Review of La La Land (2016) by Marybeth A — 27 Apr 2017

I don't think I need to say much here. This movie is obviously great. The musical numbers were really well thought out with most of them designed to appear as single take shots, and they all had great direction in the camera work, cinematography, timing, and choreography. Emma Stone has been my favorite actress for years now, probably since at least Zombieland and Easy A, and she really shines here and easily deserves the awards she won for the role, as do most of the people involved in this movie. While the movie takes place in modern day, it does a great job bringing the nostalgic feel of older movies and times, and this mixing of new and old plays a central role in the story as well, so it's the perfect style to tell this story in. I'm also glad to see another musical taking on the live singing approach we first saw in the new Les Misérables movie, as I think it does a lot to add to the realness of the performances, which can otherwise sometimes feel phoney during those big musical numbers. La La Land was my favorite movie of 2016, and is a classic I know I'll be watching again and again.

Personal Grade: S++.

Technical Score: 98%.