La La Land : anyone find this lacking in feeling?

Whiplash was pure intense emotion that had me locked in. yet i found the 2 actors here didnt have much range at all. Maybe its the genre and the homage to that era but i didnt find either to be passionate about their art or much of than smile at each other the whole time.

I kind of agree, but the movie skips forward in time a lot, so you have to imagine that they had a "romantic" time and then things kind of cool off. They're sort of lovey-dovey a bit at times. I think the movie is less about romance than about trying to make their aspirations come to reality.

Certainly the romance lacked something, both participants were focused on other things and there was never any sense that this was the love of their life.

Which may have been slightly miscalculated. If the real point of the story was following the dream, then why have a romance that didn't mean much to the principals? Because the director couldn't figure out how to make an airy musical about pure ambition?



Seventy-seven courses and a regicide, never a wedding like it!

When she walked out at dinner there was no big scene when i thought there would be. For me there never seemed much chemistry at all. There was never that sparkle between them. I'm not a fan of gosling, find he's pretty wooden. Although theres things i hate its a still a good movie but its not THAT good.

I didn't buy the piano playing or love of jazz. His piano miming looked to studied for jazz playing - it kind of drew attention to itself that way. If anyone would like to see how this is done properly watch Jeff Bridges in The Fabulous Baker Boys, yet another film musical that is 10,000 leagues ahead of Lalaland.

Miming? What are you going on about, Gosling actually played every single piano piece of his. He practiced almost every day for 3 months to get the parts down.

Yes, that's true. But there's clearly an irrational influence behind certain posters' "criticism," not just accounting for errors and oversights, but especially for the overt hostility toward others' enjoyment.

I routinely see this extremism on IMDb where a movie is very popular. It's a minority, but an aggressive one. Not being a fan of a movie is one thing, but it's as if the movie's popularity is experienced by some as a personal threat. Somehow people have let themselves get to that point.


"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

Bliss, Gosling dabbles in music as a hobby and has/had a band - Dead Man's Bones:


That being said, Gosling still can't sing well and music should stay a hobby.

PS - I am rewatching FAME right now and it is fooking AWESOME. Pure classic perfection. This is how it is done right.

Agreed!

The opening scene reminded me of Alan Parker's Fame which was so much better.

I spent most of the film thinking of better films that supposedly inspired this guy.

Oh boy - The original Fame was good stuff! Yes!

Here it is



Brimming with character, intention, motivation, spontaneity (which Chazelle's film seriously lacks), consequence, atmosphere, a sense of place - this is what unbridled ambition looks like - and yet every character in the frame (Bruno's father, Bruno, Coco, the students) wears it a little bit differently. AND IT'S A GREAT SONG!

Comparatively, the only thing Chazelle's opening sequence says is, "Look at me! I'm doing this all in one shot! No edits!" That's not a story. It's a protracted exercise in service to nothing.

Dear Sweet Jeebus!!!! That is as fresh and exciting as the day it was made!!!! I dare anyone to stay still while watching it. And funny as the cherry on top. Just beautiful even with those 80s clothes.

Fame is at the top of my rewatch list!

Thanks Bliss!!!!

PS - Have you ever seen Phantom of the Paradise 1974? It's a bit of a satire by Brian DePalma, but it had some catchy tunes and campy acts but was oddly very endearing. I liked it - let me know if you watch it.

Yes, I have! I was a big DePalma back then, early in his career, still am. It's great that his reputation has grown so much. Looking forward to seeing the DePalma documentary.

PS: Now I have "Hot Lunch" stuck in my head - Thanks!

PPS: I can't really remember any tune from La La Land, but decades later "Fame" soundtrack is still fresh in my head. Very telling

I liked the film but didn't love it and I think the lack of any real feeling between the two leads is the reason. I can't say I fully invested in the film as a whole. I agree, both of them seemed to lack passion for their respective careers. The film looked beautiful and the songs were catchy enough, but I didn't care that it ended the way it did.

I completely agreed.

What the movie was lacking was dancing. For a musical, there was no satisfying choreography at all, it was more like a jazzy music video. Maybe that's part of what you're feeling, that they didn't get the chance to really break free. But I didn't think the actors were woodenthe sense of tension and longing in the face of dreams that complicate love and might not pan out was effective, I thought.

Nobody can honestly say those 2 gave oscar winning performances. For me jk simmons acted them off the screen in 30 seconds.

"Nobody can honestly say those 2 gave Oscar winning performances". I've seen every film that is in the running for an Oscar AND.pause for effectI can say that I believe both lead actors gave performances that are worthy of an Oscar. I'm guessing Casey Afflek will win for Best Actor and if I had to bet, I would bet on Natalie Portman however my selection would be the aforementioned or referred to, Stone and Gosling.

Your assertion is overkill. And JK Simmons is a geniuscheck his performance in The Accountant.

Couldn't agree more.

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For me jk simmons acted them off the screen in 30 seconds.

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The moment I saw him, I said: "Look at him, the man is a legend and he doesn't appear for more than a minute".

There was a lack of chemistry and I personally felt that they were miscast. Both were fine for the part but they don't work together. The dance at the top of Mulholland on all the posters was probably the best bit but the film is sold as a romantic old fashioned musical and if you go with that in mind, you may be disappointed. Something about the two of them didn't go together.

But my opinion suggests Emma and Ryan's chemistry is the best one since a very long time. I cried during and after the movie. I thought their face expression just basically proved their power of love towards one another. My friends even called Mia a bitch after the movie and we all laughed but felt heartbroken. It's a mixed of happy and sad endings.

Yes. It is a plastics shell.