EIGHTH GRADE Review

I watched an interview with Elsie Fisher on Jimmy Kimmel where she said she was reading Letterboxd reviews and now I’m as anxious as Kayla was at that pool party; wondering what I should say and how much I should divulge so as to not stick out, but not be completely invisible either.

Honestly though, what Kayla does at that pool party is braver than any thought I would have even pondered at her age. Kayla, if you’re wondering, is the mostly balanced if not sometimes age-appropriately dramatic teen at the center of comedian and all-around genius Bo Burnham’s directorial debut. Kayla is shy and possesses very little confidence. She lives in a modest home with her single father (played so lovingly by Josh Hamilton) and yearns only to be accepted for the version of herself she is able to project on her YouTube channel.

For all intents and purposes, Eighth Grade doesn’t stick out for any one particular reason as it could easily be described as a millennial’s most accurate coming of age story, but that would be to dismiss all the small, but vital attributes (LeBron James!) that make its heart beat in earnest. For example, did anyone else who’s pretty far removed from the middle school/junior high experience forget how anxiety-inducing it was when you went to a friend’s birthday party and had to wait on them to open presents all the while hoping that your present will be deemed cool not only by the birthday girl or boy, but by everyone else in attendance? Yeah, me too, but Eighth Grade does a beautifully haunting job of capturing such an experience in all its dreaded glory.

McFARLAND, USA Review

With something like McFarland, USA you know exactly what you're getting into the moment you purchase a ticket. Still, McFarland is full of surprises and the big one here is that despite being an inspirational Disney sports movie based on a true story director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and screenwriter Grant Thompson have garnered the genuine heart and real sense of community in this story and successfully brought it to the film adaptation. There is immediately a stronger aesthetic to the film than any of the more recent outings in this mini-genre that make the stories feel manufactured and the characters little more than archetypes. Everything from the titular location to the characters we should seemingly already know feel authentic in a way that garners an inherent respect for what is trying to be accomplished. To the point of going in and expecting one thing and getting more than you bargained for it is somewhat surprising, given his résumé, that Kevin Costner hasn't already starred in one of these Disney sports films and kind of unbelievable this story hasn't already been tapped for a feature film. I'm glad it hasn't and that Costner waited patiently for, despite his clear admiration for films around America's pastime, a film that makes good use of not only his persona, but the influencing factors of that persona. This adoration for baseball we associate with the actor allows him to fit perfectly into the mold needed for Coach Jim White. For as much as White is out of his depth in the city of McFarland we see the unease of Costner in returning to a genre that makes him feel at home. Just as Costner is trying to reinvigorate his career White is trying to figure out his life as a coach maybe not of the sport he knows best, but of the ones his particular pupils have a greater skill for. He is out of his depth, but he is willing to try and find something that reinvigorates his passion, just as the actor playing him is doing. McFarland, USA isn't really about Coach White though, but the community at large and reinforcing Costner's casting all the more is the fact he's a perfect surrogate for the majority of Americans into a world we think we understand well enough, but have no honest idea of.

DESPICABLE ME 2 Review

When a movie only happens because the first was a surprise hit it more times than not has a sense it exists because the iron was hot rather than there being any ideas of value proposed to continue the story. Thus is the dilemma the makers of Despicable Me 2 likely encountered when the small Illumination Entertainment company scored a $540 million worldwide hit with the original film. Naturally, the studio was quick to get to work on a follow-up and now that the minions have become a cultural mainstay with a feature of their own on the way the anticipation for the second installment in what will no doubt become a more extensive series was sky high. The influence of the charming first installment looms over this uneven sequel though and unfortunately that doesn't always bode well as their is plenty going on here, but nothing really feels like it happens. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense if I'm being completely honest because the voice cast is on point, the story is a surprisingly natural extension of where the first one left off and though the animation itself is nowhere up to the standards of titan studios like Pixar, enough care is taken in the execution of the film to include countless side jokes, little details that add real personality to the characters and even a story arc for the minions, but in the end that doesn't make a complete film that is as satisfying as it should be. It is tough to explain and is really disappointing because I genuinely loved the first film and was very much looking forward to this sequel despite the fact I have no small children as excuses to go and see this, but was more than willing to walk up and buy a ticket with my head held high. Maybe it is indeed the fact I had such high expectations going in that I was somewhat let down by what was delivered, but either way it should be understood that Despicable Me 2 is not a bad film by any means, but it is purely an average film that takes advantage of the minion popularity and eager parents willing to shell out money on premium 3D tickets and countless other merchandise opportunities while the film itself feels rushed in all the human aspects it tackled so originally, or at least more interestingly, in the first film.