3/3(Sat) La La Land:Dream and reality (Host: Jason )

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Jason Huang
YOYO member
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註冊時間: 週四 1月 12, 2017 12:50 pm

3/3(Sat) La La Land:Dream and reality (Host: Jason )

文章 Jason Huang »

La La Land: Tension between dream and reality

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I happened to see this fine movie recently and found it is fascinating to discuss in many aspects. Life seems to be a non stopping journey to tackle and choose in between dream and reality. Here is the movie plot in case you have not seen it.

While stuck in Los Angeles traffic on "Another Day of Sun," aspiring actress Mia Dolan has a moment of road rage with Sebastian Wilder, a struggling jazz pianist. After a bad day at work, Mia's subsequent audition goes poorly when the casting director takes a call in the middle of an emotional scene. That night, Mia's roommates take her to a lavish party in the Hollywood Hills, promising her that "Someone in the Crowd" could jump-start her film career; but she is forced to walk home in disappointment after her car is towed.
During a musical gig at a restaurant, Sebastian slips into a passionate jazz improvisation despite warnings from the owner to only play songs from a traditional Christmas setlist. Mia overhears him playing "Mia & Sebastian's Theme" as she passes by. Moved, she enters the restaurant, but Sebastian is fired for his disobedience. As he storms out, Mia attempts to compliment him, but he brushes her off.
Months later, Mia runs into Sebastian at a party where he plays in a 1980s pop cover band; she teases him by requesting "I Ran (So Far Away)," a song he considers an insult for "a serious musician". After the gig, the two walk to their cars and lament wasting "A Lovely Night" together despite the clear chemistry between them.
The next day, Sebastian arrives at Mia's work, and she shows Sebastian around the movie studio backlot, where she works as a barista, while explaining her passion for acting. Sebastian takes Mia to a jazz club, describing his passion for jazz, his love for this "City of Stars," and his desire to open his own club. They warm up to each other greatly. Sebastian invites Mia to a screening of Rebel Without a Cause; Mia accepts, forgetting a commitment with her current boyfriend. Bored with the latter date, she runs to the theater and finds Sebastian as the film begins. When the projector breaks, the two conclude their evening with a romantic dance at the Griffith Observatory ("Planetarium").
After more failed auditions, Mia decides, at Sebastian's suggestion, to write a one-woman play. Sebastian begins to perform regularly at a jazz club, and the two move in together. Sebastian's former classmate Keith invites him to be the keyboardist in his jazz fusion band, where he will be offered a steady income. Although he is dismayed by the band's pop style, Sebastian signs after overhearing Mia trying to convince her mother that Sebastian is working on his career. The band finds success, but Mia is disturbed upon attending one of their concerts and hearing their signature song "Start a Fire;" she knows that this is not truly the type of music Sebastian wants to perform.
During the band's first tour, Mia and Sebastian get into an argument; she accuses him of abandoning his dreams, while Sebastian claims she liked him more when he was unsuccessful. Mia leaves, insulted and frustrated. Sebastian misses Mia's play due to a band photo shoot that he had previously forgotten. The play is a disaster; few people attend, and Mia overhears dismissive comments. Sebastian attempts to apologize to Mia for missing the play, but she is unwilling to forgive him and ends their relationship. Despondent and unable to pay the theater back, Mia moves back home to Boulder City, Nevada.
Sebastian receives a call from a prominent casting director named Amy Brandt; she attended Mia's play and wishes to invite her to a film audition. Sebastian drives all the way to Boulder City and persuades Mia to attend. Mia eventually agrees and returns to Los Angeles for the audition, at which she is asked simply to tell a story; in response, she sings "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)," a story about her aunt's lost loves. Sebastian, confident the audition was a success, encourages Mia to devote herself to film acting. The two profess they will always love each other but are uncertain of their future.
Five years later, Mia is a famous actress and happily married to another man, with whom she has a daughter. One night, the couple stumble upon a jazz bar. Noticing the "Seb's" logo she had once designed, Mia realizes Sebastian has opened his club. When Sebastian notices Mia in the crowd, he plays their love theme on the piano, and a dream sequence unfolds in which the two imagine what might have been had their relationship continued ("Epilogue"). Mia shares a poignant smile with Sebastian, then leaves with her husband. End!

