La La Land

Description

Released in 2016, La La Land is an American musical drama, also categorized as a romcom. Known for the infamous Oscars incident in 2017. Lead roles are portrayed by Emma Stone, a struggling actress trying to find work in Los Angeles CA, and Ryan Gosling, a struggling pianist working his way to revive the "Jazz culture" and somewhat, his life as well. We also see a brief role of John Legend, a famous singer in the movie as well.

IMDb: 8/10 ; Rotten Tomatoes: 91% fresh

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My Opinion

I've been a watching a lot of romcoms lately, like "Friends with Benefits", "What happens in Vegas", "Crazy, Stupid Love" etc. After having watched a lot of these movies, I had come to a conclusion that I could predict each and every romcom's plot just by seeing the synopsis. These type of movies became so predictable to me that I decided I'd stop watching them after seeing one last movie, La La Land. I wanted to watch this movie for numerous reasons, few being:

1. It was a romcom, see if I could predict the plot.

2. How did a romcom reach to such a high level of *almost winning an Oscar.

Basically for the first 30 mins, it looks like a Disney movie just came to life. For example, people start singing anywhere, dance in random situations, a spotlight falls on a single person when he/she has a monologue while the background fades away, all the classic Disney moves. Since I'm not that of a big fan of Disney movies, I felt uncomfortable and out of place while watching the first 30 mins. But after that, I was able to adjust perfectly with it's pace.

The movie takes you on such an adventure of music, dance, drama and makes you feel like you're there with the actors themselves! The actors, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, two very fine actors, have lived up to their reputation very well and have played their roles exceptionally well.

The overall pace of the movie feels slow for the first 30 mins, but you'll adjust in no time. The beauty of the film is that, although it may feel slow in the very beginning, you'll end up wanting more of it and wish it never ends!

All of the songs, the dance sequences and the monologues of the characters are masterpieces of their own. Ryan Gosling has done a remarkable job of playing the piano. It almost feels like he was born to do it. (Fun fact: Ryan gosling didn't know how to play the piano before the film, he trained for 4 hours every day for 4 months to reach to a respectable level)

Emma Stone on the other hand, looks gorgeous as usual and has a beautiful, and in some scenes, very strong and powerful dialogue delivery. Since I have a personal preference to Emma Stone, for obvious reasons, I liked her role better. But yeah, its a very personal opinion, you may differ.

Overall, the movie takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Great cinematography, great sequences, brilliant transitions etc. You cry, you laugh and you're left in complete surprise as the movie ends. The dancing and the singing in the film has a 80's Hollywood vibe to it and I loved it! As far as my opinion is concerned, I felt the character development was slower than usual, but that's completely fine, as the film excels in every other category.

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Personal Experience

I was taken aback while watching the film, as this was no traditional Hollywood romcom and was completely different in principle when compared to any other romcom. I realized why this movie was so close to winning an Oscar for "The Best Film" category. I feel this movie will remain an all time classic for me and it'll never lose it's charm any time soon. I strongly recommend you to watch this movie once.

My rating: 8.5/10

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