LaLa Land 2016

     This film was written and directed by Damien Chazelle.  Mia is an aspiring actress and she meets Sebastian when they are stuck in a LA traffic jam.  This is not a happy meeting!!  Mia is not moving her car when she can and Sebastian does a LOT of horn blasting?  Mia works at a coffee shop serving pastries, bagels and lattes.  This is not her dream job.  Sebastian plays piano in bars and for cocktail parties.  He was let go at his recent job just before Christmas.

      When I watch movies on TCM and they are musicals, I usually fast forward during the singing and dancing scenes?  How could I do that with this film when musicals are the majority of the film??  I didn’t understand that the characters are really living in La La Land?  I thought this was just a title and not how they were living their real lives?? 2 ½* (This movie was so-so)

128 min, Comedy directed by Damien Chazelle with Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K. Simmons, John Legend.

Note:  Imdb 8.2 out of 10, 90% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 1394 reviews, Metacritic 93 out of 100 with 53 critics 8.4 out of 10 with 1580 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Los Angeles, Hermosa Beach, Long Beach, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Burbank, Santa Clarita and West Hollywood, California.  Randy Kerber recorded the piano performances.  Ryan Gosling spent two hours a day, six days a week in piano lessons.  When filming began, he was able to play all the music.  When Emma Stone sings Audition (The Fools Who Dream) a piano was playing in her ear from another room.  Emma decided when she would sing and when she would switch to dialogue.  Originally Emma Watson was scheduled for the role of Mia.  She had scheduling conflicts with Beauty and the Beast of 2017.  The film crew had 30 minutes for two days to film the dusky purple twilight Hollywood Hills dance.  The leads did five takes in two days.  The fourth take is used in the film.  John Legend is a singer and classically trained pianist but he learned to play guitar for his role.  This film grossed $151.1 million in the US and Canada plus $294.1 million in other countries.  The total was $445.2 million with a budget of $30 million.  It is one of the top 20 most profitable releases of 2016.