Showing Tag: " coming-of-age" (Show all posts)

REVIEW: Paper Towns – Q, Ben And Radar Sing The Pokémon Theme Song And Take One Last Road Trip

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, August 1, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Paper Towns
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Jake Schreier

Starring: Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Austin Abrams, Justice Smith, Halston Sage, Jaz Sinclair

With a great deal of reluctance, I agreed to review Paper Towns. I was not looking forward to seeing another film based on a John Green novel. After all, I remembered the sobbing and squeals of “Oh my God, I can’t take it” as I watched The Fault In Our Stars. I feared that Paper Towns would make me want to run screaming from the theater, dr...

REVIEW: The Part Where You Respect the Research On the Doomed Friendships of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, June 14, 2015, In : 0.00% Water

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Directed By: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Starring: Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, Ronald Cyler II, Jon Bernthal, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, and Molly Shannon

We've had a terrific run of coming-of-age movies in recent years. Boyhood, The Way, Way Back, The Spectacular Now, Short Term 12, Mud, and The Kings of Summer have all risen to the occasion at one point or another in the last several years. What's so marvelous about this list of quality movies is that they're all so...
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REVIEW: The DUFF = Designated Ugly Fat Friend Plus the Five Stages of Grief in High School from the Eyes & Monster Voice of Bianca Piper

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, February 21, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The DUFF

Directed By: Ari Sandel

Starring: Mae Whitman, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Bianca A. Santos, Allison Janney, Romany Malco, and Ken Jeong

Thirty years ago this week, John Hughes introduced us to a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal in the most entertaining detention of all time. Thirty years ago, Hughes introduced us to his classic coming-of-age comedy-drama The Breakfast Club. With the anniversary of this cinematic heavyweight in mind, I've obviously popped o...
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REVIEW: Like Mason in Richard Linklater's Boyhood, We're All Just Winging It Through Life Without Bumpers As the Moment Seizes Us

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, July 19, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Boyhood

Directed By: Richard Linklater

Starring: Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater, and Ethan Hawke

I'm always in search of bold, refreshing filmmaking that pushes the bounds of what cinema can be. Rarely, do I actually find it. On this otherwise ordinary weekend at the movies, I think we've found something special, something extraordinary. The vast majority of films go into production for several months. Well, on this weekend, we have a movie that went into production fo...
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REVIEW: For Adèle, Emma's Blue is the Warmest, Sexiest Color

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, November 3, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Blue is the Warmest Color

Directed By: Abdellatif Kechiche

Starring: Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux

Since founding STMR, I've been to more movies than I care to count. Because of this, I've seen and interacted with all kinds of audiences. Until last night, I thought I had seen it all. When I attended a screening of Blue is the Warmest Color, however, I checked off one more thing I never could have anticipated, especially at an independent theater. As you may know, Palme d'Or winner Bl...
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REVIEW: In The Spectacular Now, Paper Girl Aimee Finecky Gets Alcoholic Sutter Keely to Write One Hell of a Personal Statement On Hardship

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, August 10, 2013, In : 0.00% Water

The Spectacular Now

Directed By: James Ponsoldt

Starring: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Kyle Chandler

The summer of coming-of-age movies is coming to a close. Before we say adios, I'd just like to say that it's been a fun ride. With films like Mud, The Kings of Summer, and The Way, Way Back, we simply haven't gone wrong. The closer for this summer is James Ponsoldt's The Spectacular Now, a daring comedy-drama that puts a new me...
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REVIEW: In The To Do List, Newbie Brandy Clark Does the Back Door But Not for Lifeguard Rusty Waters

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, July 27, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The To Do List

Directed By: Maggie Carey

Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Johnny Simmons, Bill Hader, Scott Porter, Alia Shawkat, Rachel Bilson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Andy Samberg, Connie Britton, and Clark Gregg

When I first heard of The To Do List, I was pretty skeptical. After all, the 29 year-old Aubrey Plaza isn't the youngest actress in the world, and her time to portray 17 year-old teenage girls has mostly passed. Before you shoot the messenger for daring to talk about a woman's age, I'm not...
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REVIEW: In The Way, Way Back, Pop-N-Lock Duncan Leaves the Riptide Beach House and Hits the Slides at Water Wizz

Posted by James Brown on Friday, July 5, 2013, In : 0.00% Water

The Way, Way Back

Directed By: Nat Faxon and Jim Rash

Starring: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Bobb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Rob Corddry, Amanda Peet, and Liam James

2013 marks the summer of coming-of-age comedies at the indie box office. The proof is in the pudding. This past June, Joe, Patrick, and Biaggio jammed on some logs in the woods in The Kings of Summer. This month, Duncan is breaking it down on a cardboard dance floor at Water Wizz in The Way, Way Back....
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REVIEW: The Kings Of Summer – Joe, Patrick And Biaggio Brave The Forest And Boston Market In This Endearing Coming Of Age Story

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Saturday, June 8, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Kings Of Summer
SoberFilmChick

Directed by: Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Starring: Nick Offerman, Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Megan Mullally, and Alison Brie

When I saw the trailer for The Kings of Summer, I was sold. Not because I was excited about another suburban coming of age story, but because Nick Offerman is in the film. I love Offerman as Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation and I even enjoy when he reads tweets from young female celebrities on Conan. With his dry delive...

REVIEW: Mud, Ellis, & Neckbone Make One Good Deal for a Boat, a Pistol, and Love

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, April 28, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Mud

Directed By: Jeff Nichols

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Shannon, Sarah Paulson, Sam Shepard, and Stuart Greer

Matthew McConaughey has been pigeonholing himself recently. He's been in a slew of Southern-themed indie flicks. Think Bernie. Think Killer Joe. Think The Paperboy. While these are all distinct films, they share some geographic similarities, which isn't necessarily a plus for McConaughey's filmography. I'd very much like ...
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REVIEW: In Ginger & Rosa, the Young War Protester and Dad's Side Chick Can't Be Best Friends Forever

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, March 24, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Ginger & Rosa

Directed By: Sally Potter

Starring: Elle Fanning, Alice Englert, Alessandro Nivola, Annette Bening, Timothy Spall, Oliver Platt, and Christina Hendricks

There have been a lot of period pieces this month. We've been taken back to post-WWII Germany and Japan in Lore and Emperor. We've been taken to Chile back in the 1980s in No. This weekend, we're being taken back to 1960s London during the height of the Cold War with the United States and the Soviet Union embroiled in a tense fe...
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