La La Land

"About halfway through Damien Chazelle's quietly transcendent La La Land, aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) is reassuring a mildly dejected Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) about his unlikely dream of opening a jazz club in a world that doesn't care about jazz. The reason the club will be a success, asserts Mia, is because Sebastian himself is so passionate about jazz, and people enjoy responding to that kind of passion."

"The most audacious big-screen musical in a long time, and - irony of ironies - that's because it's the most traditional."

"Begins with such an ecstatic rush of joy -- and ends with such a gloriously bittersweet flourish -- that you kinda can't blame the film for sagging a bit in the middle."

"Breaking into song and dance can be both deadly serious and a whole lot of fun."

"Such a happy, sweet-natured movie - something to give you a Vitamin D boost of sunshine."

"La La Land gets its hooks (and harmonies) into you and by the end I was entranced by its love letter to Los Angeles..."

"Chazelle has crafted that rare thing, a genuinely romantic comedy, and as well, a rhapsody in blue, red, yellow and green."

"A thoroughly modern musical which reminds what great cinema song and dance movies can be."

"The characters, the chemistry, the story, the music, the dance, the romance, the view - it all tapped right into the inner recesses of my fanatical love affair with cinema."

"Chazelle has assembled a vibrant, infectiously hummable pastiche of musical and cinematic styles - an entrancing ode to the glories of cinema past as well as a heartfelt expression of faith in the medium's future."

"For Chazelle to be able to pull this off the way he has is something close to remarkable."

"It's simply impossible not to completely fall in love with."