WE, THE ANIMALS

so havent done anything in quite a while but i just saw this film and just needed to talk about it. this is very small indie film that is currently on Netflix and without getting too much into it it is one of the best films i have watched in a LONG time. I have not heard/ seen anyone talk about it so i thought i would. 

this movie is truly something special. from the first opening moments you can tell that this was going to be an unforgettable and beautiful ride. this movie is very florida project-esque but i would argue in a much more refined way. it doesnt take the raw and sometimes grimy approach of the florida project, but instead it goes over every situation with a sense of precise artistry. the score was absolutely mesmerizing, no if ands or buts about it. truly enchanting. the dialogue sounds like genuine poetry. the way it flows, the rhythm and specific word choices perfect for those characters or the specific situation almost makes it seem like youre reading a book more than watching a film. it is some of the best sounding dialogue i have ever heard delivered by some pretty dang good actors. everyone on that screen is endlessly watchable, good guys or bad guys and everything in between those actors understood their character and really gave those performances their all. speaking of character, i loved these characters so much. the depth, dimension and realism, a product incredible acting writing and direction (another factor that was just spot on for the most part). the nostalgic almost romantic lighting and hand-held cinematography all built this incredibly intimate and beautiful atmosphere as if you were living with these characters in their memory. did i have my problems with it? yes. but all it just adds to the charm of the film. any pretentiousness never comes across as preachy or over the top artsiness, instead its heartfelt storytelling that grabs you from the moment the film starts. and its artistry comes from the point of view that it takes(that of a young creative mind). this movie hit a nerve i didnt know existed and it showed real heart, tenderness, and strength.

please please please support this movie. i cannot recommend it enough. talk about it, give it love. a work of art like this deserves it. an absolute masterclass in realism and nostalgia, this movie is a perfectly fragile snapshot of a young artists mind as he deals with the hardships of life. i give this a 9/10. a true must-watch and an instant favorite. 

MARRIAGE STORY

this might be my favorite movie of the year. This love story told only at the end perfectly captures what its like to be pitted against someone you love, sometimes unknowingly, and the emotional effect it can have on you, especially if it comes from outside forces and not your own emotions. 

The cinematography in this wasn’t revolutionary, but it was motivated and took every opportunity it could to highlight the emotion of the scene and add to the tone and atmosphere. it was dynamic and kept you interested and made sure to have purpose, something people often forget good cinematography should have. the costume design built the characters and the production design built the world.the score highlighted all of the important moments of the film and added so much emotional weight without being overwhelming. the script was wonderful. every line had a purpose and it felt so naturalistic and grounded. it was over two hours long but none of it dragged. every second felt used and necessary and none of it felt like it dragged or like fluff. Now for the real stand out: acting. the acting in this movie was utterly magnificent. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson were majestic in their craft. they were captivating and gave the best performances of the year, truly encompassing the nuance and subtleties in each of their characters. their theatre backgrounds also shine through in the bigger scenes where they manage to capture the magic of theatre and translate it to film in a way i have never seen before, in no small part, i assume to the director, who did such an amazing job creating an abiance of safety and danger, love and hurt, and overall beauty.

an in depth character and situational study, marriage story is on netflix and is more than worth the watch. go out right now and witness the amazing acting that i need to stop talking about and had me bawling from the second they came on screen. i give it a 9.5/10 

LAST CHRISTMAS

this movie payed for the rights to this song and its going to let you know about it. 

now, i don’t think anyone who’s heard about this movie actually expected it to be good. personally, i went with a friend so we could laugh at how dumb it was going to be, but this movie wasn’t even bad enough to be laughable. it was just mediocre enough to be unenjoyable and boring. this movie suffered from unenthusiastic acting which wasn’t necessarily bad except for when it was. While it has surprisingly acceptable lighting, this movie is also subject to stale cinematography,a distactingly on the nose soundtrack and extremely tired directing. Emma Thompson seems to belive in whats shes doing but its just a mess. the intentions were there but ultimately the executuion of this movie fell flat on its face. even the premise which had the potential to be interesting given the right treatment, feels ham handed, condescending, uninteresting, and despite the fact that it wanted to shock you with a big twist, the whole thing is irreparably boring. Even Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding’s charisma cant save these plain characters. you never care enough about them to be invested in the twist, and any semblance of depth to these characters was undone by the script’s failure to spend more than 5 seconds on a single thought. except, of couse, for the twist which was hammered down your through despite how nonsensical it was. this movie cant even be characterized as romantic because the seeds of romance it planted were either not followed through on or undone by the twist. and even the themes (which by the way are incredibly safe and lack any substance) are muddled and not fully developed. I won’t even start to nitpick the actual script because we’d be here for ages. 

i don’t think anyone with half a mind for cinema enjoyed this movie and certainly not anyone who isn’t a woman over 40 or already adores romantic comedies. even then, i don’t see this movie getting high praise. skip this all together, theres really no reason to subject yourself to this boring piece of nothing. 2/10 

MALEFICENT 2

the starlet Angelina Jolie returns in this bland, pg game of thrones-inspired worse version of the pretty good original movie that was Maleficent one. 

Starting off with what is easily the best pert of the movie: acting- Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning are trying to sell this movie so hard but it just simply does not work. the script is too bland and predictable, and nothing in this movie really had that much effort put into it. the movie felt like it was still expositing an hour in and it was pretty much missing a second act. the third act sort of worked? but the resolution was found too quickly for my taste especially since they has spent so long setting up and emphasizing the life and death stakes. and the genocide of an entire people was glossed over. it almost has a twist but in standard Disney fashion, they backed out and continued with their ever so safe formula

overall its an alright movie to watch with some kids but not super young ones at all. but if you were looking for anything close to the original acting or effects wise. certainly not worth a trip to a movie theater and id say if its not on a streaming service you have, not worth a rental either. 5/8 as a kids film and 4/10 overall

JOKER

finally, hottest ticket in town ladies and gents.This will be a 100% spoiler free review on all the techy and also fun stuff about the movie. as always you can skip to the end for a rating without the nitty gritty details. lets get into it.

first up: acting. now i dont have any revolutionary takes on this, so ill keep it quick. Joaquin Phoenix was phenomenal, his laugh was spot on, the emotion behind the character was all there, and it really wasn't that big of a stretch for him to play the complexity of the Joker’s mental illness. all in all, a great performance from him and all of the cast, though everyone else took a backseat role and really just let him shine. speaking of shine, the lighting and grading of this film was great. it added to the dark tone but was never hard to see and coupled with a decent (if maybe a little on the nose) soundtrack, it made a solid technical foundation for the film. the Cinematography didn't do much for me in terms of framing or composition but i found the the perspective really interesting and surprisingly restrained. the dialogue was fine i guess, nothing special but nothing horrible either. the direction was heavy handed but Joaquin phoenix is a very director- independent actor so i dont think it really mattered. the editing and movie overall was very meander-y and dark but it never lost me and kept a weird but steady pacing.

overall, not a masterpiece, but definitely a grim and appropriate character study. 6.5/10 from me. phenomenal performances and some interesting stylistic choices but just doesn't hit the mark with some of the thematic and story elements to it. 

Abominable

thats right folks its the weekend after whats probably the biggest release of that fall and im talking about abominable, an animated children’s movie that shouldve probably been released at Christmas. im not even gonna put any tags on this because it really doesnt matter but without further adieu, Abominable:  

animation wise everything was great, it looked visually appealing yet home made and it had a real style to it that was bordering on generic yet always spiced something up visually to make it interesting. they really played with the medium to create something really fun and playful. i genuinely mistook this for a lika studios film and its dreamworks so suffice to say theyre doing something right with their animation. the story was pretty cookie cutter but heartfelt and dealt with loss, guilt, and reconciliation (all increasingly common topics in kids films) well and in a surprisingly mature way.  the movie didnt talk down to the audience which made it an enjoyable watch for people of all ages however if youre looking for something to stimulate your mind , this isnt it as it had a really simple and easy to follow story and dialogue. 

overall it was a solid 7/8 for a kids movie and 5/10as an overall film. if this was released at a better time and with more press it would be a definite standout, but sadly while this is a step in the right directions for dreamworks creatively, it was not as financially successful as previous projects and dreamworks will more than likely go back to producing “the boss baby 2″. support this movie if you can, if only for the decent animation. but if you cant you wouldnt be missing anything special. 

