La La Land broke a record at the Golden Globes as it won all the awards it was nominated for and in doing so it became the first film to win seven trophies. A month later, Lionsgate’s original musical swept through nominations t for the 89th Oscars. It does not stop there. Damien Chazelle's movie has tied the existing Oscar record for most nominations, matching the feat of only two other films “ Joseph Mankiewicz's All About Eve in 1950 and James Cameron's Titanic in 1997.
The film landed nominations in a slew of key categories, including best picture, best director (Damien Chazelle), best actor (Ryan Gosling), and best actress (Emma Stone), in addition to best original screenplay (Chazelle), and best cinematography. It also secured the nomination for the best-original-song category, earning two for City of Stars and Audition (the Fools Who Dream), composed by Justin Hurwitz, with lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
La La Land is in line become the first original movie musical to win Best Picture in nearly 60 years, the last being Gigi which swept nine Oscars out of nine nominations in 1958. While the musical is in spirit of those golden MGM musicals, fans wait to see if the movie can beat the record for most victories ever for a musical held by West Side Story that won 10 in 1961.
Romantic comedies are rarely big winners at the Oscars and La La Land will surely break that trend. The Academy has received criticism in the past for neglecting romantic comedies - and all comedies. Jack Black had summed up that feeling when he had had joked at the 2008 ceremony, that the only way for a comedian to win an Oscar is to switch to drama.
The 32 year old director is no stranger to the Oscars and his earlier movie Whiplash had got six nominations including Best Picture and won three Oscars. His latest will definitely pull in more than that. “The one thing I can say without sounding like a stuttering maniac is this means that so many people who came together to make this movie for me have been recognized, and that just means the world to me. “I got to see firsthand how much work and inventiveness and sleepless nights they brought to this movie. I’m filled with gratitude,” said Damien
Chinese audiences generally don’t go wild for movie musicals and promoters in China hope “La La Land,” will be a rare exception when it debuts on February 14.
The Valentine’s Day release is no accident”the film will be marketed as a “date-night” experience . That was a big break for Joy Pictures, since it’s rare for a foreign title to get regulators’ permission to open on a day typically reserved for Chinese-made romance titles.
The film is also getting a push in China from lead actor Ryan Gosling and Chazelle, who were in Beijing hours before the Academy Awards nominations were announced. Gosling who is known as “Gao Siling” (Commander Gao) to Chinese fans”used a traditional brush pen and ink to inscribe the Chinese character for “love” on large posters.
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The jury on La La Land's historic nominations will be out if it can match it with a historic number of wins. La La Land would need to get 12 of the 14 statues it’s been nominated for. Thus far, Ben-Hur,Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Titanic are tied in first place with 11 wins apiece and the Academy will announce its verdict on February 26, when the Oscars air live.
