La La Land
Ken B

Review by Ken B Patron

La La Land 2016

★★★★★

Rewatched May 17, 2018

Well its a modern masterpiece, isn't it? One that gazes fondly to the past yet looks to the future. It is emotive, but one of La La Land's greatest strengths is its relative subtlety; its actually a lot more restrained than you might expect going in. It borrows from Demy, Donan and others with glee yet it never apes them and it stands on its own merits, of which there are plenty. The songs, the score, the long takes, the use of colour and lighting, the chemistry between Stone and Gosling and the strength of conviction not to follow expected path both in terms of its overall narrative and thematic structure and its outcome. Oh and its endlessly rewatchable; this was 11 for me.

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