La La Land celebrates nostalgia, while at times completely embracing it. This is represented in both the main characters Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone). Sebastian is very passionate in classic style Jazz while Mia is the same with classical theater. While the film itself is a love letter to the golden age of Hollywood musicals. The film itself, however, also addresses that nostalgia is not always a good thing. One must also take into account the changes in the time period. However, completely abandoning it in favor of the new might also not be the right approach, you might as well call it something else as it has strayed too far from its roots. The film itself shows this by blending this classic Hollywood musical with a touch of modern filmmaking and the result is this modern classic masterpiece of a film.


Question for Session 1
1. What if you stuck between the reality and dreams?
2. Have you ever had a dream that you wished would happen in reality?
3. If you are Mia’s family, after six years failures in audition, would you still hope her to keep on chasing the dream?
4. Do you think to get support from your love one or families are critical to achieve your dream? Or their thought might be the obstacle?
5. At the end of movie, there was a different version story like parallel space-time (Which was Sebastian and Mia stayed together and happily ever after). Which ending do you prefer?


Question for Session 2
1. Do you think that nostalgia sometimes may not be good and might stop us from turning over a new leaf?
2. In the state, sometimes new job means in the new state which might be hundreds mile away, would you give up your life and dream like Seb and Mia in order to stay together for future?
How do you weight which one’s dream is more valuable?
3. If you have compromised with reality for a long time, is it possible that you might lose the passion or forget about your dream at the beginning?
4. Have a guess, what is major reason that they couldn't stay together?
5 How do you turn dreams into reality?


********************************************************************************************************************************************
Agenda:
3:45 ~ 4:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
4:00 ~ 4:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
4:10 ~ 4:50pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
4:50 ~ 5:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
5:10 ~ 5:15pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
5:15 ~ 5:55pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
6:00 ~ 6:20pm Summarization (20 mins)
6:20 ~ 6:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements ********************************************************************************************************************************************
聚會日期:列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間:請準時 4:00 pm 到 ~ 約 6:30 pm 左右結束
星期六聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站:板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法:出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後,沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘,到了濟南路口,左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
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給新朋友的話:
1. 請事先準備2~3分鐘的英語自我介紹;會議結束前可能會請你發表1~2分鐘的感想。
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Rock
YOYO member
文章: 2162
註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: (3/3 Sat) La La Land:Dream and reality (Host, Jason )

文章 Rock »

The first time I heard Lala land was in a TED talk (https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_ta ... of_insight), in which Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor said that she found euphoria in the state she experienced when she had a stroke. She mentioned it as "Lala land". She believes that everybody can go to this Lala land if we find the way. Cool!!! :lol:

Blue pill or red pill?
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Way
YOYO member
文章: 24
註冊時間: 週六 9月 23, 2017 10:39 pm

Re: (3/3 Sat) La La Land:Dream and reality (Host, Jason )

文章 Way »

Great comment from Rock. In order to have deeper discussion about this topic,I just completed watching this movie through myvideo. Lala Land is dream land that somewhere we dream about but we couldn't really reach there under cruel reality. Life is not as smooth as we expect, and sometimes creative imagination could help us grap euphoria at that moment.Cheers. Thanks for Jason to prepare this thought-provoking topic.
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: 3/3(Sat) La La Land:Dream and reality (Host: Jason )

文章 Kooper »

Attendees(19): Carrie, Catherine, Claire, David Jr., Georgia, Gloria, Jason(ex-VP), Jay, Kooper, Leon, Momo, Rock, Steve, Tanya, Tom, Vicky, William(new comer), Way
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Gloria Lo
YOYO member
文章: 367
註冊時間: 週一 2月 04, 2008 7:51 am

Re: 3/3(Sat) La La Land:Dream and reality (Host: Jason )

文章 Gloria Lo »

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Attendees:Jay, Way, Vicky,Tanya, David,Rock, Momo,Jason, Steve,Tom,Carrie, Claire, Leon,Catherine, Gloria
Newcomers: William
:D :D :D
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