Dr. DVD

Saw it this afternoon at an art house theater. Really liked it. If this doesn't get a Best Picture nod I will stop watching the Oscars altogether.

Side note: I had forgotten just how big a rack Patricia Arquette possessed. I know she's a mom in this and all, but dang.

inri222

You need to see Lost Highway

Saw it over Labor day weekend, very good but not great. Will probably make the lower part of my top 10 for 2014.

Mondo Kane

I feel the same as inri. Liked it a lot, but couldn't ultimately fall in love with it. I actually got a little of tired of Mason towards the end and wanted to follow Samantha instead (Since I went in cold into this movie, I had no idea we would be seeing a "Sister" grow up as well)

Agree with this. When Ethan's character first mentioned about going to see the Astros play, I assumed there would'nt be enough budget here to show the game. But Linklater knocked it out the park (Literally) with that sequence. BTW, I think there was a blooper in there when Ethan got rejected from a ^5 from Mason when the homer occurred.

hdtv00

Just WOW. I mean really you've all said it already. But damn it was just an honor to have watched it. I too if it doesn't get the Oscar Nod I'll never watch them again.

" Just a sequence of arbitrarily occuring events linked together by the unique structure of the film." I see complaints about this movie for it being boring to whatever the case. Well to that I have to say that I say this I guess. " Just a sequence of arbitrarily occuring events linked together by the unique structure of LIFE"...they actually captured life in the Art of Film. Life can and is boring , hell most of the time it is mundane series of events. That's all I'll say about it.

I really am stunned how great this movie is, what a joy.

Save Ferris

I agree. We just saw this and it seemed very mundane with very little plot progression. I understand there are people who love to see 'slice of life' films where the overall experience is supposed to surpass plot. Something made to seem 'REAL' is the goal.

Was this more real than sitting at someone's house and watching their vacation footage? Facebook conversations? Reality TV? Honestly at times it felt like a lifetime movie. Mason seemed like a schlub. I wanted him to shape up or have some transformation in his life--DO SOMETHING.

As far as a slice of life movie -- Whip It was better. Better parent/child interaction. Better character development. Better transformation and teen angst.

But give this movie 5 stars for the director putting this dream to action. Something never done before was done, I won't take that away from him.

Defiant1

I like the fact that Mason doesn't have some grand transformation by the end of the movie. He's 18 at the end, barely on the cusp of adulthood. Most teenagers in the real world don't get to save the world or have an epiphany about their life. Who knows what he will do in his 20s and beyond. He could become the next Ansel Adams or, like the majority of people, live a normal humdrum existence working a 9-5 job and raise a family.

SuperJim88

I thought this film ended up to be a little gimmicky. Posing the big tagline filmed over a 12 year span with a real boy growing up, when this concept didn't add value to the film. Ellar Coltrane was a bad actor. Lorelei Linklater sure didn't make it better either. As Ellar grew older, his acting got more and more awkward and unnatural. Whereas other movie would have cast different actors for different ages, with each actor being carefully picked. Thus this concept of same actor across 12 year span actually worked against the film. The fact that the story went nowhere sure didn't help. If Mason has an abusive step-father, how does it impact him and what can he do in this situation? Really a cop-out of Mom said we're moving was it?

cungar

Loved this movie. Yeah the kids didn't turn out to be great actors but how the hell are you going to know if a little kid is going to be a great actor when he's older in a project like this? Easy to over look stuff like this when you're dealing with such an epic undertaking.

Best film I saw in 2014.

Daytripper

Agree!

Throwing Copper

Excellent film and easily one of the best of 2014.

I so hope Linklater finally gets some serious recognition for this.

Not sure what movie SuperJim 88 was watching.

cungar

The only thing I can compare it to is the Up series from England but that was real life documentary and got too depressing as the people got older.

Dan

I watched it again today. I still think it's a fantastic movie, but it has its flaws. It is NOT, in my opinion, the best movie of the year, but I would go so far as to say it is the most essential film of the year. What I've been telling people is, "You may not love it, or even like it, but to skip it outright is just a huge mistake."

bluetoast

Finally saw this at the local Drafthouse. Whiplash is still my favorite of 2014, and I kind of got annoyed with Mason's whining by the end. Ethan Hawke was great though, he should get a supporting nom (but J.K. Simmons will win anyway), as was Patricia Arquette.

