La La Land
By Sophia and Ava Fineza
La La Land got too much love. For all its aesthetic appeal, it felt a little empty - filled with a lot of cliches and montages than perhaps necessary. It is a very beautiful movie, and we do love the color schemes, LA scenery, and the entire 50’s aesthetic. As LA natives, it was fun to see the sights we’ve grown up around pop up in the film. But by focusing solely on the artistic elements, there wasn’t enough attention placed on the characters and storyline. The movie seemed to get lost in pretty colors and light music, and with the plot only picking up towards the end, the movie felt choppy and different from its beginning. La La Land does have a great soundtrack, minus that one John Legend song. (sorry, John!) Some of the songs are in our go-to playlists. However, for a movie whose main character preaches about jazz, there isn’t nearly enough jazz music in it, and the jazz in the soundtrack feels almost “pop-ified.” When we first saw this movie’s version of jazz, we were impressed because we had nothing to compare it to, but now that we listen to it more casually it’s easy to tell that it’s not the same quality level. Even though this movie did get glowing reviews, we believe that it got an excess amount of praise for the way it looks, and maybe for what it represented - an homage to musicals of the past, which is disappointing because it had the opportunity to have a better storyline. If that was its intention, then I guess it was fine, but if we could sum up this review in one sentence, it would be: Watch for the aesthetic, not for the plot.
logline: When struggling actress Mia meets aspiring jazz musician Sebastian, they attempt to balance their budding romance while kickstarting their careers.
My Favorite Characters:
D.A. Wallach as 80’s Singer - what a king. not gonna lie, we don’t like really any of the main characters. This guy isn’t a main character, but his dance moves while singing Take On Me and I Ran were one of our favorite parts of the movie.
This movie is rated PG-13 for mild language.
Fun Fact: After initially being announced as ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars, La La Land ended up losing to Moonlight in an ICONIC Oscar moment. Oh, yes! Watching that debacle live was a highlight (and low-light) that will never be forgotten.
Where to Watch:
Hulu
HBO Now
YouTube, Google Play Store, Vudu and Amazon Prime for rent or purchase