La La Land

It's hard to ignore a movie like La La Land. The film swept the Golden Globes (winning all of the seven categories it was nominated in) and was nominated for 14 Oscars, tying two other films (Titanic and All About Eve) for the most the nominated film of all time. A film as decorated as this one obviously deserves watching, or at least that's what I told myself as I left Saturday morning to go see this movie. I'll admit, I was extremely curious to see exactly what made this movie receive such an large amount of acclaim and praise. I knew it was a musical, that was about it. I don't think I had even seen a single preview for the movie. I had only read snippets of reviews, I didn't even know that much about the plot. With high expectations, I walked into the theater.

About two hours later, I walked out. It's rare for me to be speechless when I'm hanging out with friends, but after this film, I could barely think. As I stumbled back into the bright daylight, I struggled to put coherent thoughts together; the movie had completely robbed me of my ability to process, well, anything. This may seem cheesy, but I assure you, it's hard to think after this movie. For me, this is a very strange feeling. Only a few other movies have left me this speechless. The first time I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back as a kid had caused similar emotions.

As the movie started, I had watched, apprehensively, hoping to see what everyone was so excited about. It only took about five minutes for me to be completely lost in the movie. As I said earlier, the movie is a musical, and right from the first song, I was was sucked in the world of La La Land. Something about the movie just drags you in. The colors are beautiful, as is the amazing, abstract cinematography. The songs are all fantastic and catchy, and there's a specific song that builds throughout the movie that helps strengthen an emotional attachment to the main characters. As their relationship changes and evolves, so does the song.

The film's story itself takes place over several seasons (different years though). The story is nothing revolutionary, but it doesn't need to be. It completely draws you into another world, and into the lives of two people, trying to make it in Hollywood. The films pays homage to many classic films. Most are musicals, like An American in Paris but also to others, like Casablanca. The story carries multiple themes throughout, and they all do an excellent job of furthering the amazing film. It's hard to say whether the ending is happy or sad. Paradoxically, it somehow managed to make me feel both emotions at the same time. Even now, I'm still not sure exactly how to feel about the end.

As the film ends, I can vividly remember sitting in in the dim theater staring blankly at the screen, absently watching the credits roll. Lost in my thoughts, I got up with my friends and walked out. None of us seemed to be able to pinpoint why the movie was so good. It just is. Exactly what was so hard to describe about the movie is still hard to explain. On our way out, I was able to form a few coherent thoughts, such as: "Wow" or "I totally get why this movie got nominated for all of those Oscars" which lead to "It better win every single category it's nominated for. " As we discussed the movie on our car ride home, I made another startling discovery. None of us could name anything wrong with the movie. Try as we might, we couldn't find anything to nitpick. It's just that good.

Whatever stigma you might have in mind when it comes to musicals, I still highly recommend going to see this movie. It's astonishing. Everything about it. If you've been paying any attention, you probably know what I'm going to say next. If you have the chance I highly recommend going this movie. It's worth it.