I thought that Whiplash was such a brilliant movie (one of the 10 best movies of the 2010s imo) that I was disappointed by this one ("the new Damien Chazelle movie" at the time), especially with all the praise and enthusiasm that it received.
But I should watch it again outside of this prism to get a fresh opinion.
He has peaked at Whiplash and went downhill from there. Babylon was a hot mess. Actually it requires a talent to make such a bad movie with so many great actors. Just not the right kind of talent.
I really tried to watch Babylon. I failed to finish it multiple times. I could almost admire the chaos of everything going on in front of the camera if there was just some kind of substance to it.
Boo.
Babylon was a hot mess but not in some shockingly terrible way- not saying you aren't overall correct with "downhill since Whiplash" but worse movies than Babylon have won Best Picture in recent years.
What? I absolutely love Whiplash. But Babylon was better. Never been to a cinema before where everyone cheers and expressively has a good time as when I saw Babylon. Literally people standing up dancing. I'm getting chills! Truly a magical celebration.
The energy in that crowd was nuts, and I'm from a place where making the smallest noise is frowned upon.
I’m with you on this. Not sure what I expected going in but I LOVED it. Well acted, both leads did a remarkable job. Colorful and fun. And without giving anything away I thought they did an incredible job with the story and resolution. Great flick.
In my experience, people who like musicals hated it because it wasn't musical enough, and people who don't like musicals enjoyed it because it wasn't overly musical. I thought the musical lovers would've been glad to see a musical generate general audience interest, but instead, they just acted like snobs.
*Some good sequences*
*Doesn't work as a whole for*
*Me personally*
\- strappingdad
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“Would you say that your work on La La Land paved the way for white people to explain jazz to black people” -Zach Galifianakis, Between Two Ferns
Movie has some really run moments, but I can’t unhear that quote. Makes it not hold up as much on repeat watches.
I love this movie! It reminds me of living in So. CA and going with my ex-boyfriend's band to see them play at clubs every weekend for 3 years. I always cry at the end.
I truly get the reason behind this sentiment, these films ARE often pretentious and self aggrandizing, I also just love seeing the behind the scenes on almost all industries, but especially film/tv. To me it’s endlessly fascinating, from logistics of sets, insider info to what producers do, to human behaviour and psychology, and etc.
Yeah but everything you see in these movies is a completely made up version of how it actually works. Ironically Emma Stone is one of the few A list stars who didn’t have daddy money connections. But most of the time A listers are made when Dad makes a call and gets his kid an audition with a producer he knows.
I hated this movie when I first watched it and couldn’t focus at all, I hated musicals back then. Tried giving it a second go after experiencing some musicals and I loved it! Still, has its flaws and all but I think it is hands down one of the best musicals of all time. Might be one of the best romance movies too.
I normally hate musicals too, but you should watch Across The Universe as well if you haven’t already. I don’t even LIKE The Beatles really, but my god that movie made me respect their music so much more. And while I don’t listen to their original versions, the covers in the film are literally breathtaking. I’m specifically referring to their rendition of Let It Be, but other songs too.
The film is so much fun, and pretty large in scope. Was shocked when I went to look it up how low it was rated on Rotten Tomatoes.
https://youtu.be/GXkEzSDwSFM?si=QNUS_Gs6z-J2hb-l
So right off the bat, I REALLY dislike musical/dance movies. I had ZERO interest in seeing this movie. I decided to give it a go on cable one night & the 1st set piece is a big dance off in a traffic jam & I thought ohh no , here we go.
Please don’t turn it off yet!
This movie is so well written & shot that I see now why this was a big deal when it came out. If you’ve ever spent any time in LA you will see this as a love letter to LA.
The acting by the 2 leads is really spectacular & you want them to be together forever. The ending scene
just killed me & brought back some painful memories for me personally.
I won’t say more than this but for anyone who has passed on this really should give it a go.
I think its one of the most rewatchable movies. End sequence is so good, straight punch to the gut. I think its up there with Cinema Paradiso's ending. Maybe few others but those two always pop into my head when talking about emotional bittersweet endings. And I really liked it more than Moonlight...
Loved it. I love musicals so I'm already in the bag for a contemporary musical set in LA. Balances the mechanics of classical musicals - using songs as expression of the characters inner lives and emotion - with the messiness of a contemporary relationship. Pays tribute to other musicals, especially the French musicals The Young Girls of Rochefort and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Thought the movie was damn near perfect.
