Eighth Grade (2018)

I remember Jr. High School. I remember how I used to dress with my flare jeans, flip flops, Aeropostale shirts, puka shell necklaces, no makeup and a low ponytail. I played soccer and basketball. I had friends, but I wasn't popular. I wasn't bullied, but I wasn't the epitome of hot like I sometimes wished I were. I pretended like I was confident, like no one's opinion mattered. Most of the time, it didn't. I did my own thing. But there were those moments, alone in my room, when I would look at myself in the mirror and see everything that I wasn't.

Middle-school student Kayla is on the brink of finishing eighth grade and entering high school. She has her own YouTube channel where she gives out sincere advice to growing kids trying to find their place in the world. She is labeled as the "most quiet" girl in her grade and aims to change people's perception of her by making more friends and becoming more confident.

"Eighth Grade" is one of the most painful movies I've ever watched because I could wholeheartedly relate to it. Literally middle and jr. high school is the worst. It's so hard to feel misunderstood and to not understand the world either. It's hard to have a changing body at the same time as your other peers have changing bodies. It's hard to have an excess of hormones and not know what to do with them. It's hard to not have money to dress cute or to have acne or to be quiet. It's hard not to know the right words to say to make a friend. It's just hard.

Writer/Director Bo Burnham, a YouTube star turned filmmaker, has managed to make this film incredibly accessible by bringing his gritty, DIY feel to the screen. Every shot of the school, Kayla's house, or the mall feels so completely ordinary that he could be filming my own life for all I know. But where he truly proves himself is in the way he has the characters interact one with another. The way how Kayla stutters over her words to an intimidating peer in one scene and mouths off to her father in the next is so completely real - complete with a poor father's faltering "what did I do?" face and hesitant laugh to desperately try to remind his daughter that he's on her side. Each scene's vibe perfectly matches the relationship the characters have with one another.

Of course, every single scene is excruciatingly designed to strike painful empathy in the audience. Elsie Fisher plays the young, reticent middle-schooler whose performance is absolutely remarkable. Seeing her private life - her videos to remind herself of who she wants to be and her lists of "how to be more confident" - and her public life of painful dialogue and obvious sincere desire to have just one friend is so spot on the nose. Every other minute I was shaking my head exclaiming "oh, honey."

"You can't be brave without being scared," Kayla says in one of her YouTube videos. Fisher brings a perfectly painful subtlety to the growing pains we watch on screen. Her performance is a revelation. I don't think I have ever felt so seen. 9/10

Moonlight (2016)

In this intense coming of age story, "Moonlight" takes the story of Chiron in three stages. We watch him grow from "Little," a shy child neglected by his crack-addict mother, to a teenager struggling to find his sexual identity who is picked on and bullied, to a post-juvie drug dealer called "Black." Living on the streets of Miami can be hard and unforgiving. He is influenced throughout it his life by his mom Paula (Naomie Harris), a neighbor drug dealer named Juan (Mahershala Ali) and Kevin - with whom he shares his first kiss.

This is a small film. It's not very long. It's got a very simple plot. It's low-budget. There aren't any top-billed stars to rack in the attention. It's impossible to depict in just one film what it's like to be black (or gay, or black and gay) in America today but this attempts to provide a window on one particular experience in this character study. It's a movie that functions on observations, not words or action. 

To be honest, it's just kind of okay. I know it's been critically acclaimed but I feel like it's an emperor's new clothes type of situation. I didn't really enjoy watching it, and this isn't an uplifting story. I didn't feel moved or emotionally spent, just tired and a little bored.

Now, there were some good things.

The supporting characters leave lasting impressions despite their short screen-time. This is particularly true of Mahershala Ali. I was a big fan of his character on "House of Cards" and he stands out as the drug-dealer-with-a-heart-of-gold role. We've seen this kind of character before, but there was something striking about his eyes and expression when Chiron confronts him about dealing drugs to his mom - you could sense his hurt and disappointment and shame in himself.

At first it bothered me that I couldn't relate to this at all but I guess that gives "Moonlight" its own unique, gritty edge. "Boyhood" similarly told a coming of age story with different splices of a boy's life displayed in sequences and while I enjoyed that more (and find it a superior movie), this film still has something honest, and raw to offer.

I'm not sure how they managed to find three actors to play Chiron with consistency but color me impressed. Unlike "Boyhood" where the same kid literally grew up on the screen, "Moonlight" features three separate actors: Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes. All three have the same level of shyness, wonder, and also hardness. 

