The amazing part about Boyhood, well, one of the amazing parts, is that it is so relatable on a broad scale, despite being incredibly specific. Boyhood understands so many basic parts of the human experience but hey, most kids from Connecticut don’t get a shotgun on their fifteenth birthday.

Boyhood is one of those films that critics save up all of their hyperboles for. You can call it amazing and you can call it groundbreaking and it both instances it wouldn’t sound like you were exaggerating. In this case, listen to the hype.

You might already know the story of how Boyhood was made. Twelve years ago, Richard Linklater first pointed a camera at six-year-old Ellar Coltrane and then filmed a little bit of the story each year for the next twelve years. It is a wholly unique way to make a film, and it makes for a film that is like no other.

Coltrane plays Mason, who starts the film as a boy and ends it as somebody who is figuring out how to be a man. Mason hails from Texas and lives in a broken home, with his mom (Patricia Arquette) doing everything she can to keep the family afloat, while his dad (Ethan Hawke) shows up every other weekend to take him and his sister (Lorelei Linklater) on some sort of awesome trip. Explaining any further story would probably serve no purpose. Linklater’s best films (with the exception of School of Rock and Bernie) run on people rather than plot devices.

In terms of story, Boyhood is both a familiar and a unique coming-of-age story. It contains kids making mistakes, and adults giving advice. Yet, even the cliches feel fresh. The wonderful thing about a visual medium like film is that it is not just about the story you tell, but how you are telling that story. Linklater gets this, and it often feels like he is pointing the camera in such a direction that nobody has pointed it before. There is just so much light shining through this film, and even when it does get dark, it still maintains the perfect level of bright optimism.

Boyhood is mostly about memories, and how fleeting they are and how we do everything to try and capture them. It is therefore fitting that Mason is a photographer and, like Linklater, he tries the best he can to capture ordinary life just a little differently than anybody else. One shot in the film sticks out in particular. It is the opening shot as well as the film’s poster: Mason lays out on what seems like an infinite field staring up at the sky. It turns out he is really just laying down on a little grassy corner in the schoolyard. Mason sees something we don’t see. He is just a young boy in this small town yet everything seems so huge to him. Boyhood is about Mason both realizing who he is while trying to invite us into his authentic worldview.

As Mason, Coltrane gives a brilliant and ever-evolving performance. He has a long career ahead of him, although this might just be the most challenging thing that he ever does. As parents, Arquette and Hawke make perfect opposites. Arquette is a multi-dimensional mother with too much on her plate, and Hawke is the quintessential fun dad who knows the right things to say at the exact right moments. Just like Mason, the two of them grow over the course of twelve years.

Boyhood is the rare film that has to be seen in theaters not because of the spectacle, but because of the shared experience. Three hours fly by and by the end, it will feel like some of Mason’s memories are your own as well. Everything that is in it works much better than you could ever imagine. A character can spout out a line like “we don’t seize the moment–the moment seizes us” and somehow it doesn’t sound like a Jaden Smith Tweet. At certain moments, Boyhood brought tears to my eyes, not out of sadness, but because I felt like I was watching my own life unfold in front of me. Sure, that might sound dumb, but sometimes when you love a film this much, it makes you say really stupid things.

Brain Farts From The Edge

• Yes, I already bought the soundtrack.
• This film is so good that Soak Up The Sun is now stuck in my head.
• Boyhood might be the first film I have seen that is a period piece about my childhood, which, like Mason’s, occurred mostly in the early 2000s. Boyhood is a period piece that changes during every single year it takes place. I need to write a separate piece about this.
• Think of Boyhood as an easier to digest version of The Tree of Life. It asks all of the same philosophical questions, but without the dinosaurs.
• Patricia Arquette should win an Oscar for her final scene alone.
• With the Texas setting and meandering conversations, I consider Boyhood to be a sort of unofficial sequel to Dazed and Confused. One fun little easter egg: the liquor store clerk from Dazed makes a little cameo in Boyhood.
• Boyhood is somewhere between a drama and a comedy. Linklater never goes for cheap laughs or dramatic moments. When there is a laugh, it is earned. When something terrible happens, there has already been plenty of buildup to it beforehand. Boyhood is a masterclass of plants and payoffs.
• Boyhood is basically the cinematic equivalent of Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs.
• Texas Fun Fact: Texans say a pledge to the Texas flag after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
• For a brief moment, Boyhood really made me want to move to Texas. Good work, Linklater.
• A second viewing needs to happen some time soon.

