Richard Linklater's Boyhood - anybody seen it yet? Beatles Black Album

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by HiFi Guy 008, Jul 26, 2014.

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  1. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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  2. mikeyt

    mikeyt Forum Resident

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    I haven't seen it yet. Will try to do so soon. I'm a big Linklater fan and absolutely love his "Before" series.
     
  3. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    12 years in the making and watching the actors grow up.
    2 hours and 43 minutes. Epic.
     
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  4. mikeyt

    mikeyt Forum Resident

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    Los Angeles, CA
    Yet likely feels much shorter than any of the Transformers movies.
     
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  5. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

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    When I was little, I thought all movies that showed people growing up were made like this. Haha But when I saw the trailer, the constant mention of how it was filmed really turned me off, but I don't know, I may see it.
     
  6. JFS3

    JFS3 Senior Member

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    Hooterville
    From title, I thought you were referring to the 3 LP bootleg released back in the early 1980's.
     
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  7. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    Saw the interview with Linklater on The Daily Show--wow, what a commitment to a project. Would like to see this. Anybody here seen it yet?
     
  8. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

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    Why would you be turned off by how it was filmed?
     
  9. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

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    I don't know, just each time the trailer said, "An epic," or, "Like nothing else," I got more and more annoyed.
     
  10. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

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    You're an old soul - that sort of thing shouldn't bother you .:)
     
  11. Hightops

    Hightops Forum Resident

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    Ack, I started another thread on this subject yesterday. I've seen it. The description "epic" fits.
    And it is "like nothing else". It delivers. You'd have to be very curmudgeonly to not fall for this film.
     
  12. harmonica98

    harmonica98 Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    I posted a very short review in another thread, but basically it lives up to the hype. Just as in real life, not a lot really happens, but it is extremely compelling - the time flew by. You really must see this film.
     
  13. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

    Location:
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    Haha I know. I may go see it.
     
  14. jriems

    jriems Audio Ojiisan

    This looks really great. For those of you who think a 12-year commitment to a project like this is ground-breaking, I suggest you watch this documentary series: http://www.npr.org/2013/07/26/205760044/michael-apted-aging-with-the-7-up-crew. Michael Apted's pretty much dedicated his entire life to following this group of kids from the age of seven to the age of 56 and beyond. The first 4 or 5 installments are amazing, and the later ones are always interesting but not as exciting, due to growing older and fewer life-changing events.

    Still, the Up Series is the gold standard for this kind of thing, and probably where Linklater got his idea for Boyhood
     
  15. michaelscrutchin

    michaelscrutchin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX (USA)
    Linklater may have also been thinking of François Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series, which watches the fictional Antoine Doinel (played by Jean-Pierre Léaud) grow up and age from a 12-year-old boy to a 30-something man over the course of five films from 1959 (The 400 Blows) to 1979 (Love on the Run).
     
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  16. jriems

    jriems Audio Ojiisan

    I never knew it was a series of films - I've only seen The 400 Blows. I'll need to track down the other four.
     
  17. Bryan

    Bryan Starman Jr.

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    I think it's a pretty flimsy comparison.

    One's a documentary, one's a drama. That's a whole different set of logistics behind each.

    One was filmed once every seven years, the other filmed once a year for twelve years.
     
  18. CraigVC

    CraigVC Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I had the same thought over the weekend, when I was chatting with my brother about Boyhood. Here's a quick summary on Wikipedia for those not familiar with the series:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Doinel

    It's not exactly the same concept as Boyhood, and of course I'm not suggesting the Linklater is not being original in his accomplishment. But at the same time I would be shocked if Linklater hasn't seen or at least heard of the Doinel films before. And there's no shame in being inspired by greatness and try to create some at least as great.

    I highly recommend the Doinel series. It's a great journey, and unlike the Linklater film where (I assume) you will see a more cohesive style, with the Doinel series you can see that Truffaut's style, etc., changes over the years. (For example, if I remember correctly later films in the Doinel series are color while the first couple or so were black and white.) Plus, over 20 years, you can present different fashions, music, etc., to match the times.

    I'm really excited about this Linklater project - I hope it's as wonderful as the concept suggests that it could be!

