Tag Archives: Bo Burnham

2020 Films, Adam Brody, Alfred Molina, Alison Brie, Bo Burnham, Carey Mulligan, Clancy Brown, Comedy, Connie Britton, Dark Comedy, Emerald Fennell, Independent, Independent Comedy, Independent Thriller, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Margot Robbie, Max Greenfield, Molly Shannon, Thriller

Promising Young Woman-2020

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Promising Young Woman-2020

Director Emerald Fennell

Starring Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham

Scott’s Review #1,132

Reviewed April 13, 2021

Grade: A

Emerald Fennell, making her film directorial debut, kicks her viewers in the ass with significant help from star Carey Mulligan, with Promising Young Woman (2020).

The actress gives the best performance of her career.

The film is a sexy and haunting experience, mixing black comedy and witty dialogue with an important and timely subject matter- the abuse and victimization of young women by men.

Both men and women can be held responsible, as Fennell makes abundantly clear. Predators often have a share of people who choose to “look the other way” and thereby enable.

This is a constant theme throughout the film involving many characters who are called out for their passivity.

Fennell makes this point during two of the film’s most compelling scenes, calling out a high-powered dean and attorney for their betrayals. The scenes are so powerful that I wanted the characters to suffer as much as the revenge seeker does.

There is also a wackiness in the pacing and dialogue that reminds me quite a bit of the 1999 masterpiece, American Beauty.

The film is depravity, bizarreness, and brilliance all rolled into one. I felt this film in my bones.

Almost every scene is a treat in the mysterious and unexpected, and the film features peculiar characters and creative musical score renditions, and includes a scene and music from the underappreciated masterpiece The Night of the Hunter (1955). Fennell knows her classic cinema.

Mulligan stars as a woman named Cassie who seeks to avenge the death of her best friend, who was a victim of rape when they were in medical school, and their young lives had potential, and such possibility lay ahead of them.

Cleverly, we never see her friend, named Nina Fisher, but she is of vital importance and nearly a central character herself despite her absence.

Everyone said Cassie was a “promising young woman” until a mysterious event abruptly derailed her future. But now, at thirty and still living at home, her parents suggest, via a giant suitcase for her birthday, that it may be time for her to move on.

Cassie is tough to figure out since she’s wickedly clever, sometimes wisecracking, and tantalizingly cunning, and she’s living a secret double life by night. She goes to nightclubs looking drop-dead gorgeous and lures men to her rescue, pretending to be inebriated.

What happens when they go back to their pad is shocking, dark, and justified. The men will never see this coming.

Before the presumption is that Cassie is nothing more than a bad-ass, her intentions are not only admirable, but she has a heart and desires love. Promising Young Woman is a dark character study.

Besides the powerful story, Promising Young Woman is riddled with interesting cinematic techniques. Cassie’s parents lounge in their afternoon, watching The Night of the Hunter, a dark fairy tale for adults.

Later, a haunting version of Britney Spears “I’m a Slave 4 U”, complete with a string arrangement, is featured most uniquely.

All the supporting players add pizzazz and strength, some in odd or unclear ways, until certain revelations bubble to the surface.

Jennifer Coolidge as Cassie’s strange mother, Bo Burnham as the smitten Ryan Cooper, and Alison Brie as Cassie’s college friend Madison McPhee are the best examples.

Bo and Madison have the most to hide, but will they or won’t they face Cassie’s wrath? Not much is worse than a woman scorned.

But the main draw is Mulligan. Startlingly good, with an astonishingly powerful, deeply layered performance by her. She showcases a remarkable acting range, effortlessly shifting from brash to darkly humorous and, at times, emotionally vulnerable in her best performance to date.

Two scenes stand out to me.

The first is a delicious scene between Cassie and the female dean of her school, played by Connie Britton. At first dismissive and annoyed by Cassie’s accusations, Dean Elizabeth Walker finally takes notice when she believes that Cassie had kidnapped her teenage daughter and left her with a group of drunken frat boys. What comes around goes around!

The second is the finale wedding scene, interestingly not featuring Cassie other than by text messages. As the happy young couple says their vows a parade of police cars ruins the moment and the audience cheers victory. It’s a satisfying moment.

