Eighth Grade (2018)

[baumer]

Discuss

[La Binoche]

So tired of movies about douchey sulking teens who hate their parents and I'm supposed to feel something profound for them cuz they're like going thru 8th grade and like that's like soooo hard! The girl here is annoying, entitled and has no personality besides being obsessed with her phone and whining that her dad is ruining her life every time he opens his mouth. There is so much FORCED awkwardness between them. 

 

We need more teen protagonists like the ones in Clueless or Say Anything who have real relationships with their parents and don't just stereotypically mope and roll their eyes in the presence of an adult. 

 

There are some fun, uncomfortable scenes in the movie (the pool party) but the parts don't add up to much, and when the dad delivers his big speech about how special his daughter is and how proud he is to be her dad, it didn't feel earned at all. 

 

The praise is very unwarranted. I guess it's the A24 logo + the fact that they didn't cover up her zits (how brave!!!)? 

 

C-

[filmlover]

An authentic feeling portrait of that time in our lives that everybody wishes they couldn't remember. The themes in this movie are universal and easily relatable. Elsie Fisher is magnificent in what will definitely be a major breakthrough performance. A remarkable directorial debut from 27 year-old Bo Burnham that marks the third excellent movie we've gotten about teenage girls in as many years (following The Edge of Seventeen and Lady Bird) and will certainly find a very wide audience on the home market, if not in theaters, judging from my audience's overwhelming reaction on the way out. A

[Rorschach]

The best horror movie of the year.

 

A

[Ethan Hunt]

Shrug 

[Webslinger]

Middle school is a nigh-unbearable stage of awkwardness, and Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade captures it with raw honesty that registers as hilarious and heartfelt simultaneously. The film consistently feels like both an accurate window into the electronically-connected world today’s teenagers navigate and a more timeless reflection upon craving self-assuredness and a place of belonging at a vulnerable stage of life. At the center of it all, newcomer Elsie Fisher does terrific work as Kayla, the insecure protagonist. Her honest, vulnerable work highlights Kayla’s ongoing tension between developing a stronger sense of self and creating a different persona in the hope of appearing more confident and worldly. She also has just the right degree of naivete to make some of the film’s racier jokes and its more serious scenes work perfectly. While the nature of the narrative allows Fisher to carry most of the film on her shoulders, character actor Josh Hamilton also gets several opportunities to shine as an all-too-believable caring dad who nimbly straddles the line between embarrassing “dad joke” humor and tear-jerking devotion; one of their last scenes together is an especially moving one that highlights the admirable qualities Kayla overlooks in her immature perception of what makes a person worthy of love. The film admittedly has an episodic feel, but the approach fits with the short timeline (a week or thereabouts) and eschews tropes and clichés that wear many other teen comedies down in favor of more authentic, organic moments that gradually reveal the protagonist’s layers and carry her – and viewers – toward a joyful conclusion that feels earned rather than obligatory. Debut writer-director Bo Burnham takes a big risk by setting the film in the present day rather than evoking the mid-2000s setting of his own adolescence (a fact that his script seems to address implicitly when a high school student comments upon Kayla effectively belonging to a different generation than him), but he delivers upon that risk by portraying technology as an essential part of the young characters’ lives in an organic, non-judgmental manner. While his YouTube fame doesn’t appear to inform the low production values of Kayla’s videos, it does inform an intriguing commentary on public and private selves via the confident front Kayla displays in her videos versus her awkward, self-conscious off-camera behavior. It’s a sublime accomplishment in its genre, certain to join Lady Bird and The Edge of Seventeen as one of the definitive teen films of the decade.

 

A-

 

Stray Thoughts:

- The R rating is such bullshit. Going in, I assumed that it must have had characters who swore as frequently as I did in eighth grade. Unless I'm mistaken, there were only two f-bombs. Admittedly, it's pretty direct about some of its racy humor (though it doesn't show anything especially objectionable), but I feel like I heard worse in PG-13 Adam Sandler comedies when I was a teenager. (And that's to say nothing of the fact that teenagers will hear way worse in the hallway on any given day of middle or high school, even in a private school.) This is the silliest R since the hullabaloo surrounding Bully's rating in 2012.

 

- I loved how Kayla's voice when handing the thank-you note to Kennedy sounds almost exactly like the voice she uses when she makes her videos. It's a nice, subtle touch that shows how the self she tries to project to the popular girls is carefully calibrated in the same ways her videos are.

 

- Gabe needed more scenes, if only to sell their last scene together a touch more effectively. That said, I love that Rick & Morty is the thing they end up bonding over.

 

- I still can't believe that the guy I remember best from watching "Oh Bo" in a friend's dorm common space when I was in college made a movie this good. It's also surreal to think that someone my age is writing and directing movies that get wide release.

