It's a masterpiece, and Linklater's magnum opus. Can't wait to see it again.

A few more thoughts here if you're interested.

Ha, I noticed the same. A Scanner Darkly is an animated drug odyssey/social commentary, so I would say it is around a thousand miles outside of conventional. It may be the most outré film of his career or second on the list behind its stylistic sibling, Waking Life. A far superior example to pair with School of Rock would his version of Bad News Bears. Or Me and Orson Welles. Or, earlier in his career, The Newton Boys.

Thank you, Magnus! By conventional, I guess I meant plot-driven, not allowing a lot of room for the breeziness normally associated with Linklater's other work. It's certainly bizarre, but it also has a plotline that needs to be pretty firmly followed in a very specific alternate universe that's not our own. The Bad News Bears and The Newton Boys are actually the only Linklater films I haven't seen, though Mr and Orson Welles probably would've worked as another example.

This is still getting unreal reviews.

Color me excited!

I am beyond excited to see this. I'm fully expecting it to be my favorite movie of the year. It really saddens me that I won't be able to see it until the middle of August.

When I first heard of this years ago, I was intrigued, more about how it's such a hit or miss idea. Excited to see that it apparently turned out really, really well.

It's actually up to a 9.2 average on RT. And a 97 on MC with 13/20 reviews being a 100.

It more than lives up to the hype. This movie is absolutely brilliant. I actually was expecting to find it disappointing despite the amazing reviews because I think Linklater's Before trilogy is vastly overrated, but he really outdoes himself here. It's completely clear that this is his passion project - his magnum opus - it's deeply felt and personal from the opening frame. Despite a sprawling running time that nearly hits the three-hour mark, it's consistently engaging and you really come to feel as if you are a part of the family that is being depicted onscreen. I loved the editing and the way the passage of time was referenced, whether with relevant pop songs of that year or cultural references anyone from this generation can understand (such as waiting in line for a Harry Potter book on the eve of release). It gives the movie a nostalgic feel that's almost as if you're reliving your own childhood. The performances are fantastic across the board and the realism of them makes this all the more effective. Every character is deeply flawed but relatable, and all of the four leads are ultimately good people at heart. They go through many tough times (there's one incredibly tense segment involving Arquette's character becoming the subject of domestic violence) and all you want is to see them thriving and happy by the end of it all. I think Patricia Arquette was absolutely fantastic here - she really deserves some awards consideration. She broke my heart on many occasions and has a ton of standout scenes - it's a perfect depiction of a mother learning to let go of her children as they age. Ethan Hawke is appropriately charming and the film works just as much as a story of him growing up as it does the lead. I thought Lorelai Linklater was really great as Samantha and it was fascinating to watch her transition from bratty child to inquisitive twentysomething. And Ellar Coltrane is excellent in the film's 'central' role (though honestly Samantha gets as much screentime) as Mason - it's an incredibly authentic, true to life performance and he's honestly just as good in the earlier scenes as he is in later segments. The film's power didn't really hit me until one scene late in the film, which was honestly one of the most moving movie moments I think I've ever seen. It ends on an incredibly optimistic and heartwarming note, but there's a definite sadness to the ending as well - Linklater has basically created both a nostalgic view into the past and a reminder that it is just that - the past. It reminded me a lot of the overall message of something like Toy Story 3. It's pretty much impossible not to be moved by this film or to at least not respect and admire the craftsmanship that went into its production. Sure to be one of the best films of the year and a new classic for sure. A+

Man, talkin bout perfect endings...

it's fucking amazing.

Pretty good, not a masterpiece. I guess what bothered me most is how pretentious the character of the boy grew up being. He lost me during the final 30 minutes. Pretty damn great before that, though.

It's an incredibly impressive achievement. The movie moves at a comfortable pace and although it does start to drag just a little near the end (like at Hawkes's parents-in-law cabin or some other scenes) but it's a pretty quick 2 and a half+ hours. Standout in the cast is Arquette, everyone else is good as well. I liked how the movie never seemed to go for too many big dramatic scenes, Linklater really captured life, family and growing up in a very realistic manner.