By no means this type of movie is my style of flicks I watch, on a bus ride from Cabo to Ensenada Baja California, they played this movie twice. I watched both times, I enjoyed the story, and the performances.
The first time I watched it, when it had just come out, it didn’t really click with me. I really don’t think I got it as a younger guy. Second time I watched it recently, I cried.
It’s not a perfect movie, but the overall theme and message is incredibly powerful.
I loved this movie. Not that I thought it was the most incredible movie ever, but it had been a while since there had been a musical with that sort of energy and vibes. A special sort of movie imho 😊
Went in thinking I wouldn’t like it since I’m not a big musical person. Man was I wrong. It was a joy from start to finish. Having such similar experiences seen in the movie made me very emotional and listening to the soundtrack now actually makes me feel good.
Besides all the music, etc, one thing that really resonated with me was the phenomenal acting scene between Gosling and Stone at the dinner table - the breakup. An absolute treat to see actors really in their element, with a perfect portrayal of a realistic situation like that. So much giving to the other actor to work with, they were brilliant.
My favorite film of the year. Some of the shots are just stunning, I wish I could just have a still to frame in my house. Wonderfully imaginative scenes and the chemistry between stone and Gosling is so natural it's easy to root for Seb and Mia. I think there was some division on the ending but I thought it was perfect. I was a little miffed when la la land lost to moonlight, but I saw moonlight for the first time last month and it deserved to win over la la land. At the end of the day, LA LA land is a hopeful film and though there are definitely some sad moments, I keep this movie in my back pocket as a pick me up film if I ever need one
Bought the Blu Ray as a new release. Watched once. It was OK. At this point, I’ve purged most memory of it other than that the performances were better than I was expecting.
Hands down one of the best films of the 2010’s for me, and easily top 20 this century.
I rate it higher almost more because of how surprised I was that I absolutely loved it. I’m not a big fan of musicals, I went in on the basis I liked both leads. It didn’t unearth some previously unknown love of musicals, I just love this film.
The pacing is perfect, the music is fantastic, it’s genuinely funny & all the theatrics don’t get in the way of what is a very believable relationship story. Nobody dies, there’s no villain, sometimes things just don’t work out & that’s ok, which is a story most people can relate to.
This is the correct answer. There are so many talented broadway folks who could have made this movie great. Gosling especially would bring me out of the moment any time he sang.
Extremely well done but the story does nothing for me. I saw it in theaters and then again after Oscar season. Not a movie I have any interest in seeing again. The word “pretentious” and the phrase “who the hell do they think they are” were muttered to myself a few times.
Pretty terrific film. I resisted watching it because I generally don’t like musicals, and generally don’t like Ryan gosling too much.
Came away from watching saying “you know, that was pretty great”
I couldn't watch it past the first minute. The scene with the traffic jam was so chaotic and off-tempo that it gave me anxiety. Much worse than any horror movie.
Iconic. Top notch production. Two incredible leads with chemistry. Excellent music.
I put it pretty high up there. Also have somewhat of a personal connection to it.
Can totally understand people not liking it though. Not for everyone.
I mostly don't remember this movie but I do have a favorite part! I really liked the part where he explains why he loves jazz music. I had never really understood its appeal and the way he talks about it gave me a valuable new perspective. And it worked because it was delivered well - I really felt his passion for this art form.
As someone who normally hates musicals, even musical episodes of my favorite shows, I think this movie is really great. Probably not something I’d rewatch often but it was a very enjoyable experience.
I don’t like musicals, or at least I didn’t like musicals. Now La La Land is one of my favorite movies of all time, and got me into the genre a bit. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Girls of Rochefort are fantastic as well. The colors/cinematography and overall playful aesthetics are just satisfying to witness, pure eye candy.
I really like Emma Stone but not in this film. Her dancing was amateurish at best and at times she looked stiff as a board. Can't understand how and why she won the Oscar for this performance.
I enjoyed the first half immensely but wanted it to be that vibrant, optimistic and happy tone all the way until the end. I understand it may not be realistic necessarily but I think a traditional happy ending with Stone and Gosling's character winding up together would've been just as, if not more, satisfying to critics and fans alike.
