La La Land

I'm not denying that it has the intrinsic energy and impressive technical processing, but I'm not willing to deal with the fact that the musical interludes actually hurt it (the second half, which more or less gets by without them, is much better than the first). In addition, the lavish kitsch framing the story of the supposedly naive but in many ways self-centered narcissists is actually annoying. What I want from Chazelle is any genre film where the music will be a means, not an end. Given his age, he has unique skills. (01/05/2017)

To be honest, musicals have never been and never will be my cup of rooibos. On the other hand, though, Damien Chazelle is a lure that I wouldn’t like to miss out on. At least because of Whiplash, which was perfection. You see, despite its plain premise, La La Land has great dance numbers, a perfect couple in the form of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, some very good songs and an almost perfect final scene, which any lover of films who believes that movies are made mainly to entertain shouldn’t miss out on. However, the entire film doesn’t have only these few strengths, it also proves that Damien Chazelle is not only a precise filmmaker, but also a great lover of jazz music with whom it can be expected that he will be forcing his love for jazz on us a couple more times in the future. And I for one will not mind at all. (01/21/2017)

A gem where Damien Chazelle beautifully led me as a viewer. It all looks and sounds beautiful, but I had a problem adjusting to the fact that La La Land is too retro and a tribute to old musicals. But the director saves the strong emotions, the brutally truthful moments, and a slightly harsher treatment of the protagonists for the last third. That truly broke me. And it is precisely the contrast between the beautiful dreamlike world full of color and love and the reality that can be very cruel to dreamers that places La La Land among the films that simply must be seen. (05/15/2017)

Cute, thought-provoking, sad and happy. I like the realistic approach that Chazelle grafted onto the musical structure and its completeness. The dramatic arc in La La Land works incredibly well and indicates an active decision to make very alternative, unusual choices. Gosling and Stone are perfect. (01/24/2017)

Am I supposed to feel touched by a stupid romance between two unlikeable, narcissistic elitarians? Am I supposed to suffer because of their first world problems? All because of a film with a plot disguised as a ridiculously banal allegory of the four seasons that is more see-through than Casper the ghost? Fuck no! There is plenty to praise (the random stage sets, a couple of cute moments, the last ten minutes or so – that would have worked better with more likeable characters), but if this is supposed to be an unrivalled favourite for this year’s Oscars, kiss my ass! No LA-LA here for me, massive disappointment. PS: I’m still thinking why this film didn’t work for me (because I really thought I would like it). The main reason I see is that the initial musical build-up of the relationship doesn’t manage (at least for me) to lay down a sufficiently strong foundation for the feelings in the ambitious non-musical ending. (01/04/2017)