La La Land

*Takes a deep breath..OK..so how do we do this?* If La La Land's sweeping performance at the Golden Globes are anything to go by you're probably going to go and see this film regardless of what I have to say here. That's fair - La La Land is great and is definitely worth a watch. If you're somehow immune to the rapturous applause given by the Hollywood foreign press association then please do read on and I shall seek to convince you.

La La Land is the third film from Damien Chazelle and the third film of his to feature a jazz musician in a leading role. Chazelle treats jazz with an appropriate reverence and his love for the music shows throughout his body of work, all without seeming overly repetitive or being overbearing. Although in truth it is Chazelle's love of Hollywood, not jazz, that shines brightest throughout the film, making this a deeply nostalgic piece. It brings to mind last years Hail Caesar and 2011's The Artist while also giving a nod to classics such as Singing In The Rain or West Side Story. La La Land is very much a film that stands apart from the modern crop bringing us something that we haven't seen in a very long time.

The film follows Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a down on his luck jazz musician, as through chance encounters they embark on a colourful relationship while being forced to deal with the rigours of their careers. Both Stone and Gosling are exceptional in their parts and well deserving of their wins for Best Actress and Best Actor respectively. For those of you who might discount Gosling for his status as a hair actor, don't - at his heart, and through his pedigree, he is a showman and perfectly suited for this role, as is Stone who while providing a more dramatic edge matches Gosling's showmanship with her grace, wit and charm. Chazelle's most prominent collaborator J.K Simmons returns in a standout cameo that both calls out his role in Whiplash and subverts it in the films outstanding ending montage.

Highly stylised with vibrant primary and secondary hues La La Land is a beautifully assembled piece, the music is catchy and the choreography is second to none, with the actors providing terrific blocking that joins with the exceptional camerawork, each shot being framed in a masterful manner. The film's opening scene is a great demonstration of what is to come, acting similarly to the ending sequence - an example of the film in microcosm. It is a film quick to gain your interest and a film quick to break you down as you are engrossed in a tremendously human story wrapped in the nostalgic overpinnings of the golden age of Hollywood. At the tender age of 31, director, writer and producer Damien Chazelle has proved that even at such a young age he is a force to be reckoned with within the Hollywood community - this is a man who is going to go far and I for one can't wait to see in which direction it takes him.

If you've no standing plans to see La La Land it is my hearty recommendation that you make an amendment to your schedule and make time for what is my favorite film of the year so far.