ANGEL HAS FALLEN

the third in the has fallen series. it was a movie a i guess. was it good? maybe. will i ever think about it again? no. should you go see it? lets discuss. 

now i understand that this movie isnt really intended for this sort of review but is kinda what i do so whatever. starting with screenplay this movie is lacking to say the least. the writing isnt stellar, in fact, its barely even good with a plot about as predictable as a clock. and lines that feel amateurish at best. the direction was solid and felt pretty unified as a whole. granted the whole movie was just one glorified action set piece. speaking of which. the fight choreography was was crisp and fairly entertaining but the visuals were messy and the camera was so jumpy it became distracting. i will give the actors some credit though as they did the best they could and gave good enough performances to sort of save this movie? that might be too bold a claim, im kinda still on the fence. no Oscar winners here but sufficiently adequate for what this movie needed. 

overall its an action movie with ridiculously big action pieces and even more ridiculous loud gunshots. itd be ok for like an April release or something but at this point in the year theres just so many other better movies. you already know what kind of movie this is and if you want to see it. 4/10 wouldn’t spend movie theater money on it if youre not already itching to see it

GOOD BOYS

this is literally going to be my shortest review like ever because i saw it so long ago but who cares lmao lets go. 

so this movie wasnt really fishing for the critical acclaim so lets not even pretend. what this movie wanted to do was make you laugh...so did it do that? well yes and no. while theres no denying this movie had its moments where the whole theater chuckled, there were also definitely a lot of times where the joke was overplayed or just missed the mark and the over the top acting fro the kids didnt help its case much. however the script was really well written and not only were the main characters funny but the supporting ones all got their time to shine throughout the film. and thats basically all i can remember from good boys. 

if you dont mind some extremely crude humor and find yourself wanting to enjoy a night out with a few laughs you certainly wouldn't regret watching this. funny and enjoyable though unremarkable and crude good boys is a 5/10 

THE LION KING 2019

right so there isnt any way anyone here alrady hasnt seen reviews or seen the movie itself so im going to keep it short. why do we keep giving our money to the mouse company like seriously? these arent original stories and theyre not improving upon the original movies either so these remakes need to stop. sure the animation is interesting for like 10 minutes but after that the movie becomes a boring carbon copy of the original. the cinematography, direction, voice acting, and editing were all less than standouts and kinda bad at times. the singing and songs were the same ones as the original so whatever but beyonce kinds messed up can you feel the love tonight and speaking of their voices felt like they were badly mixed on imovie. so thats sad. the lions mouths were badly synced as well as photo realism contributing to very similar looking characters which didnt lend itself to good story telling. animation should be a tool with witch to add to a story and this sadly deducted. 

dont go see it. stick to the original and dont give the big comanies any more money for sub par movies. 4/10 still sorta enjoyable but overall not worth it.

THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE

is this an independent movie? maybe. is this a good movie? also maybe. it was weird and confusing so lets discuss.

right so we cant discuss this movie without mentioning Jesse eisenberg and his character which is basically the only character he only plays. im not saying this as a bad this because he definitely knows what hes good at and has carved out quite the niche for himself but this particular role felt almost too perfect for him. it was a great performance but one he could do in his sleep. like him. this movie has a very particular audience it wants to appeal to, and its determined to find is cult following somewhere. the whole movie is very stylized. the script is extremely stilted which translated to artificial performances as well. the direction was actually pretty good except for one badly done fight scene which stood out like a sore thumb. the cinematography was ok i guess but nothing new or particularly memorable. the editing kept an odd but fitting pace the whole time and mostly achieved what they were going for. the humor was dark and dry but it was certainly there and it was filled with gratuitous violence at times but it was all intended. the score was exactly what the movie needed and sounded how the acting in the movie felt. it ticked all the boxes it wanted to but was weak with follow throughs and low on energy. it was missing something and because of that im left feeling lukewarm at best with a movie that had so much potential to be the next big cult classic but missed by that much. 

its a well done parody with dramatic and thriller undercurrents that took some big shots but landed just short of greatness. still a decent movie with good if not great acting and a very fitting score but its still not the hilarious and endearing hit it had the potential to be. keep it on your radar once it hits streaming platforms if you like niche movies like this or if you enjoy jesse eisenberg but other than that you wouldnt be missing anything special if youd skiped it. 5/10 

