La La Land (2016)

“I hate L.A. Too much traffic.” I think my west-coast bias blinds me, but honestly, I can’t tell if opening with an upbeat and colorful dance number during a highway traffic jam is mocking L.A. and showing the naivety that while everyone seems to have the same dream, each individual believes they’ll be the one, or instead, it is embracing how important it is to have that outlook on life where you never know when that next opportunity will present itself. Regardless, I love it. 
 There is something special about presenting Emma Stone as a struggling actress. She’s from Phoenix, tho, so it’s all love.
 I love all the outfits in the movie. Okay, I just love the colors throughout the film. They’re so in your face but also not outlandish. 
 There is a world where they go full-musical and ruin the movie altogether, but they limit the singing to only when it drives the plot, and I appreciate that.

“Does she like Jazz?”
“Probably not.”
“Then what are we gonna talk about?”
 So relatable

Clearly, I hadn’t seen this movie in a while because I did not realize Ryan Gosling had achieved his dream, but he was scammed and lost it. I guess that’s the rationale for framing him as the pretentious doomer. 
 “No Jamaal, you be trippin.”
 Ryan Gossling’s singing just does not look or sound real. I know that each time I have seen this movie, I have had to check if it was him.
 I’m confused about how Gossling’s character goes from “I don’t want to see anyone” to chasing down the first person he talks to at her work. Then, when he talks to her, it seems he doesn’t even care about what she’s saying for the whole scene. He tries to approach her at her work but doesn’t care enough to engage when she talks about her dreams. 
In the next scene, he comes around after they begin talking about jazz. I’ll give him a pass. 
Now, he is singing “City of Stars.” It’s a fantastic song, but his voice is so flat and dull that it kills all the emotion. 
I love the observatory scene. Their floating into space is ridiculous, but if you focus on the music and then them as its complement, you can appreciate it for the moment the scene tries to make. It starts with the “innocent” movie, not a date, and then they dance around the observatory, and we can see them enjoy themselves and each other after seeing them before being at their lowest. Even if their relationship may not turn into anything genuine (they only met once prior), it is easy to appreciate the idea that the characters make each other happier.
Have I mentioned that this move just makes me so happy?
Ok, I hate John Legend’s outfit. But the rest are great!
Buddy, you can pay respects to history while creating something new. I guess that’s his whole issue throughout the movie. 
Oh my god, I did not realize that was the whole point. I had this movie all wrong. I
thought John Legend was the “bad guy” and trying to ruin jazz. I feel so stupid, I was 14, but I feel so dumb. 
 More singing, more carrying by Emma Stone, and repping AZ well! Ok, it feels like Gosling is trying too hard to sound good that it looks unnatural in the movie, while Emma Stone is way more natural. 
 I like how this movie is like a West Coast version of In the Heights—it strikes a balance between preserving the past and allowing things to evolve. 
 The wake-up call at the end reminds us that this is not a love story but about two people working towards their independent dreams. It stings a bit, but it’s a better movie for it.
 Have I mentioned that this move just makes me so sad? They both accomplished their dreams, and I knew that was the goal from the start, but I’m just sad.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