I have no problem when someone claims "Singin' in the Rain" is the best movie musical of all-time because, well, it is! The choreography, songs and cinematography is just top-notch and almost impossible to recreate in this day and age. You can tell they worked their butts off to pull off some of the song and dance that was in the film. That's a lot of hard work and something that I feel today's film industry just does not have the time and energy to work out in coherent fashion. Damien Chazelle sure tried though, and the time and effort that went into making "La La Land" clearly shows on-screen.
Now, back in September I wrote this in my review of "La La Land": "It’s quite possibly the best movie musical since Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz.” 5 or so months later and I still believe this to be true. I mean, think about it this way, the last 30 or so years we've had the odd movie musical come out here and there and we've always had some critics claiming that "the Musical is back!" But was it ever really gone? One can make the case that between 2000 and 2009 there were plenty of notable films to choose from: "Dancer in the Dark," "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," "Moulin Rouge," Chicago," "Once," "8 Women," "Dreamgirls," "Hairspray" and "Sweeney Todd" just to name a few. The last 5-6 years the genre has struggled a little more, which is why "La La Land" has been greeted with such open arms. Not to dismiss Damien Chazelle's film, which is even better than any of the ones I have mentioned above and a true landmark for the genre.
My colleagues over at The Playlist have just come out with their own list of the 50 best movie musicals of all-time. The rankings don't agree with my theory that "La La Land" is the best musical since "All That Jazz" which was released close to 38 years ago. The Playlist is saying it's the third best musical, the other two ahead of Chazelle's film are "Beauty and the Beast," GREAT, and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," even GREATER.
1. “Singin’ In The Rain” (1952)
2. “All That Jazz” (1979)
3. “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (1964)
4. “West Side Story” (1961) 5. “Cabaret” (1972)
6. “The Wizard Of Oz” (1939)
7. “Beauty & The Beast” (1991)
8. “My Fair Lady” (1964)
9. “Hedwig &The Angry Inch” (2001)
10. “The Sound Of Music” (1965)
11. “Swing Time” (1936)
12. “An American In Paris” (1951)
13. “Mary Poppins” (1964)
14. “La La Land” (2016)
15. “Funny Girl”
16. “Top Hat” (1935)
17. “Show Boat” (1951)
18. “The Jungle Book” (1967)
19. “Dancer In The Dark” (2000)
20. “A Star Is Born”(1954)