FAST AND FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS AND SHAW (SPOILERS)

quick disclaimer im a huge sucker for the fast and furious movies, like it might be one of my favorite long times series and yes im aware they're not good but theyre so ridiculous i cant help but find them entertaining. that being said this isnt an official f&f film which gives it room to be ever wilder and i have no words. so i know my thing is usually technical reviews but this was so genuinely awful from a technical viewpoint that it doesnt warrant that big of a breakdown. cinematography while cleans, was boring. lights were flat, sound was horrifyingly loud like,why? direction was also not great. the acting was cartoony and the actors couldnt deliver the ridiculous script with a straight face. and the editing, oh christ, it was absolutely terrible. lets not even talk about how it just throws any hint of physics, time and logic out the window. that being said i still thoroughly enjoyed this movie and let me tell you why with spoilers, skip to the end for non spoilery final thoughts

oh man, what can i say about this movie, it was bonkers from start to finish. the technical weak points were definitely its strongest points entertainment wise. the fact that normal human being Dwayne Johnson can grab a helicopter with his bare hands and throw a chain at a bobbin that winds itself without the force of the helicopter flying away in between is incredible in all meanings of the word. shirts and pants materialize out of thin air and the cut from night to day that happened from one shot to the next made me laugh so hard i choked on my popcorn and raised my enjoyment level of this movie 100 percent. the cameos that i was absolutely not expecting were hilarious. the script was so bad that the whole this was one big joke and it was great. there is not a single aspect of this movie that tries to take itself seriously. the action was big and unnecessarily loud but it was well choreographed (except the part where the rock was in a chokehold and you could literally see him tapping out before the cut but it was also funny so its ok) and it knows that its just being as flashy as it can for you because thats want you want out of this movie. there is no thinking that went into this movie whatsoever and i love it. 

this is a big, dumb, hulking, stupid, ridiculous movie that doesnt try to be anything else and i have mad respect for that. its very much like the rest of the franchise so if you dint love those this one isnt going to change your mind but if you enjoyed the other ones even a tiny bit, watch this one. i love how balls to the wall wild this is with its so bad its good frick it attitude. if any of this sounds appealing to you id recommend you watch it if can. that ebing said i have to give it a 1/10 technically but to really experience and enjoy this movie correctly you have to abandon all rational thinking and once you do its a solid 8/10 or above entertainment wise.its so much fun if you want to turn off your brain

GARFELD THE MUSICAL: A GARFIELD PARODY MOVIE (YOUTUBE)

alrighty folks, something different today, a YouTube musical i was i asked to review. 

 i was very pleasantly surprised with this movie. it was genuinely funny and im also a big sucker for comedy songs (which this thing had tons of) and i thought they were handled pretty well. the whole thing is in a very old school YouTube style so the wacky editing and camera work along with the over the top satirical acting style all added to a very endearing, nostalgic and distinctly YouTube vibe. the type of humor used will be something some people wont like since its fairly aggressive and crude but i enjoyed it enough to chuckle to myself more than a handful of times and everyone involved looked like they had tons of fun making it which always improves the watching experience. these guys have some serious comedy and musical making talent. 

overall it was fun and entertaining and pretty good for a youtube movie. if you like jacksfilms or the YouTube era of bo burnham id definitely recommend it. one of the funniest and best crafted memes ive seen. put it on while youre cleaning or something, its well worth the watch and deserves way more views than it has.  

YESTERDAY

so i went to see this one a while ago so my memory might be a bit clouded, dont kill me. and if you want just skip to the end for a rating and lets get down to business

this movie wasnt the best but it also wasnt the worst. the acting was pretty mediocre i really liked lily James because shes just always great lol and the main dude was also pretty good and he could sing really well. the cinematography was alright . kinda got stale after a while but this wasnt an arthouse film so i didnt really expect much. there was the shot of him on a bicycle that was pretty cool i guess but other than that nothing special. editing felt slow at times but nothing too bad. sound was just the Beatles so it was good. direction was nothing special yet again. and the writing was alright i guess. it was a fun take on all of the music based movies coming out recently but technically it really had nothing special going for it. 

overall id say a 5/10 wait till this movie is on a streaming service and you have nothing else to put on or you just really wanna hear Beatles songs. 