However, though the three actors were consistent, the character itself just isn't anything very memorable. My qualm with his arc is that I feel like there's nothing more to his story than the summation of his interactions with others. There was hardly anything to suggest what he really thought of himself, what he thought of his life, what he loved or hated or what his hobbies were or who he really was on the inside. He's gay, he's black, he's got it rough, but who really is he?

The third act takes on a two-person narrative that, though emotional in part is weak and concludes abruptly. It feels a little unfinished, and sad with no catharsis. Chapter One's abrupt conclusion to Juan's story also feels incomplete and want of questions. 

Director Barry Jenkins' sophomore film seems like it wants to be more than it is: a simple story without a compelling hook. It's nothing to write home about.  5/10

The Spectacular Now (2013)

High school comedies filled with irony and overstated humor are enjoyable. It is much more rare, however, to have an American teen movie grounded in reality. "The Spectacular Now" offers an unadulterated window into the fear and vulnerability behind adolescents.

Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) is a suave, self-assured, John Cusack-esque high school senior. He's one of those guys that's charming and popular: quick with the quip, and smooth with the ladies. But he's nice enough to be friendly to those outside his circle. His budding alcoholism and devil-may-care attitude towards his future causes his girlfriend Cassidy (Brie Larson) to break up with him. There isn't any melodrama to accompany the breakup - Cassidy merely honestly understands that she wants a future and Sutter can't even imagine one; he's too busy hiding behind his flask and living in the "now."

Sutter wakes up one morning on a stranger's lawn hung over and meets Aimee (Shailene Woodley). Aimee is a shy, bookish girl who - she claims - Sutter wouldn't notice normally. She isn't socially awkward; she is an intelligent, ambitious girl who stays out of the spotlight. Unless you actually were dictionary-definiton popular in high school (you know who you are) this was probably you. Sutter helps her with her paper route and she helps him with geometry. An invitation to a party, an invitation to prom, and the two become friends. Their relationship may be mismatched and the two of them may have different expectations, but it's still a beautiful shot for them to learn from each other. Sutter doesn't prey on Aimee, though we still wonder if she hasn't gotten mixed up in something complicated and inevitably unhealthy. Sutter's fleeting intentions aren't enough to warrant dislike from the audience, however; we just see him in all of his imperfections. It's like watching a dear friend go through a rough patch. Teller is gifted at bringing this kind of depth to a character.

Daddy-issues play no small role in Sutter's inner complexity. It's apparent that there is no dad in the picture, but Sutter seeks to find him at a kind of climax. The scene is less culminating than it is revealing. So much can be understood behind Sutter's alcoholism and outlook on life by this short scene with his father (sensitively played by Kyle Chandler - a much different father figure than Coach Taylor in "Friday Night Lights"). In one poignant moment, Aimee and Sutter fumble for change to pay for their drinks that the father neglects to have enough for.

Woodley, too, is a thoughtful actress. She was impressive in "The Descendants" and she doesn't disappoint in this more sensitive role. She's driven and dreamy, but still naïve. You can't blame her for being infatuated with Sutter and her flippant use of "I love you." Who hasn't been swept off their feet in a romance not meant to last? Her guileless performance, though, doesn't succumb to pity-prompting. It may seem she gives more weight to the relationship than he does, but she is still strong and capable.

It's deeply affecting. James Ponsoldt terrifically directs without settling for stereotypes. The script is much more concerned for how teens really think and feel rather than outlandish, raunchy outside behavior. Sutter and Aimee's intimate scene is emotional and unpatronizing; Ponsoldt handles the scene with sensitivity and care. Teller and Woodley have believable, understated chemistry and it feels true to life: real and vulnerable.

The film is left somewhat open-ended, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Life is open-ended. You know that Sutter has been given ample opportunity now to grow and change, but whether or not he actually will is up to him. "The real hardship is me. It's always been me." Living in the moment isn't all that it's cracked up to be sometimes and perhaps it's not worth it to stay in that moment, no matter how spectacular it may be. To live in the now is less important than to see a future.

These coming of age stories can sometimes feel old, but this soulful and sincere portrait of youth takes the genre on a new, more realistic turn. And it's spectacular. 9/10

Boyhood (2014)

Any movie that opens with Coldplay's "Yellow," ends with Arcade Fire's "Deep Blue" and includes children going to midnight Harry Potter premieres is a movie after my heart.

I don't know if I can put into words how I felt during "Boyhood." I think a lot of my emotion is connected to being only 3 years older than Mason (Ellar Coltrane). From Britney Spears, to the Iraq War, to Obama-McCain, I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling connected to this real-time reflection of the ideals and fads of my generation. It's much like examining a time capsule. Every single pop culture reference, every toy he had was familiar to me. I remember looking through my window with my pair of yellow binoculars waiting for my dad to come home from work - and then Mason pulls out the exact same pair. My mom even wore the exact same Adidas sweat pants most of my life that Patricia Arquette sports in the beginning. I played dead man on the trampoline. I had an iPod mini and danced to Soulja Boy as a teenager. 

