Years before Will Smith slapped the bejesus out of comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, there was another headline-grabbing incident: La La Land, starring Emma Stone in one of her best roles ever, was mistakenly announced as 2016 Best Picture of the year. Now you can watch it on Netflix.
The movie won Stone her first Academy Award for Best Actress, and is widely considered one of her best films. It also stars Ryan Gosling, who plays a struggling jazz musician. Stone plays an aspiring actress.
The movie nabbed a record-tying eleven nominations at the Academy Awards, and director Damien Chazelle became the youngest Best Director winner ever, at 32. The movie is a sort of tribute to old Hollywood musicals, but one where things don’t all work out the way you want them to.
In an interview with Time before the movie was released, Stone said she was drawn to it because it was really different.
“It was the ambition of the project. What he [director Damien Chazelle] was going for was really exciting and enticing, because I love the originality of it and what it was paying homage to. It was really cool and interesting to be a part of, and equally scary—because if the tone wasn’t cohesive from the smaller scenes into these big cinemascope musical numbers, I didn’t know how it would turn out. But that’s also the most exciting thing—equal parts, ‘Who knows?’ and ‘Let’s do it!'”
She also said the movie is a “two-hour escape” that “reminds you of the hope and importance of creativity, of still dreaming even when it feels like hope is gone.”
La La Land is currently streaming on Netflix, except for customers who have the “Basic with ads” plan, due to licensing restrictions.
