Week Report #18
Jaden McGrath 6/7/19
This week in my animation class here at Boces, I both worked on and finished my portfolio website as well as my YouTube channel. I took all of the projects I have finished this year and placed them in both my YouTube channel and in a gallery on my website. On my website, I also had to include both my resume and my autobiography that I previously worked on in class. Putting together the YouTube channel was easy enough but working in Wix to put together my website was a bit of a pain at times. Either some options wouldn't work properly like not being able to add my 3D project videos in the 3D animation or I would have trouble trying to add somethings to the website because the website didn't make it clear how to do those things. But luckily for me, I was able to figure out and complete the website along with publishing it officially. Since it is the end of the year for animation, I guess there really isn't any time to learn how to make my ow models but that's ok. I'm glad I got to learn the stuff that I did over the last 40 weeks being in this wonderful class.
https://screenrant.com/booksmart-movie-reviews/
https://screenrant.com/rocketman-2019-movie-reviews/
For my final week report blog for the school year, I would like to share my thoughts and highlight a few recent films that I saw and I would like to talk about and review. I also hope that these reviews convince you to give either one or even both movies a chance because I believe these small films definitely are worth talking about. Don't worry, there are not any spoilers for either film.
The first film I would like to talk about is a little movie that released in theaters on May 24th of this year called Booksmart. The film follows the story of two teenage girls named molly (played by Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (played by Kaitlyn Dever) who are just about to finish off their senior year and go off to college as top in their class, with Molly as Valedictorian of her class because she spent every waking moment being the best she can be at school. But she soon finds out that all of the kids at her school who just goofed off and acted like idiots have also been able to get into those great colleges like Stanford and Harvard. Realizing this, she regrets not being able to have any fun over the years because she and her Amy spent all that time studying. So they decide that on their last night before they graduate that they are going to go to a fellow classmates party and prove to all of their class that they are not only really smart but also really fun. This film is the directorial debut of Olivia Wilde, who you may recognize for being a pretty good actress in comedies and even some dramas. I have been a fan of hers for quite a while so when I heard that she was going to try to direct a film of her own, I immediately was interested to give it a watch. So last Thursday on May 30th, I purchased a ticket and sat down in an almost empty theater to watch the film for myself. And after watching it, I'm not gonna lie, I walked out a bit upset. Upset at the fact that this movie isn't getting as much attention as it deserves because Booksmart turned out to be a hilarious, charming, and very entertaining movie that had me laughing from beginning to end. One of the major plus's the film has is both with its writing and its acting. The two main actresses, Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever did such a fantastic job in their roles and I only hope that both of them will get some kind of nomination once the oscars roll around. Even all of the side characters of the film were hilarious and gave great performances. Speaking of the humor, the writing for this movie was top notch as the film brilliantly handled both its comedic moments as well as its dramatic ones. I seem to notice a trend in Hollywood lately where actors try to direct their own films and they come out not only good, but some of the best movies of its year. Examples include Jordan Peele's "Get Out" and "Us", John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place", Bradley Cooper's "A Star is Born", and now Olivia Wilde with Booksmart. I hope the box office for this movie in any way stunts her growth as a director because I would love to see more movies directed by her in the future now that she has knocked it out of the park for her debut. I highly recommend that you see Booksmart anyway you can. It truly is a film that deserves a lot more love.
Booksmart: 9/10
Now as for the other film I want to talk about, this one is a little more well known about than Booksmart. And that film is the musical fantasy/ rock and roll biopic film, Rocketman. The film tells the story of Reginald Dwight (played by Taron Edgerton), a young pianist who would rise to fame as a famous rock and roll artist, going by the name of Elton John. From then on, the weight of everything starts to take a toll on Elton between his issues with his family, the weight of the job, and even his own sexuality, resulting in depression, alcoholism, and substance abuse. It is a film about redemption and showing off who you really are. Before the films release, there were a lot of comments made that the film had a similar vibe to another recent rock and roll biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. But I can safely say that there is one major difference between the two films to the point where they don't even feel like similar movies. And that is were Bohemian Rhapsody told its story like a movie and tried to keep everything grounded, Rocketman decides to go one step forward with its premise and make the movie feel like a fantasy musical. This would include adding in song and dance numbers and out of this world visuals as Elton John said that this is how his own life played out. So just last night, I went to go see the film and what did I think of it? Guys, I left this movie singing his songs and having a huge smile on my face. This movie blew my expectations away and no pun intended, but I thought the movie was an absolute blast. First of all, I have to praise all of the performances in this movie from Bryce Dallas Howard, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, and the rest of the cast. But the person I praise the most without a doubt has to be Taron Edgerton as Elton John himself. He gives such a lively performance between the highs and lows of Elton John's career. It is very obvious that he gives it his all in the film and in the role. If he does not get a nomination for best actor at the next Academy Awards, I will be outraged and purely furious. I think this film should also get nominations for both best costume design and for best editing, both of which are things the film nailed perfectly. Another big highlight is all of the musical numbers which are very well choreographed and well sung. Some are truly fantastic like "Saturday Night's Alright", "Crocodile Rock", 'Tiny Dancer", and even, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." But I do believe that the Rocketman number is worth the price of admission alone. I put this film up there with Booksmart, Us, Shazam!, Fighting with my Family, John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum, ad Avengers: Endgame as one of the best films I have seen all year and I highly recommend it to anyone.
