I've only seen one Oscar Nominated film for Best Picture: Hell or High Water. I hope to see at least one or two more. Is La La Land basically like the trailer, or is there much more to it?

@PoppinCorn I don't recall the trailer but IMHO it's not worth anyone's time. To be fair, I might not be the best person to ask, since I was not a fan. These reviewers are fun and funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CawS9_eXifk ;)

Ha, thanks, that was funny. Their review is pretty much what I was afraid La La Land would be. I'll look for something else to watch.

La La Land is actually a very atmospheric, unique film. Apparently, the director's idea was to distinctively cast non-singers for the main roles to emphasize the naturalism of the characters.

I'm somewhat torn apart. I'd love them to have strong voices. On the other hand, their ordinary voices work surprisingly well in the context of the whole movie. The characters are no singers. They are ordinary people with big dreams.

Thanks for your input, Will. It does seem unique and beautifully shot, and I can appreciate that. But it also seems self-indulgent. From both Hollywood and the characters. I might watch it when Redbox gets it, though.

I'm still trying to decide whether I liked it or not

I absolutely loved it. It had me thinking about the movie for weeks after I saw it. It made me had the feels. I was numb after I finished watching the film. It was a completely bittersweet feeling for me. It is hard to describe why I loved it as much as I did, but it did. I loved the music, it was in my head for days and I loved the raw singing, especially during Mia's audition. There was just so much sweetness in the film - something I feel like is lacking from Hollywood these days. Nothing is appreciated unless it is dark or complex or twisty. Not that I don't love those, but I also love movies that make me smile, get up and dance and make my heart soar. The movie also made me tear up, and I don't tear up very often at all. It dug deep into my heart and pulled on those heart strings.

There are so many layers to this film, it was beautifully crafted. The first song basically a foretelling of what is to come (though the mix of this song was strange, it was low, and despite the high energy of the dancers and the song, it sounded muted). All the homages to the musicals of old, the beautiful use of colors. The movie sent my heart soaring, and then broke it when they couldn't get together. I think a lot of the movie hinges on whether or not you thought Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling had chemistry. I thought they had it plenty, in spades. When they were in Crazy Stupid Love I could feel it, and it felt natural in La La Land. The whole movie felt very melancholic to me, and I'm a sucker for melancholy...

Hate to send people to reddit when we're trying to build the discussion here, but I gained a ton of insight and appreciation from both people who did not enjoy it and from those that did here: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/5isens/official_discussion_la_la_land_spoilers/

I don't agree that neither Gosling nor Stone could sing. Emma Stone's solo in her audition had me in tears at the theatre and I still get emotional when I listen to that song at home. Gosling has been playing as a hobby for years, he actually has a band called Dead Man's Bones, check it out! I cannot say anything regarding their dancing, basically because I have zero coordination skills and any choreography looks impressive to me, but I am a keen music fan and I can say their performances worked really well. I think in this kind of film you need actors who can convey emotion in the dialogs as well, and as mentioned above, who have great chemistry in order for the story to work. Perhaps different actors who were professional singers or musicians wouldn't have necessarily been better for the role, I definitely can't complain about the casting choice here, quite the opposite!

Personally I don't understand the hype. Although I understand that La La Land is in part a homage to classic Hollywood cinema, I still feel the narrative is very formulaic, which left me feeling indifferent.

The last musical film I really enjoyed was Hedgwick and the Angry Inch. A bizarre film but great musical performances. Before that, I enjoyed Woody Allen's Everyone says I love you.

Chicago was ok. Phantom of opera was ok. Never saw les Miz movie. I'm only including live action films, no cartoons. HATED Moulin Rouge. Hated it. Skipped hairspray. The pitch perfect films weren't really musicals.

Oh, I like Evita. But that's older film now.

Carousel is one of my all-time favorites. Incredible singing, good choreography, timeless Broadway magic.

@Jeff_34 said:

I'm a yuge fan of musicals and when friends said this was a must see I checked it out. I'm also a huge fan of Ryan Gosling, he's made a bunch of really great movies but dude, the man cannot sing or dance. Nor can the female lead. To me it was sad to see a movie about singing and dancing when neither of the stars could. There must be tons of actors who would kill for a part like this who can sing and dance but I guess name recognition was more important..... sigh ;)

They can sing, just not impressive? Compared to actors performing in live Broadway etc. I was listening to City of Stars on Spotify and Ryan's voice didn't really give like anything. Better to hear while watching the film as yeah he was charming so need to see him sing. If just his voice like audio - nothing special.

@vocalise said:

I absolutely loved it. It had me thinking about the movie for weeks after I saw it. It made me had the feels. I was numb after I finished watching the film. It was a completely bittersweet feeling for me. It is hard to describe why I loved it as much as I did, but it did. I loved the music, it was in my head for days and I loved the raw singing, especially during Mia's audition. There was just so much sweetness in the film - something I feel like is lacking from Hollywood these days. Nothing is appreciated unless it is dark or complex or twisty. Not that I don't love those, but I also love movies that make me smile, get up and dance and make my heart soar. The movie also made me tear up, and I don't tear up very often at all. It dug deep into my heart and pulled on those heart strings.

There are so many layers to this film, it was beautifully crafted. The first song basically a foretelling of what is to come (though the mix of this song was strange, it was low, and despite the high energy of the dancers and the song, it sounded muted). All the homages to the musicals of old, the beautiful use of colors. The movie sent my heart soaring, and then broke it when they couldn't get together. I think a lot of the movie hinges on whether or not you thought Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling had chemistry. I thought they had it plenty, in spades. When they were in Crazy Stupid Love I could feel it, and it felt natural in La La Land. The whole movie felt very melancholic to me, and I'm a sucker for melancholy...

Hate to send people to reddit when we're trying to build the discussion here, but I gained a ton of insight and appreciation from both people who did not enjoy it and from those that did here: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/5isens/official_discussion_la_la_land_spoilers/

Yeah I agree, I really enjoyed it. Loved the bittersweet feel to it towards the end. I wouldn't class this as a musical as such but certainly an homage to musicals of old. I thought Gosling and Stone did a great job together.

The soundtrack is a thousand times better than the movie. If you want to watch a musical that tells the exact same story but better, I highly recommend The Last Five Years, with Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. You know, trained Broadway singers. (But I do see the point about not trained singers = realism.)

Gosling certainly cannot sing.

Gosling isn't the most amazing singer, but, I do believe he can sing. And certainly better than me. I much preferred him singing over Legend's polished singing at the Academy Awards of the La La Land medley.

Some of his songs with his band and/or solo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d_ZZNQ1nlE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XIFn_MsTS4

When he was in Mickey Mouse Club https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEgGWHtVIhQ

Again, not the strongest voice, but, I wouldn't say he couldn't sing. His band's album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UADRHimsfV8

I really like the music he and his bandmate wrote. It wasn't until someone posted a few links on La La Land's IMDB that I had any idea that Ryan Gosling had his own band.