Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

Speak Easily (1932), Edward Sedgewick, MGM The Ghoul ( 1933), T. Hayes Hunter, Gaumont British Dark Hazard (1934), Alfred E. Green, Warner Bros. The Ghost Walks (1934), Frank R. Strayer, Chesterfield Pictures The Clairvoyant ( 1935), Maurice Elvey, Gaumont British Go-Get-'Em, Haines (1936), Sam Newfield, Republic Kid Galahad (1937), Michael Curtiz, Warner Bros. Something to Sing About (1937), Victor Schertzinger, Grand National Professor Beware ( 1938), Elliott Nugent, Paramount Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police (1939), James P. Hogan, Paramount Kitty Foyle ( 1940), Sam Wood, RKO Double Cross ( 1941), Albert H. Kelley, Producers Releasing Saboteur (1942), Alfred Hitchcock, Universal The Seventh Victim (1943), Mark Robson, RKO The Woman in the Window (1944), Fritz Lang, MGM Blood on the Sun (1945), Frank LLoyd, United Artists The Inner Circle (1946), Philip F...

Damien Chazelle's Golden Globe award winning La La Land starts slowly with a song, "Another Day in the Sun" and scenario that recalls  Rent as commuters in a Los Angeles freeway traffic jam get out of their cars to perform the biggest dance number. While the average musical fan might relish this scene, due to its expansiveness, with hundreds of dancers and stunning cinematography, I thought it hurt the pacing of the film. Indeed,the film captures the ambience and feel of life in LA, but its reach sometimes exceeds its grasp as Chazelle tries to fit in many influences and references. However, his heart is in the right place as he creates a stylistically stunning tribute to classic Hollywood and the stories it told. The songs sometimes do not feel fully formed either, but that just might be me as my knowledge of musicals is mostly confined to Astaire and Rodgers and MGM musicals.   Despite these minor complaints, I was unprepared for how much I enjoyed the film. When ...