FILM 1968: EIGHTH GRADE

FILM 1968: EIGHTH GRADE

TRIVIA: At a screening in San Francisco, director Bo Burnham said he originally intended for all the young characters to communicate with one another over Facebook. When his star, Elsie Fisher, saw his script, however, she said, "No one uses Facebook." He then made that a line in the movie and had the characters use Instagram and Snapchat instead.

Speaking on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, director Bo Burnham said that technology company Apple was going to provide laptops and phones for the film for free, but they were unhappy with the scene where the iPhone broke when it got thrown. As a result, the laptops shown in the film were those belonging to the crew and the broken iPhone scene was kept in.

Filming began one week after actress Elsie Fisher graduated eighth grade.

Was listed as one of former US President Barack Obama's favourite films of 2018.

MY VERDICT: This film really spoke to me – I was the shyest of all teenagers and I was just like this girl - except I didn’t have the luxury of any of the social media. The last third of the film brought me to tears and just reminded me how hard growing up is. I’m so glad I’m an adult now – I wouldn’t wish teenage years on my worst enemy. Even though I grew up in a different era I think teenage awkwardness is pretty universal and I think this film is genuine and true to real life. Watch it let me know if you can relate… Also there were some bits that made me really laugh out loud - so don't go into it thinking it's a sombre film because it's not that at all.

FILM 1758: LADY BIRD

FILM 1758: LADY BIRD 

TRIVIA: Saoirse Ronan and Greta Gerwig first met each other at the Toronto Film Festival in 2015 when Ronan was promoting Brooklyn (2015) and Gerwig was promoting Maggie's Plan(2015). Ronan had already read Gerwig's script and instantly connected with the titular character, so when both women discussed the script at length in Ronan's hotel room and she read the key part aloud, Gerwig knew that she had found her "Lady Bird."

The film is Greta Gerwig's solo feature directorial debut.

Saoirse Ronan has said that the most difficult word for her to pronounce with an American accent was "perfect."

Director Greta Gerwig suggested to Saoirse Ronan not cover up her acne for the film.

The film cast includes four Oscar nominees: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges and Timothée Chalamet.

The film takes place from 2002 to 2003, the time when Greta Gerwig herself graduated from St. Francis Catholic High School in her hometown of Sacramento, California.

Throughout the film, a small poster of the movie Rushmore (1998) can be seen on the wall of Lady Bird's bedroom. Saoirse Ronan, who played Lady Bird, worked with that movie's director, Wes Anderson, on The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and co-star Lucas Hedges appeared in Anderson's films Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Anderson also co-wrote the movies The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou(2004) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) with Noah Baumbach, who is the current romantic partner of Greta Gerwig, this movie's writer and director.

VERONICA MARS

On March 13, 2013, cast members Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni, and Ryan Hansen, and showrunner Rob Thomas all appeared in a video posted to the crowd-sourcing website Kickstarter that challenged fans of the TV show (which had been canceled in 2007) to pledge $2 Million to fund (or help fund) a feature film project based on the show. The project broke a Kickstarter record when it made more than $1.3 million in about six hours; the entire amount was raised and surpassed in under eleven hours.

Both actresses Alyson Hannigan and Charisma Carpenter were stars on the also iconic TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon, a declared fan of "Veronica Mars," also had a cameo in an episode.

The sticker of the black circle with the bananas in the middle on Veronica's locker is the album cover of The Dandy Warhols, the album the feature's the theme song 'We Used to Be Friends'.

The network told Rob Thomas in advance that season 3 was probably going to be the last of the show, so he could have the opportunity to wrap up the series. Thomas got so angry at them that wrote the season finale as an anti-finale. In retrospect, he has said he doesn't regret it because they could not have made the movie if the show had had a proper ending.

Entertainment Weekly included Veronica Mars in its "25 Greatest Cult TV Shows Ever" list at position #13 in the September 29, 2009.

Paul Rudd was originally considered to play Vinnie Van Lowe.

Many participants in Veronica Mars (2004) went on to help make Party Down (2009): Party Down creator Rob Thomas was the creator of Veronica Mars; Party Down creators John Enbom and Dan Etheridge were producers on Veronica Mars; and Party Down creator Paul Rudd was a Veronica Mars guest star. Party Down regulars Ken Marino and Ryan Hansen were also Veronica Mars regulars. Party Down regulars Jane Lynch and Adam Scott were Veronica Mars guest stars. Party Down guest stars Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring, Alona Tal, Ed Begley Jr., Daran Norris, Ryan Devlin, and (Veronica herself) Kristen Bell were all Veronica Mars regulars. And Party Down guest star Joey Lauren Adams was a Veronica Mars guest star.

FILM 1331: IT FOLLOWS

TRIVIA: The poem that Kelly's English teacher reads out loud is TS Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". The poem seems to share some commonalities with the film.

The theatre featured at the beginning of the film is the Redford Theatre, a historic Japanese style theatre with a fully functioning Wurlitzer organ, in the Old Redford neighborhood of Detroit, MI. The Evil Dead (1981) premiered there.

The dilapidated house that Hugh hid out in and that Jay and her friends explored is a house style called the American Foursquare. This style was popular from the 1890s through the 1930s. Many floor plans for the foursquare feature "circular" traffic patters where one can proceed through several rooms and return to the starting point without ever reversing the path: kitchen, vestibule, living room, dining room, and kitchen, for instance. In some homes, adjoining bedrooms shared closets and bathrooms. This kind of "fluid" floor plan would make this style of house particularly desirable if an escape from "It" was needed.

Some of the cars shown are from more recent times. Some are shown to be from the 60s to late 70s era. The time frame in which this movie is actually set is unknown as some of the technology does not exist, let alone could exist in the supposed "retro" area.

BOOK 129: MORE THAN THIS: PATRICK NESS

More Than This is a young adult novel by Patrick Ness, published by Candlewick Press in 2013. It follows a teenage boy named Seth who, after drowning in the ocean, wakes up alone on a desolate suburban English street in what he believes to be hell.

More Than This was reviewed favorably by critics and readers. Martin Chilton of The Telegraph describes the novel as "an impressively challenging and philosophical book for young adults," capturing "ambiguity and bewilderment of being young and the uncertainty of what will happen to any of us next in life." Tony Bradman of The Guardian concurred, writing: "Seth is a terrific exemplar of the eternal teenage desire for there to be, in the words of the novel's title, "more than this” “As of early March 2015 the book scores 4.04 out of 5 stars on the social reading site Goodreads John Green's review of More Than This is printed on the front cover of the book. John comments, "Just read it."

MY VERDICT: I started this book full of hope, I do not usually read books as new as this, or aimed at young adults, but I had seen so many great reviews that I felt compelled to read it. I hated it… at first.  It started so badly that I was not looking forward to the rest. I can understand why it is clunky at the start but it really could have been written better.  And it does get better, it had me hooked after the third or forth chapter and I was glad I persevered because it was thoroughly entertaining.  Admittedly a little juvenile for me but like watching a good children’s TV program it had me empathizing with the characters and dying to know how it would end.