La La Land
2016 · Damien Chazelle · 128 min · Musical / Romance / Drama
La La Land is a gorgeous, emotionally ambitious musical that swings big and mostly connects. Damien Chazelle built something that feels like a love letter to old Hollywood while telling a story about the cost of chasing your dreams in the modern world. The music is excellent, Stone earned her Oscar, and the final sequence hits like a freight train. It doesn't need perfect singing or dancing to work, because the film's real power comes from the tension between what these characters want and what they're willing to sacrifice to get it.