Damien Chazelle's "La La Land" (Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone?)

[harlequinade]

Agreed. I don't remember who said it but someone said in their review that the ending montage could have gone very, very wrong (because of the cheese factor) but the director pulled it off. I don't agree with harlequinade, you can't just shove this into a movie and make it work. It takes finesse from the director and engagement from the audience.

Well the movie didn't get that engagement from me, so it didn't work for me.

Again, I'm not saying it's a bad film I just think this is a very weak year for Oscar movies and comparing to movies like Fury Road or Birdman, my respective favorites of 2015 and 2014, this was just...cute.

 

[Incarnadine]

Even other actors love LLL. Nina Dobrev just had a LLL themed birthday party, I like how Julianne Hough looked in the yellow dress.

http://www.mtv.com/news/2974699/nina-dobrev-la-la-land-birthday/

 

[Incarnadine]

Huge Oscar bump for LLL. $1,445,560 for Tuesday, up 98% from Monday.

 

[Warhammer]

The ending is what single-handedly made the film go from pretty good to fantastic. I enjoyed it so much but damn, the ending backhand slaps you in the face with the reality that [blackout]life is full of unhappy endings, "what ifs?", and regrets.[/blackout] I know people who told me that the ending rubbed them the wrong way because it's not what they wanted to see. But the beauty of it is that it's not what [blackout]Mia and Sebastian wanted either[/blackout] and that was the entire point.

 

[Mysteryman]

I did have problems with the ending but I think that it was a very unique film that deserves it's praise.

 

[NotNickFury]

The only issue I have, since that's coming up, is even though they're playing characters, I have a hard time believing the likes of Emma Stone or Ryan Gosling have ever struggled for anything in their lives. That's an unfair assumption, yes, but they want to talk about how hard it is to achieve your dreams? Try living the life of the average commoner that's actually watching your film. I'm sure any of us would like to be in their position in a heartbeat just for the opportunity.

Love the movie, but that part rubbed me the wrong way.

 

[Jekecy]

The only issue I have, since that's coming up, is even though they're playing characters, I have a hard time believing the likes of Emma Stone or Ryan Gosling have ever struggled for anything in their lives. That's an unfair assumption, yes, but they want to talk about how hard it is to achieve your dreams? Try living the life of the average commoner that's actually watching your film. I'm sure any of us would like to be in their position in a heartbeat just for the opportunity.

You clearly don't personally know many struggling actors, writers, or directors. It is not a rosy view or pleasant ride by any means. Even for good looking and charming people. They're a dime a dozen out there. Most will fail.

 

[NotNickFury]

You clearly don't personally know many struggling actors, writers, or directors. It is not a rosy view or pleasant ride by any means. Even for good looking and charming people. They're a dime a dozen out there. Most will fail.

Actors and directors aren't exactly a common thing in this city, so yeah, I'll cop to not knowing much, if any. That's not the point. I'm going off of the movie. Yeah, it's not a pleasant view, but they sure as heck don't struggle like the average person who isn't looking to be an actor/writer/director or whatever.

 

[Jekecy]

Actors and directors aren't exactly a common thing in this city, so yeah, I'll cop to not knowing much, if any. That's not the point. I'm going off of the movie. Yeah, it's not a pleasant view, but they sure as heck don't struggle like the average person who isn't looking to be an actor/writer/director or whatever.

To be fair, that wasn't the focal point of the movie. It was a presentation of their time rising to stardom, not the period where they'd been consistently failing (it's referenced both were struggling for years). Combined with the romanticized direction of the story, I can understand why it wasn't really shown.

 

[Mysteryman]

You clearly don't personally know many struggling actors, writers, or directors. It is not a rosy view or pleasant ride by any means. Even for good looking and charming people. They're a dime a dozen out there. Most will fail.

Absolutely.
When it comes to Hollywood, being a good looking person with charm doesn't guarantee you anything.

 

[Incarnadine]

The only issue I have, since that's coming up, is even though they're playing characters, I have a hard time believing the likes of Emma Stone or Ryan Gosling have ever struggled for anything in their lives. That's an unfair assumption, yes, but they want to talk about how hard it is to achieve your dreams? Try living the life of the average commoner that's actually watching your film. I'm sure any of us would like to be in their position in a heartbeat just for the opportunity.

Love the movie, but that part rubbed me the wrong way.

Remember, they didn't start out as stars.

While Emma comes from an upper middle class upbringing when she moved to LA she had to work in a dog bakery and spend a couple of years where the only auditions she was getting was for schoolgirls and cheerleaders (she was actually one of the final two going for the role of the cheerleader in Heroes, which Hayden Panettiere edged her out on, she mentions that as the lowest point in her career), which she never landed, then another couple of years getting one off roles in a few TV shows before Superbad gave her her break in movies.

