la la land
Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) in LA LA LAND. Photo credit: Dale Robinette
I had never written a movie review before. I also had never left a movie theater in tears.
Then I watched La La Land.
Director Damien Chazelle (left) and Ryan Gosling (right) on the set of LA LA LAND. Photo Credit: Dale Robinette
Let me just begin by putting this image in your head: Ryan Gosling dressed in all black from head to toe. (I have a thing for men in all black...on a completely unrelated note, have I ever mentioned how good the movie Men in Black was?) His hair is slicked back with a few pieces falling over his head as he leans over the piano. Now imagine this man playing smooth jazz with so much finesse you find yourself torn between either wanting to kiss him or push him off the bench so you can learn how to play something other than Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) in LA LA LAND. Photo Credit: Dale Robinette
I have been listening to the movie's soundtrack on repeat ever since the night I got home from seeing it. The music is absolutely beautiful, particularly Mia and Sebastian's Theme and City Of Stars. I want to also include the Epilogue at the end of the album, but in all honesty I don't think I've been able to finish the song yet without getting teary eyed.
Oh, are Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling both single? If so can we all work together as a nation and get these two married? Sorry Andrew Garfield, this needs to happen.
For the majority of the film, I was staring up at the screen smiling like an absolute idiot. I felt like such a sap. I don't buy that Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone aren't actually in love in real life. Sorry, the chemistry was way too real. Either that, or they're just amazing actors. The second one is probably more likely but I refuse to believe it.
My emotional stability was doing pretty good ya know? I teared up a little bit during their fight and again when they met in Sebastian's bar at the end of the movie, but I held onto my dignity. Although I'm not entirely sure how I managed to keep it together during the whole "what it could have been like" montage at the very end. Someone tearing my heart out of my chest and tossing it into an incinerator probably would have been less painful. The credits rolled and Sarah and I bolted towards the door. I made it about halfway to the parking garage before the waterworks began.
On a more serious note, the film does a great job of capturing the whole Boy Meets Girl and it's Them Against The World kinda thing, but it broke the traditionalistic ending with something a bit more realistic. A friend described it as "The ending you don't want, but the ending you need."
This was a movie about finding love in more than one way. It was centered around the chaos that comes with pursuing your dreams, including both the pitfalls and thrilling adrenaline that comes with that. Yes, the film featured a tale of romance, but it also reminded us what it's like to chase after the things that make our blood flow and to really seek out the things and the people we are passionate about as well as serving as a reminder that in the real world you can't always have both.
La La Land is for the poets, artists, and musicians in all of us. This movie is for "The Fools Who Dream".
This was one of the best movies I have ever seen and the reason I know that is because I found a way to sit here and fangirl over it on a blog so that's pretty much it. Ahhh, I want to go watch it again so run, don't walk to your nearest theatre to see this movie. (and maybe pick me up on the way there)
