The film of the year. A true piece of cinematic magic

Rating: 10/10 (8 December 2016)

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, I present to you what very well could (and should) be this years Best Picture winner; La La Land.
From the films incredibly choreographed opening scene, La La Land becomes an eye catching, toe-tapping and most importantly of all joyous movie going experience and the film transforms a story that at its core is rather generic into something else entirely, that will very likely place La La Land into the top echelon of cinematic musicals, as well as a classic of our time.
Quite the feat then for third time feature film director Damian Chazelle.
Announcing himself to the film world with his sweat-inducing drummer thriller Whiplash in 2014, La La Land is Chazelle stamping himself into the ranks of the great directors working in the industry today.
The jazz loving artist is a talent worth all the praise he receives, as every thread of Chazelle's love letter to Hollywood, jazz, romance and perhaps most importantly of all, dreaming, is a pure piece of cinematic ecstasy.
Alongside DOP Linus Sandgren (whose work here may well lead to a hefty individual awards haul this season), his composer Justin Hurwitz and genuinely the whole team behind this production, Chazelle has crafted up that rare movie beast, a unique tapestry of brilliance that practically bounces along frame to frame and is matched majestically by its two leads, who in turn give us a duo of characters we are unlikely to forget anytime soon.
Tasked with not only reigniting the chemistry they shared in the likable 2011 romantic comedy Crazy Stupid Love and the 2013 Gangster Squad but pulling off the unenviable task of singing and dancing their way into the moviegoers hearts, Emma Stone as the big dreaming wannabe actress Mia and Ryan Gosling as jazz loving hard-done-by musician Sebastian make for a lovable on screen duo whose relationship together is all at once alluring, believable and at times heartbreaking.
The bond between these two starry-eyed lovers is one you can't help but be swept up by as their individual plights and plans take shape, so do our affections towards them as Mia and Sebastian become one of the modern era's most engaging on screen couples.
The two actors are, safe to say, equally deserving of awards, yet as good as Gosling is in a role he seemed tailor made to play this is in many ways Stone's true star making turn that will be nigh on impossible for any of her naysayers to deny. She can no longer just be the lovable redhead from Easy A or Zombieland or the lucky to be there Oscar nominee from Birdman.
In another year where Natalie Portman didn't too give what appears to be the performance of her career, the Best Actess would've been Stone's for the taking (Stone's rendition of the film's key song Audition is a true showstopper and proof enough of this) but regardless of the results of such statue giving, Stone's layered turn here is one for the ages.
There's a lot more to be said about this spellbinding romance that just so happens to express itself through its songs and music as well as its very setting but at the end of the day for anyone that calls themselves a movie lover, La La Land is a brilliantly conceived big screen experience unlike anything we've seen before and a true big screen must-see.
In a year of largely forgettable and cookie cutter experiences, Chazelle's love letter to film, the city of lights and following your dreams should be something that's savoured and enjoyed not only in the coming months, but for years yet to come.
5 observatory waltzes out of 5