Never thought J.K. Simmons could look this scary. Image via Sundance Film Guide

Unfortunately, I did not get to attend the Sundance Film Festival this year. This is tough, because if you’ve been to it once, then you just want to go again and again.

While I couldn’t be there in person, that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t follow all of the action vicariously. Guys, the Internet is a wonderful thing.

Through descriptions and reviews of all of the films that were screened at the Festival, I was able to compile a list of this year’s entries that I want to see the most. Who knows, maybe one of these could be the next “Reservoir Dogs” or “Clerks.” Whatever happens, at least one of (if not all) of these films will have a character who either plays ukelele or looks really sad while taking a shower.

Read the list below:

Boyhood

In order to understand the film, the behind-the-scenes of “Boyhood” is crucial to know: director Richard Linklater filmed it in bits and pieces over a 12 year period in order to accurately capture the aging of the lead child character. This idea is so interesting and ambitious and proves that Linklater is secretly one of America’s most innovative filmmakers. Remember, this is the same dude that also directed “Dazed & Confused,” “School of Rock,” and “Bernie.” Linklater refuses to stick to the same style and formula, which is why I love his films so much.

Image via Sundance Film Guide

Nymphomaniac: Volume I

I have yet to see a single Lars von Trier film (oops), but that doesn’t make me any less excited for “Nymphomaniac,” which was the surprise secret screening at the Festival. “Nymphomaniac” is an epic about sex addiction. If that doesn’t sound indulgent enough, then you should also know that the film had to be split in two, as the original cut is over four hours long. This is what we get for complaining about the length of “The Wolf of Wall Street.” For now, I will see “Nymphomaniac” partly out of pure curiosity, and partly because I never imagined that Shia LaBeouf and Uma Thurman would star together in a Danish sex comedy. Yes, I’ll watch “Melancholia” soon, so please stop asking.

Note: I am pretty sure that any photo, poster, or clip that I put up for this film will offend someone or get me in serious trouble. Go look it up at your own risk. 

The Skeleton Twins

I try not to be pulled in to films by star power alone. However, I will make an exception to this rule when the stars in question happen to be Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. The pair of “Saturday Night Live” alums star in “The Skeleton Twins” as a pair of estranged twins who reunite. The two of them are so good at playing silly, so this will be the first time they really get to play serious (they were both in “Adventureland” together though, albeit as comic relief). The two of them should be great in dramatic roles, just don’t join the dark side for good, guys.

Doing a great impression of “melancholy white people” Image via Sundance Film Guide

Whiplash

“Whiplash” was one of the most highly buzzed about films at the Festival.  J.K. Simmons continues to be an underrated character actor, while Miles Teller is just about on his way to huge stardom, as long as he never stars in anything like “That Awkward Moment” ever again. Once again, I try not to be fully convinced by star power alone, but “Whiplash” had me at “J.K. Simmons yells and curses at Miles Teller a lot.”

Image via Sundance Film Guide

Wish I Was Here

“Wish I Was Here” garnered a strong love it or hate it reaction from Sundance crowds, and I’m not sure if that’s because of the film itself, or because Zach Braff is a fairly divisive figure. I am excited to see Braff’s long awaited Kickstarter-funded directorial follow up to “Garden State.” While it seems fairly uncool to like “Garden State” anymore, it is important to remember that most of the annoying indie tropes associated with the film were original at the time that it came out. Therefore, it is the imitators, as opposed to the inventors, who deserve more of the blame here.* Anyway, if a film caused this much debate at Sundance, then there must be something interesting about it. Hopefully, this could also serve as a comeback for Kate Hudson, who deserves better roles after years stuck in rom-com hell. Also, I am required to end this paragraph by saying that this film also stars Mandy Patinkin.

Image via Sundance Film Guide

*But that whole “two people connect while listening to The Shins” thing? That’s all on you, Braff.

Films I Would See Based On Their Titles Alone: Afronauts, Dear White People