[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” gutter_width=”3″ padding_mobile=”off” custom_margin=”|||0px” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/la-la-land.png” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Works \/ Doesn’t Work” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider admin_label=”Divider” color=”#dddddd” show_divider=”on” divider_style=”solid” divider_position=”top” divider_weight=”1″ hide_on_mobile=”on” height=”20″]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”Verdict” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Reason 1″ url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”%%201%%” icon_color=”#dd3333″ use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#eaeaea” use_circle_border=”on” circle_border_color=”#dd3333″ icon_placement=”left” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” header_font_size=”18″ body_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
The Musical:<\/strong><\/p>\n Comparisons (if they\u2019re apples to apples) are always fair. We do it instinctively. When a new Love Story, Comedy, Thriller, or Sci-Fi film premieres, we immediately compare it to the finest of its kind. The benchmark we apply is not \u201cDid they do their best?\u201d, but \u201cDoes it measure up to the best?\u201d That\u2019s what people with standards do.<\/p>\n In the greatest American musicals, performers act, sing, and dance with equally brilliant talents in all three dimensions. If they don\u2019t have the voice or the legs\u2014Marlon Brando in GUYS AND DOLLS, Rex Harrison in MY FAIR LADY\u2014they have the good taste to stand still and turn a lyric into a soliloquy. In the best of the best, stellar choreographers and choruses pull off feats that make you jump for joy; sublime composers and lyricists write tunes you\u2019ll warble in the shower for the rest of your life. So when I compare this film to the likes of TOP HAT, SINGIN\u2019 IN THE RAIN, MUSIC MAN, WEST SIDE STORY, or CHICAGO, it doesn\u2019t. <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Reason 2″ url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”%%201%%” icon_color=”#dd3333″ use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#eaeaea” use_circle_border=”on” circle_border_color=”#dd3333″ icon_placement=”left” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” header_font_size=”18″ body_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Genre:<\/strong><\/p>\n What makes characters burst into song? The conceit of the Musical is that emotional peaks are beyond words. Dialogue can\u2019t contain them, words can\u2019t express them, so characters, by convention, pour their energies vocally into song and physically into all four limbs. But for me (and I\u2019m sure many will disagree) LA LA LAND\u2019s turning points wouldn\u2019t get anyone out of a chair, let alone launch a song and dance number. The love story\u2019s desires and motivations are so weak, the screenplay simply avoids a last act crisis\/climax. Because there\u2019s nowhere to go with these characters, the film finishes on a resolution scene, glazed with sentimentality.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Reason 3″ url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”%%202%%” icon_color=”#81d742″ use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#eaeaea” use_circle_border=”on” circle_border_color=”#dd3333″ icon_placement=”left” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” header_font_size=”18″ body_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Charm:<\/strong><\/p>\n And yet, here\u2019s why I didn\u2019t walk out: Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling exude such empathy,\u00a0charisma, and good old-fashioned charm, that I\u2019ll stay through anything they\u2019re in, even this.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-works-doesnt-work","post_format-post-format-video"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/la-la-land.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}