Review: Boyhood

Filmed over a span of twelve years, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is possibly the best way to explain human adolescence to an alien species.

Boyhood follows the fictional life of Mason, played by Ellar Coltrane, and shows him from age six to age eighteen. Mason’s sister, Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), mom (Patricia Arquette), and dad (Ethan Hawke) each age on screen as well. The film’s soundtrack acts as a timeline for viewers, too. Pop songs from 2002 to 2013 are cues to each new era in the characters’ lives and give almost subconscious background.  

The film moves from year to year in Mason’s life, only showing big events like his reconnection with his father, their move to a new city, and of course, his first relationship. Instead of a defined plot, each character is simply trying to better themselves or in Mason’s case, grow up without a hitch. The story goes as far as Mason pursuing his passion for photography, but stays constant by an array of horrible step fathers for the antagonists. Never as outlandish as the queen of Snow White or any typical parent-villain, the film’s hardest moments are difficult to sit through because of their reality. Due to this life-like structure and Linklater’s (director of Before Sunrise, Dazed and Confused and School of Rock) seamless, realistic dialogue, Boyhood is like sitting for almost three hours in someone else’s shoes, and it’s incredible.

The movie is set in suburban Texas, which is surprisingly relatable to any American town. With a voyeuristic view into the life of a middle class boy, Boyhood’s only misstep may be that it stays in that realm. It’s a coming of age film if only boys have to conquer their teenage years. The story never really touches on how Mason’s older sister, Samantha, is affected by their family’s problems and glosses over her stake in teenagedom. The closest it gets to a female perspective is Olivia, Mason’s mother, living out her dream as a professor, but always failing to keep a balance with her home life, until she is eventually crying about how fast her son has grown up. Although this one-sidedness could be considered a downfall, the film is indeed living up to its name.

Nonetheless, the movie hit the emotional points it was meant to and should be appreciated for its truth. Not many pieces of art show such an honest ensemble of characters and feel quite like Boyhood’s eerie world, too real to not exist off screen. Linklater’s latest film is an incredible look at the human experience, but it is in no way boring for earthlings who live it.

Overall rating: 5/5 stars

By: Devin Castaño

Local Filmmakers Give Boston a New Scene

FADE IN: There is a spotlight on Boston and the focus is on its filmmakers. From documentaries to comedies, Boston has its fair share of hard working creators. Local directors had a lot to say about their experiences. Of course, they had a lot of advice for aspiring movie makers as well.

“Emmys don’t come around too much in public access” said Andrew Eldridge, the producer, director, and editor of NewTV’s “The Folklorist.” The series recently received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Program. Eldridge, one of the show runners explained, “I’ve always had a passion for film making and television since I was thirteen or fourteen.”

A comparable story was told by David Ells of In the Car Media, who said, “I got my first video camera between eighth and ninth grade.” Ells progressed his skills through, “doing a lot of free hours of labor” and even completed his first documentary as his senior thesis at Gordon College. In the Car Media constantly makes advertisements, music videos, and short films out of the North Shore area.

Similarly, director-producer, Alecia Orsini Lebeda unveiled, “I have always wanted to be a filmmaker,” accrediting her passion to stories of a film project of her father’s. Lebeda got her start in Boston while in Los Angeles. “There was a job as a production designer in Sandwich,” she explained, and there was no one more qualified than Lebeda, who hails from the area.  She continues her work with her production company, Good Natured Dog, known for their web series, short films, and promotional videos.

Thanks to local movie makers, more and more outlets for young talent are occurring in the area. Eldridge recommended Open Screen, “[where] you can screen films for no charge,” at Coolidge Corner Theater on the second Tuesday of every month. Rightfully, the film community has grown for the world of narrative film and documentary film as well. The Salem Film Fest is a local event being held in March especially for enthusiasts in documentary film. Closer to home, cinephiles can appreciate an endless supply of free screenings at the Harvard Film Archive. There, they show works ranging from Markopolous to home movies dropped off by viewers.

