Oh yeah! Hell yes! After reading so many reviews of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, I discovered that it was a very divisive film with people either loving it or hating it. Now guess which side I fall down on. C'mon guys if you've read any of my reviews, you'll know I fucking loved this. So Me and Earl is about Greg, and Earl (the Me and Earl), two invisible high school kids who befriend a girl who has leukemia (aka the Dying Girl or Rachel). That's kind of the basis for the plot, and while that does sound conventional, the film refuses to be. It achieves this mainly in it's style and hidden complexity. On the surface, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a funny movie with a great script that literally almost had me dying of laughter (though that also might be attributed to the actors having perfect comedic timing), but when analyzed a little deeper, you can find a cocktail of emotion, and an odd amount of complexity for a high school movie. It almost seems as if this is what Terrance Malick would do with a high school film with a good amount of poetry, and deeper themes thrown into the mix for good measure other than the dialogue. Though, it does help that the dialogue and jokes are a lot of the time quite scathing as far as the whole cancer thing goes. Me and Earl is determined to say something, and wants to do it creatively. This is no The Fault in Our Stars though (Even though I fucking love The Fault in Our Stars). This is not everything being tied up with a nice little bow. This is a film that is honest, and the emotions that come with that, as well as the complexity, enhance even the funnier moments. However that's not the only thing that allows Me and Earl and the Dying Girl to be special. The writing is incredible, the actors are incredible, but honestly what almost made the movie for me was the direction. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is going to be one of the the new masters. He stages his films much like Wes Anderson, focussing on really lovely symmetrical camera angles that lead a film geek, like me, to lose his shit. It's invigorating as anything you will see all year. But then again, the film does seem imperfect, but I feel that this is possibly because of the complex themes under the surface of the film. There's a moment in any dramedy when all the thin veneer of it's hilarity falls away, and usually there's nothing really left. Me and Earl has the complexities, and poetry to fall back on. Now that's actually kind of a plus. The film has something to fall back on, but there's a difference between comedy that is very teenage type with a little darkness and philosophy mixed it, and then transferring to earth shattering and poetic cancer drama. I mean, at least it does fall back on that, and it's all executed pretty well, but it's all a little sloppy. With a less talented cast and crew, this honestly could have taken down the movie, but as I mentioned before that doesn't happen. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a really good movie, and one that I would highly recommend. I give Me and Earl and the Dying Girl a 9 out of 10.
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I would love to tell you that Inside Out is perfect. I can tell you that the writing, voice-acting, animation, story, plot, and design are all perfect. I can tell you that all the jokes are funny, and that the movie takes the time to be emotional. I can't tell you that the pacing is great though. Inside Out is about a child going through a hard time in their life, and the emotions in her head trying to deal with it. Joy is the main one, and is in charge most of the time. She keeps Riley (the little girl) happy, and fends of the other feelings in the headquarters. These are Anger (a hilarious Louis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Fear (Bill Hader). When a situation that is upsetting to Riley (one I will not reveal) happens, and the brain is thrown into chaos it's up to Joy, Sadness, and the other emotions to fix it all. This is kind of simple, and for the most part that's a good thing. The film's perfect parts are how it builds on such a great premise. The creative value here is undeniable as ever, and it's very clear that Pixar still can stand out simply because it does something creative. The whole world created here is vibrant, lovely, and just exciting. But Pixar also knows what to do with it. It knows how to streamline it all for the audience that is there into exciting, and emotional ways. These come up in the way of an incredibly funny screenplay, and a surprising message to tell the audience. A message that matters. An emotional message that is extremely important. This gives the film a nessessary depth that somewhat saves the film from it's own pitfall. I won't reveal the message (even though to create an in depth, and important discussion of the film that this review should be), but suffice to say it's an important one that deals with challenges that everybody needs to face. But, and there is a but all of this doesn't exactly stick as well as it should. The comedy does, and everything I said was perfect does, but I feel the film goes a little bit to fast for it's own good. The comedy works there because it's swift, but the emotional stuff needed a little bit more time to sink in. Not to say none of that stuck (I almost cried twice), but it just wasn't as satisfying as I wanted it to be. But that hardly matters. The majority of the material is excellent, and pulled off with ease. Inside Out is hilarious, and heartfelt, and Pixar needs to make more films like this. Vibrant films that challenge us are just what we need in modern Hollywood. I give Inside Out a 9.5 out of 10. There is one thing that I strive to achieve as a film critic, and that is to truly be taken seriously. Now in my time of writing I have realized the fact that one reason that I never really have hit that point is because I am too lenient in my rating of films. I find myself giving out lots of 9's, 9.5's, and 10's, and not really giving out many 5's, and 6's. Still that doesn't mean I don't take the time to watch movies that I think might be bad. I mean come on I watched Green Lantern over the weekend, and I'm not really in the mood to talk about it. So here I was ready to watch Far From the Madding Crowd a film that I thought would be bad; a dull, trite, and lifeless movie. I was so ready to go ahead and call this a stupid movie that you all should not see because it was fully a "Weinstein" movie that would be boring. But I can't actually say that. Far From the Madding Crowd is not a dull movie at all. In fact as far as romance movies go it's a full blooded, and rich love story. In fact it's such a lively, joyous (not to say that it's happy all the way through), and rollickingly good old timey romance I might even go ahead and say that this is what would happen if Quentin Tarantino got his hands on one of these things. No, I am not kidding when I say that. Far From the Madding Crowd works because it keeps the energy up, and it's smooth story going thanks to a sentimental, but not overly sappy script that allows scenes that hit you hard in both the your head, and heart. It switches between perfectly realized funny and emotional scenes, and (to justify what I said about Tarantino a minute ago) interconnects these with scenes of shocking, if not too graphic, violence that are invigorating none the less. Far From the Madding Crowd is based off of a book by Thomas Hardy (Not to be confused with the actor) who wrote it back in 1874, and has me wondering why a romance from that time has more heat then one from this time (cough, cough Fifty Shades of Grey cough). The book was about a woman named Bathsheba who takes control of her uncle's farm, and is courted by 3 men each having different standings in life. This all seems a bit sappy at first. But it's not. The film plays out almost like a sitcom of a period piece love story with the movie more about a host of charming personalities that are entertaining because they are acting off of each other as interesting events play out. It even has a viscerally satisfying "will they won't they" situation in it. Carrey Mulligan, and Matthias Schoenaerts lead this into very emotionally satisfying places, and they along with the rest of the cast perfectly create these characters perfectly. The full blooded enticing thing about Madding Crowd is that those personalities have a wild amount of sexual tension which combined with the excitement coming from the screenplay, and a graceful storyline. There are a few very beautiful moments throughout the film that effected me greatly.One in particular has Bathsheba singing duet with one of the men. I will not get that song out of my head anytime soon. It's just so nice. It's a great perk the Vinterberg seems to be a great director for this material. The direction is spectacular, and the cinematography is so beautiful that I was taken aback by it. Every detail is very well realized. As far as problems with the film go I think that it's all a little bit shallow, and those who are not fans of the sweeping storytelling like this are not going to get into it. I did though, and Far From the Madding Crowd is one of the best films of the year. I give Far From the Madding Crowd a 9 out of 10. Reviewed by Stephen Tronicek |
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |