La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)

[domino harvey]

Excellent. There was a lot of speculation that fellow Oscar contender Lion was going to walk away with it (it ended up in second place, but expect it to factor heavily in the year end awards regardless). Surprised at Queen of Katwe coming in third over Moonlight

[mfunk9786]

It will be very interesting to see what the "poptimist" movement does with La La Land, a good but flawed film that can easily be rounded up to perfection by virtue of being an often resplendent spectacle. Chazelle and his collaborators do a masterful job with the musical numbers - were it not for his attempt (and failure) at staging (forcing?) the leads' central conflict, maybe this is something that could've been as flawless as you'll be told it is. There's one climactic scene in particular, over a dinner and an ill-timed oven mishap, that is completely puzzling and so frustratingly in need of a rewrite that it casts a shadow over everything that follows:

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Stone and Gosling are supposed to be living together, or at least extremely close at this point, but they catch up with each other as if neither had interacted in person or had any phone or text conversations for weeks - totally bowling one another over with what's going on in their lives as if they haven't been sleeping in the same bed, if on difficult schedules. It is so poorly conceived, such a betrayal of the film's emotional and logical honesty, that the rest of the film (even the great stuff) must be considered through its lens. These are characters who are profoundly in love and lying under the same water-stained ceiling that are presented to us as ornery strangers without explanation or justification.

Once La La Land has decided, to summarize the above spoiler box, that these leads are cryogenically frozen between each scene and presumably don't have any sort of a personal life with one another outside of the confines of the film, cracks naturally form in its facade that don't just go away when we swoop around to the absolutely stunning final sequence. Yes - this movie, like Whiplash, ends perfectly - but much like our heroes, Chazelle can't expect to smooth over his bad decisions and turn back the clock with a beautiful romantic gesture. The damage is already done, and again - this is a good, even very good, film - but no amount of GIF collections or soundtrack vinyls or Mondo posters (or even Academy Awards) are going to make it a perfect one. And that's a real shame, because a little more time in the oven could've done it a hell of a lot of good.

[dda1996a]

I haven't seen this yet but it doesn't surprise me much because I though Whiplash was a lot of fun but was really lacking, especially in the relationships between the characters. The film was brilliant everytime Teller was drumming but I think there was a big center of the film that was sorely missing

[mfunk9786]

What I thought was a very smartly written window into Teller's character's difficulty interacting with anyone but his craft in Whiplash seems now to be an actual chink in Chazelle's screenwriting ability - it worked beautifully in that film, but I'm convinced now that its fit alongside the impressive practice and performance (and Simmons) sequences was merely a happy accident rather than some sort of a careful choice.

[dda1996a]

Well he does in a way but I felt that in places it was justified being a selfish egoistic with only one goal on his mind (the dinner with his father's friends) while he is shy like on his first date. But there was something missing (it's been over a year, so I can't be specific, but I walked out of the film with something missing for me to make it truly brilliant, on both times I watched it. Did you see his underwear debut? Wonder if it has these same issues

[mfunk9786]

Did you see his underwear debut?

I did not see his underwear debut. He was wearing really cool pink socks at the Q&A though.

[dda1996a]

Did you see his underwear debut?

I did not see his underwear debut. He was wearing really cool pink socks at the Q&A though.

Ha damn auto correct...honestly can't recall what I actually tried to write, so let's just go with debut

[hearthesilence]

Well, he hated it less than Whiplash, but Glenn Kenny is not a fan.

[zedz]

Well the comparison to Singin in the Rain has me excited, as that is undoubtedly the finest musical ever. In fact what was the only good musical from the last few years? The only ones I liked were Once and Sing Street, and even they don't have any dancing

Chazelle's previous musical Guy and Madeleine on a Park Bench is a pretty good ultra-low budget attempt (kind of a Cassavetes musical), with one really terrific number set in a diner.

[Professor Wagstaff]

Well, he hated it less than Whiplash, but Glenn Kenny is not a fan.

Not his tempo?

Probably a safe bet that Richard Brody hates it as well. Remember his review of Whiplash being a screed about how the film did not understand jazz.

[domino harvey]

This film may or may not be any good, but I can guarantee it won't be because of its understanding of jazz

[mfunk9786]

Well, he hated it less than Whiplash, but Glenn Kenny is not a fan.

