Blog Archives
Flash Movie Review: The Edge of Seventeen
FOUR years attending the same school taught me more about social dynamics than any of my classes. I am not sure this applies to every school; but going into high school I was not prepared for the pecking order that was established for the student body. It could easily have been called a caste system because there were the “haves and have nots.” Within a short time one group that quickly formed were the popular kids. This class was made up of jocks, cheerleaders and anyone who the majority of students deemed beautiful or handsome. From my experience this was the alpha group. STUDENTS with the best grades, who did not qualify for the alpha group, formed their own clan known as the “brainiacs” aka smart students. Now this group used their collective intellect to thwart the jock group as a counterbalance to their top status. This group tended to be more receptive in allowing classmates to join them. If one was not fit for either of these two groups then there was a lower status group known as the “good students.” Though not as high in status, the students in this group never got in trouble, did nothing to standout in an inappropriate way or clash with any of the other groups. Continuing down the food chain so to speak there is the group referred to as the stoners. For anyone displaying behavior associated with drunkenness or high on drugs, this was their group. They did not care about the status of the other groups, barely acknowledged them or did not care at all. There are sub groups and such but down at the bottom were the leftovers in the student body and they were considered the losers. The kids in this group had to be on guard because they could be easy targets for any of the other groups. The toughest part of this caste system was trying not to carry it with you as your time served was ending. ALREADY not feeing connected to her fellow classmates Nadine, played by Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, Begin Again), at least had one good friend. However that was not going to be enough considering her brother Darian, played by Blake Jenner (Everybody Wants Some, Glee-TV), was a star football player. This coming of age comedic drama was not like the other films that have been done in this category. With Woody Harrelson (Out of the Furnace, Now You See Me franchise) as Mr. Bruner, Kyra Sedgwick (Gamer, The Closer-TV) as Mona and Hayden Szeto (The Unbidden, Chop Shop-TV) as Erwin; this cast not only performed well together, they appeared authentic in a modern way. My experiences both helped and hindered my involvement into the story. On one hand I understood the dynamics perfectly, but then some of the scenes did not seem real to me only because I had never encountered them when I was in school. There were a couple of times that my disbelief took over which lost the scene for me. However the acting was sharp as was the script; so I was able to get back on track with the story. Having seen this movie only confirmed my belief that high school is not meant for the weak.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Everybody Wants Some!!
I know I am not the only one, based on how many reactions I have witnessed from other people. Maybe it is due to the fallacy we have all been bombarded with on what is considered beautiful, but when I see old photos of myself my 1st reaction is usually disgust. Besides seeing me when I was larger and had a lot more hair, the pictures of what was considered fashion at the time look like I was wearing clown outfits. How did we wind up having a small minority of individuals deciding for the rest of the population what was in fashion? Now for those of you who are not familiar with the 1980s, it was a time where disco music was beginning to wane as country music was becoming more popular. Before cowboy hats and boots were the rage the clothing was made up of synthetic fibers splashed with colors not found in nature. Since I am a big music lover across many genres, I can recall what type of music was playing during that decade. Usually all I need to hear is a few beginning notes of a song and I can immediately recall where I was when I first heard that song. It is then followed by the emotions I was going through at that time. For those of you who lived through the 80s, there is a good chance you would have been found on the weekends at the disco. Asking someone to dance was the standard pickup line for that generation. If you want to see how it was done you can see it in this movie. WRITTEN and directed by Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Dazed and Confused), this comedy showed what life was like for a group of college baseball players in the 1980s. Starring Blake Jenner (Glee-TV) as Jake, Tyler Hoechlin (Road to Perdition, Teen Wolf-TV) as McReynolds, Ryan Guzman (The Boy Next Door, Heroes: Reborn-TV) as Roper and Zoey Deutch (Dirty Grandpa, Beautiful Creatures) as Beverly; the soundtrack to this film was awesome. Granted I am a fan of dance music so I spent a good portion of time tapping my feet to the beats while watching this picture. The story could be seen as a continuation of the director’s previous film Boyhood only because that film ended with the boy about to go to college and the character Jake entering college here. I enjoyed seeing what life was like back then; Richard Linklater painted an accurate and believable picture in my opinion. There was not much of a story as the scenes passed by showing college life for the students; there were no big dramatic shifts in the script. I did not find anything worth laughing out loud; however, there were times where I was amused by particular goofy scenes. For those who wish to see what that time period was like, this movie would fill your curiosity. And to those who lived through that era, please do not cringe when you see something that looks familiar to you.
3 1/3 stars
moviejoltz 