MatM '15-'16: #1

Well, we made it.

A couple of things to discuss:

First, I wanted to take a minute to say that last year was better.

This year was really, really good. When I think about it, though, my #1 from this year would have probably been #5 last year when considering Birdman, Nightcrawler, Whiplash and Boyhood. Am I over-romanticizing the compound-word era? Probably.

My mom, who sees almost as many movies as I do each year, and who has seen, I believe, each of the best picture nominees this year, kept saying about each of them:

"Yeah, I liked it, but it wasn't a best picture."

Whereas last year, there were 4.

Secondly, here are the movies I wanted to see but didn't get to:

Straight Outta Compton
Steve Jobs
Legend
45 Years
Tangerine
The Look of Silence
Chi-Raq (actually, I'm about halfway through and enjoying it, just haven't had time to finish)
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sisters
Joy
Concussion
Grandma
The Danish Girl
The Hunting Ground

Time is of the essence, and I want to get to #1 before I start rambling. I'm not sure if people are going to be on board with this pick, so I better defend it well.

Here goes:

#1 Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

How can you find and display your voice when you are trying as hard as you can to be invisible?

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, present day. Greg Gaines (Thomas Mann) is gliding through his senior year, trying to blend in, finding "membership" in a number of groups rather than sticking with one; in other words, blending in and being non consequential. The only person that could he would even consider a friend is Earl Jackson (RJ Cyler), but instead he refers to him as a "co-worker".

Over the years of their friendship, they have made 42 short films based on real ones. They are shorter, lousier and far more low-budget, and they spoof the titles from the ones they are spoofing: Eyes Wide Butt, Grumpy Cul-de-Sacs (Mean Streets), Pooping Tom, A Sockwork Orange,  2:48 Cowboy, just to name a few.

One day, his mom (Connie Britton) and dad (Nick Offerman) come into his room to tell him Rachel (Olivia Cooke) has just been diagnosed with Leukemia. Mom forces him to call Rachel and go over to hang out with her and her mom (Molly Shannon). She wants nothing to do with him at first before coming around on his wit and self-deprecating humor. Soon, they are hanging out on a daily basis. Earl lets the cat out of the bag at one point and tells her about their films. She begins watching them and loves them, much to Greg's chagrin. So much so that her hot friend Madison (Katherine Hughes) convinces the two of them to make a movie for Rachel before...you know.

There are a couple issues with this movie. Greg's family, like the one in Easy A, is almost too quirky, and Greg himself is obnoxious to the point of wanting the viewer to face-palm a couple of times. But he is a teenager, and he is supposed to be obnoxious, and self-deprecating, and trying way too hard. If you can get past that and realize that it is the point of his character, it's smooth sailing.

Because then you get to the good stuff. The way the film is shot, beyond all of the fun homages to films of the past, is phenomenal. It's a film/communication student's dream--fish angle lenses, 5 minute static shots, wild angles, camera tilts. In that regard, it's different than anything I've seen in a long time. The world that director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and screenwriter/novelist Jesse Andrews have created is unique but somehow realistic. The original score, including some of his stuff from the past, is more or less entirely done by Brian Eno.

Let me say that again. The score for the movie is by Brian. F***ing. Eno.

Offerman, Britton, Shannon and co. are actually outperformed by their younger counterparts. Olivia Cooke hits the highs and lows of her situation and Mann, while yes, annoying, nails what he is supposed to nail, convincingly. But the diamond in the rough is first-timer Cyler, stoic until his principles are messed with, then coming to life in a major way.

Me and Earl cleaned up at Sundance, winning both the Grand Jury and the Audience awards and breaking the record for a major studio purchase (Fox Searchlight) at 12 million dollars. As a result, I expected it to get a little more love than it did. That's okay, though--maybe it was too teenage, too excessive. And maybe that's being a teenager. Real, extreme emotion. Love and anger and laughter all in the span of an afternoon.

Give this movie a shot. I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you are, I will refund your rental and argue on its behalf. Because it--and the book--are outstanding.

Okay, dudes. I'll try to recap the whole schabang in the next few days.

Thanks for reading!