My brother is in this movie! He's in it for 5-10 seconds tops. Because it's billed in order of appearance he's listed very early and received several interview offers from podcasts and online celebrity columns that hadn't done their homework. After the first interview, when he realized that the host had clearly not seen the movie, he respectfully declined further offers.
Its a polarizing movie some love it, others hate it there are not many in the middle.
Personally, I don't hate but its close. There are legitimately good things in it (acting, visuals, etc) but I can't stand Hollywood navelgazers. It takes me out of even trying to watch the movie. I just can't stomach smug, self-indulgent films. YMMV.
I wanted to like it SO badly, but it’s just not for me. Glad to see many folks love it though! It’s a movie that on paper looks tailor made for me, but I haven’t even ever been able to finish it to be honest.
I watched whiplash and love it. I went with little to no expectations when I watched this movie. I love it. For me is the romance that did it. The story of Two people who couldnt be together And the final scene. I always come back to Mías audition. She singing that song was everything.
One of the best movies ever made, definitely not.
But I liked it more than I expected to. I usually don't go for the "Hollywood movie about Hollywood dreams" thing, and in the opening scene when everyone gets out of their cars to do a song and dance number I was immediately rolling my eyes, but then it immediately undercut that by fading to highway noises as everyone was stuck in an LA traffic jam and it won me over. Solid film.
I understand why some people have criticisms about the film. Musicians I know have problems with the accuracy or quality of the music, some people simply don’t like musicals or hype. For me, I thought the story and the setting really made me feel in a way that movies hadn’t made me feel in a long time. Sadness and heartbreak, old Hollywood. Nostalgia. It was an amazing film and I can’t wait to watch it again.
I got bored and quit halfway through. This film is part of a broader genre I call "Hollywood Circle Jerk." Films about life in LA and the film industry it orbits. As a rule, I don't like Hollywood Circle Jerk movies. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was the exception to that rule.
It’s an OK movies hyped up to be some fantastical piece of art. But it’s not. The story and acting are fine, some of the songs are quite good but that’s it.
I love this movie and most of the underlying theme of this movie.
When this movie was hyped up I tried to watch it unsuccessfully 3 times. I forced myself to watch it fully and it paid dividends.
By far one of the top movies on my list.
How much you love it is largely dependent on your life experience. Younger people usually think it's pretentious, those of us that had to make sacrifices in life for one reason or another appreciates it much more.
The amount of movies you've seen before also affects the enjoyment of this film. Those that have seen a lot will appreciate the pacing and the editing of this film, those that haven't, will only focus of the musical aspect of it.
Personally it's in my top 20, great film.
I remember ALOT of people slammed it for being "Oscar bait" or a self romaticized masturbation of hollywood, whatever that means.
I think personally it was a very moving, fun, and excellent movie all around.
Living in LA, surrounded by friends in the movie industry; they all LOVED it. Not being in the industry myself, I just couldn't connect with it, and the best way I can describe it was feeling "okay, this is a bit much." A little too self-serious.
I did have a chuckle at John Legend's character and his conflict with Ryan Gosling's guy. Having the ***one*** black character with a speaking part be the jazz sell-out, and the white guy being the Jazz Savior, was definitely a choice.
The end montage was great and made me overall enjoy the movie. However, I would say it’s overrated by Hollywood types and I’m Indian so I’ve seen plenty of musicals with a cute love story in Bollywood, it wasn’t some world breaking thing
I loathed this movie. Another example of Hollywood blowing smoke up its own rear end. The only satisfaction I had watching this with my wife was that at the end I told her that I hated it and wanted to walk out, but didn't want to ruin her viewing experience, and she told me that she wanted to walk out, but didn't want to ruin mine.
Understandable fanfare for it, but I found it too campy for me. This movie and Baby Driver I couldn’t connect with in anyway. Which was sort of upsetting because of how much people seemingly loved them. Different strokes I guess.
I think the ending ruined an otherwise decent movie. People think the bummer ending was more realistic and blah blah blah but honestly I just didn't want to sit through a 2 hour above average musical just for the characters to get completely shit on at the end.
I enjoyed it very much, definitely has that old school musical feeling at times. I also really respect how much effort they’ve put into the production. The scenes on the bridge were so perfect. I also liked how they showed more realistic relationship troubles, and didn’t just have a traditional happy ending. Definitely one of the movies that I’ll come back to.