But I'm a big fan of Linklater, and this was an ambitious project, which I think ultimately succeeded, even though I don't think i'ts the best of all time or anything like that. But he's definitely going to get recognized this year.

astrochimp

Was this really three hours? It flew by for me. Great film

Loved the liquor store cameo

Osiris3657

Saw this tonight, finally. Been sitting on my HD for months. Anyway, good movie. Best of 2014? Nah, not in my opinion. But if it were to win Best Picture I wouldn't be upset about it.

Dug the music and the performances. I'm curious why Linklater decided to write Mason the way he did, if he was basing his personality on his own when he was growing up.

Also had no idea until the end that the sister is Linklater's daughter. Pretty neat.

Ketamine

I saw it a few days ago and did not like it at all. It was interesting to see these people change over time but the story was below average. If you take away the fact that they filmed it over 12 years, is this a good film? If this was filmed in less than a year and the kid actors were different actors like most coming of age movies, I guessing this would be getting very little attention. Way too long, story was forgettable, most characters generic, and unlikible main character. At one point I thought this movie was about the evolution of video games with how much they focused on the "new" system each time the story advanced in time.

Patman

Pretty extensive home movie, decent budget, too...

Count Dooku

I agree. Except for the artistry involved in the creation of the work, the emotional affect of watching the characters age before your eyes, and the intellectual component of examining parent-child relationships, there is no reason for this film to be receiving accolades and attention.

BTW, though it seems like a good bet considering the subject matter, I couldn't have told you for certain that any video games ever appeared in the movie.

Dr. DVD

For anyone who says it doesn't have much of a story, that's part of the point. Linklater wanted to make a film that came close to representing real life for a time period. Every time you think something typical of a movie is going to happen, it doesn't. That's the way life works, not a movie.

cungar

People are conditioned these days by blockbusters to expect fast paced buildup to a climax and a final act that ties everything up.I think people who've watched classic foreign films by directors like Ozu and independent films can relate to Boyhood. The characters are the story.

Ketamine

If you think a movie is good that mirrors real life in which nothing really happens then good for you. If the director really wanted to make a movie that showed what real life is like when nothing of consequence happened then he succeeded.

I don't need big action or shocking twists to like a movie, but I need the story to do something that interests me. If I wanted to experience "real" life, then I can skip a movie, save $10, and just experience the day. With that said, I go to see a movie to be entertained in some way and this movie did not do that for me. Obviously it worked for a lot of people, but I'm guessing if you took out the fact that it was filmed over a 12 year period, then it would not be in many people's top 10. If I were a betting man though I would put money down that it will win an Oscar so what do I know.

Count Dooku

Your insistence on denying the importance of process in the creation of art shows that while you may be an avid consumer of movies, you do not appreciate film as an artistic medium.

Ketamine

I'm not denying the importance of the process. I think that is all it has though. I enjoyed seeing the actors as they aged. I liked seeing how things were 12 years ago compared to now. I liked Hawke and Arquette. But my point is as a movie and a story, it you take the unique way the film was made, I think the story is very weak and uninteresting. Your examples do not make an interesting story for me that I want to watch on the big screen. I think the "boy" is not a good actor and I did not like his character. That's how I feel about it. I'm comfortable in my view of it and it doesn't bother me if others had a different experience. I just don't get it but to each their own.

I'm sure you will say you can't separate the process and the movie, but I can. If you took away the process, do you think this movie would be on anyone's radar?

johnnysd

Wow. First I respect your opinion and you are welcome to it. However I could not really disagree with you more. And it's not even an artsy thing for me, it is just Boyhood showed a significant and very interesting slice of what seemed like a real life. The aging was not a gimmick. The topicality was not a gimmick. It gave the movie a depth and realness and accuracy that could never be otherwise accomplished through the prism of recall. We see the real life the character has and can truly see why he is the person he is at the end of the movie. There were many many arcs in the movie, just not some contrived heroic or "dramatic" arc, just life as it really is with all it's randomness, banality and hidden danger, and the fact that all of these little experiences turn you into the person you are, from the little boy looking up at the sky dreaming of infinite possibility, to the disillusioned, cynical young man with a very specific view of life focused by all of the events of his rather ordinary life.

I think it was absolutely brilliant, and a movie experience unlike any other. Far and away the best film I saw this year.

Throwing Copper

I can't say for sure if it was the best film I saw all year because I haven't seen a lot of the good stuff released in December yet.

However, I was thoroughly entertained by this. I could have watched a 4-hour director's cut if there was one.