at parties like the ones they might also be invited to in different circumstances -- is entirely sociologically accurate. There's a lot of class fluidity, especially for anyone working on the creative side of the industry. I've been to parties like this. One of them even had a cameo by the actual Emma Stone.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#56 Post by Lars Von Truffaut » Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:47 am

mfunk9786 wrote:I'm glad someone spoke up about the opening number - it's the only one that truly didn't work for me, and it seemed to be all anyone could talk/ask about during the Q&A after the film at the screening I went to. It starts promisingly enough, but the song isn't very good and it just doesn't go anywhere. And the film is at its worst when it veers into moments of metropolitan worship of Los Angeles - it's the idea of that city that's romantic, certainly not the reality, no matter how cheeky a grin you put on it.
Dom's write-up and mfunk's follow up are spot on for me, having seen this last night. That the first two numbers fall so flat and feel like empty calories is a pity, as they are some of the most colorful both in costume, choreography, and... skin tones. This article deems La La Land Chazelle's tribute to jazz music as a trojan horse white-savior film in tap shoes and I can't say I disagree. Fortunately, the chemistry and charisma of the leads helps to overshadow some of the racial dubiousness. The latter two-thirds are stronger in their numbers and, as already mentioned, the closing one is a show-stopper. Perhaps the most interesting aspect for me was in Gosling and Stone's back and forth dialogue, their in-joke facial expressions, and the way the camera plays off their emotions - for instance, the scene at the concert where we get an overhead shot of Mia lost in a ravenous crowd.

Also, was it me or - outside of the tap number - didn't it seem that so much of the action was taken in close-ups and medium shots? Because I got to the theater in the middle of the opening trailers and was forced to sit in the front row, maybe it just felt that way. Perhaps I would have settled into the first two musical sequences had there been more of a focus on footwork and less hip & shoulder action.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#57 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Dec 21, 2016 1:13 pm

I swear that before I moused-over that article, I knew it was from MTV

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#58 Post by swo17 » Wed Dec 21, 2016 1:25 pm

So...it's not enough that Chazelle's first film was exactly what that author wanted this to be, he needed to make that same movie again here too?

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#59 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 21, 2016 1:27 pm

Even though it's a highly inclusive film overall, expect additional hit pieces the more it looks like it will threaten Moonlight at the Oscars (however, you can count Barry Jenkins among this film's effusive fans, FYI)

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#60 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Dec 21, 2016 2:31 pm

Moonlight is the better movie by a country mile, so while I find the idea of writing a hitpiece about this little piece of fluff absurd, keep 'em coming if that's the intended result

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#61 Post by Brian C » Wed Dec 21, 2016 3:43 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:Moonlight is the better movie by a country mile, so while I find the idea of writing a hitpiece about this little piece of fluff absurd, keep 'em coming if that's the intended result
First they came for LA LA LAND, and I said "Yeah OK fine, I guess..."

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#62 Post by Brian C » Thu Dec 22, 2016 1:51 am

I just got back from seeing this finally, and my first reaction is that I don't even remember when the last time we saw a genuine old-fashioned movie-star role like Stone has here. Nothing else that I can remember in recent years even comes close to the way that Chazelle treats Stone - you could probably take 75% of the frames that she's in here and make key art out of them. And wow, is she fantastic - I don't think any of the musical numbers mentioned here are as powerful as "Audition", which she imbues with all the stings of failure that she's experienced and the sheer desperation of seeing her dreams slipping out of reach, while still holding on to the idealism that got her there in the first place. It's an amazing performance and I wish her all the best during this awards season.

My next reaction is that Gosling can't act, has never been able to act, and apparently never will be able to act ... but at least he and Stone get along well enough not to ruin the film. But so it's always gone in these sorts of movies - the women are expected to carry all this emotional weight and the guys get by on "presence". But, whatever.