That seems to be entirely your inference. He said in earlier tweets that he really liked La La Land. In fact:

"This may surprise some of you but I really really really liked "La La Land"" 4 out of 5 stars and a heart on his Letterboxd, too.

This film may or may not be any good, but I can guarantee it won't be because of its understanding of jazz

Later in that tweet stream that hearthesilence posted:

A guy: "is Chazelle as wrong about music in La La Land as he was in Whiplash (a sports movie disguised as a music movie)?"
Kenny: "not in any way that makes a difference"

And you're definitely right, Domino - no jazz education and theory in this one, though there's definitely still plenty of jazz. I can see why people who've got a good deal of connection to that universe couldn't stomach Whiplash, but I don't think getting jazz "wrong" or "right" would have an impact on anyone's enjoyment of this one.

Probably a safe bet that Richard Brody hates it as well. Remember his review of Whiplash being a screed about how the film did not understand jazz.

All Brody has said about La La Land as far as I can find is a tweet that most assumed was about the film: "So much of contemporary cinephilia is Make Hollywood Great Again, with all the reactionary nostalgia that the notion implies." Can't say I disagree with him there. Anthony Lane reviewed the film [positively] in The New Yorker.

[hearthesilence]

Ah, good to know! So much of what I remember from him comments on Whiplash revolved around how it got jazz (and through that perspective, life in general) wrong - I was not a fan of that film either, but this one seemed so promising, I'm definitely looking forward to it.

[djproject]

http://www.improper.com/arts-culture/for-the-dreamers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"To casual viewers, it might appear that Chazelle shares their appreciation for the MGM musicals of the ’40s and ’50s, but those with a more expansive cinematic palate may recognize that his heart beats with a passion for the ’60s confections of French director Jacques Demy and composer Michel Legrand, whose best-known collaboration remains 1964’s plaintive romantic drama The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Chazelle draws even greater inspiration from Demy and Legrand’s lighter, later effort, 1967’s The Young Girls of Rochefort, from its bright primary colors to its emphasis on jazz and large-scale dance numbers."

Thoughts?

[ianthemovie]

Haven't seen La La Land yet, but Chazelle's first feature (Guy and Madeleine on a Park Bench) is named after two characters from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, so...

[dda1996a]

http://www.improper.com/arts-culture/for-the-dreamers/

"To casual viewers, it might appear that Chazelle shares their appreciation for the MGM musicals of the ’40s and ’50s, but those with a more expansive cinematic palate may recognize that his heart beats with a passion for the ’60s confections of French director Jacques Demy and composer Michel Legrand, whose best-known collaboration remains 1964’s plaintive romantic drama The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Chazelle draws even greater inspiration from Demy and Legrand’s lighter, later effort, 1967’s The Young Girls of Rochefort, from its bright primary colors to its emphasis on jazz and large-scale dance numbers."

Thoughts?

That it's pretty spot on. Even the story itself is similar, with a similar what could have been ending. There's also a sly reference to a favorite of mine, The Red Balloon

[djproject]

Also, as a small aside, I've personally met that particular reviewer.

[hearthesilence]

Pleasant and charming, light and frothy. It was thoroughly enjoyable, but I wasn't swept away like I hoped I would be, partly because it felt so thin. Someone here mentioned that this is classic "Oscar bait" material, and they're not wrong - Emma Stone's part alone will appeal to the entire acting branch, and while those elements are enjoyably done, they're also terribly familiar and don't reveal anything new. Regardless Stone is wonderful and Gosling is charming - not his best role, but I hope this brings him back as a lead in more films.

I see what Kenny meant - the film really has a sloppy understanding of music in general, not just jazz. Fortunately, it doesn't sink the film at all. At worst, it's an occasional irritant, mostly concentrated in one scene that plays very poorly, and it may be the point where the film begins to stumble here and there on contrivances that don't work. (More on that later.) Strange how Stone's character can say she hates jazz when her love-at-second-sight moment was all about her hearing jazz, and stranger still how 1) Gosling educates her about the music by talking incessantly OVER it (you can't make a convert to any type of music if you don't give them a second to listen) and 2) he doesn't just shoot down her identification of jazz with smooth jazz. Minor irritants though, this stuff in particular goes by fast.

But someone criticized one contrivance and the back half of the film really has a handful that felt like complete misfires. Also, there are moments where the film's just too literal when it's reaching for poetry, and this even extends to a moment that's too on the nose as the film's self-conscious thesis statement.

