La La Land six years later

EB5AGV

I was carried, against my will, to watch La La Land movie back in 2016. My wife wanted to watch it and, well, for her birthday, I capitulated. It was fine, as that against-my-will session served me well for some time to chuckle with my family.

Back in January 2016 I had not yet been infected by the piano virus. I liked music, but not musicals. And from La La Land, I just remembered some nice themes, which faded over the years.

Last Saturday, there was a rehearsal of that movie on TV. I watched it again along my wife and one of my daughters. Even if I am not yet a fan of musicals, I enjoyed quite a lot the movie. And now I recognized that Roli Seaboard, appreciated the piano playing, the jazz band, and the music in general on the film. And even played a couple themes on my piano next day, which will become part of my repertoire.

So… in just 6 years, my perception of the movie (and music in general) has completely changed, and it is wonderful to be part of this world. And to express myself through the piano playing. My life has for sure changed. For good.

Just wanted to share this musical epiphany 😅

Jose

CyberGene

EB5AGV was carried, against my will, to watch La La Land movie back in 2016. My wife wanted to watch it and, well, for her birthday, I capitulated.

This is funny because exactly the same happened to me 🙂 Honestly I'm not sure if we watched it for her birthday or it was for Valentine's day but it doesn't matter since I hated that movie anyway and didn't bother to remember that particular pathetic day 😀 I even remember referring to it as Blah Blah Bland for some time, especially since I have a friend of mine who was very fond of that movie and we tend to have orthogonal tastes about pretty much anything in life. Nothing changed since then but I can understand how that movie can appeal to (some) people who are partial to pianos. I don't remember why I disliked it so much though, what remains in my memory is that the music tried to be jazz but wasn't jazz. And that it was rather cheesy. But hey, I love some movies that people ridicule, so we're all different 🍻

dore_m

It was the opposite for me. I liked the movie mainly because I spent my university years in Los Angeles. I went to parties in the Hollywood hills and to jazz clubs. Had girlfriends who didn't understand music that well, etc. So I made my wife watch it, and she didn't get it because she's neither a musician nor "Angelino".

CyberGene that the music tried to be jazz but wasn't jazz.

I think its written jazz (which is a paradox). More of a jazz styled musical.

Gombessa

I enjoyed the movie, but not sure it was Best Picture stuff. I think it's true that there's nothing Hollywood loves more than…Hollywood?

As for the piano, there was a medley on Youtube that I really tried hard to learn, but the advanced bits were out of my reach. I'd love to come back after a while and re-attempt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KzjjwQMNj8

David B

Gombessa As for the piano, there was a medley on Youtube that I really tried hard to learn, but the advanced bits were out of my reach. I'd love to come back after a while and re-attempt:

Wow! That piece was epic. It's good to see modern pieces that are reminiscent of the great works in the past.

Thanks for sharing.

God Bless,
David

TomLC

Gombessa

This seems more like classical music (modern) to me. I didn’t care for it.

MacMacMac

For me it's a pleasure to see a new musical production in film again. I grew up at the end of the long-running tradition of Hollywood musicals (Rogers/Hammerstein/Lerner/Lowe) ... and then it mostly died.

I guess there have since been Broadway musicals galore ... but I've mostly been a thousand miles from Broadway. So there have been no new musicals for me for a very long time.

Johnstaf

The opening scene is extraordinary. There's just a single shot for the first three minutes, and then another for nearly two minutes. AFAIK there were just three shots in the first six minutes.

https://youtu.be/xVVqlm8Fq3Y

Pete14

Johnstaf The opening scene is extraordinary. There's just a single shot for the first three minutes, and then another for nearly two minutes. AFAIK there were just three shots in the first six minutes.

And here I thought I was the only one ‘counting shots’, but it seems I’m not…….alone!

Whilst others are being tricked by fancy camera shots/angles, I’m busy counting, and the minute I see too many cuts/shots, I render my verdict against!

Sure it is easy to put everything together piece-by-tiny-piece on the editing floor, but try capturing an entire scene in one or two shots (a la Woody), and very soon things can go very bad.

CyberGene

For me a big part of the frustration with La La Land is it’s a musical film and I could never understand musicals, there’s something grotesque about the genre. I’m wondering if it’s an American thing, part of the culture. That being said, in another similar “being dragged to cinema by wife against my will” event I was surprised to realize I thoroughly enjoyed Sweeney Todd film of 2007 with Johnny Depp because I loved the dark visuals of Tim Burton and the music was very complex and modern sounding (unlike La La Land with very cheesy sounding music for my taste).

spanishbuddha

CyberGene For me a big part of the frustration with La La Land is it’s a musical film and I could never understand musicals, there’s something grotesque about the genre. I’m wondering if it’s an American thing, part of the culture. That being said, in another similar “being dragged to cinema by wife against my will” event I was surprised to realize I thoroughly enjoyed Sweeney Todd film of 2007 with Johnny Depp because I loved the dark visuals of Tim Burton and the music was very complex and modern sounding (unlike La La Land with very cheesy sounding music for my taste).

Just curious, what about Opera?

I too dislike musicals, but recognise lately they are a valid art form. In a similar way I used to dislike Operas, until I went to one and studied one. However I probably would not go again!

Drew-r

CyberGene For me a big part of the frustration with La La Land is it’s a musical film and I could never understand musicals, there’s something grotesque about the genre. I’m wondering if it’s an American thing, part of the culture

I’m still contemplating what the answer is / was / will be.

