La La Land (2016): A well acted, spectacularly directed, beautifully shot, cleverly written masterpiece! One of the best of 2016!

La La Land is the story of Mia (a struggling actress) and Sebastian (a traditional pianist) who are both trying to have a successful career in Los Angeles. The film focuses on their romance and the eventual choices each person has to make between love and their career. Starting off, both Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling have excellent chemistry together. They are able to sell their relationship to the audience and allow their characters to grow throughout the movie. Their conversations together don't feel forced or cliched; the script understands how to treat these characters like real people and to keep the viewer engaged until the end. One of the things that many people noted about this movie is the musical numbers. Unlike some musicals where a song is randomly introduced as filler or can be tacked on, the music in this movie is seamless and progresses the movie further while providing a unique style of dancing choreography. The movie begins with one continuous tracking-shot of people singing and dancing on top of their cars on a LA freeway, providing the viewer a potentially tacky image of what the rest of the movie could be. But as the film continues and becomes more serious, it ends with a strong message about what a person chooses to be and the impact this can have on another future they could have had.