Regardless this is beautiful looking eye candy, and the best moments do approach Demy's films - this has none of the pathos or the depth of those films (and given the differing perspectives on nostalgia between this film and Demy's own work, that's no surprise), but on a technical level it is quite charming.

And the original music isn't bad, and at it's best ("City of Stars") it could pass for the type of sadder songs Brian Wilson wrote in his heyday. When Gosling sings "City of Stars" alone on the piano, the melodic and tonal similarities reveal themselves - I can even picture it being recorded by the Beach Boys in the late '60s and sounding apiece with 20/20.

[dda1996a]

Regarding your two points on music, you could say Stone hates what she called Elevator Jazz, and she had no clue what music Gosling first played, she just found it touching. And regarding the other point, I thought it was a joke, since Gosling tells her people don't really listen to Jazz, while he himself won't let her. It still doesn't make the most sense though.
I think this film is why we shouldn't judge films based on awards chances, because this such an innocent and sweet movie that any deep readings into it will just ruin the film. It's light and sweet and that it. A shame since when they first dance together it seemed to be really going places, everything after Gosling joins the band start to falter

[hearthesilence]

Strange how Sebastian didn't point that out immediately, even before she explained herself - "you liked what *I* played, how can you say you hate jazz?"

Part of me wishes it was Kamasi Washington, not Keith, who approaches Sebastian, and the tour he gets him to join is Kendrick Lamar's - Sebastian would still make the same complaints but now he sounds like he's too out of touch to recognize he's part of something vital and important.

Anyway, I'm being too hard because if you aren't well-versed in popular music, it probably won't make a difference and there's still plenty to enjoy in what's still a well-acted, eye-catching confection. The production design and the editing and structure are all excellent.

[domino harvey]

I enjoyed this a lot, but with some reservations. The film is hopelessly idealistic and youthful, to its credit, and its odd pairing of

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an upbeat follow your dreams message with a downbeat doomed central romance

is a strange choice that works. Despite all the buzz, I thought the film made its most grievous errors early on with that terrible opening number, with Chazelle's over-eagerness to dazzle and obfuscate the screen with all manner of show-offy nothingness revealing little more than insecurity. I was immediately dreading how this film I had been looking forward to was actually a two hour Old Navy commercial (also the song is fucking terrible). Emma Stone's subsequent "Someone in the Crowd" number fares better but is still overdynamic and hurried, as though the musical number were a race to the finish and not something to savor and delight in. But once we get (re)introduced to Ryan Gosling, the film slows down and remembers that the best musicals allow for grace notes, for pauses to catch our breath and pace ourselves between numbers.

I thought Emma Stone’s advice to Gosling could be soundly CC:ed to the film: an imitation may be traditional, but it’s only living in the shadow of greats by being so reverential. There are, however, two great musical numbers here, which to be fair even a lot of other very good musicals don’t muster. The first, “A Lovely Night,” shows how simplicity, star power, and smart choreography can drive a good number to greatness. All things considered it’s the film’s most entertaining highlight, though it is not the musical number of most interest.

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That would be the final number, which actually has a fresh idea up its sleeve. An inverse variation on the depressing opening of Up, wherein we see a different version of the lives of Stone and Gosling if they ended up together. It’s as sad a number as I’ve seen in a musical, and those familiar with Our Saint Rick Altman’s musical theories will note it ironically allows the film to not be iconoclastic (sort of)!

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are both terrific, and while I doubt both will walk away with Oscars, I would be okay with it. Gosling is getting the short end of the critical notices stick by virtue of just not being as good as Emma Stone, but that’s not really a dig. He’s comfortably at that stage where he’s able to coast by on being so goddamn charming, and I think a lot of us take for granted his screen persona. But Stone is luminescent.

ALSO: I was humming “City of Stars” in my head the moment I left the theater, as it’s a lovely little earworm. When I went to use the restroom, one of the guys at the urinal started whistling the tune, and then, I swear to God, some unseen guy in one of the stalls then joined in. I would not have anticipated that the highlight of my week would occur in a public restroom, but hey, I'll take it.

[mfunk9786]

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.

[domino harvey]

I do perversely admire that somehow even an LA traffic jam is able to be romanticized by the film!

[mfunk9786]

I'm just glad Chazelle didn't stage a musical number with costumed drunks and people handing out maps to the stars' homes in from of the Dolby Theatre

[domino harvey]

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