Summer Movie must See Movie - Boyhood

Let me start by saying that I am not a big moviegoer type of person. I find it some what wasteful to spend $12 dollars or even $20 when you add the snacks to go see a movie that you could watch for FREE in a year at the luxury of your own bedroom. But, lately given my free time, I’ve decided to challenge myself by overlooking this negative view on movies, and go to an actual opening night of a movie, and enjoy myself like most normal people. 

So, on Friday I had the pleasure of watching Boyhood, which I have to admit has to be my favorite summer movie right now. The movie was …. I am not sure what’s the correct word to say, but I can’t stop thinking about it because it was just too good. Directed by Richard Linklater, the movie was filmed over a period of 12-years beginning when the lead actor, Ellar Coltrane was six years old and continuing until he was 18. One of my favorite actors Ethan Hawke plays his father, and Patricia Arquette plays his mother. Even though the plot of the movie is simple, which is essential a story of a parent-child relationship that follows a boy from first grade to 12^th grade and ends with him going to college. Even though the plot is simple, I think it’s something that everyone could relate to in one way or another, whether you are the parent or the child, the universality of the movie makes it a timeless piece. But also, the thing that really intrigued my interest was the concept behind the production of the movie; shooting and writing a movie over the course of 12 years. As the audience you get a raw and an organic view on the director’s art; and watch it unfold. But also, you watch the actors grow right in front of your eyes, and you feel almost like you are a part of their growth because you watch them go through all the stages that most children go throw, be it the first kiss, drink, or heading to college. As Michael Clark of Gwinnettdailypost notes, “Boyhood is as close as anyone has ever gotten to “real life’ in feature film.” So If you have nothing to do this Friday, grab a friend and go watch this beautiful movie that truly embodies what real art is about. If that’s not enough to convince you, it received an average rating of 99% on Rottentomatoes and 100% on metacritic

“Linklater's Latest Movie Is Magic” Huffingtonpost

“The project was a leap of faith in almost every sense — for starters, Coltrane (and his parents) was under no obligation to Linklater to return each year and continue the film. “You wouldn’t contract anyone to do something like this for 12 years, much less a 6-year-old,” Linklater says. “My hope was that his parents and him would see this as a positive thing in his life and a fun thing to be involved in every year.” Linklater’s other gamble was that the dreamy, artistic temperament he saw in Coltrane as a child would mature into the smart skepticism and quiet charisma we witness in young-adult Mason. That, in other words, the kid wouldn’t grow up into a dud.” New York Times

“Boyhood” functions as a de facto time capsule — you could chart the cultural shifts of the past 12 years by the way Mason’s video-gaming preferences progress from Game Boy Advance to Wii or how the soundtrack moves from Coldplay’s earnest 2000 guitar ballad “Yellow” to Daft Punk’s earnest-in-a-different-way 2013 dance hit “Get Lucky” — but the film is not a documentary. “I do want people to think what they’re seeing on screen is real,” Linklater says. “But this is solely fiction. The whole thing is a narrative construct.”New York Times