“La La Land” Director Damien Chazelle

Oscar favorite “La La Land” is director Damien Chazelle’s musical love letter to Hollywood. But the 32-year-old cinephile didn’t always love musicals — it wasn’t until he started studying avant garde films in college that things changed. “Suddenly these movies that seemed very much like the epitome of Hollywood confection seemed like these utterly strange audacious experimental movies,” he says. Inspired by classics like “Top Hat” and even non-musicals like “Pulp Fiction,” Chazelle reveals the secrets behind his favorite moments in film history and how their charm endures today.