For writer and director Richard Linklater, Boyhood is a type of magnum opus, as well as a catalog of the ideas and images flowing through his entire oeuvre, from his fascination with the ways in which cinema can portray elapsed time (previously evidenced by Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and last year's Before Midnight) to an elegant, yet direct and unpretentious visual style capturing the beauty of suburban neighborhoods, street corners, schoolrooms, etc., at least when he is not experimenting with animation.

The unique context of the film's production—for 12 years, the director gathered his core cast for an annual shoot, and the 165-minute film is shaped from over a decade's worth of footage—guaranteed it would at least prove a sensation on the festival and art-house circuit, yet it is still a tad surprising how profound and satisfying the experience is. It is an intimate spectacle in and of itself to view star Ellar Coltrane, a Texas lad cast in the lead role of Mason at the age of six, as his voice deepens, his limbs lengthen, his hair changes, and his confidence recedes and expands. His is a journey from a wide-eyed spectator to a forming man in the driver's seat of his own life. This is not 100-percent new ground (François Truffaut followed Jean-Pierre Léaud's Antoine Doinel from The 400 Blows in 1959 to Love on the Run in 1979), but the way the actor and character's mental and physical coming-of-age is shaped into a single epic film gives Boyhood a special and pure magic.

As Mason's devoted mother and his often absent father, Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke also blossom and change in front of the camera. They never fail to infuse the figures of the parents with an authentic continuity, culminating in a quietly glorious shared moment in the third act. Their ability to locate parts of their characters—such as her pursuit of independence via academia and his of genuine paternal stability—and unfold them over the course of a 12-year shoot is a glowing testament to their talent and also, presumably, of their director's vision.

The film also wisely plays with our knowledge of and nostalgia for recent history, from the cultural (Mason, in a wizard costume, attends a midnight gathering celebrating the publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in 2005) to the political (in the film's portrayal of the lead-up to the 2008 presidential election which pit Senators Obama and McCain against one another, both unrealistic Obama-is-our-savior liberals and angry Obama-is-a-damn-Muslim conservatives are lampooned). These dispatches from the earlier years of the 21st century in tandem with a gentle, slice-of-life rhythm result in a film with an extraordinary ability to again and again conjure a sensation of "I-know-and-I-lived-this" recognition.

A

Well of course it's a gimmick. I'm sure Linklater didn't say to himself "Boy I hope no one acknowledges that I shot it over 12 years!"

Wouldn't be the first time.

i will start jizzing all over it

It's a masterpiece. Pure and simple, plain and true. There's a lengthy running time of 163 minutes...I could have watched this for double that length. When it ended, I felt like hugging all the friends I just saw it with. What could have just been an interesting cinematic experiment (filming consecutively over 12 years) fundamentally impacts how Boyhood hits us. It basically redefines the "coming of age" movie, as the actors and the writing grow with time in a way that is totally awesome to watch. All four principal actors should be commended on the strength of their performances as well as their commitment to this project. Ellar Coltrane's confidence grows as an actor from scene to scene and it's incredible to watch unfold in real time. Lorelei Linklater similarly projects growth from scene to scene, year to year. Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke are both absolutely wonderful and would fully deserve award consideration. Oh my goodness, it's just so good. Something really good is going to have to come along to knock this off its perch as my #1 movie of the year. A

A+

I loved this film.

imtim!!

8 years in between posts. Impressive.

He was being meta by doing it in the Boyhood thread clearly.

LOL

This is the biggest WTF of this thread.

Loved the movie. Someone above mentioned how some of the stories seemed cliche for a coming of age film - I agree with that, and that was the only part of the movie that I didn't enjoy 100%.

I especially enjoyed how Mason Jr.'s character was borderline insufferable towards the end - that's a perfect depiction of a teenager.

Yep. It was like the perfect characterization of your typical asinine 16 to 18-year-old, which I thought was great.