Write a 3-4 page film review/critique of Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014) in which you comment on and evaluate the film and discuss its relevance to our historical moment. Discuss if you found the film powerful and worth seeing and give reasons for your judgment. Do not plagiarize, be generous and give credit to others.

Writing pointers:

Clearly indicate your judgment of the film’s quality. However, avoid an opinionated thumbs up/thumbs down approach that uses a film’s “entertainment” value as the only criterion. Be aware of personal preferences and point them out. Use the vocabulary you have learnt in this class to write a critical review that shows knowledge of film history and form. A good critic raises the level of media culture—winning audiences for complex and innovative work.

Brief plot synopsis-characters and conflicts. Don’t give away the ending. Follow first time mention of character names with names of the actors in parentheses.

Mention striking aspects of the film’s formal devices—editing, sound, mise-en-scene, cinematography, narration. Acting is often an important criterion.

Compare the film with others—same director, same theme, contemporary films.

Brevity: vivid descriptions followed by opinions stated briefly and precisely. Pauline Kael: Literal-minded in its sex and brutality, Teutonic in its humor, Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange might be the work of a strict and exacting German professor who set out to make a porno-violent sci-fi Comedy. Check the following for examples:

Stuart Klawans: http://www.thenation.com/print/article/153990/pursuit-happiness

Pauline Kael on Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1972): http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0051.html