Xixax Film Forum

Film Discussion => The Vault => Topic started by: Alethia on May 28, 2019, 04:14:16 PM

Title: Booksmart
Post by: Alethia on May 28, 2019, 04:14:16 PM


I liked it. It's being wildly overpraised, of course, but it's got a good heart and a lot of laughs and I'm glad I saw it. Kaitlyn Dever is great, as is Lady Bird's bestie.

Obviously if you don't like it you're a misogynist.

Go out and add to its (surprisingly tepid) box office!
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Something Spanish on May 28, 2019, 07:43:09 PM
was really turned off by the trailer, oddly still want to give it a shot. trailer made it seem like it was trying too hard to be a gross out teen flick that's outlandish just for the heck of it.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: polkablues on May 28, 2019, 09:05:27 PM
Looks to be situated somewhere around the midpoint between Blockers and Edge of Seventeen, which means I will likely enjoy it very much.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Alethia on May 28, 2019, 09:36:00 PM
It's highly enjoyable. Heart firmly in mouth, with many a landing joke.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on May 29, 2019, 02:48:43 PM
Quote from: eward on May 28, 2019, 09:36:00 PMHeart firmly in mouth

What is this, Temple of Doom?
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Alethia on May 29, 2019, 03:25:15 PM
Lol! Heart firmly "in place" is what I think I meant.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: wilberfan on May 30, 2019, 12:22:33 AM
OK, honest truth:  I enjoyed this a lot more than "Lady Bird" in the coming-of-age category.  (But I thought "Bird" pretty overrated.)   I actually LOL'd several times.  Peppy writing and direction.  The cast was very good, too. 



Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Alethia on May 31, 2019, 11:21:33 AM
I liked the film, but I also agree with Mr. Pinkerton (America's finest film critic, if you were to ask me, but you didn't, so I'm flat-out stating it).

Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Drenk on May 31, 2019, 11:42:40 AM
Pinkerton truly doesn't get PTA, though.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Alethia on May 31, 2019, 12:21:20 PM
That was one of the main hurdles in my opening up to his writing completely, but when you look at the reviews, it's really only CMBB and The Master he couldn't get with (while still retaining a degree of admiration for both). And the way he goes to bat for Denis sends it home for me.

He also happens to be hilarious.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Something Spanish on June 01, 2019, 04:31:54 PM
i thought ben hosley was our finest film critic...
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Alethia on June 01, 2019, 05:56:44 PM
The Hos!
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Something Spanish on June 01, 2019, 07:25:06 PM
mr hositive, ben night shyamalan, tiebreaker benny
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Alethia on June 01, 2019, 07:36:55 PM
...Prodoer Ben, The Benducer, The Poet Laureate, The Meatlover, The Fart Detective, The Peeper, Birthday Benny...
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Drenk on June 04, 2019, 02:20:02 PM
SPOILERS?

I shouldn't be live Xixaxing, but: wouldn't it be funnier if in that bathroom's scene the girl just said: "Oh, I'm going to Yale too. My parents are paying." The girl would realize that the meritocracy is a lie and would kill herself, instead of thinking that she could have enjoyed high school while scoring perfect grades. Okay. Maybe it wouldn't have been funny, then.

Kaitlin Dever is great; too bad that the focus seems to be on overacting Beanie Feldstein. (They don't have movie stars name.)

It's a nice movie. Feldsteinn should RELAX, though. The clipesque/derivative aesthetic is not something I appreciate, but: it's nice to watch. But I can see movies like that being released as 15 minutes episodes on YouTube in the future.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Drenk on June 04, 2019, 03:40:24 PM
It's a fun movie. The clipesque/derivative aesthetic is not something I appreciate, but: it's nice to watch. It represents clips/other movies more than the director's sense of reality/experience (Eighth Grade is a great movie and does exactly that).
There is a very fake movie argument coming at the perfect movie time but the wrong story time in this movie/movie that does absolutely nothing to me—and the music didn't help—which illustrates my issues. But you want to watch it with friends, eating crap (not literal crap but you do you).

