Boyhood

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 2/11/15 at 11:29pm

I just watched this movie with a bit of trepidation. Pals had opined that it was slow and tedious. I can't recall the last time I was so emotionally engaged in a picture. Shooting it over 12 years ends up not being a gimmick at all but a profound way of revealing a story of ordinary people as extraordinary. I was so moved by the honesty and simplicity of the the characters and their journeys. Arquette is, in fact, magnificent and deserves all of the praise she's receiving. Likewise Hawke and the kids, none of them showboating for a moment while lifting and breaking your heart. I did not see my particular childhood, junior or high school or college experiences, nor my adult relationships reflected in the story and yet related to it all with utter empathy and connection. It may not have the flash and edge to win the Oscar but I will remember it long after whatever does win has faded from memory.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/11/15 at 11:39pm

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 2/11/15 at 11:43pm

I did search "Boyhood" and nothing came up. I also clicked on your link, Horse, and nothing opened. So sorry if I'm repeating.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 2:37am

I'm giving you a hard time, Wilma. Here's what you need to make sure you're doing:

1. Make sure you're clicking on the word "search" directly above the topic bar:


...and not using the google search bar near the top of the page. That search bar is to search the entire site, not just the messageboard and will only give you a mess of irrelevant results:



2. If your search is not theatre related, select "Other Boards" from the "Search Board" drop-down menu. This will search the "Off Topic" and "Student" boards, though Lord knows why you'd want to read anything on the student board.



3. This one's especially helpful. Select "Subject Only" from the "Search Options" drop-down menu. This will limit the search results to threads with your search term in their titles -- as opposed to any thread which may make use of your search term. It's almost always advisable to use this function unless the term you're searching for is uncommon, you want to find ALL of the threads in which your term has been mentioned, or you suspect there's a thread on this subject, but it's title does not feature your search term. For example, if someone started a thread on Boyhood, but simply titled it "This is my favorite movie of 2014".



4. Hit the "Search" button and your results should show up below. All that said, the search functionality here is far from perfect and if you're searching for an especially common term, you might have to wade through a couple of pages of results. Don't forget that you can also set date parameters to limit your search to threads from a certain period. As you will see, by following these instructions, I easily found the existing thread for Boyhood. Happy searching!

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 8:57am

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 9:36am

Sent a PM.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 12:48pm

You make it look so easy, Horse Tears.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 5:14pm

Why do I keep remembering 1982, "Does he know how to program his VCR?"

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 5:28pm

This thing reads like stereo instructions.

[SmokeyLady]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 5:43pm

Lovely movie. Certainly one of the best among this years otherwise mediocre offerings.

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 8:06pm

http://youtu.be/SSZg1Wy7H0k

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 8:09pm

Thanks for the link, broadway guy.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 9:22pm

The movie has created an inevitable backlash. It's no longer cool to like it. I don't get it.

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 10:54pm

Because it's winning Best Picture. No one likes the frontrunner at this time in the Oscar race. Everyone is rooting for the underdog.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/12/15 at 11:17pm

That's very true, broadway guy.

[Fantod]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 2:02am

It was a very good movie. Did it need to be three hours long? No. However, I think the effort put into the movie made it deserve its runtime. I still think Selma should win best picture, but I won't be upset about Boyhood. As long as that awful Birdman doesn't win.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 2:17am

And why didn't it need to be 3 hours long (which it wasn't, it was only 2:45)? But please tell us why there was no need for that length.

[Fantod]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 2:39am

Oh, please forgive me for forgetting to say the exact running time.

And the exact same message and scope could have been gotten from a 2 hour running time. But like I said, it earned it, even if it didn't need it.

[tazber]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 7:24am

Birdman is the front runner at this point after sweeping the guilds.

I loved Boyhood though.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 8:57am

I enjoyed BOYHOOD a lot, but I'll cop to feeling a decided drop in interest about 2/3 of the way in, and then it picked back up again. I'm wanting very much to see it again to see if that still holds true, the Blu-Ray has been beckoning me from the table for a couple weeks...

BIRDMAN is more than useless enough to win Best Picture.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 9:15am

I only appreciated BOYHOOD's artistry fully on a second viewing, via my screener. I liked it in the theater, certainly, and only thought good things; but when I revisited the material, knowledge of its sweet, unhurried ending carried with me, I was almost overwhelmed by its emotional power as it unfolded. By the middle (somewhere at the point when Hawk gave his son the Beatles CD) the story just took on a special, melodrama-free stature. Its insistence on celebrating the ordinary is its strength to me. I know many other people who wanted hair-pin turns, something in the trajectory to rattle the narrative. Both viewings: by the time we got to the Arquette character's viewing of her own life, the mysteries of parenting, the quotidian challenges of just showing up for children and keeping them on track, made the story achingly real and wonderful. I believe 20 years from now it will be a film that marks the era in many ways. And ultimately believe it doesn't compare easily to any other movie, whether in competition for "best" or not.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 9:17am

I could only get through 40 minutes without falling asleep. For me, it was like watching paint dry. I wanna give it another go because so many people regard it so highly. Maybe this weekend cause it's gonna be way too cold to go outside.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 9:42am

I liked the concept, but I found the content sorely lacking. I was really looking forward to it, but I was mostly bored. Arquette was the one glittering gem I found in a rather dull film. I didn't hate it, though. I mean, it wasn't as bad as Tree of Life, so there's that.

[east side story]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 11:26am

Even though Birman won PGA and DGA, and seeing as how I refuse to use SAG Ensemble awards as a Best Picture harbinger, I still believe Boyhood will take Best Picture next weekend. It just won the BAFTA for Picture and Director, and of course Arquette. If Boyhood does not take the top two awards, I suspect there could be a split. It takes Picture, and Birman takes Director. Or vice versa?

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 2/13/15 at 11:48am

I have to say that between Boyhood and Birdman, I enjoyed Birdman a lot more. The reason being is because I found Birdman to be an amazing character study and was able to pick up on a lot of subtle and interesting things the second time I went back to see it in the theaters. However, while Boyhood was unique in how it was made, I honestly felt that it didn't add anything new with regards to the whole coming of age genre of film.

However, I think that Boyhood will win best picture, not because of of plot or anything like that, more because no film had ever been made the way Boyhood was at I think that it will win best picture just on that merit alone.