Boy (2012)

Too much of everything

To me, this movie is perfection.

Fresh and Exciting

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Boy (2010) Director: Taika Waititi 6/10 Young actors impress, Tribute to the Maori, Picturesque backgrounds, Funny, zany, yet grave points. Thrilling credits a best part? Charming and quirky? Also pretentious. Lacking mood balance, Waititi best not acting, Gave film dubious feeling. Somonka is a form of poetry that is essentially two tanka poems (the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format), the second stanza a response to the first. Traditionally, each is a love letter and it requires two authors, but sometimes a poet takes on two personas. My somonka will be a love/hate letter to this film? #Somonka #PoemReview

According to Hollywood, childhood is either a magical, shiny age of oblivious joy and discovery, or full of terrible people and generally sh*t. Thankfully, there's Boy, the brainchild of weirdo genius Taika Waititi, here to wallop us with a knuckle sandwich of truth, then share a melting popsicle with us, staring off at a hazy sunset through a black eye. It's a film ruled by a tyrannical bullsh*t radar, seething with raw emotion but flayed of any obnoxious coddling moralizing or contrivance. It knows that the happiest memories are often witnessed through tears, and that the most profound epiphanies usually come waist-deep in mud and manure... then turn out to be 100% wrong. It knows that your idols matter, truly matter, even as you watch them disintegrate before your eyes. It's a film that knows that lying can sometimes be okay when the truth sucks too much. It's a film that knows that childhood means riding a dolphin brandishing a machine gun as much as it means having heart-to-hearts with your goat. It's a film with absolutely nothing to prove about people with altogether too much to prove. It's a film that knows that buried treasure really is buried treasure, even if it's something altogether scummier. It's a film that understands exactly how beautiful and lonely New Zealand is. It's a film that knows that the Incredible Hulk is a hero, but that there's a reason people outgrow their childhood heroes. It's a film that knows that a beatdown is really a dance-off. It's a film that understands colour and music in a way that other films only dream they could. It's a film that knows that children can withstand anything, and I mean anything, but that they shouldn't have to. It's a film that understands just how hard it is to miss someone, especially when they're right in front of you. It's a film that knows that not everyone is going to be all right, but some people will be, and that's all right. It's a film that knows that sometimes you cast that weird kid from the background as your lead, because you just have a good feeling about him, and he turns out to act the pants off all the professionals because he just gets it. It's a film that knows that sometimes you cast the director as the kid's dad, because he's just too adorable and f*cked up not to. It's a film that gets that sometimes you need to switch to cartoons to show the real truth, because live action film is too old-fashioned to believe in telekinesis. And if you told Boy that it just might be one of the most wildly wonderful films of the past who-knows-how-long, it would probably sucker-punch you, then moonwalk away, flipping you off. But then it would crack a secret, fiercely proud smile when it was sure you weren't looking anymore. Promise you'll never tell. Hee-hoo. -10/10

I don't really know what to say about this one - I watched it because I loved Hunt for the Wilderpeople and wanted to see what other films it's director had done. What I found was a more with a far more serious tone, but also a fairly intriguing plot. Don't get me wrong, this film is very flawed in some regards, but the sum of all its pieces is a decent Comedy/Drama that leans a little more on the latter than other films by this director.I think I should start with the positives. First of all, like I said, the plot is very unique. For the sake of spoilers, I won't tell you that much about it, but it's one of the most interesting I've seen in a while. Then, there are the performances. All of the actors, even in minor roles, played their parts to near perfection. This especially counts towards the main character, Boy (played by James Jolleston), and his dad, played by the director himself, Taika Waititi. Best of all here, as with other films by this director, is the cinematography. There were some shots here that left my jaw dropped because of how beautiful they were. Also, as to be expected by Waititi, the dialog here is really snappy and well written - each of the characters felt somewhat real in a sense.Now, this isn't to say this movie is without flaws. I found that this film has tonal inconsistencies at moments, especially later in the film. Something sad will happen, then will be proceeded with joyful, happy music and a scene that doesn't carry the same dramatic weight as the previous one. Also, the ending. Again, I won't be spoiling anything here, but this has one of the most lackluster, confusing, and downright unfitting endings I've ever seen in a film. Another thing that might get on some people's nerves, although didn't bother me, is that this film isn't as funny as the director's other works. It's a very dramatic piece, so go into it with that mindset.All in all, Boy is a decent dramedy. If you like happy movies and cheery endings, this obviously isn't for you - or, you won't like it a whole lot. It's a short film, but in it's running time, it impresses with a unique plot, great performances, excellent cinematography, and witty dialog that brings characters to life. I'm not going to say it's the best film I've ever seen, or my favorite of all the director's work so far, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. One last thing: if you're somewhat afraid about the 'Not Rated' status this film has... yeah, there's definitely some cursing, sexual references, and a bit of violence in this one. It's not too extreme, but I thought I should point that out for some people.

Taika Waititi's breakout film from 2010 isn't as straight-up entertaining as this year's Hunt for the Wilderpeople; it's rougher and much more personal. And, IMHO, it's right up there with such classic boy's-eye-view accounts of life's turning points as My Life as a Dog, Léolo, My Life So Far and, of course, Boyhood. The script's a little patchy at times (maybe because the film was upsized from a short to feature length), but TW seems to be one of those people, like Fellini and Charles Schulz, who remember every moment of their childhood, and it all seems very real. The title character and sometime narrator (great job by last-minute recruit James Rolleston) idolizes his absentee, inmate dad as an unstoppable action hero; when Dad unexpectedly turns up to retrieve a bag of stolen cash from a long-ago botched robbery, the idol's feet of clay (and head full of pot smoke) are very much in evidence. TW avoids coming-of-age clichés—the distinctive locale, a coastal Maori reserve back in '84, certainly helps with that—and his quick, sardonic visual style really keeps things moving.He tips us off in two short scenes, for example, that Boy's already set foot on the same path as his childlike, braggadocious dad: Boy shows off his dorky "Thriller"- style dance moves, and later Dad shouts out "Dukes of Hazzard!" and slithers awkwardly through the driver-side window of his car, in front of the same audience of bemused little kids and disdainful mean girls… Boy's 6-year-old brother, Ricky, provides his own mystical perspective, and there are lots of low-tech visual delights, notably Ricky's animated crayon drawings and the cast's lively haka à la Michael Jackson right before the closing credits.