La La Land

[gypsy101]

lol what are you saying didn't happen JM?

[icecreambenjamin]

I'm trying to put together what you're trying to say to wizard.

[Call_me_jorge]

gypsy101 said: "thanks for that info aaaaaa15!

was this the first original American live-action movie musical since Newsies? i can't think of any since then (other than the High School Musicals and other Disney Channel stuff)

 

"

Begin Again, Once, Sing Street

[hork]

Call_me_jorge said: "gypsy101 said: "thanks for that info aaaaaa15!

was this the first original American live-action movie musical since Newsies? i can't think of any since then (other than the High School Musicals and other Disney Channel stuff)

 

"

Begin Again, Once, Sing Street

 

Begin Again isn't a musical, Once isn't American, and Sing Street is neither a musical nor American.

 

[JM226]

^^^^ THANK YOU for responding on my behalf.  im not sure people understand what a movie musical actually is.... 

[Call_me_jorge]

Hork, I guess it could be argued whether Sing street and begin again are musicals or not since both have musical in their descriptions on Wikipedia 

[BroadwayNYC2]

If either of those are musicals, than so is any movie in which a character did karaoke. 

 

[JM226]

THOSE ARE NOT MOVIE MUSICALS!!!  also sing street is british -- not american 

[justincharacter]

I caught this film last weekend and I just fell in love with it. It's a magical film. The production design and cinematography is fantastic. The score was superb, and Emma and Ryan gave outstanding performances. I loved the whole  "frozen/slow-mo" frames with the ensemble (we see it at the party and in the epilogue). Am I the only one who came out of the theater humming "Someone in the Crowd"? That song was one of the more memorable ones for me. 

[gypsy101]

JM226 said: "THOSE ARE NOT MOVIE MUSICALS!!!  also sing street is british -- not american"

lol clearly the topic is confusing for many. American, live-action and original musicals. i still think it may have been a gap between Newsies and La La Land.

[hork]

There've been a few independent films that meet those criteria, but yeah, Newsies was the last original studio musical with original songs. Other than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which is technically a musical, though the Oompa Loompas are the only ones who sing. 

[ggersten]

I do not understand why High School Musical 3 does not count. Is it because it was a sequel?  Otherwise it was an original studio release to movie theatres.  

[hork]

Oh, yeah, I forgot that was a thing.

[PepperedShepherd]

Excellent, insightful re-review by Owen Gleiberman in Variety:

A Second Look at 'La La Land': Why It's Not Just Good, But Great

[yellibean2]

I really expected to love this movie based on everything I've heard about it, but left feeling it was very mediocre.

Stylistically, it was beautiful, and I liked how it encouraged the audience to suspend their disbelief shamelessly. I enjoyed the songs (and am excited to listen to them on the soundtrack) but ultimately felt like they were too few and far between to distract from a cliched plot centering on two bland and totally undeveloped characters. I found myself not caring at all about their relationship because I just couldn't care about them as people. And here's the thing - there are many musicals I like and sometimes love that also have plots or characters that leave much to be desired, but I love them because the music is enough to salvage that. Here, it felt like scenes dragged on forever without so much as a cutesy dance break and I spent way too much time counting down until it was over. The beginning made it seem like to was going to be filled with charming and fun numbers with small bits of dialogue in between, and I kind of wish that was more the case. I also thought it would have worked better as a musical and/or romantic comedy if it was actually funny, but the vast majority of the jokes fell flat, even in the packed theater I saw it in.

That said, I wouldn't be upset if this kicked off a trend of original movie musicals. 

[east side story]

It's a two hour Diet Coke commercial. Emotionally vapid, but sure is pretty to look at.

