I was looking forward to seeing this movie, I suspect because I am a lover of the old school Musicals. In response to the previous comments, it could be that singing and dancing are a bit of a lost art in Hollywood. Gone are the days when just about every actor had to be able to be at a high level in these skills.

@Charles Dance said: Sadly, this is how it is nowadays. The talented are ignored in favour of audience relatable mediocrity.

So true, so true.

In non-sarcastic honesty, I have seen local high school performances that were better.

@Charles Dance said:

members of the public need to see versions of themselves on screen nowadays. Take the new Bond movies - Daniel Craig is unsuitable for Bond (he looks just like the everymen in the audience) and the public love it.

It seems that one can't walk too far without tripping over all the low bars.

@Charles Dance said:

Daniel Craig is unsuitable for Bond

I thought Craig's Bond was more closely reminiscent of the original literary Bond?

As for this film, I finally watched it and thought it was a bit predictable, even though I hated the ending; they both are successful but don't ultimately connect. The film seems to be saying that an audience would or should prefer that they are each successful rather than maybe ONE or neither being successful AND instead that they get together in the end. It's a very contemporary Hollywood type of film and makes me think of the grandeur and classic message in It's a Wonderful Life. This film, if it has a message, seems to be that you need to make personal sacrifices (as depicted) in order to be successful and I find that kind of sad.

I'll respectfully disagree. The acting was top notch. As for the singing and dancing, this was not a Broadway musical brought to the screen, where you might expect, say, Jennifer Hudson singing talent. This was an old school Hollywood musical brought into modern times, and as such, the singing and dancing were just right as the vehicle to express their dreams and their romance.

I think this is partly due to the hype that surrounded this movie; expect too much and you'll be disappointed. I love the movie, but it's nowhere near as great as others say it is. I expected it to be on the same level as Whiplash. It's not.

Did it remind anyone else of The Artist (2011)? I remember seeing The Artist after its Oscar wins and hype and feeling really let down. Like, it was very well done - but story-wise it didn't break any new ground. That's how I feel about La La Land, it's a polished film, it's pretty good, but it's not great, it's not ground-shifting work where you stumble out of the theater feeling like you've left the world for a few hours and come back different. The acting is 'pretty good' and the story is 'pretty good'. I'm hoping Moonlight wins best picture this year though. That movie felt like a punch to the guts in a good way. The acting was brilliant, the kind of performances where you forget you're sitting in the cinema.

Another Best Picture Nominee that I did not like. Who picks these pictures to be nominated? I wouldn't even give La La Land a participation trophy let alone a nomination.

What's the competition?

I haven't seen Silence or Manchester by the Sea, but apart from Arrival there really isn't much to give La La Land a run for it's money either as a film overall or in terms of not being bland. Jackie was good, in particular the cinematography, intimacy and mood but it's such a small film, also with a far better female lead performance.

It's not like people are choosing La La Land over Silence of the Lambs, Chinatown or Lawrence of Arabia...

@RCH2288 said:

Another Best Picture Nominee that I did not like. Who picks these pictures to be nominated? I wouldn't even give La La Land a participation trophy let alone a nomination.

I think the Nominations are by academy members, i.e. actors, directors, etc... I don't know the rules for each category, but that's my understanding. I could be wrong as this is just what i've heard.

Did you think Moonlight was bland then? No judgement, just interested. I loved Moonlight and I'm glad it won. Gave me goosebumps watching it - especially some of the childhood scenes. There were moments where it looked like a painting.

I haven't seen Moonlight fully... only watched first half hour so I can't judge it. I doubt that I would call it bland from what I saw, but I need to rent it again and see it fully to form an opinion on the movie in general.

Oooh, I do hope you give it another go - it's not a flashy film but I thought it was something really special :)

will do

absolute garbage movie imo.

Just saw it with my daughter and we had both been looking forward to it for so long. Unfortunately it left us somewhat blank, probably because of our expectations. The thing that saved the movie experience for us was Ryan and Emma. It felt like the story started with a beat, flatlined, and then never really found it's rhythm again. Anyway, flatline or not, we need more movies like these before they disappear completely in a pile of Fast and Furious 56 and Transformers: Back With Even More Vengeance.