TOY STORY 4

sorry ive been away for a while but now im back and boy do i have some movie thoughts for you. the first film i want to talk about is toy story 4 and i gotta say it was really good. toy story is one of the only franchises to be able to pull off  making that many films in a row and having them all be good. skip to the end for TLDRs you know the deal and, lets go 

 lets start with the sound. it didnt add much that i can remember to the film and it could feel a tad overbearing at times which i dont love. next is acting. now im not really one for judging voice acting so im not saying this is good or bad its just next because i didnt know how to qualify it. now were getting to the good stuff, editing. the pace on this movie was right on the mark. it really struck the balance between fast paced witty movie about toys and sentimental  film about growing up and finding yourself. speaking of finding balances, the direction on this was great. it was all very cohesive and had a unique voice while still keeping in the spirit of the classic toy story trilogy. the animation on this was lovely as well. it was all so delicate and just so detailed and full of life. the cinematography really helps the animation shine as well and together they create the most visually stunning shots of the franchise. some of the shots felt like paintings or perfectly staged photographs and just the careful animation coupled with that masterful cinematography were easily the parts that left the biggest and most positive impressions on me. now for the script the script itself was very good. all of the lines were very in character nothing felt off or too forced it was quite organic especially because i dont think they anticipated making this film.still, it fit very nicely with the rest of the franchise. the story was nothing we hadn’t seen before but it felt appropriate and they still managed to make it feel quite fresh. but the themes and lessons were absolute stand outs. this is a film that didnt talk down to the audience. it didnt have explain moments and it wasn't soft for the children. it dealt with adult themes and universal truths that not only teach good lessons to the kids but also resonate with anyone watching this from ages 9-99. whoever you are you can find a piece of yourself in this film and connect with it. and just to mention this real quick before i wrap this up, can we talk about the reincorporation of motifs with this film? dang! everything came back with a powerful punch in the end and it was amazing. (few spoilers coming up just skip to the end if you havent watched it) remember when people were mad that this movie was breaking the great wrap up of the first shot of the first movie being the last shot of what was thought to be the last movie well this movie makes it even better! that reincorporation of shots in the original trilogy signified a new beginning and although yes there was character development along the way they were basically where they started- as toys ready to make a young kid really happy. and now the last shot of this one, where woody grows in such a monumental way and does whats right for him and not the kid and becomes a lost toy and he finds himself, the last shot of this movie is basically that same first shot but its night now signifying a massive change for woody and a new situation, waiting for a “new dawn” as a lost toy in what could be an amazing conclusion to the franchise or a fantastic beginning to a new trilogy. 

all in all this movie is ideal for anyone who’s looking to have a night out with kids or just looking to see what their favorite childhood cartoon characters are doing now if not only for the stunning visuals (which make it worth the ticket all alone) then for the heartwarming story and nostalgia factor. definite 8/8 for a children's movie and a solid 8/10 as an overall film from me

MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL

alrighty ive seen the scores for this movie and im sure you have too so i wont bore you with the same old details. as always feels free to skip to the end for a score or you can read on for nerdy critiques and general feels. 

lets start with one of the only sort of redeemable aspect of this movie: acting. so Chris Hemsworth is a god, we’ve all known this and Tessa Thompson just looks so fine in a suit i cant. this has nothing to do with their acting, im aware but this movie relies so heavily on the “they’re hot”  gimmick to make them likable so i have to point it out and it almost works until you realize that it doesnt. im sure 90% of my theater was women who’ve never seen the MIB movies before and were just there for hemsworth shirtless and honestly, i cant judge. their chemistry is actually very good (weve seen it before in Ragnarok)  and they’re trying their best to be charismatic and actually act well with the script they’ve been given but sadly not even Tessa Thompson in a suit can save this one. the sound was nothing special and neither were the lights (they actually looked a bit flat to me in some scenes but it wasn't distracting) i thought the costumes were pretty good in this one but if i had to nitpick, Tessa's suit didnt look like it was fitted correctly. the cinematography was rather stale but i wasnt super annoyed with it either, i wasnt expecting much there anyways. the editing had some rough patches where it completely halted the pacing of the movie in favor of a weird montage that looked like a commercial for whatever item they were showcasing (specifically cars/ watches) and just in general the pacing wasn't great because the movie bounced locations quite a bit though im aware that comes with the job if youre editing a movie with the name “international” in the title. as for the visual effects, they were actually pretty bad. they couldve been trying to do that on purpose because of the old ones but it didnt translate well and instead of being charming it just wasnt good. most of the issues though came with the writing and directing. now theres a whole controversial story you can read about what happened to this movie on those fronts and i suggest you do because its an interesting story but regardless of what they were trying to do or whose vision got trashed by who, at they end of the day what we got was average direction from two people that got mis-matched and a probably interesting script that got torn to shreds and made into this boring, tired, Frankenstein of a script. the dialogue was horrible and you could almost hear the people making it up on the spot. the plot was predictable, unexciting and very anti-climactic. the whole thing was just not good. 

