I love the musicals of old Hollywood. The two main characters of this movie are a jazz musician who wants to revive the jazz area with which he fell in love, and, a young woman who wants to follow the magic she knew as a young child writing and performing plays in her bedroom. When they met each other they are both changed to refine and redefine their vision. I believe the approach of the writers to this revival of the musical is encapsulated in the advice of a colleague to the pianist that went something like, "You are trying to recreate an era that was founded by innovators and rebels seeing beyond the music around them. If you want to "save" jazz for a new audience you need to not go back, but be those re creators for a whole new generation of jazz musicians and audience. The film doesn't just celebrate the era of big screen musicals, it innovates it address a new audience with current, diverse cultural norms. I think City of Stars will win the Oscar for best song, but listen to the subtle themes for each plot pairing, especially listen for the birth of a thee couples theme music when Emma Stone's character first hears Ryan Gosling's character playing the piano in the club, then be alert to the reprises and changes of the theme as the movie unfolds - it will really enhance the retelling of history at the end of the movie. I give it a 7.5 (good enough to see twice) out of 10.
Review by Nancy L DraperVIP 8BlockedParent2017-01-23T19:58:11Z
I love the musicals of old Hollywood. The two main characters of this movie are a jazz musician who wants to revive the jazz area with which he fell in love, and, a young woman who wants to follow the magic she knew as a young child writing and performing plays in her bedroom. When they met each other they are both changed to refine and redefine their vision. I believe the approach of the writers to this revival of the musical is encapsulated in the advice of a colleague to the pianist that went something like, "You are trying to recreate an era that was founded by innovators and rebels seeing beyond the music around them. If you want to "save" jazz for a new audience you need to not go back, but be those re creators for a whole new generation of jazz musicians and audience. The film doesn't just celebrate the era of big screen musicals, it innovates it address a new audience with current, diverse cultural norms. I think City of Stars will win the Oscar for best song, but listen to the subtle themes for each plot pairing, especially listen for the birth of a thee couples theme music when Emma Stone's character first hears Ryan Gosling's character playing the piano in the club, then be alert to the reprises and changes of the theme as the movie unfolds - it will really enhance the retelling of history at the end of the movie. I give it a 7.5 (good enough to see twice) out of 10.