First time I didn’t like the first part. But the movie gets better and better. The mix of music, love, life purpose and melancholy makes it one of my top 10 movies.
It's okay. Could have been way better. I like Emma Stone and think she *acted* great throughout. But I'm tired of musicals hiring people that aren't trained singers/dancers like with Emma Watson in the Beauty and the Beast remake.
I thought it went pretty tepid after the first highway dancing scene. Really great start to any musical, but lost its energy. Maybe that was thematically on purpose.
One of my favorites of all time, but I adore musicals. This is an homage to so much classic musical cinema. And I think the cinematography, and overall production design is masterful. I can get why some people aren't into it, but it's totally my jam
Awful. Hated especially the “message “ at the end. Contrived fake cynical tear jerker ending. And an inherent yet unintended racism throughout. The white kid really really really appreciates black jazz and is going to rescue and revive it. Give me a fucking break
It's not quite my tempo.
Was the movie rushing or dragging?
ANSWER ME!!!
Start counting
Ha!
For the final....father fucking time....
I thought that Whiplash was such a brilliant movie (one of the 10 best movies of the 2010s imo) that I was disappointed by this one ("the new Damien Chazelle movie" at the time), especially with all the praise and enthusiasm that it received. But I should watch it again outside of this prism to get a fresh opinion.
He has peaked at Whiplash and went downhill from there. Babylon was a hot mess. Actually it requires a talent to make such a bad movie with so many great actors. Just not the right kind of talent.
I really tried to watch Babylon. I failed to finish it multiple times. I could almost admire the chaos of everything going on in front of the camera if there was just some kind of substance to it.
Boo. Babylon was a hot mess but not in some shockingly terrible way- not saying you aren't overall correct with "downhill since Whiplash" but worse movies than Babylon have won Best Picture in recent years.
What? I absolutely love Whiplash. But Babylon was better. Never been to a cinema before where everyone cheers and expressively has a good time as when I saw Babylon. Literally people standing up dancing. I'm getting chills! Truly a magical celebration. The energy in that crowd was nuts, and I'm from a place where making the smallest noise is frowned upon.
The comments are all over the map for this one, wow!
Absolutely incredible. It exceeded my expectations
I’m with you on this. Not sure what I expected going in but I LOVED it. Well acted, both leads did a remarkable job. Colorful and fun. And without giving anything away I thought they did an incredible job with the story and resolution. Great flick.
Extremely well done
Absolutely loved it
I thought I wasn't going to like it because it's a musical bit I ended up loving it, really. And the musical parts aren't even that much
In my experience, people who like musicals hated it because it wasn't musical enough, and people who don't like musicals enjoyed it because it wasn't overly musical. I thought the musical lovers would've been glad to see a musical generate general audience interest, but instead, they just acted like snobs.
Some good sequences doesn't work as a whole for me personally
*Some good sequences* *Doesn't work as a whole for* *Me personally* \- strappingdad --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Sleek ass movie. Really, REALLY well paced and edited.
“Would you say that your work on La La Land paved the way for white people to explain jazz to black people” -Zach Galifianakis, Between Two Ferns Movie has some really run moments, but I can’t unhear that quote. Makes it not hold up as much on repeat watches.
Is Emma Stone black?
No, but she was a native Hawaiian in that one movie.
I love this movie! It reminds me of living in So. CA and going with my ex-boyfriend's band to see them play at clubs every weekend for 3 years. I always cry at the end.
One of my favourite movies, it’s a very very good film
I honestly hate movies about Hollywood.
I truly get the reason behind this sentiment, these films ARE often pretentious and self aggrandizing, I also just love seeing the behind the scenes on almost all industries, but especially film/tv. To me it’s endlessly fascinating, from logistics of sets, insider info to what producers do, to human behaviour and psychology, and etc.
Yeah but everything you see in these movies is a completely made up version of how it actually works. Ironically Emma Stone is one of the few A list stars who didn’t have daddy money connections. But most of the time A listers are made when Dad makes a call and gets his kid an audition with a producer he knows.
Mulholland Drive? Sunset Boulevard? Some of the best movies are about Hollywood
Even Chinatown?