Personal views aside for the moment, "Boyhood" is an incredible feat. It was shot over a 12-year period from 2002-2013 depicting the adolescence of a dreamy and quietly watchful kid who grows into a young man off to college. This project is Richard Linklater's baby, the project he orchestrated but didn't force. He didn't have every detail planned out from day one and every year when the cast and crew would get together for filming, plot points were subject to change based on the previous year's filming and the growth and change of the actors. This unconventional screenwriting process could have ended up feeling incomplete and flighty. But "Boyhood" incredibly manages to capture the feeling of growing up and change with every year of Mason's life that we get to glimpse. It's fiction that is shaped by reality. It's like nothing you've ever seen.

If you look at an old family photo sometimes you feel you are transported automatically back to an event - you remember a funny story or sometimes even a painful one. Other times you look at a photo and don't remember any specific details about why it was taken, but it still fills you with some kind of emotion. "Boyhood" succeeds at depicting both types of "photographs." Think of the film as a whole like a family photo album and each scene is a different photo. We don't get to see everything that happens in the lives of the Evans family, but we get to peruse through some pretty significant images.

Sometimes there is a clear narrative. The movie begins with 6-year-old Mason, his mom Olivia (Arquette), and his bossy older sister Sam (Lorelei Linklater, the filmmaker's daughter). The family ups and moves to Houston so that Olivia can go back to college. The subsequent scenes depicting Olivia's remarriage to her professor Bill (Mark Perella), their blended family, and his turn to alcoholism and abuse are painful, though understandably formative. In this narrative, there is a scene where Bill forces Mason to cut his long hair. This and the subsequent scene where Mason voices his embarrassment to his mom so perfectly capture the essence of adolescence. Who didn't have a bad haircut experience as a kid? It was a gamble to cast Coltrane as a 5-year-old as there was no way to predict what kind of a young adult he would grow into. But he is clearly the star in the most understated way. He is charming but relatable, imperfect but sweet. This touching conversation between mother and son is not like other films where it feels forced, or where it's too witty to relate to. It feels like life.

The true beauty behind "Boyhood," however, is the ability to communicate on an emotionally complex level through the simplest of moments. We all know these type of moments and feelings. They are fleeting and you always wish you could hold on to them after they escape you. A lot of these little moments center around Mason and Sam's relationship with their dad Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke). Despite his absence in their early childhood, he tries to make it up to them through weekend trips to the bowling alley and occasional awkward conversations about contraception. One particular scene where Mason and his dad go camping perfectly captures what I mean about this type of moment. It's a really simple scene where they bond over music and whether or not there will be another Star Wars movie (ironic). There isn't really a story, but there doesn't need to be. It's just a feeling that can be understood, not quantified. Maybe you've been on a similar camping trip. Maybe you've had a similar conversation. It's a glimpse into real life, and in these moments we realize that these characters are growing up and changing in front of our eyes.

I have never thought much of Hawke in the past. However, he superbly plays the dad character without being too over the top on the "cool-dad" scale. He's a guy with some baggage and he's not always the best dad around, but he tries to make every moment he spends with his kids count. We watch him grow up and mature just as much as we watch his son grow up. The same goes for Arquette, whose acting hasn't impressed me much in the past either. She also proved me wrong and is a lovely presence on the screen. She feels like a real mom who loves and cares for her kids, you know? 

Even with the remarkable acting, this movie would be nothing without Richard Linklater. His directing is revolutionary. He knows how to take such a simple story where nothing much happens, lets it span over 12 years (and a 165 minute running time) and leaves us with a masterpiece. Mason's story is our story. It doesn't matter if we don't love art or if our parents aren't divorced. It's a life that we recognize. It's full of little things and the occasional big thing. I think Linklater's main message here is that life is precious and "Boyhood" made me want to live more. 10/10

Stand By Me (1986)

"Do you guys want to go see a dead body?" Everyone stopped. It's the summer of 1959 in Castlerock, Oregon and a local boy has gone missing. 12-year-old Vern (Jerry O'Donnell), overweight, timid and bullied, approaches his three friends Gordie, Chris, and Teddy with the proposal for the ultimate summer adventure to find the body and collect the reward. Rob Reiner's adaptation of Stephen King's novella "The Body" exquisitely captures the vulnerability of youth and the heart of true friendship in this simple yet sweeping story.

