What to watch when you’ve already watched everything Part Eight! Binge worthy, not cringe worthy recommendations from Isolation Studios in the eerily quiet downtown Toronto. Three movies to stream, rent or buy from the comfort of home isolation. Today, there’s trouble in the kitchen, thrill killers and “Gucci!” #nosetotail #eighthgrade #thestrangerspreyatnight
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Looking back on the year in cinema, film critic and Pop Life host Richard Crouse reveals his five favourite movies that came out in 2018. In alphabetical order, they are:
Looking back on the year in cinema, film critic and Pop Life host Richard Crouse reveals his five favourite movies that came out in 2018. In alphabetical order, they are:
A Star is Born: Crouse says this year’s remake of the 1937 film “A Star is Born” simply has no business being as good as it is, considering it’s helmed by first-time director Bradley Cooper and its leading actor Lady Gaga appears in her first big-screen starring role. Not to mention, it’s actually been made for the silver screen three times already… READ THE WHOLE THING HERE!
Bo Burnham directed “Eighth Grade,” one of Richard’s favourite movies of the summer. Ever wonder what it must be like to come-of-age in an era of information overload, motivational YouTube videos and school-shooter drills? With “Eighth Grade,” a funny, blistering look at life in junior high, Burnham gives you a peak, morphing from creator/star of MTV’s “Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous” into the modern day John Hughes.
Watch the interview HERE!
Ever wonder what it must be like to come-of-age in an era of information overload, motivational YouTube videos and school-shooter drills? With “Eighth Grade,” a funny, blistering look at life in junior high, director Bo Burnham gives you a peak, morphing from creator/star of MTV’s “Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous” into the modern day John Hughes.
Elsie Fisher is Kayla, a newly minted teen struggling through the last week of grade eight. “The hard part of being yourself is that it’s not easy,” the thirteen-year-old says in one of the many inspirational YouTube videos she posts to the web in a search for friends, validation and most of all, likes. Trouble is, she’s no JennaMarbles. Despite being glued to her phone and coining a perky catchphrase—“Gucci!”—she has no social media presence to speak of. “The topic of today’s video is putting yourself out there,” she says, “but where is there?”
It’s not much better in IRL. Ignored by schoolmates, she’s only invited to the popular girl Kennedy’s (Catherine Oliviere) pool party because her mom (Missy Yager) has a crush on Kayla’s father Mark (Josh Hamilton). Speaking of her long-suffering dad, he spends his time trying to make contact only to be met with monosyllabic grunts as he desperately tries to distract her from her ever-present phone.
Ultimately “Eighth Grade” is all about Kayla’s attempts at feeling connected and finding a place in a world where screens separate people. “I’m nervous, like I’m waiting in line for a roller coaster,” she says. “I never get the feeling of after you ride the roller coaster.”
“Eighth Grade” is an unvarnished, pimples and all, look at adolescence and the anxiety that comes with it. Kayla may not always be able to exactly articulate the way she’s feeling but the movie has no such problem. It’s a study in her innocence and awkwardness that uses carefully selected moments to highlight Kayla’s mindset.
A pool party scene, where she has to wear a bathing suit in front of the cool kids from school, wordlessly displays her insecurities while her excited, sweet reaction to being invited to hang at the mall by an older friend is genuine and heartfelt. Later, a game of Truth Or Dare contains as much suspense as any action sequence we’ve seen this year.
Those scenes, combined with the discomfort Elsie Fisher brings to Kayla’s day-to-day, and the very dramatic music that underscores the highs and lows of her life and you have a slice-of-life portrait that feels completely authentic.
Barb DiGiulio is off. Richard Crouse fills in and talks to Bo Burnham about his new movie Eighth Grade.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
