Short Term 12 (2013)

After I saw Room with Brie Larson I wanted to watch some other films with Larson in them. I found a couple but,  Short Term 12 is considered to the Brie Larson’s breakthrough and it’s on Netflix so it would be easy to watch. If you haven’t seen the film and I am sure a lot of you haven’t there are spoilers to follow.

Short Term 12 is about a group home for troubled teenagers and the staff who work there. Short Term 12 is supervised by Grace (Brie Larson) who lives with her boyfriend and coworker Mason (John Gallagher Jr.). The film begins with a pair of new arrivals, Nate (Rami Malek) on staff and Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), this is accompanied by some big news Grace finds out she’s pregnant and sadly Marcus (Keith Stanfield) will be turning 18 and will be leaving the facility. Marcus doesn’t take this news easily and Grace promptly schedules an abortion without telling Mason.  Grace bonds a bit with Jayden but she doesn’t want to get attached since she will be gone soon and Grace begins to suspect that Jayden’s father abuses her. Grace recognizes things from her own past abuse.

It’s a powerful little movie about people. Larson once again shines in this film and it was nice seeing some other familiar faces, Rami Malek from Mr. Robot and Stephanie Beatriz from Brooklyn Nine-Nine in different roles. If you are just looking for an interesting film this is a great suggestion.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a very clever film it was an indie film that I doubt many people saw. It won best the prize for US Grand Jury film at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Spoilers to follow.

It tells the story of Greg a high school senior who has tried to make his way through without ruffling any feathers in any cliques, he’s around but basically invisible. Greg hangs out with his “co-worker” Earl and they make bad parody versions of films (400 Blows becomes 400 Bros, Fellini’s 8 1/2 becomes Ate 1/2 (of my lunch). Greg’s Mom tells him that he should go visit a girl Rachel, his former childhood friend who has been recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Leukemia. Greg and Rachel at first don’t want this friendship to work out, but they eventually decide that they like each other. I liked it since it’s not your typical movie as there is no big romance story line it’s just friendship which we are worrying about. Sure it’s got some sad moments but it’s also got some funny ones as well. If only there were more films like this about high school showing it for what it’s worth for everyone else, sure the athletes get the films made about their magical seasons but what about everyone else in the school. So Greg is convinced by the girl he has a crush on to make a film with Earl for Rachel.

If you went to or going to high school it is a nice film to pick up and watch remembering that we need to be visible in our lives and even if it is in difficult situations. Dealing with people who are dying is a unique aspect of life and isn’t really looked at in film other then the elderly, sure we had this film and The Fault in Our Stars but young people dying isn’t often seen or dealt with in film. If you are a fan of film this is a definite watch as there are several film reference that are so absurd.

My Dinner with Andre (1981)

My Dinner with Andre is an interesting little independent film, since it’s two people having a conversation at dinner together and that is it. There isn’t a huge conflict it’s two people sharing ideas at a meal together. The film stars Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory and the story is sort of kind of based on their lives but not really.  My first encounter with My Dinner with Andre was with the show Community (2×19) “Critical Film Studies”, which was an homage to My Dinner with Andre.

This is a lovingly realized idea and as an added bonus it hits one of the major theme of the movie the fakeness of real life.

So in the film Wallace ‘Wally’ Shawn (playwright, actor) has been invited out to dinner with Andre Gregory (director, actor) Andre and Wally are good friends. The first half of the film is Andre talking about what he has been doing since stepping away from directing in 1975. It is a wide variety of things working with Polish actors in a forest with Jerzy Grotowski, going to Findhorn in Scotland, a trip to the Sahara to inspire a play version of St. Exupéry’s The Little Prince, and a performance art group on Long Island where he was buried alive on Halloween. Andre has embraces the spiritual aspects of life. The other half of the film is Wally arguing that what Andre did over the past five year really isn’t living compared to what most people think living is, however Andre counters that what accounts for real life with all the pleasures of life is more like a dream. Then the film is over with Wally and Andre going home.

One of the cool things I learned by watching the film is that it was film in Virginia, it wasn’t until later when I checked Wikipedia that I learn that it was filmed in the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, and I’ve been there. I felt at times the film felt a little bit like A Guide to the Perplexed, with it diving into philosophy, I think that the next time I watch it I’ll have a different opinion of the film. This McSweeney’s piece about an audience participation type viewing ala Rocky Horror is a riot. Perhaps I should watch it like this once.

Black Mirror and Boyhood (2014)

Over the weekend I stumbled upon, well I finally got around to watching Black Mirror. I’ve heard great things about the show some people describe it as a Twilight Zone for science fiction stories.  It is a wonderful series the episodes all bring about some interesting topics, use of social media living in the cloud, wasting money, police state, politics and memory. They touch on a bunch of topics and they are all real fresh takes. Some of the stories felt like they could happen in a matter of years especially the first episode where we have a ransom video posted on Youtube for the safe return of a popular political figure, while others seems like they could happen in a matter of years where after her husband dies a wife get involved with a program that can simulate her husband based on what he wrote of the internet and making an algorithm so the program would respond like her husband.  It is a fantastic show and as is typical with most shows across the pond it is easy to catch up on the show since there are a small number of episodes. The producers are in talks about bringing the show to the United States, but the real question that this brings up is will it be a completely different show or will they just do US versions of the episodes that have been made already. I just don’t understand why it seems that most of television these days is simply redoing shows that were popular somewhere else

I also got around to seeing Boyhood, and I really wonder what people what the big deal with the movie is. Sure filming it over a twelve year period and watching the actors age in real time is an interesting thing and that’s a cool idea instead of having a different actor playing the same character or having heavy makeup to make them look older. One of the most remarkable things was that the film flowed really well, the years went by and we saw people grow up. Sure it’s bound to win the Oscar for Best Picture but I think that is mostly going to be for the span that it took to make the movie.  Although it will be cool if a independent film won Best Picture which will hopefully say to Hollywood that we want more films with actual substance. it should also inspire young filmmakers to try and make whatever films they want to and try to get them released.