Soooo.... Damien Chazelle made a little movie called
Whiplash. It was pretty cool, featured an Oscar-winning performance from J.K. Simmons and a gave a unique take on the journey to make art. It was so well received that studio execs gave then 29-year-old Chazelle the golden ticket of making whatever movie he liked. Somehow he crawled into my brain and decided to make the perfect movie for Will. From the time I saw the opening shot of the trailer (Emma Stone pondering her reflection in a bathroom mirror while the audio track beckons: "Here's to the ones who dreeeaaaammmm..."), I was hooked. My favorite movie genre is romance with a sprinkle of fantasy and this is the model film.
My first viewing was at a late showing in an Atlanta shopping mall theater with only one other person in attendance. I had to fight back the urge to skip down the steps and dance with that stranger during the end credits. This movie is pure magic. I would go on to see it two more times in the theater and have listened to the soundtrack on a loop for the past four years. I know it has its detractors, but
La La Land is a movie made for me and it is probably well in the conversation for my top ten of all time, let alone 2016.
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