The screenplay is original, fresh, and timely. In the “Me Too” movement, the timing is vital and makes the subject matter relevant. Fennell wrote the screenplay- is there anything she can’t do?

Promising Young Woman (2020) is an exceptional film. It’s a controversial revenge film, but it’s so much more. Taking a powerful subject matter and examining the hypocrisy of men and women is telling and eye-opening.

That is why this film is critical to see and brings awareness to a situation that society still too often deems as okay.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Picture, Best Director-Emerald Fennell, Best Actress-Carey Mulligan, Best Original Screenplay (won), Best Film Editing

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 2 wins-Best Director-Emerald Fennell, Best Female Lead- Carey Mulligan (won), Best Screenplay (won)

2018 Films, Bo Burnham, Comedy, Drama, Elsie Fisher, Emily Robinson, Fred Hechinger, Independent, Independent Comedy, Independent Drama, Jake Ryan, Josh Hamilton

Eighth Grade-2018

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Eighth Grade-2018

Director Bo Burnham

Starring Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton

Scott’s Review #935

Reviewed August 27, 2018

Grade: A-

Occasionally, a film rich with authenticity and pure honesty comes along, and Eighth Grade (2018) is one of those films.

Bursting with a lead character who brings a genuine sincerity to a complex role, director Bo Burnham gets the best out of emerging talent, Elsie Fisher, in an autobiographical story about teenage angst and awkwardness that nearly everyone can recollect from those hated middle school years.

The coming-of-age story follows the life and struggles of an eighth-grader, Kayla Day (Fisher), during her last week of classes before graduating from junior high school.

She struggles with severe social anxiety but produces secret YouTube videos in which she provides life advice to both herself and her audience. She has a clingy relationship with her sometimes overbearing father, Mark (Josh Hamilton), who adores her but is careful to provide Kayla with freedom and balance, her mother apparently out of the picture.

Eighth Grade feels fresh and rich with good, old-fashioned, non-cliched scenes as audiences fall in love with Kayla and her trials and tribulations.

The stereotypes would abound in a lesser film attempting to appeal to the masses, but this film is going for intelligent writing.

The scenes range from touching to comical to frightening. A tender father and daughter talking over a campfire provides layers of character development for both Kayla and Mark as an understanding is realized.

As Kayla ogles over her classmate Aiden, voted student with the nicest eyes, to Kayla’s demoralizing win for quietest student, she bravely attempts to get to know the boy.

Realizing that to win his heart, she must provide dirty pictures of herself or perform lewd acts, she hilariously watches oral sex tutorials and nearly practices on a banana in a scene rivaling any from the crude American Pie (1998).

To expand on this, the audience will experience concern for Kayla as she winds up in the backseat of a strange boy’s car, encouraged to take off her top, going rapidly from comedy to alarm.

Enough cannot be said for Fisher’s casting as Kayla. Reportedly seen on a real-life YouTube channel, Burnham plucked the fledgling young actress from the ranks of the unknown.

The bright young star will surely be the next big thing with her innocent yet brazen teenage looks- she is only sixteen! With pimples and a pretty face, she admires yet despises popular kids and resorts to telling one-off stories.

Fisher gives Kayla sass and poise mixed with her anti-socialism.

Befriended by a pretty and popular high school student assigned to be her buddy, Kayla awakens with gusto, finally seeing there may be life after middle school and maybe, just maybe, high school will not be as torturous as earlier years.

A cute add-on is an adorable relationship that develops between Kayla and just as awkward Gabe in the film’s final act. They dine over chicken nuggets and bond over a nerdy television show they love.

Hamilton deserves accolades in the more difficult role of the father of a thirteen-year-old. Smart is how the film shares his perspective on current events. He can be daring, as when he enters Kayla’s room to nearly catch her practicing her kissing technique, or creepy, as when he follows Kayla to the mall to see her new friends.

However, his deep affection and admiration for her provide a deep warmth seldom seen in teenage films.