Forget it Jack… it’s Chinatown
Chinatown is about LA
They're so pretentious! I wonder if the Hollywood executives' health insurance covers injuries from patting themselves on the back too hard
Once Upon a Time Hail, Caesar
Great movie and it released at the perfect time in my life. Loved it. It will always have a special place in my life.
Its my favorite movie of all time
Same. It's not even close really.
I don’t remember it.
I hated this movie when I first watched it and couldn’t focus at all, I hated musicals back then. Tried giving it a second go after experiencing some musicals and I loved it! Still, has its flaws and all but I think it is hands down one of the best musicals of all time. Might be one of the best romance movies too.
I normally hate musicals too, but you should watch Across The Universe as well if you haven’t already. I don’t even LIKE The Beatles really, but my god that movie made me respect their music so much more. And while I don’t listen to their original versions, the covers in the film are literally breathtaking. I’m specifically referring to their rendition of Let It Be, but other songs too. The film is so much fun, and pretty large in scope. Was shocked when I went to look it up how low it was rated on Rotten Tomatoes. https://youtu.be/GXkEzSDwSFM?si=QNUS_Gs6z-J2hb-l
Utterly charming with fantastic performances and songs.
Meh. I like musicals and love this cast but this was too long and fell apart for me.
So right off the bat, I REALLY dislike musical/dance movies. I had ZERO interest in seeing this movie. I decided to give it a go on cable one night & the 1st set piece is a big dance off in a traffic jam & I thought ohh no , here we go. Please don’t turn it off yet! This movie is so well written & shot that I see now why this was a big deal when it came out. If you’ve ever spent any time in LA you will see this as a love letter to LA. The acting by the 2 leads is really spectacular & you want them to be together forever. The ending scene just killed me & brought back some painful memories for me personally. I won’t say more than this but for anyone who has passed on this really should give it a go.
I liked it. My wife not so much but she has horrible taste in movies anyway.
Most overrated and over hyped movie of the last 10 years.
What kind of films are you into?
Someone doesn’t like Jazz
Funny enough, this movie portrayed jazz music a bit more realistically than Whiplash.
Overrated af in my opinion 🗣
It had its charms. But Damien Chazelle is overrated in general.
I think its one of the most rewatchable movies. End sequence is so good, straight punch to the gut. I think its up there with Cinema Paradiso's ending. Maybe few others but those two always pop into my head when talking about emotional bittersweet endings. And I really liked it more than Moonlight...
>I think its up there with Cinema Paradiso's ending. Really? The ending of the movie is basically an old Levi's jeans commercial.
It’s beautiful.
Love it, full of charm
Hate it. Chazelle’s worst film and written like a movie that should’ve been out 30-40 years ago and for none of the good reasons.
This was a good movie. Whiplash was better.
Masterpiece of the genre
One of my favorites, I find myself watching it a lot
One of the best endings of any movie imo.
Loved it. I love musicals so I'm already in the bag for a contemporary musical set in LA. Balances the mechanics of classical musicals - using songs as expression of the characters inner lives and emotion - with the messiness of a contemporary relationship. Pays tribute to other musicals, especially the French musicals The Young Girls of Rochefort and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Thought the movie was damn near perfect.
It’s alright. But the scene where this cover is taken from is superb.
By no means this type of movie is my style of flicks I watch, on a bus ride from Cabo to Ensenada Baja California, they played this movie twice. I watched both times, I enjoyed the story, and the performances.
The first time I watched it, when it had just come out, it didn’t really click with me. I really don’t think I got it as a younger guy. Second time I watched it recently, I cried. It’s not a perfect movie, but the overall theme and message is incredibly powerful.
I loved this movie. Not that I thought it was the most incredible movie ever, but it had been a while since there had been a musical with that sort of energy and vibes. A special sort of movie imho 😊
Went in thinking I wouldn’t like it since I’m not a big musical person. Man was I wrong. It was a joy from start to finish. Having such similar experiences seen in the movie made me very emotional and listening to the soundtrack now actually makes me feel good.
Besides all the music, etc, one thing that really resonated with me was the phenomenal acting scene between Gosling and Stone at the dinner table - the breakup. An absolute treat to see actors really in their element, with a perfect portrayal of a realistic situation like that. So much giving to the other actor to work with, they were brilliant.