As far as the cause for their successes, each filmmaker gave reason to believe that making films in Boston needs the same discipline as anywhere else. Ells said that it is all about, “finding the opportunities to practice,” as well as answering to my misunderstanding of using lights on a film set. Eldridge advised, “If you have an interest in it, surround yourself with people that have that interest.” Lebeda included, “[in film making], you kind of become a jack of all trades” and each skill will come in handy in making a movie, especially in Boston. “Director-producers are a big thing” She later added about the local film culture, “You end up wearing two hats.” And to young filmmakers, Eldridge said, “Make a ton of bad things. Get them out of the way and you take away something every time you make one of those films.”

“We’re storytellers” said Lebeda. Simply put, each Boston filmmaker hopes to tell a good story.

By: Devin Castaño

Godzilla Review

            The latest “Godzilla” is entertaining. Instead of just one monster, it has three. Godzilla is there, of course, but he is also joined by two monsters called mutos. Unfortunately, Godzilla does not get nearly as much screen time as he deserves. Most of the movie is about Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), an army officer on leave who is trying to protect San Francisco and his family.

            The US Navy wants to use a nuclear warhead to destroy the mutos and Godzilla in one fell swoop. They ignore the warnings of Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), who has proof that the mutos feed off of nuclear energy. The original script called for the Marine Corps, but they declined to participate after reading the script, and it is little wonder why, as the Navy looks extremely incompetent.

            I found the movie enjoyable and thought it was worth the twelve dollars, but I saw it at midnight so I was too tired to pick up on the many inconsistencies. I would wait until “Godzilla” is on TV to watch it.

By: Emma Morrison

Review - Grand Bubapest Hotel

            Captivating cinematography as well as committed characters are just some of the things you need to create a successful movie, and Wes Anderson has once again won over many of his devoted audience members with his new film The Grand Budapest Hotel. It follows the story of Gustave, the hotel’s concierge, whom is very popular among the ladies. A special one in particular is Madame D, who passes on during an unforeseen circumstance. When visiting her at the wake, he manages to smuggle a valuable painting that she left to him with the lobby boy of Grand Butapest Hotel, Zero. Not to long after, Gustave is accused of murdering Madame D and is promptly thrown in jail.

            The story follows Gustave and Zero throughout their hysterical and occasionally terrifying journey. Gustave is played by Ralph Fiennes who wholeheartedly commits to the character’s story and the elite persona of Gustave. Tony Revolori plays the timid and scared Zero, who audiences are sure to fall in love with over the course of the film. The two play off of each other in such a wonderful way and their relationship grows to form an uncle-nephew type of bond. Aside from all of the frustrations Gustave faces, he never purposely tries to neglect Zero.

There are many aspects of the film that may be pleasing to audiences; the soundtrack, the gorgeous cinematography, and the simple yet compelling acting. But for some reason I felt like there was something missing. I felt as though maybe I was missing part of the story or there was something that was not exactly complete. One can assume that Wes Anderson did not purposely do this but I left the theater thinking that there was something I did not fully understand. This should not stop people from going to see it in theaters because it truly is a beautiful piece of work, per usual done by Wes Anderson.

 By Natessa Storm

Movie Review: Captain America: Winter Soldier

Friday, April 4th, 2014 marked the return of America’s super-Boy Scout, Captain America. The Winter Soldier is part of Marvel’s round two of movies. This sequel manages to incorporate many characters and plot-lines from the comics while still remaining relevant to modern day.

There is a noticeable lack of a costumed super-villain in The Winter Soldier. Even the titular Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) does not fit the role of arch-nemesis because little is known about who he is, and less is known about for whom he is working. The ambiguity of the enemy speaks to the modern state of US warfare. Also, the main plot was a clear allegory for the controversy surrounding the NSA. Captain America, and Marvel comics, comes down clearly against the NSA. Despite its 95-year-old protagonist, the movie feels current.

