"City of stars, are you shining just for me? City of stars, there's so much that I can't see."

Sad news for annoying people, they’re removing La La Land from Netflix this month. Yes, this means I will have to cave in and buy the 4K Blu-ray which is strangely expensive. Probably should've done that from the start though, considering the orgasmic visuals. Anyway, I realize my original log didn't at all convey my thoughts well so having now gotten the excuse to rewatch, here goes. Easily a favorite of mine: from the meta-critique and honoring to Hollywood as an industry, or the magical musical numbers which are some of the best I've seen in any. It's perfect. Balancing the tight line of making a half romantical drama, half-dreamy Broadway-like show must've been difficult, but Damien Chazelle does it effortlessly. The date at Griffith Observatory, with astonishing usage of nearly every shade of purple or blue. At points reminiscence of silent films with the way it's pure music set to visuals. The tap dance behind a starry sky, choreographed spectacularly, just countless moments of genius. 

While I’m more of a Whiplash enjoyer for the obsessive warning it sends, between the two, it's still neck and neck. Both have amazing usage of color, aesthetically and narratively. Each has stellar performances, more so Whiplash but Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone still chew all their material up. And most memorable in my opinion, the music. La La Land’s original score is in my top 3 for sure. From the cheery opening of “Another Day of Sun” with an outstanding one-take dance sequence on a highway to the more dreary piano motif of “City of Stars” that's consistently reused. That's not even mentioning the final “Epilogue” piece of composition that puts everything together mixed to some of the greatest 6 minutes of filmmaking I've experienced. A what-if montage of events with gorgeous set design, striking hues, and next-level transitions.

Circling back to the acting, Gosling’s dorky Sebastion is a pure pleasure to watch. Nerding out over jazz, and having a very interesting set of vocabulary that adds some funny bits. Emma Stone is undeniably wonderful, an actor playing an actor who acts in this movie in a movie. Inception but Hollywood. She has a very good singing voice as well, which benefits the more song and dance aspects of the film. Gut-wrenching ending too. Not solely a story of heartbreak but a subversion of the tropes that follow along with it. To pursue our passions, dreams, and happiness there are sacrifices that come along the way of that. In any other writer’s hands, they would conclude with a happily ever after moment, but I love how instead of going the safe route, Chazelle rips your heart out instead. Yeah, that relationship you’ve seen blossom in the past 2 hours, gotten close to, watched the ups and downs of, we’re just gonna take that away from you. Brilliant, you sick bastards.