La La Land--Insipid But Entertaining

Rating: 3/10 (19 February 2017)

This 2016 Academy Award nominated musical (a record-tying 14 nominations), written and directed by Damien Chazelle (the wunderkind creator of the astonishing Whiplash, see my December 8, 2014 review on my unhealedwound blog ) is this year's can-do-no-wrong rom-com starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.
La La Land is a bold resurrection of the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers 1940-50s musical with a blend of nostalgia (using filtered-lens cinematography and costumes) mixed with the novelty of contemporary millennial life in Los Angeles. A flip-book of competing images of vintage and modern LA with twirling skirts and old-fashioned dancing, La La Land is all about dreaming for the big break in Hollywood.
An undeniable paean to the joy and ecstasy of following your passions, La La Land also touches upon the sacrifices to one's personal life, to missed human connections and to other dreams that will never come true. Part "Never-never Land" and part "Singing in the Rain". The conventional storyline –love vs. ambition–never really rises above the forgettable.