That being said, the movie also keeps many of the comic book characters. Chief among them is the Falcon /Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). For those who don’t know, the Falcon was so popular, that for a while the comic series was known as “Captain America and the Falcon.” Mackie is great, and his character is incorporated well into the plot. It does not feel as if the writers threw him in haphazardly to appease comic book fans.

Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson) also appears in The Winter Soldier. She works well with Captain America (Chris Evans). One of the strengths of these Marvel movies is this potential for crossover, which so far has worked well.

However, the new movie is not quite as good as The First Avenger. One of the most enjoyable things about the first Captain America movie was that it took place in the 1940s. It set Captain America apart from the other Avengers and gave him an identity of his own. Now that he is incorporated into modern society, his movie looks just like the Iron Man movies.

The fight scenes are amazing. The way they shot the fight scenes was confusing at first, but once I got used to it, it was great. It captures the speed of fights. The hand-to-hand, or hand-to-shield, scenes are good, but once the guns come out, it goes straight into comic-book hyperbole. The word to bullet ratio was low, at least 1:100, but probably closer to 1:1000. This was not because of a lack of dialogue, which was good, but because there were so many bullets.

Overall, this movie is well worth watching. Marvel once again strikes the perfect balance between action, comedy, and drama. It is heavy on the action side, but that is fine because it is a superhero movie.

By: Emma Morrison

Justin Timberlake's Peformance

Justin Timberlake wore his suit and tie and left audiences amazed Thursday night during his sold out concert at the TD Garden. Timberlake kept the audience singing and dancing along the whole night with his high energy show.   

Timberlake performed non-stop for 2 ½ hours, and didn’t break a sweat. He performed with ease, never missing a beat or step. Since November 2013, Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience world tour has been putting on concerts across America.  The tour will continue over the summer in Europe.  This is Timberlake’s third headlining tour, the first time he has been headlining since 2007. 

The performance included songs such as, “Suit and Tie,” “Take back the Night”, “Let it Groove”, “TKO”, “Mirrors”, and many more from his 20/20 Experience album.  But Justin treated the audience to his old songs “Cry me a River”, “What Goes Around”, “Like I Love You”, “Seniorita”, and the famous “Sexyback”.The singing and dancing stopped only for a brief intermission, (where Timberlake did a costume change) and cracked jokes about New England weather and his band members.  When he talked about Boston’s resilience after the marathon bombings, the crowd cheered on even louder than before.

On the stage with Timberlake were the band, The Tennessee Kids, numerous dancers, and back up singers.  The back of the stage had a huge white screen that was used for the show’s visual effects, background videos and an impressive light show. The visual effects were one of the highlights of the whole concert.  The performances and stage gave a classic appeal, which relates to many of his new songs. He glided through his songs without any hesitations, he looked comfortable on stage and he never slowed down. The whole show was amazing and Timberlake’s performance was exciting and gripping.

Timberlake will return to the TD Garden July 19^th.   


By: Anna Garofalo 

 

Review: “The LEGO Movie”

          “The LEGO Movie’s” theme song sums up the movie perfectly: “Everything is awesome.” The movie opens with Emmet (Chris Pratt), a perfectly normal LEGO construction worker who only wants other people to like him. Emmet’s perfectly normal life soon becomes anything but. He finds the magical Piece of Resistance, a woman whisks him away to a different world, and brings him to a mysterious old man who informs him he is the “special” foretold by a prophecy. Sound familiar? (coughcoughTheMatrixcoughcough)

            Emmet must use the piece of resistance to stop evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) from gluing all the LEGO pieces together. With help from Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), Emmet meets up with the other Master Builders, which include Batman, Superman, Abraham Lincoln, and Robin Hood, among others.

            The animation is amazing. Everything is made of LEGOs. When something catches on fire, there are pieces of LEGO fire everywhere. If something explodes, little LEGO bricks fly into the sky. “The LEGO Movie” makes the animation entertaining in and of itself.

            “The LEGO Movie” has everything a successful movie needs: humor, good plot, good voice acting, and good voice animation. It will entertain and delight viewers of all ages, and is well worth the price of a movie ticket.

By: Emma Morrison