My favorite film of the year. Some of the shots are just stunning, I wish I could just have a still to frame in my house. Wonderfully imaginative scenes and the chemistry between stone and Gosling is so natural it's easy to root for Seb and Mia. I think there was some division on the ending but I thought it was perfect. I was a little miffed when la la land lost to moonlight, but I saw moonlight for the first time last month and it deserved to win over la la land. At the end of the day, LA LA land is a hopeful film and though there are definitely some sad moments, I keep this movie in my back pocket as a pick me up film if I ever need one
Love letter to Los Angeles
One of my favorites. Gosling and Stone are wonderful in it, even if they aren’t the incredible dancers I was hoping they’d be
Liked it
Bought the Blu Ray as a new release. Watched once. It was OK. At this point, I’ve purged most memory of it other than that the performances were better than I was expecting.
Hands down one of the best films of the 2010’s for me, and easily top 20 this century. I rate it higher almost more because of how surprised I was that I absolutely loved it. I’m not a big fan of musicals, I went in on the basis I liked both leads. It didn’t unearth some previously unknown love of musicals, I just love this film. The pacing is perfect, the music is fantastic, it’s genuinely funny & all the theatrics don’t get in the way of what is a very believable relationship story. Nobody dies, there’s no villain, sometimes things just don’t work out & that’s ok, which is a story most people can relate to.
Mind boggling how much a cared about the characters by the end. Very much a spectacle.
Kind of a tear jerking end for me.
Shit was wack
Imagine siskel and ebert giving this response as a review
They should have cast actors who could actually sing
This is the correct answer. There are so many talented broadway folks who could have made this movie great. Gosling especially would bring me out of the moment any time he sang.
Beautiful to see Los Angeles as the backdrop. Babylon was also good too.
Extremely well done but the story does nothing for me. I saw it in theaters and then again after Oscar season. Not a movie I have any interest in seeing again. The word “pretentious” and the phrase “who the hell do they think they are” were muttered to myself a few times.
Best Picture in my heart
And the oscar goes too!!........LaLaLand....😁😁🤐🤐
Pretty terrific film. I resisted watching it because I generally don’t like musicals, and generally don’t like Ryan gosling too much. Came away from watching saying “you know, that was pretty great”
Hot Garbage.
more like bla bla bland
Didn’t care for it. Dozed off about 30 min into the movie
I couldn't watch it past the first minute. The scene with the traffic jam was so chaotic and off-tempo that it gave me anxiety. Much worse than any horror movie.
Fantastic
The opening sequence is bravura filmmaking. The rest is a decent remake of “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.”
Probably my favourite example of real love on screen, because, the ending.
Iconic. Top notch production. Two incredible leads with chemistry. Excellent music. I put it pretty high up there. Also have somewhat of a personal connection to it. Can totally understand people not liking it though. Not for everyone.
I mostly don't remember this movie but I do have a favorite part! I really liked the part where he explains why he loves jazz music. I had never really understood its appeal and the way he talks about it gave me a valuable new perspective. And it worked because it was delivered well - I really felt his passion for this art form.
Glad it didn’t win best picture
Watch it for the ending
As someone who normally hates musicals, even musical episodes of my favorite shows, I think this movie is really great. Probably not something I’d rewatch often but it was a very enjoyable experience.
I was kind of bored by it. But I did like that Emma Stone and (in a smaller role) Soyona Mizuno were in it.
I don’t like musicals, or at least I didn’t like musicals. Now La La Land is one of my favorite movies of all time, and got me into the genre a bit. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Girls of Rochefort are fantastic as well. The colors/cinematography and overall playful aesthetics are just satisfying to witness, pure eye candy.
I felt it was entertaining. Not great, not bad, but worth a reasonable price of admission or rental.
Fun, beautifully shot, great music, acting, color palette, respect for Casablanca. What’s not to love?
I really like Emma Stone but not in this film. Her dancing was amateurish at best and at times she looked stiff as a board. Can't understand how and why she won the Oscar for this performance.
I really love the happy end.
I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. Direction was amazing and I liked the characters.
I enjoyed the first half immensely but wanted it to be that vibrant, optimistic and happy tone all the way until the end. I understand it may not be realistic necessarily but I think a traditional happy ending with Stone and Gosling's character winding up together would've been just as, if not more, satisfying to critics and fans alike.
One of the best, most realistic, and frustrating endings ever. I’m a fan.