Her life isn't actually all that far removed from "Mia", even the Boulder AZ bit sounds like her life (she's actually from Scottsdale AZ).

 

[Kane52630]

The La La Land backlash is so dumb.

 

[BatLobster]

The La La Land backlash is so dumb.

Inevitable, but yeah. Some of the very same people who are seeing it now and acting all meh towards it probably would've been raving about it if they saw it before all the awards hype. Just the way it goes.

 

[Da-Scribe]

Actors and directors aren't exactly a common thing in this city, so yeah, I'll cop to not knowing much, if any. That's not the point. I'm going off of the movie. Yeah, it's not a pleasant view, but they sure as heck don't struggle like the average person who isn't looking to be an actor/writer/director or whatever.

The movie wasn't about having a terrible life. It was about being in love with your dreams and with the city that's offering them up to you.

 

[Incarnadine]

Wednesday numbers are up and LLL has passed xXx to move up to #2 with $1,256,071, a mere -13% from its huge Tuesday. After jumping nearly 100% from Monday I was expecting a drop of -30% to -35% like most of the rest of the top 10.

Domestic total now stands at $93,189,033. It will ve well past $100m this weekend.

 

[Incarnadine]

Theater counts for the weekend are in and LLL finally gets the big expansion we have been expecting for weeks. It goes from 1,847 to 3,136 after opening way back on Dec. 9.
It's definitely been a slow roll out.

Dec. 9 - 5 theaters
Dec 16 - 200 theaters
Dec. 25 - 734 theaters
Dec. 30- 750 theaters
Jan. 6 - 1,515 theaters
Jan. 13- 1,848 theaters
Jan. 20- 1,865 theaters
Jan. 27- 3,136 theaters

 

[scarlet-witch]

The La La Land backlash is so dumb.

I wouldn't say it's dumb, it's just expected. People who see an over-hyped movie late are going to be disappointed if it doesn't meet the high expectations set for it.

I liked La La Land a lot, but I wanted to love it after all the praise I had heard prior to watching. I wanted it to be an instant A+, but it wasn't. It might have been had I seen it before everyone else, but the bar was set so high.

 

[harlequinade]

I don't know anyone who hates the movie, people simply found it mediocre (I did too). That's hardly backlash, just the case of movie being overpraised

 

[BatLobster]

It's a backlash in the not in the sense of "we hate this film!" (although the jazz community has been pretty hard on it) but in the sense of trying to bring the over the moon reception back down to earth. In other words, the type of backlash that good, popular movies often tend to get. I'm sure everyone here has been on either end of that type of thing before.

I've seen the film twice and had a wonderful time both times. I cannot stress enough that I don't usually care for movie musicals, it's just not my genre. I just think Chazelle is able to tell a story in an extremely engaging way, and both Whiplash and this have very memorable endings that land perfectly IMO.

Not everyone has to love this movie, I think the difference between liking or just loving a great movie often just comes down to taste but I can't get on board with characterizing the movie as another bit of overrated, run-of-the-mill Oscar bait. I know what that looks like, and this isn't it. This movie is just relentlessly charming without being obnoxious, miraculously.

 

[#root]

I had heard a ton of praise for this and I thought it was really, really good too but I was slightly let down because of the hype . Still it's an incredible film and I did really love it. The ending in particular was just so well done and the dinner scene where they argue was another one of the highlights I thought. It was realistic and tense and it really reminded me of Chazelle's work on Whiplash. He's definitely a director to keep eye on.

 

[Kane52630]

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/26/la-la-land-and-the-oscars-why-the-movie-attracts-haters/

 

[scarlet-witch]

Oh please, La La Land doesn't have "haters" it has people that were underwhelmed because of hype. I haven't met a single person who hates La La Land.

 

[Incarnadine]

Over $12m in its 7th weekend (5th in wide release) and LLL tops $100m with a current total of $106,509,372 and still going strong with the Oscars coming up soon. $150m+ looking good.

 

[The Shape]

Saw this last night and it was pretty great. Easy to see why it's receiving all this praise. No, it isn't the greatest film of all time and I do think its biggest flaws are its pacing and repetitive use of the same songs/music throughout, but it's a really enjoyable, well-made film packed with some truly memorable and creative moments.

 

[Boy Scout]

I wouldn't say it's dumb, it's just expected. People who see an over-hyped movie late are going to be disappointed if it doesn't meet the high expectations set for it.

I liked La La Land a lot, but I wanted to love it after all the praise I had heard prior to watching. I wanted it to be an instant A+, but it wasn't. It might have been had I seen it before everyone else, but the bar was set so high.

Which is fair. That's happened to me several times. I'm happy to enjoy LLL as much as everyone else. It's a movie that I feel is genuinely worth the praise it gets.