This troubled but carefree band of brothers rely on each other through summer days with contraband cigarettes in their treehouse for a home. Our narrator Gordie (Wil Wheaton) is coping after the recent death of his older brother and subsequent neglect at home. Teddy (Corey Feldman) nearly had his ear burned off by his father who is now confined to a mental institution. Chris (River Phoenix) is beaten by his alcoholic dad and regularly stereotyped as a criminal. These boys are there for each other through the deep stuff that troubles youth but doesn't screw them up enough to ruin summer fun just yet. They set off with backpacks, Cokes, and Converse shoes and through episodes with leeches in the river, close calls with trains, and quintessential stories by the campfire, these boys are brought closer together like nothing but shared experience of searching for a dead body can. This is more than band camp.

Everything is just so incredibly real. These kids are at the bridge between boyhood and maturation. They talk about the greater issues of life, "Hey guys! What animal IS Goofy anyway?""You think Mighty Mouse could beat up Superman?" in the poignant campfire scene. But though they laugh at the hysterical tale of "Lardass" anyone can see that the true issues of family instability and uncertain futures plague over them. I've never been a 12-year-old boy, but I can still relate to many of their pre-teen ideals. I remember what it was like to bury real pain and shake off real issues with fantasy games with my friends. (On that note - why is that that there are no stories about groups of girls? Just a thought).

River Phoenix has never acted this great, and the scene between Chris and Gordie stands as a defining moment not just for the climax of the movie, but for all of childhood. Maybe you didn't have a friend like that, but you certainly wanted one. He is the rock of the group and knows how to calm fears and invoke courage in one conversation. The heart of this movie are the characters and Reiner nailed it with his acting picks. These kids can handle heavy scenes like pros. Will Wheaton's delivery is neither forced nor contrived but is still deliberate and emotional. His excellent acting is coupled with one of Kiefer Sutherland's better performances as the local bully, Ace. 

Ace: "What are you gonna do? Shoot us all?"

Gordie: "No, Ace. Just you."

With characters we can fall in love with, a script that is sharp, raw, & realistic, and cameos from Richard Dreyfuss and John Cusack you have yourself a movie that will stay with you. Honestly, I don't know what it is about it that gets me every time. It's been nearly six years since I saw it for the first time and there is something timeless about it that touches me and has resonated with me. Maybe it's the nostalgic music. Maybe it's because it reminds me of summer. Stand By Me can rest with the likes of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Man in the Moon as one of the greatest and most timeless coming of age stories around. I am a sucker for these poignant stories bc THE FEELS. And every time I watch it, I am reminded of the friends with whom I've shared something. 9/10

"I never had any friends later on like the ones when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?" 

Basketball Diaries (1995)

Basketball Diaries is basically about basketball star Jim (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his going off the deep end. He loses his best friend to leukemia, but loses himself to drugs.  He also writes.  He’s a charmer, for sure.  Especially when screaming his guts out in pain for a fix.  That’s a turn on if I ever saw one.  It was... painful.  But basically if I didn’t know anything about drugs before I certainly do now.  On the whole, this true story based on the life of Jim Carroll is very harrowing, and agonizing.

It’s also, you know, overdone?  Not to bag on people with terrible drug addictions who think their story is just as awful and heart-wrenching as any other (and it probably is…) but we’ve seen this before.  Drugs are bad, don’t drop out of school, the end.  Plus I am not a drug addict.  It looks pretty awful, no lies, but I couldn’t relate.

On another note, it’s ugly.  Yeah, it paints a picture and in some ways it contributes to what’s going on but hey.  It’s still ugly.

I didn’t totally hate it though.  I’m a Leo fan, and this is one of his earliest (he looks like he’s nine…).  Though even with his age he’s far from untalented.  I like the guy, and he’s basically why I saw this in the first place.  He’s showin’ through some realistic teenage angst.  Believable is the word I’m looking for, I think.  Some argue that he was over the top, but I didn’t think that for the most part.  In fact, this performance is one of the best I've seen of someone fighting an addiction. The other acting is pretty good too (Mark Wahlberg, Bruno Kerby, and Lorraine Brocco).  The soundtrack is awesome, the title is fitting.  And yeah, it’s memorable.  I won’t be forgetting all that drugness anytime soon.  Its outline is also effective with a very poetic feel.  Oh, and my favorite scene is when they play basketball in the rain.  Gotta love it.

Basically if you want to teach how awful life with drugs can be, here’s your movie.  Though I probably wouldn’t show it to your kids unless, you know, they’re already overboard. 4/10