10 Movies That Peaked In Their Opening Scene

4. La La Land

The Movie

Nominated for a record-tying fourteen Oscars and winning six (including Best Director and Best Actress), there's little point denying that La La Land is a great movie.

Between Damien Chazelle's incredible direction, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's excellent performances and the film's unexpected dramatic heft, this is a rarest of musicals that refuses to let the theatricality overpower the core character drama.

The Opening Scene

Nothing Chazelle serves up really gets close to the technical virtuosity of the film's opening dance sequence, which takes place on a congested Los Angeles freeway, as dozens of drivers spontaneously exit their cars to belt out the song-and-dance number "Another Day of Sun."

Cleverly blending three takes into one seamless, six-minute whole, the scene boasts mind-bogglingly meticulous choreography and camerawork, while setting the tone for the rest of the movie perfectly.

But as well-crafted as La La Land might be, it never manages to replicate this level of slack-jawed, fist-pumping glee ever again - partly by design, but certainly not entirely so.