'Boyhood' (R) ***1/2
Filmed in 45 days over a period of 12 years, 'Boyhood' follows Mason Jr. (Ellar Coltrane) as he grows from childhood into adulthood and the various relationships, circumstances, and events that have molded him into the person that he became. Co-starring Lorelei Linklater as his older sister Sam, and Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as his divorced parents Mason Sr. and Olivia (Patricia Arquette). The latest from Richard Linklater, the director of such movies like 'Dazed and Confused', the 'Before' trilogy, and 'School of Rock'.
This had been in limited release for quite a while, and finally came to Fort Wayne around mid-August. It wasn't until late September at it's absolute last screening at the Cinema Center downtown that I finally had a three hour block of free time that not only coincided with a screening time for this movie but also allowed me to watch all of it.
Some reviews I wrote in the past would praise about how real certain aspects of a movie felt. 'Nebraska' I felt had realistic characters. 'The Spectacular Now' and 'Blue Is The Warmest Color' I felt took a realistic approach to relationships. In terms of realism, 'Boyhood' blows each of those out of the water. By far and without a doubt, this is the most realistic movie about childhood and growing up without being a documentary. While I couldn't relate to everything that Mason Jr. experienced, there were still many times in the theater where I silently thought to myself "Yep...I remember doing that" or "Yep...I've seen people EXACTLY like that" in addition to "Ah yes, I remember (certain year) and (certain song)". In terms of its scope and actually following the actors as they age throughout the years definitely deserves admiration.
A film to be admired, definitely. But is it any good? I'm happy to report that yes it is. Very good, in fact. And yes it is quite unlike anything I've ever seen. Much like life itself, sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it's very dramatic. Sometimes it's over dramatic. But everything flows so casually and realistically that it's never bothersome when it changes tone for a bit. And it's bolstered by great performances from newcomer Ellar Coltrane and Ethan Hawke. This isn't a full four stars because of a few nitpicks I had with the movie. It does run about 10 minutes too long, some of the acting apart from Coltrane and Hawke is inconsistent, and the last nitpick I'll state in a future 'Movie Nitpicks' post. Still a very good movie that I hope to hear more and more about as Awards Season kicks in.
After picking up her brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites) from a psychiatric hospital, Kaylie (Karen Gillan) takes him back to their childhood home to prove that their childhood traumas were caused by a mirror with a violent past and an ability to induce hallucinations.
I had heard good things about this movie but I didn't really have the urge to go see this in theaters. So last week while looking for 'The Conjuring' at the library I wondered if this was out yet. Luckily enough, the library had a DVD of this so I rented it in addition to 'The Conjuring'.
I thought this was actually fairly creepy, filled with shocking visuals and layered with a feeling of dread throughout. And while it's not exactly one of the better movies of the year it is one of the more original movies I've seen this year. It is a little too long and it becomes rather hard to follow in my opinion. Not only are we following Kaylie and Tim in the present, it also flashes back constantly (and randomly) to when they were children and the traumas they faced in their childhood involving their parents. Combine those intertwining narratives with the mirror that bends reality and causes hallucinations....yeah. It can get confusing. But as a free rental from a local library it was worth it. Definitely something to check out if you want a tension filled horror movie that isn't saturated with blood, sex, and dumb teenagers.
With his wife Amy's (Rosamund Pike) disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent. With Neil Patrick Harris as a former boyfriend of Amy's, Tyler Perry as a hotshot lawyer representing Nick, Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit as a pair of cops suspicious of Nick, former 'SNL' player Casey Wilson as Nick and Amy's neighbor Noelle, Missi Pyle as a cable TV host highly critical of Nick, and newcomer Carrie Coon as Nick's twin sister Margo. The latest from David Fincher, director of such movies like 'Fight Club', 'Se7en', 'Social Network', 'Curious Case of Benjamin Button', and the American remake of 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'.
I had never read the book on which this was based on. Heck, I had never even heard of the book until I started hearing that it was going to be adapted. I wasn't completely sold on the trailers for this, but having liked all of Fincher's previous movies that I actually have seen I figured I'd check this out at some point. Then came the Oscar talk so that fast-tracked my interest in seeing this.
Is all the Oscar talk justified? In my opinion, yes it is. It's one of the best movies I've seen this year. It's also one of the most insane movies I've seen. I can't elaborate on that point further without giving away spoilers, so that's all I can say about that. It's suspenseful and shocking, darkly funny at times, features great acting from all of the cast, and is just an overall great movie that's extremely well made.
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