(CIFF Coverage) La La Land Movie Review

The Trailer:

The Good:
Right off the bat you can tell that the cinematography for La La  Land is off the charts. It's simply a visually stunning film. The dance and choreography was definitely a highlight of the film as they were all executed perfectly. Given the fact that this film feels like a Broadway play in some instances, it was nice to see the camera rarely pull away during many of the song and dance routines. That essentially helps you really appreciate the excellent performances from the main characters.

Speaking of which, Ryan Gosling gets a lot of kudos from me for being able to really deliver with his piano skills. From what I could research, he spent three months learning how to play the piano, but in the movie he comes off as a life long pianist. Despite being the co-star, it goes without saying that Emma Stone ran away with this film. She had every opportunity through this role to display a full range of emotions that easily elevates her performance to new highs. (Wouldn't be surprised if she won an award for it.) Both Stone and Gosling's on screen chemistry is undeniable and carries the movie from beginning to end.

I also thought that the plot itself was a positive for La La Land. This movie will definitely speak to the dreamers and lovers alike. The ending of the film really helped to ground the film and drive home some great life lessons.

The Bad:

While this isn't true for all of them, just a few of the musical/dance segments really didn't seem to fit or flow naturally in the film. (Opening scene would be an example.) There were just a couple of times when it felt like some songs were placed into the film just for the sake of being a musical, rather than allowing the song/dance(s) to organically drive the plot. It wasn't often, but I do think that there were probably one or two sequences that could've been left out of the film, and simply help tighten up the pacing a bit.

The Reason:
I think it's worth admitting that I'm not the biggest fan of musicals. That doesn't mean that I hate them, or that I'm cynical about them. I just don't go out of my way to seek them out. However, I do believe that I can appreciate a good one when I see one, and La La Land was definitely one of the good ones. This film was like watching a dream on the big screen.

I think that fans of musicals will undoubtedly enjoy this film. My only concern is whether this will appeal to more casual movie fans. If you're in doubt, then I'd probably recommend checking out these Five Films To Watch Before La La Land by one of my fellow film critics, Don Shanahan from EveryMovieHasALesson.com. Otherwise, I'd recommend checking out La La Land in theaters whenever you get the chance.

The Rating: 9/10
    

My [Loosely based] Ratings scale
10-9 = A Must watch at any cost. 
8.5- 7.5 = Theater worthy 
7-6.5 = Matinee/rental worthy at best
6 = Watchable (If it's free)
5 - below = Avoid at all costs

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Sing Movie Review (52nd Chicago International Film Festival Coverage)

The Trailer:

The Good:
One of the most obvious highlights of this film will be the many musical performances. There were a number of popular hits that will be relatively familiar. One thing that helped this film was the fact that it did play off of the American Idol audition angle. It was enjoyable to see the characters that were bad to really outstanding. Similar to the movie Zootopia, Sing does a nice job of blending a variety of animals to evoke most of its jokes and humor. While it strives to be funny, there were actually a few touching moments. (The Father/Son Gorilla moment kinda got to me.)

To my surprise, there was a bit of an unexpected twist in the middle of the film. The film did a nice job of emphasizing the notion of following your dreams, and I do believe that the ending finale does salvage the movie in terms of a slight pay off.

The Bad:
Unfortunately there are lot of issues surrounding the music of this film. The first issue was the lack of original songs throughout the movie. That's usually the main highlight for many song-based films, and Sing really didn't capitalize on that opportunity. Instead it felt more like a series of karaoke songs.

The other musical issue was that if you're not familiar with those songs, it'll be a little hard to connect with the film. There seemed to be both a lack of variety in the song arrangements and a noticeable gap in the type of music. For instance, it felt as though if you weren't a fan of Taylor Swift, Katy Perry or Frank Sinatra then there just wasn't necessarily a song you'd connect with.

Besides the musical issues, I think one of the biggest disconnects with Sing is that the movie didn't really appear to connect with kids. There were adult related issues (ie: being a stay at home mom with a lot of kids) that I don't think children will resonate with. So it's not going to be much of a surprise if some of the jokes go way over their heads.

The Reason:
Sing gets some things right, but also misses a lot of opportunities to really hit a home run with children. I think it tried too hard to appeal to different demographics and in the process feels a bit lost. As I said, if you're not familiar with some of the musicians I mentioned earlier, then this movie may not be up your alley. It may still be worth watching if you have children, but I'd double check their iPods to make sure the music from the trailer is something they'd actually appreciate.
If you do decide to check it out, it will be playing at the Chicago Film Festival!

The Rating: 6/10
   

My [Loosely based] Ratings scale
10-9 = A Must watch at any cost. 
8.5- 7.5 = Theater worthy 
7-6.5 = Matinee/rental worthy at best
6 = Watchable (If it's free)
5 - below = Avoid at all costs

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Click Here to join our weekly email list. One email, every Friday, to get my latest reviews. Don't forget to follow me at @SpoilerDashFree