[Up In One]

Saw La La Land tonight and was disappointed in it as a musical. I thought the score - the orchestrations, theunderscoring, was wonderful. I keep humming the opening number vamp. I felt the songs were weak and timidly sung as if really singing in a movie musical was something to be embarrassed  of. The plot was simple and predictable leaving it an exercise in style which for me didn't pay off until the last flash back/dream sequence but even that wasn't totally satisfying. This felt like a film maker using musical idioms rather than a musical maker exploiting film idioms. If that makes any sense. My plot issues were around the dinner scene where she takes him to task for selling out and the scene that accidentally lands her in that nightclub at the end. It's as if the characters had no lives between scenes and we had take a big leap of faith and storyline and guess why they parted within the five years that passed. Golden Globe for musical or comedy yes. Oscar for best picture? That would be an insult to movie musicals that have come before it. 

 

[sabrelady]

AND sometimes a cold diet Coke after  a hot sweaty frustrating year can be refreshing to the point of life  reaffirming. Nothing solid just refreshment. and that is all it aspires to.

[mc1227]

sabrelady said: "AND sometimes a cold diet Coke after  a hot sweaty frustrating year can be refreshing to the point of life  reaffirming. Nothing solid just refreshment. and that is all it aspires to.

 

^^

 

[SweetLips]

Just seen and loved it-not bored by one minute-could have gone longer and boy! could he fake playing piano like a pro.--no wonder his 'piano teacher' was proud of him.

Havn't read previous posts but the music and style instantly reminded me of Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Loved them both so will now have to revisit Umbrellas.

[Up In One]

Question: do we lower the bar for movie musicals? I couldn't imagine this being successful as a stage production. 

[aaaaaa15]

Up In One said: "Question: do we lower the bar for movie musicals? I couldn't imagine this being successful as a stage production. "

They are different things. La La Land succeeds for the most part as a movie, but not as a musical. 

[Big Apple2]

Don't be surprised if this film wins Best Picture Oscar despite its competition.  It plays right into the hands of Academy members.  It celebrates Hollywood, the filmmaking industry, among others.  The Academy has not been shy of late in awarding itself the top prize with The Artist (2011), Argo (2012) and Birdman (2014) coming to mind even as I agree with those choices.  With the biggest voting block being the Actors branch, this is almost predictable.

[aaaaaa15]

Of course it will win. I just wish it had come out last/next year because Moonlight is clearly the runner-up here and the more important (and in my opinion, superior) movie.

[Wayman_Wong]

I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt that the Academy (whose membership is over 90% white; 76% male, and whose average age is 63) is really going to pick an indie about the sexual coming-of-age of a gay black boy as Best Picture. They couldn't pick a love story between two white cowboys (''Brokeback Mountain'' ) that swept just about every single Best PIcture prize in sight, except the Oscar. ''Oh, that was 10 years ago,'' say some. Last year, these same voices claimed the Academy wanted to ''make up'' for ''Brokeback''; that they would reward ''Carol,'' a lesbian love story. But ''Carol'' didn't even get nominated for Picture OR director.

''Moonlight'' has a better shot, if the precursor awards are right. It looks like it'll at least get nominated for Picture and Director, and probably win Supporting Actor and Adaptation. Meantime, how telling it is that the only actors in ''Moonlight'' getting serious Oscar buzz are the ones playing the straight characters?

Finally, if you don't like ''La La Land,'' fine. But it shouldn't be dismissed as ''hackneyed.'' Creating an original Technicolor musical in modern-day L.A. is daring and dynamic in its own way.

[aaaaaa15]

I mean I absolutely think Moonlight would be winning if La La Land didn't exist. After #OscarsSoWhite last year, there's no way they'd award Manchester By the Sea (the only other major competitor for Best Picture) over it when that movie has less passion for it than either Moonlight or La La Land. The backlash would be too much. Carol is a much more inacessible and 'colder' film than Moonlight, audiences seem to respond to the latter much better, whereas Carol was pretty much solely loved by critics and film buffs.

And yeah the presumptive acting nominations for Moonlight make me a bit sad, as I thought Trevante Rhodes and Andre Holland gave the best performances. But I guess they need a representative of the whole cast to get a Best Supporting Actor nomination and Mahershala Ali has the narrative of being a breakout star, thanks to his work on House of Cards etc.