I'd quibble with some of the comments in this thread. mfunk notes that the dinner scene plays as if they hadn't seen each other "for weeks", but
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I thought it was clear they probably hadn't. By that point, Sebastian is touring, and immediately before Mia gets home, she calls and says that she doesn't even know where he is ... Boston or Dallas, maybe - she even says explicitly that she hasn't heard from him in awhile. And he's due back out on the road early the next morning. I think their separation was more profound than just "different schedules" - their disconnect was convincing to me. I thought that the point of the scene - that she's continuing to expose herself to failure while he's getting comfortable with success, and that she resents it on both of their behalfs - was an genuine insight into their characters, and culminates when Mia gets fed up and moves back to her parents'.
Likewise, heartthesilence points out that Seb is talking over the jazz, not allowing Mia to hear it. Which, sure, that first meeting. But the film makes clear that she listens to a lot of jazz over the course of the next couple weeks/months - there's a montage of her dancing to Seb's music at The Lighthouse that I think we can safely assumes represents some passing of time. Or if not, at least he's not talking over it then! I think, at any rate, that the movie gives her time to learn to appreciate it, especially given that her objections were comically superficial (as in, actually played for comedy) to begin with.

I liked the joke of the seasonal title cards, given the near-complete lack of any change between seasons in LA. It's just a little thing, but I thought it was clever and amusing.

And I like what Rosenbaum had to say about the film in the link above, and it's easy to see why he liked the opening number more than any of us here seemed to have. While he doesn't mention it, I know Playtime is one of his very favorites (the first time I saw that film was when he presented it here in Chicago some years back as part of a lecture series, and it was a real treat), and that opening number seems like something spiritually akin to that film, in the way that it takes the absolute most dreary mundanity (being stuck in traffic) and makes something ... playful out of it. I agree with domino that the number's a bit too frenetic (or as he well puts it, "overdynamic") to really be joyful, and I think that it's probably sequenced wrong for the effect it's trying to get, or maybe it's just been so long since I've been stuck in traffic that I've forgotten how awful it feels, but I find myself liking the spirit of it too much to feel overly critical.

Anyway, now that I'm sitting here writing about it, I feel even better about the movie than I did watching it. I'm glad it appears to be finding a strong audience.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#63 Post by dda1996a » Thu Dec 22, 2016 7:13 am

This might not have pushed his acting limit, but I still think it requires something from an actor to play these roles. The model part is just too long and unfocused. It feels like a big montage which denies any connection to what they are experiencing. The film was best when the two actually share intimate moments together, not when the film hurries along.
And the first number just feels pointless, especially with the one shot mentality and showing off that goes with it. It doesn't have any emotional or storywise connection to the rest of the film. I get what he was trying to do (L.A,city of dreams etc.) but it is basically a hollow number. It speaks numbers that the best numbers are the ones that just have Gosling and Stone in them. Audition is just stone in total blackness and work ten times better than the opening number. And I don't buy the Tati connection.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#64 Post by knives » Mon Dec 26, 2016 12:09 am

This was a total nothingburger of a film which admittedly makes this better by a lot than Chazelle's last pic. Everything is very cute with Stone as particularly effective at conveying the right sort of light sweetness to lift this up. I think though that that left the second hour less enjoyable as their meeting and getting together Was just more fun than the supposed reality that leads the second part. That for me illustrates why the Demy comparisons are so off the mark. Though I could have sworn the main theme was lifted whole from Legrand. It was honestly surprising to find out it was original to the film. Great facsimile.

I do want to be clear that I like the film a lot despite these problems. I won't get "City of Stars" out of my head for a long while and the two imagined ballet sequences are the best film musical sequences since at least The Wayward Cloud though probably Chicago. Stone herself is also just so amazing. Gosling is good here, but she's almost so good as to make the rest of the performances awful through comparison. Even the bits that don't work like that dinner scene Mfunk mentions she excels in the moment at. Aesthetically at least it is easy to call this a great film, perhaps too much recalling the Coppola comparisons at the start of the thread, and certainly one in need of the theatrical experience if possible even if the story is mediocre in its second half. Makes me wonder what his contributions to 10 Cloverfield Lane were since that film's narrative tightness is one of its highest qualities.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#65 Post by dda1996a » Mon Dec 26, 2016 2:39 am

He also wrote The Last Exorcism Part II and Grand Piano. Can't say much about the former but the latter is a decent De-Palma like thriller about music that was pretty tight as well.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#66 Post by knives » Mon Dec 26, 2016 2:43 am

Grand Piano is excellent in a way that a lot more easily an be seen to fit his strengths. It's pleasantly elemental.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#67 Post by Cronenfly » Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:22 am

