Yes, No, Maybe So: La La Land
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 10:35AM 
During the Oscar campaign for Whiplash (2014) I was able to meet its breakthrough writer/director Damien Chazelle a few times and he even dropped hints to me about his plans for La La Land. I couldn't believe my ears that we would get a real musical from him. Given that both of his first two films centered around musicians, it shouldn't have been such a surprise.
Here we are nearly two years later with the first teaser trailer and what sounds like a surefire Best Original Song nominee in "City of Stars" (now available to download) have emerged and we're already yes yes gimme.
The film's synopsis (which we hope is just an excuse to hang swoony scenes and musical numbers on) goes like so:
Jazz musican Sebastian and his girlfriend, aspiring actress Mia, struggle to cope with the pressures of trying to make it big in Hollywood.
Let's talk about the teaser after the jump, breaking it down with our Yes No Maybe So system.
YES
• Can I say everything? That's what I want to say
• The song is beautiful
• This is the third picture Gosling & Stone have made together (after Crazy Stupid Love and Gangster Squad). The Film Experience proudly endorses actor pairs extending through multiple pictures. It's too infrequent but it used to result in timeless classics because chemistry goes so far in making any given movie a rich experience. When actors have it (as these two do) it's horrifying when they waste it. I'd list examples of the waste but it would be too long and depressing. Let's just say actors and their management teams are no longer the least bit saavy about this. When you've got it, FLAUNT IT.
• Ryan Gosling's whistling, which takes us in and out of the images here, is as dreamy as the man himself
• It looks so beautiful and colorful and dreamy. The movies need beauty and color in the worst way right about now (as we've been saying frequently with all the muddy color-drained palettes destroying our spirits)
• Already wildly excited to see what the editor (Oscar winner Tom Cross, Whiplash), costume designer (Mary Zophres, the Coen bros filmography), production designer (David Wasco, Royal Tenenbaums & Kill Bill), and cinematographer (Linus Sandgren, Joy) have in store for us, aren't you?
NO
• Is there a downside to any of this? Not at first glance. But too dampen expectations let's note that when Emma Stone appeared in that music video a year back her dancing was awfully sloppy. Like edit around her Renée Zellweger in Chicago sloppy dancing
• The shout out to Moulin Rouge! / One From the Heart with the dancing into the sky indicates a love of artifice and theatricality which is HUGELY appealing to us but which general audiences and some critics have been known to turn on with a vengeance. (We don't relish a huge round of musical hating though that has nothing to do with the quality of this film, whatever that may be. Just a errant unpleasant thought.)
MAYBE SO
• Will this romance be only from Ryan Gosling's perspective? Romantic dramas work best when they feel balanced. Whiplash did not install confidence that Chazelle is interested in writing female characters but maybe it was just that particular story? We'll have to wait and see.
• How much music will there be in a film? Will all the music be fantasy sequences like musicals that are sometimes embarrassed to be musicals because that would make us cry copious technicolor blue tears.
The Trailer in question
Yes No or Maybe So?
Let us know your decision however small or overwhelming in the comments.
Reader Comments (43)
This looks amazing, but how on earth did Chazelle get a studio to back something that looks so much like "One from the Heart"? "Remember that audience favorite, financial success 'One from the Heart'? Let's have a relatively new director do more like that."
As you said: YES YES GIMME
It looks stunning and whimsical and just lovely
Yes. Si. Da. Ja. Hai. Oui. And basically any other way I can say yes to a Gosling/Stone Hollywood musical with all those talented creatives involved in major departments.
It's a good trailer. I really wish someone other than Emma Stone were in it. She's my least favorite actress of that generation - always "on," never natural, including here.
*ahem* thank you for joining us tonight. one announcement: for this evening's performance, the part of Nicholas Winding Refn's Moody Blues will be played by The Trailer For Damien Chazelle's LA LA LAND. More information in your Playbill. Thank you.
I am definitely excited for this. If I have reservations though, they are that Ryan doesn't sound super confident with his singing here and might they be overusing the dark blue color palette?
BUT... let me just reiterate again that I am very excited for this.
Suzanne - I disagree, but does it really seem like naturalism is what's called for here? If ever there were a time for some affectedness...
Yes.
Chazelle + Stone + Gosling + Punch Drunk Love Inspiration = ❤️
@Dave S.: Whiplash was REALLY successful. Made many times it budget over box office wise, lot of home release success, several Oscar nominations including several wins. He pretty much had carte Blanche to do whatever he wants. Cashing in all those chips for a Hollywood musical is risky, but if there's anybody in modern Hollywood who can do it, its the creative team behind Whiplash.
Anyone think Stone is a lock for a GG NOMINATION.
Is this a period piece? It feels like anachronism (I see black people commingling with the primary white cast). Interested despite my lack of enthusiasm for Stone.
I'm a yes because it looks great and the more I can put Emma's Allison Ng behind me as a really foolish, aberrant choice, the better. That was a travesty in more ways than one.
Dave S. - Maybe. I did like Whiplash more than most people here, so I do think Chazelle knows what he's doing.
This is pretty much the only movie I was really looking forward to in 2016 when the year began, and WOW did this trailer ever stoke that fire. Everything about it just looks gorgeous, and my only reservation is the big ol' "Will this thing hold together?" question - looks like a lot of disparate elements that could be magical if it works, but dreadful if it doesn't. At the very least, we have the Stone/Gosling super chemistry to keep it afloat, and the cinematography looks positively dreamy in all the best ways.
