Ryan Lee’s review published on Letterboxd:
I had seen a string of scenes from this for years, but I'd never watched it in full. My History of Cinema teacher from last semester had hyped it up as one of his favorites (that my class didn't cover, natch), and I waited for a long time because I wanted to see it in good quality, but tonight the university cinema department hosted a screening, and I had to go.
Movies are magic, man. My lone issue stems from how the plot feels somewhat unresolved by the end—what happened to Lina or Kathy or Monument Pictures as a whole?—but this movie's not about the plot, and otherwise this thing was as euphoric and joyous and charming as everyone says. I can't imagine coordinating all of this, from chronicling the silent-films-to-talkies paradigm shift to the elaborate set design and choreography. The musical numbers are great, the banter's genuinely hilarious and crowd-pleasing, the three leads are effortlessly convincing (genius move to make the most unlikeable of the three, and the one with the most glaringly annoying voice, the most antagonistic character), and after a certain point (I think it was the titular number?) I just had this big, dumb grin on my face. This movie rules! Gosh, I love movies!