[Rorschach]

37 minutes ago, Webslinger said:

The R rating is such bullshit. Going in, I assumed that it must have had characters who swore as frequently as I did in eighth grade. Unless I'm mistaken, there were only two f-bombs. Admittedly, it's pretty direct about some of its racy humor (though it doesn't show anything especially objectionable), but I feel like I heard worse in PG-13 Adam Sandler comedies when I was a teenager. (And that's to say nothing of the fact that teenagers will hear way worse in the hallway on any given day of middle or high school, even in a private school.) This is the silliest R since the hullabaloo surrounding Bully's rating in 2012.

I agree. Its pretty dumb and I've heard much worse in a lot of PG-13 films. I don't really remember there being too much language in the film tbh. Really nothing on the fault of the filmmakers. Just the MPAA being a stupid fucking system.

[filmlover]

1 hour ago, Webslinger said:

Middle school is a nigh-unbearable stage of awkwardness, and Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade captures it with raw honesty that registers as hilarious and heartfelt simultaneously. The film consistently feels like both an accurate window into the electronically-connected world today’s teenagers navigate and a more timeless reflection upon craving self-assuredness and a place of character actor Josh Hamilton also gets several opportunities to shine as an all-too-believable caring dad who nimbly straddles the line between embarrassing “dad joke” humor and tear-jerking devotion; one of their last scenes together is an especially moving one that highlights the admirable qualities Kayla overlooks in her immature perception of what makes a person worthy of love.

Josh Hamilton was so great in this. His father character reminded me of Michael Stuhlbarg's in Call Me by Your Name.

[YLF]

B-/C+

[baumer]

Not quite my tempo.

 

6/10

[ShanghaiJoe]

On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 10:14 PM, Webslinger said:

Middle school is a nigh-unbearable stage of awkwardness, and Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade captures it with raw honesty that registers as hilarious and heartfelt simultaneously. The film consistently feels like both an accurate window into the electronically-connected world today’s teenagers navigate and a more timeless reflection upon craving self-assuredness and a place of belonging at a vulnerable stage of life. At the center of it all, newcomer Elsie Fisher does terrific work as Kayla, the insecure protagonist. Her honest, vulnerable work highlights Kayla’s ongoing tension between developing a stronger sense of self and creating a different persona in the hope of appearing more confident and worldly. She also has just the right degree of naivete to make some of the film’s racier jokes and its more serious scenes work perfectly. While the nature of the narrative allows Fisher to carry most of the film on her shoulders, character actor Josh Hamilton also gets several opportunities to shine as an all-too-believable caring dad who nimbly straddles the line between embarrassing “dad joke” humor and tear-jerking devotion; one of their last scenes together is an especially moving one that highlights the admirable qualities Kayla overlooks in her immature perception of what makes a person worthy of love. The film admittedly has an episodic feel, but the approach fits with the short timeline (a week or thereabouts) and eschews tropes and clichés that wear many other teen comedies down in favor of more authentic, organic moments that gradually reveal the protagonist’s layers and carry her – and viewers – toward a joyful conclusion that feels earned rather than obligatory. Debut writer-director Bo Burnham takes a big risk by setting the film in the present day rather than evoking the mid-2000s setting of his own adolescence (a fact that his script seems to address implicitly when a high school student comments upon Kayla effectively belonging to a different generation than him), but he delivers upon that risk by portraying technology as an essential part of the young characters’ lives in an organic, non-judgmental manner. While his YouTube fame doesn’t appear to inform the low production values of Kayla’s videos, it does inform an intriguing commentary on public and private selves via the confident front Kayla displays in her videos versus her awkward, self-conscious off-camera behavior. It’s a sublime accomplishment in its genre, certain to join Lady Bird and The Edge of Seventeen as one of the definitive teen films of the decade.

 

A-

 

Stray Thoughts:

- The R rating is such bullshit. Going in, I assumed that it must have had characters who swore as frequently as I did in eighth grade. Unless I'm mistaken, there were only two f-bombs. Admittedly, it's pretty direct about some of its racy humor (though it doesn't show anything especially objectionable), but I feel like I heard worse in PG-13 Adam Sandler comedies when I was a teenager. (And that's to say nothing of the fact that teenagers will hear way worse in the hallway on any given day of middle or high school, even in a private school.) This is the silliest R since the hullabaloo surrounding Bully's rating in 2012.

 

- I loved how Kayla's voice when handing the thank-you note to Kennedy sounds almost exactly like the voice she uses when she makes her videos. It's a nice, subtle touch that shows how the self she tries to project to the popular girls is carefully calibrated in the same ways her videos are.

