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La La Land (2016) ft. Klarissa B.

  • Writer: Thomas Duncan
    Thomas Duncan
  • 1 day ago
  • 5 min read

Updated: 14 hours ago

Guest:


Cast:

  • Damien Chazelle, Writer/Director

  • Linus Sandgren, Cinematographer

  • Justin Hurwitz, Music

  • Tom Cross, Editing

  • Ryan Gosling as Sebastian "Seb" Wilder

  • Emma Stone as Amelia "Mia" Dolan

  • John Legend as Keith

  • J. K. Simmons as Bill

  • Rosemarie DeWitt as Laura Wilder

  • Finn Wittrock as Greg

  • Callie Hernandez as Tracy

  • Sonoya Mizuno as Caitlin

  • Jessica Rothe as Alexis

  • Tom Everett Scott as David


Background:

  • La La Land premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 31, 2016 making this its 10th anniversary.

  • On a budget of $30 million, the film grossed $504.6 million to finish #17 at the worldwide box office for 2016.

  • The film achieved widespread critical acclaim and was rewarded with a tie for the most nominations all-time at the Oscars with 14.

  • It was nominated for Best Picture, Actor (Gosling), Original Screenplay (Chazelle), Costume Design, Film Editing, Original Song, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.

  • La La Land would win Oscars for Best Director (Chazelle) who became the youngest winner in the award's history, Actress (Stone), Cinematography (Sandgren), Original Score (Hurwitz), Original Song, and Production Design.

  • In 2019, CBC Radio included it on its list of "the greatest romantic movies of all time."

  • In 2022, Time Out ranked it number 79 on its list of the "100 Best Films of the 21st Century."

  • MovieWeb ranked the film number 2 on its list of the "Best Movie Musicals of the 21st Century So Far," in 2022 as well.

  • In 2023, it ranked it number 3 on its list of the "15 Greatest Movies About Jazz" and number 1 on its list of the "Best Modern Movies Shot on Film."

  • It also ranked number 2 on Teen Vogue's list of "The 45 Best Dance Movies of All Time."

  • The film ranked number 15 on Collider's list of the "30 Best Musicals of All Time."

  • In 2021, members of Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) voted the film's screenplay 92nd in WGA's 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (so far).

  • In March 2025, The Washington Post ranked the film at number 13 on its list of "The 25 best movie musicals of the 21st century."

  • In July 2025, it ranked number 16 on the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century."

  • In 2025, it placed #76 on the Cinema Legacy Poll, the bidecadally poll of your favorite film podcasters.

  • La La Land currently holds a 91% among critics on RT, a 94 score on Metacritic, and a 4.1/5 on Letterboxd.


Plot Summary: La La Land follows Mia Dolan (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress juggling auditions and a coffee-shop job, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz pianist dreaming of opening his own club. They meet in Los Angeles, fall in love, and push each other toward their ambitions. But, as their careers take off, the couple faces a painful choice between staying together and pursuing their individual dreams. Told through vibrant musical numbers and a bittersweet, time-jumping finale, the film is both a love letter to old Hollywood musicals and a wistful meditation on sacrifice, timing, and what it costs to make it.


Did You Know:

  • According to composer Justin Hurwitz, all the piano performances featured in the film were first recorded by pianist Randy Kerber during pre-production. Ryan Gosling then spent two hours a day, six days a week in piano lessons learning the music by heart. By the time filming had begun, Gosling was able to play all the piano sequences seen in the film without the use of a hand double or CGI.

  • The audition scene, where the casting director interrupts Mia's emotional performance to take a phone call, was actually inspired by one of Ryan Gosling's auditions in real life.

  • The line in the film said by Sebastian, "that's L.A. They worship everything and they value nothing," was actually added in by Ryan Gosling himself, when he heard his real-life partner, Eva Mendes, mention it as a joke.

  • It was Gosling's idea to have Sebastian want to own his own club rather than just be a successful jazz musician.

  • Sebastian's tip about amplifying a car fob's range by holding it under your chin does work, but is not expected to cause cancer. Most fobs use a frequency that resonates well with water, and the human brain is mostly water.

  • Emma Stone performed "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" live. She would decide when to switch from dialogue to singing. There was no pre-recorded track she was lip-syncing to. Justin Hurwitz, the song's composer, was in another room playing piano in her ear. Director Damien Chazelle said this was done so Emma could have more control of the scene.

  • Prior to filming, Damien Chazelle, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone visited Gene Kelly's widow and were able to look through many of Kelly's film memorabilia, including his leather-bound copy of the script for Singin' in the Rain (1952). At the end of the visit, Kelly's widow's dog escaped and Chazelle and Gosling ended up running through traffic to rescue the dog, with Chazelle affirming to Gosling, "We will not kill Gene Kelly's widow's dog." They were successful in rescuing the dog.


Best Performance: Damien Chazelle (Director)/Emma Stone (Mia)

Best Secondary Performance: Ryan Gosling (Seb)/Mandy Moore (Choreographer)

Most Charismatic Award: Justin Hurwitz (Music)/Ryan Gosling (Seb)/Linus Sandgren (Cinematographer)/Damien Chazelle (Director)

Best Scene:

  • Freeway

  • Someone in the Crowd

  • Sebastian Off Script

  • After the Party

  • Rebel Without a Cause

  • Giving Up

  • Here's to the Dreamers

  • Alternate Reality

Favorite Scene: Freeway/Rebel Without a Cause/Epilogue

Most Indelible Moment: Alternate Reality


In Memorium:


Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Mia: People love what other people are passionate about.


Sebastian: I'm letting life hit me until it gets tired. Then I'll hit back. It's a classic rope-a-dope.


Sebastian: They worship everything and they value nothing.


Keith: How are you gonna be a revolutionary if you're such a traditionalist? You hold onto the past, but jazz is about the future.


Sebastian: I guess I'll see you in the movies.


Bill: You're fired.

Sebastian: It's Christmas.

Bill: Yeah, I see the decorations. Good luck in the New Year.


Sebastian: [about jazz] It's conflict and it's compromise, and it's just... it's new every time. It's brand new every night. It's very, very exciting!


Sebastian: What do you mean you don't like jazz?

Mia: It just means that when I listen to it, I don't like it.


The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 9.33

Impact/Significance: 9.5

Novelty: 9.17

Classic-ness: 8

Rewatchability: 8

Audience Score: 8.1 (8.0 IMDB, 82% RT)

Total: 52.1


Remaining Questions:

  • How long is Seb's open?

  • Did Seb and Mia stay together for awhile or did they fall apart as soon as she went to Paris?

  • Did each of them make the right choice?

  • Does the final smile between Seb and Mia represent closure, longing, or mutual gratitude?

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