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BOYS STATE

August 12, 2020 By Leave a Comment

BOYS STATE

As some of us still ponder the results of the presidential election of 2016, and view the approach of the 2020 election with trepidation, there is no more timely nor illuminating film than Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ cinema verité documentary, BOY’S STATE.

Tagged With: abortion, Boy's State, education, elections, gun control, high school, politics, Texas

LUCE

August 11, 2019 By Leave a Comment

LUCE

LUCE is less a film than a political dialectic on race and class in these United States, and a brilliant, exquisitely performed one at that. Told with a deliberate, sometimes maddening ambiguity, it challenges the audience at every turn about where the truth lies, and the limits of familial loyalty. By the end, not every… Read More »

Tagged With: child soldier, classism, high school, lying, racism, stage to screen, truth

SPIDERMAN: FAR FROM HOME

July 13, 2019 By 1 Comment

SPIDERMAN: FAR FROM HOME

We learn many things in SPIDERMAN FAR FROM HOME. We learn that not only are the Dutch polyglots, but also that they are the nicest people on earth, even when a private jet is making hash of their iconic tulip fields. We learn that saving the planet is just as important as getting that first… Read More »

Tagged With: Freudian nightmare, high school, Jungian archetype, Marvel Comic book character, Marvel Comics, Marvel Universe, romance, school trip, sequel, Spiderman

GIANT LITTLE ONES

March 27, 2019 By Leave a Comment

GIANT LITTLE ONES

GIANT LITTLE ONES is a perceptive, intelligent examination of what happens when unexpected feelings and actions don’t have neat labels.  In a time when acceptance of teenage sexuality, at least straight sexuality, has become the norm for most concerned, both parents and their sexually active kids, the question of sexual fluidity can still flummox.

Tagged With: coming of age, high school, sex, sexual fluidity

AS YOU ARE — Miles Joris-Peyrafitte Interview

February 27, 2017 By Leave a Comment

AS YOU ARE — Miles Joris-Peyrafitte  Interview

Mile Joris-Peyrafitte was only 23 when he made AS YOU ARE, and that was the first thing I brought up when we spoke by phone on February 22, 2017.  This deeply affecting story, about three high school friends, two young men and a young woman, confronting volatile and confusing situations has a visual assurance and… Read More »

Tagged With: domestic violence, fluid sexuality, guns, high school, LGBTQ, mystery, spin the bottle

LAZER TEAM

January 28, 2016 By 1 Comment

LAZER TEAM

LAZER TEAM is a cheerfully cheesy homage to great and not-so-great sci-fi  movies of days gone by.  With a goofy sense of humor, a droll use of irony, and whipsmart comedic instincts, it tells the time-honored tale of misfits finding the greatness within themselves, while also saving the earth from evil alien invaders. It takes as… Read More »

Tagged With: alien invasion, dorks, football, high school, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, nuclear option, particle ray, Sci-fi, secret government programs, social media, spoof

HAMLET 2

September 23, 2015 By Leave a Comment

HAMLET 2

Where do dreams go to die? That’s the question posed at the beginning of HAMLET 2, a comedy about the triumph of enthusiasm over talent. The answer to that question is Tucson, Arizona, at least for Dana Marschz, a spectacularly untalented actor turned equally untalented drama teacher at a high school there. Driven from a… Read More »

Tagged With: Amy Poehler, Andrew Fleming, drama coach, Elizabeth Shue, HAMLET 2, high school, high school theater, Pam Brady, sequet to Hamlet, Steve Coogan

THE DUFF Rules

February 24, 2015 By Leave a Comment

THE DUFF Rules

There are, to be sure, the usual tropes of high school angst and triumph to be found in THE DUFF, based on the book by Kody Keplinger, but this is a film distinguished by sprightly, intelligent writing, and outstanding performances that are not just funny, but also perceptive and nuanced.  Except for the high school… Read More »

Tagged With: adolescence, Allison Janney, Ari Sandel, Bella Thorne, book to screen, cyber bullying, high school, high school crush, homecoming, insecurities, Josh A. Cagan, Ken Jeong, Kody Keplinger, Mae Whitman, Nick Eversman, Romany Malco, young adult

BRICK

October 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment

There is in seeing Rian Johnson’s neo-noir, BRICK, the sense that this is not just a startlingly original, wholly engrossing, and brilliantly plotted piece of work. There is the sense that it is nothing less than a flawless masterpiece made all the more remarkable for being Johnson’s maiden cinematic effort. The idioms of the noir… Read More »

Tagged With: BRICK, cinema, drugs, film, first-time directors, high school, mystery, narrative, patois, Rian Johnson, taking falls

For Tom McCarthy, it’s WIN WIN

September 1, 2014 By Leave a Comment

For Tom McCarthy, it’s  WIN WIN

Tom McCarthy returned to his hometown of Provinctown, N.J., for WIN WIN, his third film as a writer/director. The story of a lawyer on the verge of a financial meltdown who makes a rash and unethical choice also gave him the opportunity to revist his favorite high school sport: wrestling. A working actor with a… Read More »

Tagged With: Bobby Canavale, coach, comedy-drama, director, ethics, film, high school, lawyer, malfeasance, narrative, New Jersey, Paul Giamatti, Provinctown, Tom McCarthy, wrestling, writer

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