    Craig.
     
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  19. Hightops

    Hightops Forum Resident

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    The 12 years of filming alone provides a unique continuity to the film, but it could have been dull and uninspired under someone else's direction. The payoff is in the great writing and the performances. It's effing hilarious at times...and it has moments of great pain that we can all identify with. I was blown away.
     
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  20. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
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    If anyone is wondering about the seemingly random addition of "Beatles Black Album" to the thread title, there is a scene in the movie where Ethan Hawke's character gives the boy a CD compilation of the Beatles' solo music, and delivers a Hoffman Forum-worthy emotional monologue about it.

    Hawke actually did this in real life, and here's his essay and tracklist for it:

    http://www.buzzfeed.com/ethanhawke/boyhood-the-black-album?bftw=main
     
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  21. michaelscrutchin

    michaelscrutchin Forum Resident

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    Houston, TX (USA)
    Oh, yeah, Linklater is a cinephile and I've seen him speak about the French New Wave before, so there's no doubt. Like the Antoine Doinel series, Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy also does a similar thing with its coming-of-age narrative, covering several years of Apu's childhood and young-adult life.

    But has this ever been done with a single film? I don't know of any. I find it amazing that the studio kept writing Linklater checks for $200,000 year after year knowing that they wouldn't see any kind of return on investment for a very long time, if ever. Good on you, IFC.
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2014
  22. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    I added the Beatles reference to give the thread a little, uh, boost to those who may have skipped over the title.
    I haven't seen the film yet, but understood that that Beatles comp does have a significant place in the film.
    Glad to hear you enjoyed Boyhood. I'm really looking forward to seeing this one with my father.
     
  23. Interesting compilation associated with the film. It would be cool if MPL/Apple/Harrison/Lennon estates would approve it and release it.

    Interested in seeing this.
     
  24. toptentwist

    toptentwist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    I saw it yesterday with my youngest son.

    My son felt especially wierd watching it because he is about the same age as the kid in the movie - and the fictional movie tracks along with his life. He said to me "the kid was watching 'Dragon Ball Z' on TV when the movie started.. that's what I did at his age..." and the jumps in technology all were familiar .

    It was bizarre to see the kids grow up - but never a radical jump... but more than the kids - it was bizarre to see almost EVERY character grow older. Ethan Hawke at the end isn't Ethan Hawke at the beginning.

    I think the audience is divided on this - with of the comments saying "stupid" idea - but other people saying "brilliant"

    I tend to think this movie is brilliant. It will haunt me for a LONG time.

    Part of it is that Linklater doesn't show a lot. For example, you can see trouble brewing - and then you know trouble happened - but you don't necessarily see it AS it happened. There's a scene where I think its suggested that the mom was just beaten by her husband - but the film goer stumbles on it - just like the kids did - when they came home from an outing. That's a very subtle way very authentic way to show something that's been done in film many times before - but never from that perspective.

    Those scenes really shook me up... especially when the mom had to make a decision and leave. I felt SO sorry for these kids - which is a strange reaction since I knew I'm watching fiction.
     
  25. toptentwist

    toptentwist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    I'm confused about the "essay".

    It mentions "Mason" and "Samantha" - which are the names of the two fictional characters in the movie.

    The "essay" seems to be a letter from that fictional father to his fictional son. I suspect it may have been written by Linklater - or just someone else who wanted to keep the theme alive.

    I'm not sure Hawke wrote it or compiled the track list... I looked up the names of his kids - and they aren't Mason or Sam. He apparently has three : Maya and Levon with his previous wife (Uma Thurman) and Ryan with a more recent wife.

    I tried doing something like this a long time ago - back in the cassette tape days... my attempt was much shorter and the only song I remember specifically using was a fairly obscure Ringo song or two. The Ringo songs were easier to use - because he played the most with the others.

    But these two tracks had no other Beatle involvment... "Hey Baby" (from Rotogravure) and "She's About A Mover" (from the Joe Walsh produced album that was an import only release for a long time - "Old Wave" - I think was the album title - the one with the brownish cover)

    I actually cringed when Hawke started talking about this project - but smiled when the first song on his homemade compilation played.
     
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