i got through the experience and even enjoyed it at points by going with a friend and laughing at how awful it was while still checking out the two main stars unironically. skip this one in the theaters and if youre NOT invested in the cast, franchise, and desperately have two hours to kill, skip it all together (you’d actually be doing yourself a favor). its uninspired and boring and hopelessly middle of the road but i didnt completely hate being at the theater. 3.5/10 from me. 

GODZILLA: KING OF MONSTERS

no intro for this one because i just- i genuinely dont care enough about this movie. its so, so trash. the actors gave up on acting, the animators gave up on trying to make it look good, the screenwriters looked like they wanted to try but they also pretty much just gave up and churned out the most generic, boring movie plot you can imagine. the characters weren’t characters they were just plot devices and that made it really hard to care about anyone in the movie. all of the monsters were just big gray blobs (heres a fun video essay by a youtuber called nando v. movies on the topic if that interests you  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R23YRN6r9aU ) it got genuinely hard for me to tell some of the monsters apart especially diring the fight scenes which were so messily done. they were just a screen of gray. nothing visually fun or exciting the sound was god-awfully loud. every aspect of this movie just- sucked. during a big action scene about 45mins in i was literally FALLING ASLEEP. how? how do you manage to be boring in a fight scene with giant monster powers at play? the first godzilla was passable but this one just felt like a throw up pile of unoriginal ideas and nothing. just a whole bunch of meaningless nothing. ive never wanted to walk out of a movie before like i wanted to walk out of this one. im generally an open minded person and if i dont like the movie technically ill usually just enjoy it as a movie goer and kind of turn off my brain for sillier movies or so bad its good movies. but this movie is so bad its gone past so bad its good and its just plain bad again. i guess i can see how this is some people’s thing but in all aspects of the word this movie was awful, and boring. 

2.5/10 dont watch it. nothing more needs to be said. 

BOOKSMART

right so i saw this one a while ago so dont crucify me if i get anything wrong. if were being short and sweet, booksmart is amazing, go watch it, and then consequently go watch a ton of video essays praising it or hating it (but probably praising it) im sure you've all hear the spiel on how booksmart is apparently now an instant classic so im not gonna do all that (even though i fully agree) but instead im gonna do what i do best and talk about *nerdy stuff*

lets start with what is easily the best part about this movie: acting. all of the characters felt real and raw and the actors did such a good job of translating emotions and making us feel them too. the vibe was just very real and raw and so much fun. olivia wilde knows how to work with actors because she is one and because of that she made a petty solid directorial debut. while the direction wasn’t perfect it was certainly very good. the lights and sound were goog, if maybe a little too on the nose mainly sound since a lot of times the soundtrack would be a song shoving in your face what the characters were feeling and the lights had murderers lit in red so yeah, on the nose and aggressive but not bad enough to make me dislike the film. the editing was pretty good i think, i dont remember the pacing ever feeling slow or fast, i think it let you feel all the feelings you needed to and actually added to the whole comedic effect.  the cinematography was mostly dynamic but nothing too special. regardless i appreciated that it never felt stale. the writing would be one of the only parts with a major flaw, it being that the plot is basically a cookie-cutter coming of age. i mean it kept me entertained, and it felt decently fresh and distinctively 2019 for the most part but there were parts that didnt need to happen except for this is what happens in coming of age films so they had to do it as well? again those are pretty select parts and only one major plot point so it wasnt too bad and the rest of the film made up for it. the scrip i think was hilarious except for one or two jokes that didnt land and felt a tad over done but for the most part my theater was chuckling the whole way through 

8.5/10 just a generally enjoyable experience and so genuine. like the entire movie was genuine, real, entertaining, funny and relatable. what more could you want from your coming of age comedy? not perfect, but definitely a solid piece to watch alone or with friends. catch it in theaters if you still can and havent already and if not pay a visit to red-box very soon.