Well, I hope this moves some Demy sets for Criterion, because this film owes those works a major debt. This is not necessarily a problem, mind, as I found it pretty enjoyable on the whole, if a little overlong. Chazelle blows his load with the freeway and initial party numbers, which the film never quite tops. Galaxies ahead of Whiplash, to be sure, but not yet the work of a fully-formed filmmaker, either. I felt kind of the same way about Moonlight, however, so I can't say I really care which one wins best picture, since both directors have room to improve as far as I'm concerned.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#68 Post by theseventhseal » Wed Dec 28, 2016 4:53 pm

Brian C wrote: My next reaction is that Gosling can't act, has never been able to act, and apparently never will be able to act ... but at least he and Stone get along well enough not to ruin the film. But so it's always gone in these sorts of movies - the women are expected to carry all this emotional weight and the guys get by on "presence". But, whatever..
I remember people insisting I see this new masterpiece called "Drive" and watching it in a completely baffled state. Except for an unusual role turn by Albert Brooks, I felt the film was such style over substance malarkey that I could scarcely believe the recommendations. What was really annoying about the film was it's lead who seemed to confuse acting with staring blankly into space for extended periods of time. This actor, who I learned to be Ryan Gosling, seems to be gaining a bigger slice of film roles (the new Blade Runner, chief among them) and I live in daily fear I'm going to have to see more of his paper thin acting repertoire appearing in films I want to see. He'll probably be a perfect match for Blade Runner and the fly-in-amber ambiance of that zippy film noir should match his talents.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#69 Post by Black Hat » Wed Dec 28, 2016 6:29 pm

I really wanted to like this, I read the people praising it and understand why, and I don't have much bad to say about it but I just didn't connect with it. I like Gosling, even think he's got a bit of Tom Cruise charm in him in the sense he's always going to be likeable/interesting in everything he's in. I like Emma Stone too, but she struck me as too glossy and pre packaged in this. There were times where I felt like I was watching a Taylor Swift appearance on Ellen.

Chazelle is clearly very talented, but he's got to get better with scripts and knowledge. The silly portrayal of jazz in Whiplash he got away with because it wasn't really a film about jazz, but it was a much bigger theme in this film and there were so many obvious things he was embarrassingly wrong about.

The stuff discussed earlier about various plot holes didn't gnaw at me too much and like others I liked City of Stars very much.

I did however feel the film was way too long and where I differ from almost everyone I've heard is that I hated the last section of the film. It seemed tacked on and a bit sloppy, plus the plot hole of
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well if everything went great why didn't they work out?
was the toughest for me to swallow. What I did enjoy about the last part which I haven't heard anybody mention and perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but I took it as
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Chazelle taking out lets just say some frustrations out on star actresses because Stone doesn't come off too great here. More of a diva than the sweetheart she was before.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#70 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 28, 2016 6:34 pm

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I don't think either character comes off negatively. They both prioritized their ambitions and found happiness, just not the happiness we anticipated as an audience for a romantic comedy. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I've had women in my life I still love and who love me, but it just didn't work for us like it should on paper. It's a universal truth, though not one that necessarily makes for typical Hollywood fare-- no fault breakups are by nature anti-dramatic, so I can't really blame the scarcity either!

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#71 Post by Black Hat » Wed Dec 28, 2016 7:01 pm

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Precisely! That's why I felt the film ending on their goodbye would have been a perfect note instead of starting off again with another act of however many years later it was. Going in the direction he did puts the question of 'well what happened then?' in the audience's head, but I guess that's taking the fun out of what's supposed to be a fun movie. As to her not being likeable anymore I'm skeptical. She's dripping Hollywood star with the house, nanny and the square jawed millionaire executive type husband where as Gosling was the complete opposite and tho successful now still is as exhibited by his reaction when he saw her again.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#72 Post by domino harvey » Thu Dec 29, 2016 1:51 am


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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#73 Post by Rayon Vert » Thu Dec 29, 2016 2:02 am

I haven't seen the film yet but the last few posts make me think of New York, New York.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#74 Post by Cronenfly » Thu Dec 29, 2016 2:05 am

Definitely came to mind during my viewing, if that film were directed by Demy instead of a coked-out Scorsese and with Gosling as (eventually) a markedly less unrepentant asshole than De Niro in that film.

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Re: La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

#75 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Dec 29, 2016 2:32 am

Ah yes friends, CNBC is here to remind you to toss your personal happiness aside in favor of that sweet sweet brass ring

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