Iman Usmani
It’s Oscar season once again, which means that this year’s Academy Award nominations are newly released. As per usual, people are upset about certain people who were nominated and stand up for films that they think should have been nominated. A common name that comes when discussing who should have been nominated is “Deadpool.” The instant classic didn’t get any recognition and if the titular character was reading this, he would add in a sarcastic jab at not being included. While looking at the overall nominations, “La La Land” seems to keep popping up. The Damien Chazelle musical, tied for the record of the most Oscar nominations, coming in at 14, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director.
With the record-tying number of Oscar nominations, people are starting to wonder if the movie actually deserves that many nominations. I saw the movie a bit ago with a friend who is a film studies major at the University of Southern California and she loved it so much that she ended up seeing the movie twice more in theaters. Because of what she studies, I took her word for it that the movie is phenomenal. However, anyone would be able to see that the movie is pretty great, even without a handy film major to tell you. It’s simply fun to watch with the theatrical musical numbers and the old-fashion costumes, even when the storyline isn’t exactly a romance you haven’t heard before.
In the movie, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone’s characters are artists in Los Angeles trying to get their big break. The pair fall in love and try to retain their relationship while also trying to make their dreams come true. The audience gets to see just how hard it is to maintain those two things, but, again, this isn’t a new story. The way that the movie pairs what each character is feeling with the music, sets and costumes is really what sets it apart from other movies in the running.
The backlash for the movie is coming from people who find it a little off to have a white male, Gosling, show people about jazz, as well as the fact that the music in the movie comes off a little weak. I am no expert in music, jazz or otherwise, and won’t pretend to be. However, when watching the movie, I never saw an issue with the music, specifically Emma Stone’s voice. When creating the movie, Chazelle said that he wanted to keep all the hiccups and blunders from Stone and Gosling because their characters are artists in the movie as well. If they were perfect at what they did, then their characters wouldn’t have been struggling to make it in Los Angeles. Including the little blunders created a sense of relatability between the characters and the audience, making the film that much more likable.
“La La Land” is one of those movies whose fans are typically super fans. Fans are raving about the movie, saying it deserves “all of the Oscars of the year.” Sure, it won’t be a super exciting Oscar season if the Academy just hands “La La Land” all the Oscars of the year, but it is definitely taking the award season by storm.
“La La Land” is absolutely a must-see, but be sure to check out local films as well. Being interested in the up and coming films of the season is something NC State can help you with. The Tournées Film Festival is currently happening on campus, where NC State is showing French films of all genres from until Feb. 25. All of the dates and times of the films in the festival can be found here: https://www.ncsu.edu/gti/tournees/. There is also always the option to take classes in regards to film studies, including ENG 282 – Introduction to Film, which can make films such as “La La Land” even more special to watch.