RocketMan: 10/10
This week in my animation class here at Boces, I both worked on and finished my portfolio website as well as my YouTube channel. I took all of the projects I have finished this year and placed them in both my YouTube channel and in a gallery on my website. On my website, I also had to include both my resume and my autobiography that I previously worked on in class. Putting together the YouTube channel was easy enough but working in Wix to put together my website was a bit of a pain at times. Either some options wouldn't work properly like not being able to add my 3D project videos in the 3D animation or I would have trouble trying to add somethings to the website because the website didn't make it clear how to do those things. But luckily for me, I was able to figure out and complete the website along with publishing it officially. Since it is the end of the year for animation, I guess there really isn't any time to learn how to make my ow models but that's ok. I'm glad I got to learn the stuff that I did over the last 40 weeks being in this wonderful class.
https://screenrant.com/booksmart-movie-reviews/
https://screenrant.com/rocketman-2019-movie-reviews/
For my final week report blog for the school year, I would like to share my thoughts and highlight a few recent films that I saw and I would like to talk about and review. I also hope that these reviews convince you to give either one or even both movies a chance because I believe these small films definitely are worth talking about. Don't worry, there are not any spoilers for either film.
The first film I would like to talk about is a little movie that released in theaters on May 24th of this year called Booksmart. The film follows the story of two teenage girls named molly (played by Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (played by Kaitlyn Dever) who are just about to finish off their senior year and go off to college as top in their class, with Molly as Valedictorian of her class because she spent every waking moment being the best she can be at school. But she soon finds out that all of the kids at her school who just goofed off and acted like idiots have also been able to get into those great colleges like Stanford and Harvard. Realizing this, she regrets not being able to have any fun over the years because she and her Amy spent all that time studying. So they decide that on their last night before they graduate that they are going to go to a fellow classmates party and prove to all of their class that they are not only really smart but also really fun. This film is the directorial debut of Olivia Wilde, who you may recognize for being a pretty good actress in comedies and even some dramas. I have been a fan of hers for quite a while so when I heard that she was going to try to direct a film of her own, I immediately was interested to give it a watch. So last Thursday on May 30th, I purchased a ticket and sat down in an almost empty theater to watch the film for myself. And after watching it, I'm not gonna lie, I walked out a bit upset. Upset at the fact that this movie isn't getting as much attention as it deserves because Booksmart turned out to be a hilarious, charming, and very entertaining movie that had me laughing from beginning to end. One of the major plus's the film has is both with its writing and its acting. The two main actresses, Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever did such a fantastic job in their roles and I only hope that both of them will get some kind of nomination once the oscars roll around. Even all of the side characters of the film were hilarious and gave great performances. Speaking of the humor, the writing for this movie was top notch as the film brilliantly handled both its comedic moments as well as its dramatic ones. I seem to notice a trend in Hollywood lately where actors try to direct their own films and they come out not only good, but some of the best movies of its year. Examples include Jordan Peele's "Get Out" and "Us", John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place", Bradley Cooper's "A Star is Born", and now Olivia Wilde with Booksmart. I hope the box office for this movie in any way stunts her growth as a director because I would love to see more movies directed by her in the future now that she has knocked it out of the park for her debut. I highly recommend that you see Booksmart anyway you can. It truly is a film that deserves a lot more love.
Booksmart: 9/10
Now as for the other film I want to talk about, this one is a little more well known about than Booksmart. And that film is the musical fantasy/ rock and roll biopic film, Rocketman. The film tells the story of Reginald Dwight (played by Taron Edgerton), a young pianist who would rise to fame as a famous rock and roll artist, going by the name of Elton John. From then on, the weight of everything starts to take a toll on Elton between his issues with his family, the weight of the job, and even his own sexuality, resulting in depression, alcoholism, and substance abuse. It is a film about redemption and showing off who you really are. Before the films release, there were a lot of comments made that the film had a similar vibe to another recent rock and roll biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. But I can safely say that there is one major difference between the two films to the point where they don't even feel like similar movies. And that is were Bohemian Rhapsody told its story like a movie and tried to keep everything grounded, Rocketman decides to go one step forward with its premise and make the movie feel like a fantasy musical. This would include adding in song and dance numbers and out of this world visuals as Elton John said that this is how his own life played out. So just last night, I went to go see the film and what did I think of it? Guys, I left this movie singing his songs and having a huge smile on my face. This movie blew my expectations away and no pun intended, but I thought the movie was an absolute blast. First of all, I have to praise all of the performances in this movie from Bryce Dallas Howard, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, and the rest of the cast. But the person I praise the most without a doubt has to be Taron Edgerton as Elton John himself. He gives such a lively performance between the highs and lows of Elton John's career. It is very obvious that he gives it his all in the film and in the role. If he does not get a nomination for best actor at the next Academy Awards, I will be outraged and purely furious. I think this film should also get nominations for both best costume design and for best editing, both of which are things the film nailed perfectly. Another big highlight is all of the musical numbers which are very well choreographed and well sung. Some are truly fantastic like "Saturday Night's Alright", "Crocodile Rock", 'Tiny Dancer", and even, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." But I do believe that the Rocketman number is worth the price of admission alone. I put this film up there with Booksmart, Us, Shazam!, Fighting with my Family, John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum, ad Avengers: Endgame as one of the best films I have seen all year and I highly recommend it to anyone.
RocketMan: 10/10
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