La La Land

Reno

7/10

7/30/2017

**They'd crossed each others life while chasing their dreams.** I am not a big fan of modern musical films. So I was not expecting it to be a great or worst. The film opened with a song that I was not happy, because I did not like the verse or the music. And again to say, the modern timeline does not suit for the musical theme, unless it is a fantasy or an Indian film. The best part of the film was, those song fades away as the film progresses. But I kind of liked the drama/story part and the climax track with the quick flashback (kind of). Till that scene I was considering it an average film, but that one scene changed my stance. So, now I think it is a good film, but winning 6 Oscars, I don't know it deserved that. Yes, the director is known for making music and musical film, but he has not made many. He's young and so his career. Yep, I loved 'Whiplash'. One of my all time favourite. If that film had won 10 Oscars, I would have not surprised at all. After that flick, the people were anticipating, to exceed that success in this film. As it was received, no doubt for those people it was a different flick, but not for me. Especially if you watch lots of Indian films. By the way the film characters were nice, and so the story, but not the songs. Gosling and Stone were performed well. The chemistry between them was great. The narration was going decently until the end, which reminded me 'Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya' ending that I was not happy about, yet something different than usual. Sometimes I am okay with cliché than this kind of conclusion, just to bring a change in storytelling. Overall an enjoyable film, most people would love it. Some like me would say it is a decent flick, but there's always a few who would never favour it. Yet worth a watch. _7/10_

r96sk

8/10

12/27/2020

Undeniably well put together, and entertaining, even if it certainly chooses style over substance. <em>'La La Land'</em> is an absolutely gorgeous-looking film, from the costumes to the cinematography to the choreography. The musical numbers are pleasant too. It is a little light on story, not that it isn't entertaining - it is. They were, evidently to me, going for an artsy film and they nailed that. I just personally wanted more depth to the plot, rather than a song every few minutes. Ryan Gosling is probably one of my favourite actors around right now, in the argument at least, and he is very good here. So is Emma Stone, who is arguably the film's standout. I wanted to watch more of Stone's work even before this, so I knew - along with Gosling - I was going to enjoy the cast. They work excellently as a duo. Elsewhere, John Legend's role is a tad out of place, even if it's good to see him. 4*. It might make for lame viewing if you absolutely do not like musicals, but otherwise it's 100% worth a watch - even for someone with a mild taste for musicals, like me.