In My Opinion Podcast

Abstract

In this podcast I will discuss and determine what qualifies something as a good film worthy of acclaim. Each episode will focus on one feature film that may or may not be critically acclaimed, but can be argued is a good film. I will discuss films that may not be everyone’s favorite, no Citizen Kane here, but deep down have something at their core that for at least some qualifies them as good. It is my intention to reveal all the various qualifications for something to be considered good. In the first episode I will discuss my own personal favorite movie and why to me it is a good film. In subsequent episodes I would bring in guests and discuss various movies and their thoughts behind them. I will even include some movies that I think are bad yet my friends non-ironically enjoy (The Room).

Episode 1:

Hello I am Bailey Tyler and this is In My Opinion. In this podcast I will be discussing my favorite films and what I think qualifies them at least for me to be upheld above other maybe more critically acclaimed films. I additionally will bring people on in other episodes to discuss and defend their favorite films, which may not be something I agree with. In this first episode I will be discussing my all time Favorite movie La La Land. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this movie it is the story of two aspiring artists in LA. Mia is an aspiring actress while Seb is an aspiring Jazz musician. The film follows the story of these two following their dreams from there meeting to (spoiler alert) the unsuccessful end of their relationship. This film is homage to old Hollywood musicals as well as those people who will stop at nothing to attain their dream of success in Hollywood.

La La Land is subjectively my favorite film. Not because it is technically the best film I have even seen, I have seen movies with better cinematography, better narratives, acting, editing, and etcetera. But none of that really matters to me when I say La La Land is my favorite film. Why is that? It’s because for me it was the most impactful fillm I’ve ever watched. Not only did I think It was pretty and well designed, I also personally connected with the characters. Flying off and moving to LA is what I ideally hope to do after I graduate. I saw a lot of myself in Mia. I don’t want to be an actress but I do want to make it in studio Hollywood and will probably try and get a menial job at a studio lot with the hope to make connections. Not only did I personally connect with Mia but the idea that both Mia and Sebastian were willing to pursue what mattered most to them despite knowing the cost it would have to their relationship really stuck with me. Getting personal here but as someone who is in a relationship with someone who also wants to go into the film industry this aspect of the movie was highly emotional to me because one day I very well may have to decide to sacrifice one aspect of my life for the other and if that days comes I’m going to have to make a decision that’s going to effect my career for the rest of my life.

On a more uplifting note, another reason this movie was so impactful to me was that it was a musical. I was raised a musical theater kid and my childhood favorite film was the Wizard of OZ. Being able to watch a film that embodied the old school musical flair and magic of the movies I watched as a kid brought me right back to my childhood. Not only did I love watching musicals but I also performed in them and I know how intense learning choreography to dance numbers is as well as adding singing on top of that. Both Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (the actors playing the two main characters) sang on set and learned to dance for this film. That fact put me in aw when I learned it. Not only did I find it impressive but it made the film more real and visceral to me because I had been like them once, performing the dances and songs hand in hand and it gave a stage musical feel to a movie that already gave me all the feels.

Now I understand that for a film about Jazz it certainly did not have the diverse casting one would hope for, I completely agree that in this regard the film could be better. I am someone who is willing to see the faults in things I love, however in some cases just like this movie I still like it despite its faults.

La La Land was the first movie in a long time that made me cry because of how much I sympathized with the characters. Sure some may complain that there were too many montage sequences, and I’ve gotten into more then one debated over wither or not the ending was appropriate (I think it certainly was because it gives a movie where the two main character dance while floating in the stars a sense of reality the complements the fantasy and nostalgia of the old Hollywood musical) but this movie touched me in a way that others were unable to. Not only did I revitalize my desire to go into film production, but it also brought me back to one of the things I loved most in childhood, musicals. So all of that is why, subjectively, La La Land is my favorite movie.