The Poster Memorabilia blog

The Magic of La La Land

From the Village Theatre to Oscar night — five signatures for the musical that almost won it all.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

I hate that most people remember La La Land due to the notorious announcement mistake at the Oscars. I get it; that was a historic blunder of epic proportions, but there's more to the film than the fact that it didn't actually win Best Picture that night. It's one of the best movie musicals in recent years.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone dancing at Griffith Park as they croon love songs to each other? That was modern cinema, baby! It may not have been as flashy as the Disney remakes and Broadway film adaptations we're getting now, but it was a nice, contemporary take on the movie musical.

I already knew how good it was before it even hit theaters here in the US. I heard great things about it when it debuted at the Venice Film Festival earlier in 2016, so I went to the LA premiere that December to finally see it for myself.

I also went because I wanted the movie's big stars to sign my movie poster. The cast was stacked—Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, J.K. Simmons, Rosemarie DeWitt, and John Legend. Some of these are actual Oscar-winning actors and a Grammy Award-winning artist. Even if the movie flopped, their autographs alone would make the poster special.

Regrettably, they weren't complete that night. Only three appeared at the LA premiere, alongside director Damien Chazelle. The two leads, Gosling and Stone, along with DeWitt. I would've loved to have seen Simmons and Legend, but they weren't there.

“That was modern cinema, baby!”

Still, seeing three out of five wasn't bad, especially since they were all so nice. Emma Stone was as charming as ever, while Gosling still had the swag women swooned over in The Notebook and Crazy, Stupid, Love. DeWitt also looked beautiful and was so kind. She ended up being the best celebrity encounter I had that year.

✦ ✦ ✦

The movie's Academy Award nominations were lucky for me. It meant that the rest of the cast would likely attend the ceremony, and I could get their autographs there.

I'd been to the Oscars countless times by then, and it was always great to get autographs there. I almost wished that I had met Emma Stone that night instead. How wild would it have been if I got her autograph on the same night she won her first Academy Award?

Finally, I got to meet John Legend and got him to sign my poster. He went to support the movie and perform the Oscar-winning song, “City of Stars,” which made getting his autograph that night even more special. He was also very cool, second only to DeWitt on my list of best celebrity encounters.

I later met J.K. Simmons at the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards the next year. It was a long time coming, but I finally got his autograph on my La La Land poster too. The moment filled me with so much relief that my legs almost gave out right then and there.

La La Land may not have won the Best Picture Oscar, but I still consider it one of the best films of 2016. I hope more cinephiles give it the credit it deserves, especially as a modern movie musical.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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