La La Land

THE GIST: Mia is an aspiring actress who idolizes old-Hollywood movies and hopes for a breakthrough role from any one of the countless soul-shredding auditions she goes to. Sebastian is a traditionalist jazz pianist who resents that the music he so loves is slowly dying from fading public interest. Sparks don't exactly fly when they first meet, but eventually they fall for one another. Eventually, success in their respective careers starts changing them and altering their relationship. Can their love survive the many demands of the entertainment industry?

La La Land tells a beautiful love story between two dreamers whose love for one another gets dented along the way to stardom.

The story is set to a gorgeous score, composed by Justin Hurwitz, who won an Oscar for it and another one for the magnificent original song "City of Stars."

Overall, the movie racked up fourteen nominations (matching the highest total on record shared by All About Eve and Titanic) and took home six: the aforementioned two for Score and Song, along with Cinematography, Production Design, Directing (making Damien Chazelle, at 32, the youngest Best Director winner in Academy history), and Lead Actress, for the delightful Emma Stone.

Ryan Gosling was also nominated for his performance, but unfortunately didn't win, even though he does a great job.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Musicals, long fallen out of favor, hardly get produced nowadays. Noteworthy musicals are even rarer. This is one of them. Don't miss it.

Grade: 9