Thumbsucker

[cowboykurtis]

Mike Mills is an accomplished designer, so he may have done it himself.

mike mills didn't do this cover art nor me and you's... these are both a sony release - i recently read an artist statement of sorts by miranda july informing that she had no input on the dvd design - it look as if the same sony design guys did the thumbsucker dvd as well... heres a bit from the publication --

"...I don't like to look at the actual DVD cover because, unlike the movie, it does not reflect my soul. I know it is not unusual for the director to have no participation in the DVD cover design, but I have these personal standards that, as it turns out, are totally unrelated to the way this business works. Luckily the folks at IFC and Sony have agreed to let me re-design the cover for the next batch of DVDs. In fact, it is going to be a complete do-over, with different (director-approved) extras on the disc as well. I am very relieved because I lost many hours of sleep over the whole thing, especially the tag-line on the back cover: The person you've been waiting to find is waiting to be found. I would lay in bed at night wondering who had come up with this line and how it had ended up on something that was mine. No offense to the person at Sony who thought it up, there is nothing bad about it in and of itself. But for me it is like wearing someone else's hair on my head.  Oh Sony Tag-line Writer, you probably have no idea how much I would have loved to talk to you and your friend in graphic design. If you two are reading this now then please contact me through secretary@mirandajuly.com. I promise we won't talk about the tag-line or the cover design, because that's water under the bridge, but maybe we can talk about our hopes and dreams for an industry where great care is given to every step of the process."

[Fernando]

I think I love her, she sounds so nice.

Great little article/publication cowboy.

[cron]

yeah i read that a few weeks ago in her charming blog.

[The Red Vine]

This movie by Mike Mills makes Miranda July look like the pretentious filmmaker she really is. Me & You was so damn over-rated.

They're both first films but this one delivered in a much, much bigger way than Me & You. Thumbsucker is indie but it isn't too self-concious in it's indie style. Unlike Me & You or I Heart Huckabee's, it's authentic without being off the wall just for the sake of being off the wall. If it does have any quirky touches, they're not big enough to take you out of the story. Maybe I'm alone here, but Thumbsucker was one of the better indie movies I've seen in a while.

Pucci was great.

[pete]

yeah you're pretty alone.  I mean, really, how was Me and You that off the wall?  Did it have Keanu Reeves falling off his bike?  The NYPD Blues guy mocking himself?  Thumbsuckers was like First Indie Film 101, with a list of things that everyone's seen somewhere else. 

[Ravi]

Thumbsuckers was like First Indie Film 101, with a list of things that everyone's seen somewhere else. 

Thumbsucker does have story and character elements that we've seen before, but the film was done unassumingly, without a tone of self-importance.  The theme of wanting to relieve the ennui of suburbia is subtext, and it doesn't pretend that its a brilliant enough insight to be the main theme.

I liked it for one viewing.  I probably wouldn't watch it again since it does tread familiar ground and the treatment wasn't all that great.  But I don't feel as strongly about the familiarity of the material as you do.

The film is disjointed.  It almost felt like three movies instead of three acts of the same movie.  Maybe it was because Justin goes through such clearly demarcated phases that seem to end abruptly so that the next phase can begin.

[SiliasRuby]

This is a truley wonderful film. I really connected with the story and the characters. There are so many beautiful moments. It's just plain good.

[last days of gerry the elephant]

Mike Mills is an accomplished designer, so he may have done it himself.

If you're familiar with Mike Mills' work at all, you would not have said that. It's almost a slap in the face really...

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Edit:
I believe this is Mike's

&


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This is a truley wonderful film. I really connected with the story and the characters. There are so many beautiful moments. It's just plain good.

Totally agree. I favor this more than me,you&everyone. However, I enjoyed Michael Andrews' score more.

[JG]

this was okay.  good performances, under developed characters.  its marketed as a coming of age movie where we really get into the minds of the parents, but D'Onofrio's character, despite his best efforts, is pretty one dimensional.   

the movie works best when it uses just music and images to move the plot forward, rather than relying on boring exposition to let us know how the characters feel.   this results in a few inspired moments of filmmaking (i specifically remember a thirty second sequence where justin starts winning, all over the polyphonic spree music, that is particularly well-done) and i really wish mills went down this avenue a little more.  ultimately pete says it best:

it was way too familiar and predictable.   

throw-away indie flick.