50% of the jokes come from Twitter, but there was a movie I hated whose name I forgot  that had all his jokes coming from Twitter. Booksmart has some life.

But I can see movies like that being released as 15 minutes episodes on YouTube in the future. It would defeat the purpose of watching it with friends—but, hey, we'll exchange tweets.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Something Spanish on June 20, 2019, 12:05:43 PM
movie's tons of fun, exactly what you'd expect for the genre with a smidgen more brain and heart than what's usually afforded to most teen flicks. come to think of it, the only teen gross out comedy flick that comes to mind post-90's is....uh, like, superbad. don't know if i liked this so much because i haven't seen one like it in such a long time, but i laughed a lot and held affection for these characters. a lot of really funny moments. olivia wilde did her thing, keeping the story energized with fitting tunes and raucous gags. the leading ladies let loose in the way of good comedy duos, and best of all, the writing was tight considering the number of scribes attributed to the script. all in all, glad I caught the last showtime before this baby says adios to s. fl theaters.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on June 26, 2019, 12:09:16 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZDvc9gJvuc
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: polkablues on June 26, 2019, 01:18:32 AM
This one's a freebie, but the next person who posts a Lights Camera Jackson video on this board gets banned so hard their entire bloodline logs out.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Something Spanish on June 26, 2019, 05:56:48 AM
Quote from: polkablues on June 26, 2019, 01:18:32 AM
This one's a freebie, but the next person who posts a Lights Camera Jackson video on this board gets banned so hard their entire bloodline logs out.

preach.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on November 23, 2019, 04:13:12 PM
Here's a hot take...


"Booksmart," a High School Movie for Biden Voters

"Its politics are a Panglossian catastrophe. It's a false, shallow narrative that Celebrates Women in a world that doesn't exist, a You Go Girl world where No Elite Child is Left Behind, Botswana is a trading card for virtue signaling, Christian parents think being gay is adorable and they make hors d'oeuvres about it, everybody gets into the Good School, and we can all congratulate ourselves on our awareness and empathy right up until the moment the water is closing over our heads."

https://popula.com/2019/05/25/booksmart-a-high-school-movie-for-biden-voters/
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: pete on November 26, 2019, 02:26:25 AM
I went to a screening where Olivia Wilde proclaimed that she wanted to make a Generational Anthem and also proudly played down the politics of the film, saying she just wanted to make a fast times film where the characters just happen to be women/ queer etc., and it's too bad that Euphoria came out a month later and showed what an actual generation anthem looked like and what happens when the story actually cares about how the characters choose to identify themselves as opposed to them being characters' costumes. it's all the more unfortunate when both pieces feature a house party (that seems to take place in the same house?) and armchair critics like me get to watch a side by side comparison and yell "there are levels to this" at the computer screen.

tho I do think Katilin Dever is a generational talent.
Title: Re: Booksmart
Post by: ©brad on December 16, 2019, 08:59:16 PM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on November 23, 2019, 04:13:12 PM
Here's a hot take...


"Booksmart," a High School Movie for Biden Voters

"Its politics are a Panglossian catastrophe. It's a false, shallow narrative that Celebrates Women in a world that doesn't exist, a You Go Girl world where No Elite Child is Left Behind, Botswana is a trading card for virtue signaling, Christian parents think being gay is adorable and they make hors d'oeuvres about it, everybody gets into the Good School, and we can all congratulate ourselves on our awareness and empathy right up until the moment the water is closing over our heads."

https://popula.com/2019/05/25/booksmart-a-high-school-movie-for-biden-voters/

I mean that's pretty funny and possibly accurate, but I don't know. I feel the movie is too sweet-natured and charming to rouse such vitirol. Sure the high school in the movie might not exist, but you could say the same thing for most high school movies. I didn't feel the movie force-feeding a political agenda. I mean beyond the opening sequence with the Warren bumper sticker, it's all pretty innocuous. 

The two leads, the music, and a few truly funny sequences won me over. I'm excited to see what Wilde does next.