I do know that back closer to the beginning - early to mid 1900’s - this was definitely part of American corporate culture but not (yet) imbued in the daily culture of average Americans. Somewhere around 10-15 years ago, i was surprised to learn that one of the past “big stars” - James Cagney, who many even today know enough to remember he was a BIG star in the genre of gangster-who-dunnit? film - but how many of you know that he was briefly/cameo, a star in the genre of Musical film ….. a la the musical adaptation that told a story about a particular Yankee Doodle Dandy ? 😯

As for today, i say it is still very much a symptom of American corporate culture, especially since American corporate culture has nearly always in part been driven by non-Americans - international players from around the globe who do not have any genuine allegiance to / for America - but is now (in the modern go-go, ga-ga era of smart phone/movie camera/recorder “selfies” …. everybody wantsa be an entertainer or a Fellini et al ) also part of the daily culture that younger generations have been conditioned to accept as integral to their makeup “culture”; La La Land probably intended to play into this Grease or Fame or or era of daily melodrama for/of and by the masses. 🤩 ….

PS. Those who can easily and quickly suspend their sense of disbelief - a caveat for fans of any genre of Hollywood film - will probably be chief among those who disagree but ….for reasons i do not understand, from the earliest period of the life i can still remember, i was never really attracted to the habit of suspending my sense of disbelief for 90 minutes at a clip, give or take 📽

Pete14

Clarification: I hate musicals, too!

And I’d never set eyes on La La; however, if this story told by Johnstaff is true (three shots in first three minutes), then that deserves some credit vs. other ‘over-shot’ openings.

Still, musicals for the big screen I hate, for I can’t stand a bunch of grown-ups ‘singing in the rain’ when there exist(s) so many ‘real’ stories to tell.

Oh yes, musicals always end on a ‘happy’ note; which sends the wrong message to our young ones, and sometimes I wonder if it is because of this that our millennials are so thin-skinned, sensitive, and romantic; and expect everything to be nicely resolved in the end:

“The hero gets the girl and saves the day”; newsflash, millennials, the real world is not a freaking musical!

P.S.

I apologize to millennials in advance; I sometimes can’t control myself, but I’ll try to be a bit more positive and tolerant moving forward.

Johnstaf

Pete14 And I’d never set eyes on La La; however, if this story told by Johnstaff is true (three shots in first three minutes), then that deserves some credit vs. other ‘over-shot’ openings.

The opening is just one shot for three minutes, then another for a just under two minutes, and the third short brings it up to the six-minute mark. The third shot was made with a Steadicam operator running through the cars before jumping on a crane. It's amazing work.

I don't like musicals either, but I love extraordinary work.

HZPiano

Hello,

This thread reminds me of having been to Miss Saigon in the theater district of London, UK, I think it was in the mid-'90s. That was a truly impressive experience with light, decor and a huge sound stage giving the illusion of an army helicopter landing on the stage etc.

I love Mary Poppins, which I assume counts as a musical. Probably because I read the book in my childhood, but I also love how the film was made, the music, the choreography, the absolute cheeriness.

I love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, also read the book during childhood. I mean the original film with (non-Cyber)Gene Wilder. Not sure whether that counts as a musical.

Apart from this bunch, I am also not particularly moved by or interested in musicals.

Cheers and let's Broaden Broadway,

CyberGene

Johnstaf so, it's confirmed it's an intentionally made long-shot? Because I can imagine with todays computer technology one can easily create a sequence that looks like a single shot but is not. I mean, it's something confirmed by the film creators? Not just noticed by viewers?

MacMacMac

The musical was the a 20th century replacement for opera. I find them delightful.

In both, the musical interludes slow the plot, but at the same time they serve to enhance it. Plot is about action. The musical sequences are about emotion.

As for La La Land ... I think the film could be shorter ... or ... add more musical interludes into the two-hour show. But still I enjoyed it.

And as for the opening sequence ... I found it astounding that it could be done without cuts. Brilliant choreography, and superb performers.

CyberGene

I guess I'll self-exile myself into the purgatory for saying this but on numerous occasions I've been reading it as LoLa Land throughout this discussion 🤐

Drew-r

CyberGene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbwSurjKDNU

Johnstaf

CyberGene so, it's confirmed it's an intentionally made long-shot? Because I can imagine with todays computer technology one can easily create a sequence that looks like a single shot but is not. I mean, it's something confirmed by the film creators? Not just noticed by viewers?

The long shots were filmed as you see them. Everyone (down to the crane operators) was choreographed and rehearsed to make it possible.

dore_m

I remember seeing two camera cuts in that scene, so three continuous shots. one cut is particularly obvious because the sun position and shadows changed.

I drove that freeway interchange many times, and have seen movies on green screen that were obviously not filmed on location. The scale of that scene is difficult to fake.

Drew-r

It’s nice to read all of this informative friendly discourse, especially originated by and added to by some of this forum’s more silent and or newer members 🙂

but …. try not to forget some of the older lore / appeal/ history of making magic by way of holly wood and big-screen influence . Yes, i too am in a mood to like an occasional old musical which remains on ‘celluloid’ as somewhat of a virtually-living testament to the continual one-upmanship between the various big time studios ( and their executive $$ producers). Many musical movies as well as general-purpose movies were adapted from Broadway / mainstream stages, the former often being more about a visual escapade compared to the older/latter stage musicals.

Alas, i too am human and not immune to being mesmerized by ( “magic” aside) how DO they do that? …. one-shot …. La La long shot …. possibly “and is notable for taking place in real time and being edited so as to appear as a single shot through the use of long takes”

CyberGene

spanishbuddha opera is not my thing either but I would prefer it over musicals. I’ve recently discovered Wagner and listened through the entire Rings cycle and while it’s a very demanding music, I found some extraordinary moments in it. But it’s not my type of music anyway. I would always choose symphonic music or any other non-vocal classical music genre over opera.