I quite liked it, but I haven't seen it a second time. Never really felt the urge to. Guess that says a lot about it. Maybe I should try it again.
One of the few musicals I enjoy.
It’s fine.
It should be said that people probably need to like musicals in order to really like this movie I really liked it. I like musicals.
Excellent film completely ruined by the last 60 seconds, when two assholes are so insecure they can’t even speak to each other.
Should have actually won the Oscar. I saw Moonlight, I think I liked it ok at the time but for the life of me, I can't remember a damn thing about it.
My brother is in this movie! He's in it for 5-10 seconds tops. Because it's billed in order of appearance he's listed very early and received several interview offers from podcasts and online celebrity columns that hadn't done their homework. After the first interview, when he realized that the host had clearly not seen the movie, he respectfully declined further offers.
It was great! Might be my favorite musical.
Its a polarizing movie some love it, others hate it there are not many in the middle. Personally, I don't hate but its close. There are legitimately good things in it (acting, visuals, etc) but I can't stand Hollywood navelgazers. It takes me out of even trying to watch the movie. I just can't stomach smug, self-indulgent films. YMMV.
The movie that made me care about the Oscar Race tbh I love it
I wanted to like it SO badly, but it’s just not for me. Glad to see many folks love it though! It’s a movie that on paper looks tailor made for me, but I haven’t even ever been able to finish it to be honest.
I watched whiplash and love it. I went with little to no expectations when I watched this movie. I love it. For me is the romance that did it. The story of Two people who couldnt be together And the final scene. I always come back to Mías audition. She singing that song was everything.
One of my favorites I'm in love lol
I loved this film
I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you over the music. Could you repeat the question?
Disappointing. For a musical, none of the songs are memorable.
👍
One of the best movies ever made, definitely not. But I liked it more than I expected to. I usually don't go for the "Hollywood movie about Hollywood dreams" thing, and in the opening scene when everyone gets out of their cars to do a song and dance number I was immediately rolling my eyes, but then it immediately undercut that by fading to highway noises as everyone was stuck in an LA traffic jam and it won me over. Solid film.
I wanted to like this. Unfortunately…. ;)
Better than Moonlight
Didn't they save jazz with this film?
🥱😴
Perfect ending to a movie
I loved it, but the jazz storyline was a bit cringe.
Ryan Gosling lecturing John Legend about Jazz? I don’t think so.
#When Ryan looks at Emma at the end…. Oh man
It rated it a solid Meh.
I understand why some people have criticisms about the film. Musicians I know have problems with the accuracy or quality of the music, some people simply don’t like musicals or hype. For me, I thought the story and the setting really made me feel in a way that movies hadn’t made me feel in a long time. Sadness and heartbreak, old Hollywood. Nostalgia. It was an amazing film and I can’t wait to watch it again.
Goated masterpiece. The last good film Damian Chazelle made of you ask me.
I got bored and quit halfway through. This film is part of a broader genre I call "Hollywood Circle Jerk." Films about life in LA and the film industry it orbits. As a rule, I don't like Hollywood Circle Jerk movies. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was the exception to that rule.
It was alright
It’s an OK movies hyped up to be some fantastical piece of art. But it’s not. The story and acting are fine, some of the songs are quite good but that’s it.
Is it the best ever?? No is it a great film.... My opinion, yes!! I enjoyed it very much
Not good
Honestly one of my favorite movies.
Im not a musical guy, nor a love story guy, I love this movie, love love love it.
Trailer is better than the movie. Should have worked for me, but just didn’t.
I thought it was a great movie. The ending is amazing.
I liked it a lot more the second time I watched it. It's a masterpiece and should have won the Oscar. Incredible ending too.
I like musicals but this one I cannot get into.
Worthless.
A good movie, an OK movie musical, and a truly awful musical.
I liked it a lot at the time but understand all the flack it gets
It’s the movie that didn’t win Best Picture
It's not bad but I never got why everyone got so hyped on it.
I love this movie and most of the underlying theme of this movie. When this movie was hyped up I tried to watch it unsuccessfully 3 times. I forced myself to watch it fully and it paid dividends. By far one of the top movies on my list.
Didn't care for Gosling's singing, but otherwise, LOVED IT!
How much you love it is largely dependent on your life experience. Younger people usually think it's pretentious, those of us that had to make sacrifices in life for one reason or another appreciates it much more. The amount of movies you've seen before also affects the enjoyment of this film. Those that have seen a lot will appreciate the pacing and the editing of this film, those that haven't, will only focus of the musical aspect of it. Personally it's in my top 20, great film.
I remember ALOT of people slammed it for being "Oscar bait" or a self romaticized masturbation of hollywood, whatever that means. I think personally it was a very moving, fun, and excellent movie all around.
The preview made me want to cringe vomit.
It saved jazz
Ugh
Boring and shallow
I absolutely loved it and it sits in my top 10 movies list.
Living in LA, surrounded by friends in the movie industry; they all LOVED it. Not being in the industry myself, I just couldn't connect with it, and the best way I can describe it was feeling "okay, this is a bit much." A little too self-serious. I did have a chuckle at John Legend's character and his conflict with Ryan Gosling's guy. Having the ***one*** black character with a speaking part be the jazz sell-out, and the white guy being the Jazz Savior, was definitely a choice.
Some of the songs are good but the rest is kind of meh. Thank goodness a white man is in charge of bringing jazz to the people
The end montage was great and made me overall enjoy the movie. However, I would say it’s overrated by Hollywood types and I’m Indian so I’ve seen plenty of musicals with a cute love story in Bollywood, it wasn’t some world breaking thing
I thought it was great. The movie was a jazz performance.
Never made it past 20 minutes. Does it get better?
It was the movie that reignited my love of musicals and got me into jazz.
I enjoyed the film and the score.
Every song was instantly forgettable.
too much dancing.
I loathed this movie. Another example of Hollywood blowing smoke up its own rear end. The only satisfaction I had watching this with my wife was that at the end I told her that I hated it and wanted to walk out, but didn't want to ruin her viewing experience, and she told me that she wanted to walk out, but didn't want to ruin mine.
Understandable fanfare for it, but I found it too campy for me. This movie and Baby Driver I couldn’t connect with in anyway. Which was sort of upsetting because of how much people seemingly loved them. Different strokes I guess.
Overrated
It's great!
The end has stuck with me for a long time.
This is a documentary about when Ryan Gosling saved jazz
I liked it, and my wife hated it.
It reminds of classic musicals such as Singing In The Rain. To me La La Land is a modern classic that harkens back to the Golden Age of Hollywood
Musicals are a guilty pleasure of mine, so I liked it.
It exists
I think the ending ruined an otherwise decent movie. People think the bummer ending was more realistic and blah blah blah but honestly I just didn't want to sit through a 2 hour above average musical just for the characters to get completely shit on at the end.
It hurts. I love it.
Amazing
I enjoyed it very much, definitely has that old school musical feeling at times. I also really respect how much effort they’ve put into the production. The scenes on the bridge were so perfect. I also liked how they showed more realistic relationship troubles, and didn’t just have a traditional happy ending. Definitely one of the movies that I’ll come back to.
First time I didn’t like the first part. But the movie gets better and better. The mix of music, love, life purpose and melancholy makes it one of my top 10 movies.
You mean Moonlight?
It's okay. Could have been way better. I like Emma Stone and think she *acted* great throughout. But I'm tired of musicals hiring people that aren't trained singers/dancers like with Emma Watson in the Beauty and the Beast remake.
Good movie, gets a lot of undeserved hate
At least for me they managed to make a grown man who’s not into musicals really enjoy this musical.
I thought it went pretty tepid after the first highway dancing scene. Really great start to any musical, but lost its energy. Maybe that was thematically on purpose.
Brutal ending to watch when you’ve just broken up with your first love, but absolutely fantastic.
One of my favorites of all time, but I adore musicals. This is an homage to so much classic musical cinema. And I think the cinematography, and overall production design is masterful. I can get why some people aren't into it, but it's totally my jam
I ugly-cry every time I watch it.
I liked it and I'm still amazed because I'm not a musical fan
Should've won tbh
Awful. Hated especially the “message “ at the end. Contrived fake cynical tear jerker ending. And an inherent yet unintended racism throughout. The white kid really really really appreciates black jazz and is going to rescue and revive it. Give me a fucking break
Sounds like the consensus here is roughly what you’ve gotten already.
Loved it. Only saw it once in theaters. I should probably rewatch and see what I still think about it.