UKC

With great trepidation, I agreed to accompany Mrs T to see this musical, - musicals have always seemed a bizarre concept to me.

Anyhoo, I thought it was fantastic, on so many technical, artistic, photographic etc levels. Not sugary, not like any musical I have previously seen. Superb.

I was surprised to find (or couldn't find) any other mention of it on UKC.

Anyone else seen it?

In reply to Fredt:
Didn't get what the fuss is about. Weak voices, wooden and pointless dance routines.Fred & Ginger would have blown them into the weeds in a couple of routines.
Jazz score wasn't bad tho. Oscars? Nah.

In reply to Fredt:

Yes, loved it.

In reply to Fredt:

Two hours of my life I will never get back. A dire waste of time. Piss poor story line. Unfinished dance sequences. Poor singing. Not much to like

In reply to Fredt:

Fabulous meal at Zepherallis as usual, then a 2 hr snooze to some nice music......

In reply to Fredt:

SPOILER ALERT - DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM AND INTEND TO!

I saw it. Enjoyable, though not the classic that the publicists make out.
Voices not great but that wouldn't matter if the music was good enough - but it wasn't.
Putting the big show-stopper dance number during the opening credits was a mistake. I guess they liked it but couldn't fit it in anywhere else.
I can't understand why people are describing it as heartwarming, uplifting, etc. I thought it was thoroughly depressing, the story of missed opportunities, and a love lost to ambition. If you're going to make a "golden age" style musical you need to do it properly, complete with happy-ever-after ending!
And why on earth did they have to include one of the final moments of the film in the trailer? The bit where they bumped into each other in the restaurant and instead of walking off, they kissed?

In reply to Fredt:

Really liked it.

In reply to Fredt:

Saw it a second time by mistake. The famous opening scene looked just like an ad for Coca Cola. The characters got even more stupid. Songs got worse. I only liked the song about her aunt. Girly movie par excellence.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Just about enjoyable I thought, but I like a Romance. However the leads are so lacking in that big star quality you associate with Gene Kelly or Astaire and Rogers, while their dancing is little more than walking with pointy feet, that comparisons with the classics are laughable. There just isn't much joy. Less a celebration, more a lament.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:


I think the point was that it this was the Casablanca ending where she doesn't get on the plane. For me that was one of the best features of the whole movie - the fact it didn't have a happy ever after ending.

Alan

In reply to Alan James - Rockfax:

But Casablanca wasn't marketed as being heartwarming or uplifting was it? Not that either of us was around at the time

I don't mind musicals with an unhappy ending - Dancer in the Dark was brilliant - but this one jarred somehow, everything about its style was classic happy-ever-after, except for the end.

Probably just me!

In reply to Simon Caldwell:
It WAS a happy ending though.


SPOILERS
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She has left the loser behind years ago and got on with her life, happily married to a decent chap, and has a booming movie career (see: LA billboard of her face)and a loving daughter. Whilst the loser, who was a dick throughout most of their short relationship years before, has progressed to running his own club and might now be a better person, but we don't really know - or care.

In reply to Alan James - Rockfax:


I think this sentence needs an edit or two

In reply to Blue Straggler:

but made it quite clear from her reactions on meeting him again that she still loves him . So in La La Land 2 she divorces her husband and returns to our hero, only to discover that he's still a dick and a loser...

In reply to Blue Straggler:

The same plot as (that misogynistic tosh) Nocturnal Animals.

In reply to Fredt:

I liked it and my wife gave it an eleven out of ten. Which is pretty amazing as she rarely gives any film more than a six. And no she isn't into rom coms tending to prefer world cinema and "good" sci-fi.

In reply to Fredt:

I got talked into going to see this recently. I was pretty surprised by it and not what I was expecting. Really liked it!

In reply to Simon Caldwell:


No she didn't. This was pretty much the best bit of a film that I otherwise didn't particularly engage with. A smart bit of nuanced acting, great editing and some cinematic sleight of hand. She was merely having a little moment of recall, a lightning-fast "what-if" (the whole montage) and a return to her reality which was hardly a harsh reality.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I disagree but reserve the right to change my mind when I see it again

In reply to Duncan Bourne:


I am genuinely curious as to why you felt the need to add this.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I have found that the usual response from people is that of course she would like it she's a girl.
Just wanted to clarify

In reply to Blue Straggler:



What I also liked about this bit was that the flashback was typical Hollywood fantasy, fake sets, costumes, soft focus lens etc. - in contrast with the rest of the film on real sets, with real clothes, with no fakery*
As you said, it was a surprise ending, in that she had the flashback, we all thought they would get back together, but they just winked at each other, saying "... Nah. - but thanks"


* except for the weird flying bit in the planetarium, which I still don't get, unless its a reference to the fact that it was the set of the film they were watching.