Also, if the part is "dramatic" enough (since Oscar HATES comedy), this looks like it may actually get Emma Stone even closer to Oscar than she got with Birdman (which I think was pretty close), which would make me REALLY happy.
YESSSSSSSSSSSS!
I'm (mostly) a YES on this. The visuals look great; I'm an Emma Stone fan; and I loved Whiplash (it or Selma is my favorite film of 2014), so I'm definitely looking forward to Chazelle's next feature. However, Musicals are one of my least favorite genres (I respect the technical craftsmanship and discipline necessary to make them - and even enjoy a few - but can't fully get into them), so that'll temper my excitement just a little bit. Then there's Ryan Gosling.
Personally, he's a little too inconsistent for my taste. He'll be fun and/or engaging in stuff like Crazy Stupid Love and The Ides Of March but then he'll just be an irritating blank slate in things like Gangster Squad and Only God Forgives. If the former Gosling shows up then great. I'm just worried about the other one...
More than anything else, it was the direction of Whiplash that impressed me the most. I'm curious to see what Chazelle can do with a musical so I'm a definite yes.
What a gorgeous and melancholy first look. I'm very excited to see what Chazelle can do- I was a huge fan of WHIPLASH and I love how he can bring some all caps *CINEMA* to even a small story. This was already my most anticipated for the year, and now after this, damn!
Visually very reminiscent of PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. If it is half as good as that, I'll be happy.
Swoon!! Somehow...I was more taken with Emma Stone in this trailer than Gosling. Wonders never cease.
Let's not forget that Emma Stone had a very well-received turn as Sally Bowles in the recent Broadway revival of Cabaret. (Kind of surprised that wasn't mentioned in this post, actually!)
She may have had sloppy dancing in one music video, but she has shown she's more than capable of leading a musical on stage nightly. In a movie musical, which allows for more polish and perfection, the thought of her is truly exciting.
QUERO
I'm a YES on this, again because I love Hollywood musicals (and isn't it about time we get an original one?), I adore both Gosling and Stone and I really want to see what Damien Chazelle does with a musical, since I thought Whiplash was exquisite in the way it used music to explore themes of toxic determination and obsession.
My one caveat, and someone already mentioned it here, is that Gosling sounds a little shy with his singing. I wonder if it's going to be the Everyone Says I Love You model of people singing in non-trained, non-professional voices (and I adore that particular Woody film, but I'm not sure that's what this film should be going for). Gosling's whistling is a treat though and the song does sound charming, so I'm definitely looking forward to this film.
'Yes Yes Gimme'. That really about summed me up as well.
I'm a YES, a musical, gorgeous stars, many scenes of Los Angeles at dusk. What's there not to like?
three words: GIMME THIS NOW
I have had high hopes from this even though realistically I wasn't expecting another Whiplash from Damien Chazelle. But this was a pleasant surprise. I really like what I'm seeing and with the way he works the camera. If only they'd tease some of those Astaire and Rogers numbers in the film, but I should wait for the actual film itself.
Even though he's not the most technically sound actor out there, whatever Gosling brings with him on screen works for me. He's been such an effective romantic lead in films like Blue Valentine and even Crazy, Stupid, Love, that makes me look forward to this. From the teaser I thought that his voice was fine for a supposed jazz pianist.
I'm a YES YES YES to all of it. I'm just sad I won't get to see it until December!
I'd also like to think the film will be more balance and that the second trailer will be from Stone's characters point of view (with a song of hers). But that's just my wishful thinking.
obv I loved every second of it... but what's the verdict on Gosling's singing? It sounded subdued and careful as opposed to euphoric which was what I was getting from the visuals.
Chazelle has swagger for dayzzzz! That's what I'm most interested in seeing. "Whiplash" was what high benchmark b/c of him, not J.K. Simmons as every single awards body led us to believe. Sorry, not interested in seeing Gosling and Stone paired off again. Feels lazy to me. Wouldn't have minded seeing new faces here with no baggage. Love the song however. I'm a MAYBE SO.
Yep. I wanna see this.
I was just thinking yesterday after reading the GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES pieces that, man, I really wanted a musical. I had forgotten this was on the horizon and right then the trailer dropped. Excited!
All I can say is Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, and oh, yeah..YYEESSS!!
I clicked play on this trailer thinking "I will enjoy this" and then i ended up crying and slapping the computer screen begging for more. GET IN MY EYE SOCKETS AND EAR HOLES.
I could watch a supercut of Gosling and Stone smiling at each other alllll day.
Yes, but not to the same level as the rest of the commenters. Whiplash is overrated as hell.
I am a maybe. It feels twee but I admittedly know nothing about it and will keep an open mind. The weird kiss at the end grossed me out.
As much as I love Stone in Easy A, she has NOT lived up to that promise at all and is more often bland than good. She is a good comedian and celebrity but odds are Gosling will act circles around her. Stone belongs in the Maybe So column for sure and therefore the film that is depending on her is also a maybe so.
Yes...Yes...and maybe for sure Yes. Sign me up now. Take me to La La Land.
AR: Funny you say that, because I agree on Whiplash. Very over-rated. Simmons was basically embarrassing Miles Teller with every line delivery and only one moment (the blood in the ice) that's not them bouncing off each other is anything other than visually and narratively dull.
I am an absolute yes! I'm in love with all the color!! On top of that I love the two leads. I can't wait to see it!
YES! It looks gorgeous and romantic.
Dreamy. As someone who saw Emma Stone in Cabaret on Broadway, I can say that she really comes alive in her musical numbers. This seems like a "present day"-set musical, albeit of a very heightened L.A. Looks good, can't wait.