What to Watch: La La Land

I went to see La La Land with my mom this past weekend--she was in town getting a facial and watching my sister's dog and we'd been talking about seeing it for at LEAST a month, so we had lunch at Parish Cafe and walked over to the the movie theater on the common.

We got there early and Mom couldn't believe how many seats were available. Well, that all changed approx. 10 minutes before the movie started. City theaters get full riiiiight before the movie starts (and sometimes a couple minutes afterward). Ha! City mouse / Country mouse.

Confession: I love previews. So I was thrilled when the lights went down and the previews started. When it came time for the actual movie, the opening song seemed a little unnecessary and weird to me, but, it sets the LA scene (traffic on the Freeway, of course), and introduces our main characters. Mom felt like the movie started a bit slowly, and looking back, I agree. There's a build up to where our two main characters meet, and that could have been a little quicker. 

But, I just absolutely loved our two main characters. Emma Stone plays a Midwestern hopeful actor who's a little snarky and starting to get disillusioned. Ryan Gosling plays a jazz aficionado and "keys" (piano) player who's obsessed with the jazz era. They bump into each other a few times and eventually start dating. They push and pull each other in really interesting ways.  

There's also a lot of nostalgia in this movie--Emma Stone's outfits are all a little retro, as is Ryan Goslings--though his seem more outright retro. There's dancing and singing. There are twirls around old Hollywood sets and glamorous homes and old cars. It's definitely playing to it's awards show audience, but I didn't mind. It was so nice to have my mind taken off of the current American landscape for a couple hours and to fall for a couple and root for them. It was a fun, escapist movie. I don't know too terribly many men who would love this movie, but I found it entertaining. Both main characters did a wonderful job and deserve their nominations.

Watch the trailer below: