Pop Culture Thoughts

Rating: 10/10 (1 December 2018)

This is a movie lover's delight. From the opening few frames, you know you're in for something special, and Damien Chazelle's valentine to romantic musicals never falls short of pure delight from beginning to end. It's an ode not so much to Hollywood as much as it's an homage to the fictional world that existed within Hollywood musicals: Where practical details are mostly irrelevant but cynicism is not welcome, reminding movie watchers why they love movies in the first place. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as perfectly matched, with charisma, affection and chemistry galore, perfectly able to give a willing audience the warm and fuzzies as we follow them along their trek to immortalized Hollywood romance. It's really something special to watch, capable of bringing genuine tears of joy over how beautiful and masterful everything is, from frame to frame, scene to scene, interaction to interaction, song to song, etc. Truly a remarkable accomplishment for all involved.