Emma Stone and Ryan 거위 새끼, 고 슬링 bring their ridiculous charm to the L.A. 사랑 story La La Land 

From a galaxy far, far away straight to your inbox, get all the latest news on the \'Force Awakens\' right here.

Casting Net: J.K. Simmons and Damien Chazelle to reteam on

Casting Net: Emma Stone in negotiations for musical 'La La Land'

wunderkind Damien Chazelle takes place far away from the bloody drumsticks and sadomasochism of a New York City music conservatory.

comrades Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, is a musical set in modern-day Los Angeles. The title, a common pejorative for the Southern California metropolis, is not at all intended as snark — as is evident from this marvelously old-fashioned moment of song and dance in the film, where we see a musician (played by Gosling) and a struggling actress (Stone) express their blossoming love for each other via a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers-inspired waltz.

“There’s an incredible romanticism in L.A. that you don’t always see when you’re stuck in traffic on the 405,” says Chazelle, who shot this scene during a September sunset in Griffith Park. “I wanted to make a big love letter to the city and focus on that push and pull that all young artists experience, between dreams and reality, which old Hollywood musicals are so good at expressing. I just love the idea of a whole emotional arc told purely visually and musically. And it’s a city that’s so filled with dreamers, most of whom won’t make it. I think there’s something poetic about that.”

RELATED: EW First Look: Exclusive Sneak Peeks at 2016’s Hottest Movies

Chazelle, 30, cites one of Astaire and Rogers’ most enchanting dance sequences, one set during a summer storm in 1935’s

, “Isn’t This a Lovely Day (To Be Caught in the Rain),” as a specific reference point. Yet he also gives props to Thom Andersen’s extraordinary

, a 2003 documentary, available now on Netflix. “I absolutely adore that film,” he says. “L.A. is weirdly the most filmed city in the world because the movie industry has been there forever, but it’s one of the least physical cities in movies. It doesn’t have a specific place in cinema the way that New York or Paris does. Which is why everyone has their own idea of L.A., and many are not the most pleasant ideas. But if treated the right way, L.A. is can definitely hold its own as a romantic playground.”

Oscar winner J.K. Simmons, who has a small role as someone in the life of Gosling’s character, and with that film’s editor, Tom Cross, who also took home a golden statuette. But the team’s goals this time were different, with Chazelle emphasizing longer, more fluid shots and an unhurried pace. “

was very much about the kinetic editing and images colliding against each other,” he says, “whereas this is about telling the story through camera and blocking. It’s a style which is more suited to the musical but I think also more romantic.”

 most certainly touched upon the drama that takes place when intense artistic dreams intersect with the challenges of living in the real world. Interestingly, Chazelle was himself a stymied young artist while writing

He’d been taking cracks at the screenplay since he was in college, and feeling blocked and dead-ended a few years ago, he shelved the script and vented some of his frustration…by writing and then directing

. “The two movies couldn’t be more tonally different,” he insists. “But they’re both about reconciling your dreams with the need to be human.

is just much less angry about it.”

Benedict Cumberbatch says he’ll be getting physical as Doctor Strange

Kendrick Lamar on his 11 Grammy nominations: \'I want all of them\'

Ryan Reynolds shows off Deadpool doll from wife Blake Lively

Bill Cosby arraigned on sexual assault charge, bail set at $1 million

Carrie Fisher has something to sell in exclusive \'Girlfriends\' Guide\' clip

Postmodern Jukebox combine \'Star Wars\' medley with tap dancing

Late Greats: Stars Pay Tribute In Their Own Words

\'The Path\': Exclusive New Photos of Hulu\'s Religious Cult Drama

First Look: Exclusive Sneak Peeks at 2016\'s Hottest Movies

First Look: Exclusive Photos of 2016\'s Hottest TV Shows