 

- Gabe needed more scenes, if only to sell their last scene together a touch more effectively. That said, I love that Rick & Morty is the thing they end up bonding over.

 

- I still can't believe that the guy I remember best from watching "Oh Bo" in a friend's dorm common space when I was in college made a movie this good. It's also surreal to think that someone my age is writing and directing movies that get wide release.

You're opinions are wrong.

In this corner: Eminem. The Enunciator. The Alliterator. The Detroit punk who can rhyme fourteen syllables a line. The Angry Rapper who must face the challenge that has KO’d many a contender before him: acting. And in this corner: the hordes who want the artist formerly known as Marshall Mathers to fall flat on his misogynistic, homophobic, race-baiting, mother-hating, gun-toting, tattoo-flaunting thirty-year-old ass.

Sorry, hordes. In 8 Mile, his film debut as aspiring rapper Jimmy Smith Jr., Eminem is on fire. It’s too soon to tell if he can really act. But Eminem holds the camera by natural right. His screen presence is electric. His sulk — hooded eyes that suddenly spark with danger — has an intensity to rival James Dean’s. And he reads lines with an offbeat freshness that makes his talk and his rap sound interchangeable. Just as it should be. Jimmy, known as Rabbit, competes in freestyle verbal battles against black rappers at a local club. Like Eminem, who did the same, Rabbit is pissed off plenty: at his mom (Kim Basinger) for slutting around; at his ex-girl (Taryn Manning) for pretending she’s pregnant; at himself for choking in front of an audience. In his first scene in his first movie, Eminem pukes his guts out.

 

 

 

8 Mile, sharply directed by Curtis Hanson from a script by Scott Silver (who’s a long way from the inanities of The Mod Squad), is a real movie, not a fast-buck package to exploit the fan base of a rap nonentity (hello, Vanilla Ice, goodbye). Hanson succeeds brilliantly at creating a world around Eminem that teems with hip-hop energy and truth.inematographer Rodrigo Prieto (Amores Perros) lights Detroit like a scarred battlefield. Set in 1995, the film uses 8 Mile — the stretch of road that serves as Detroit’s social and racial dividing line — as a hurdle for Rabbit. Stuck in a trailer park with his broke single mom and his adored kid sister, Lily (Chloe Greenfield), Rabbit takes a job at an auto plant so he can stop living in his dreams.p>ut the dream persists. His friend Future (an avid Mekhi Phifer), who hosts the hip-hop battles, sees Rabbit’s potential. So does Alex (Brittany Murphy), the wanna-be model who itches to get close to Rabbit. Their quickie unprotected sex at the auto plant (she takes his hat off, otherwise they stay dressed) defines steamy. Murphy plays Alex with hot desperation and calloused vulnerability. She’s dynamite.

 

 

 

Hanson (L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys) excels with actors. Basinger shines as the neglectful mom who bitches to Rabbit about her boyfriend (“He won’t go down on me”) and pegs her son as a born loser. Rabbit’s support system is his crew: Sol (Omar Benson Miller), DJ Iz (De’Angelo Wilson) and Cheddar Bob (a scene-stealing Evan Jones).anson builds to a spectacular climax with Rabbit going three rounds at the club, ultimately taking on the reigning champ, Popa Doc (Anthony Mackie), in a rap showdown. It’s Rocky and Apollo Creed, but this time the words fly like fists. Eminem wears the role like a second skin, but he’s not totally cleaning out his closet. The Rocky stuff softens the film’s edges (and boosts its box-office chances). Rabbit, who decries guns, plays dad to Lily and offers a handshake to a gay co-worker, isn’t quite the bile-spewing convicted felon who wrote, “You never heard of a mind as perverted as mine.” No matter. 8 Mile qualifies as a cinematic event by tapping into the roots of Eminem and the fury and feeling that inform his rap. Hanson spares us the rags-to-riches cliches by leaving Rabbit on the edge of success. The film ends not with a blast but with the peace that comes to a rapper who finds his voice at last. That kind of class is a big risk for a novice stepping into the movie ring. Eminem wins by a knockout.

[CoolioD1]

THIS IS my favourite movie of the year so far.

[dxmatrixdt]

This could make my top 10 of the year only because my attention span stopped and I could keep up with the pacing of this one.  

Edited December 29, 2018 by nature club

[La Binoche]

I mean it wasn't that girl's dad's fault (who was kinda hot btw) that she was fat, had acne, slouched and lacked personality. No reason to take it out on him. 

[dxmatrixdt]

.

Edited December 29, 2018 by nature club

[ainsleyb]

90 minutes of an annoying moping 12 year old girl glued to her phone in between saying ‘like’ every other word. It’s competently made and acted but watching what is a very average girl, being awkward at school and then scrolling through Instagram at home does not make for an entertaining film.