Burnham is careful not to stifle the film with fluff or redundancy but rather makes it timely and relevant. The incorporation of the internet, text messaging, and the never-ending use of smartphones makes any older viewer realize that over ninety percent of thirteen-year-olds use these devices, and social media is the new normal.

The sobering realization is that painful teenage experiences do not end when the three o’clock school bell signals the end of the day.

When the students endure a drill to practice measures to survive a school shooting attack, the reality hits home that this is now also a part of a teenager’s everyday life. American life for the young has changed immensely since most of us were of this age, and Burnham does a bang-up job of reinforcing this importance.

Whether the viewer is elderly or middle-aged, has fond memories of middle school, or cringes at the thought, yearbooks safely packed up in boxes to bury the memories, every viewer can take something away from Eighth Grade (2018).

Excellent casting and an infusion of several cross-genres make this film a fresh and memorable independent comedy/drama deserving of a watch.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win- Best Feature, Best Female Lead- Elsie Fisher, Best Supporting Male- Josh Hamilton, Best First Screenplay (won)

2017 Films, Aidy Bryant, Anupam Kher, Bo Burnham, Comedy, David Alan Grier, Drama, Holly Hunter, Independent, Independent Comedy, Independent Drama, Judd Apatow, Kumail Nanjiani, Kurt Braunohler, Michael Showalter, Ray Romano, Zenobia Shroff, Zoe Kazan

The Big Sick-2017

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The Big Sick-2017

Director Michael Showalter

Starring Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan

Scott’s Review #720

Reviewed January 29, 2018

Grade: B+

The Big Sick, a 2017 independent “dramedy” film, takes what could be a standard premise and turns it upside down, offering a fresh perspective on a familiar tale about a prospering relationship.

The screenplay is the standout as the writing is intelligent and crisp. Thanks to exceptional acting by all four principal characters, The Big Sick is a success and worth watching.

The story follows an interracial couple, Emily and Kumail, played by Zoe Kazan and Kumail Nanjiani, who have recently started casually dating. Kumail is a standup comic living in Chicago who meets the flirtatious Emily after a club performance one night.

They share a one-night stand and agree never to see one another again.

As the smitten pair break their promise and form a romance, a tragedy occurs, landing Emily in a coma.

Kumail must handle Emily’s parents, Beth (Holly Hunter) and Terry (Ray Romano), who are angry with Kumail for misleading Emily and not telling her about his strict Muslim parent’s intentions of marrying him off by arranged marriage.

The screenplay (nominated for a 2017 Oscar nomination) is loosely based on the relationship between actor/writer Nanjiani (who stars), and Emily Gordon (who co-wrote the screenplay).

Especially since Nanjiani stars, the film is sincere and authentic, as if Nanjiani is living the role.

The chemistry between Nanjiani and Kazan during their many scenes at the start is a significant plus to the film. Before the drama takes off, the audience will become fully invested in the pair as a couple.

Whether the couple flirts as Kumail drives Emily home or fights when Emily learns about his Muslim culture’s belief in arranged marriage, the couple has a tremendous connection, and it shows.

The story fabric takes an interesting turn about midway through when Emily is stricken with a debilitating illness.

A medically induced coma is needed, as Kumail is forced to pretend to be her husband, this opens up many moral and legal ramifications that the film chooses essentially to ignore, instead of dealing with the relationships between Kumail and Emily’s distraught parents.

Hunter and Romano are excellent in the parent roles. Hunter is the more showy of the two and has more meat, while Romano holds his own and powers a vital comedy club scene in which he defends his wife from a callous heckler.

Admittedly, the film decides to go the “happily ever after” route, this is hardly a surprise given that Judd Apatow is the producer.

Remember, this is the same guy who produced safe films such as Superbad (2007) and Anchorman 2 (2013). Still, the story within The Big Sick is an enjoyable, character-driven ride, if not unpredictable.

A darker-tinged affair might have set this film over the top as it contains many other credible film qualities.

The addition of comic talent in the supporting roles of Kumail’s comedy club buddies adds a good balance and nicely counterbalances the drama so that it does not become too dour.

Much of the film involves Emily in a coma, so comic talent such as SNL’s Aidy Bryant and Comedy Central’s Kurt Braunohler are suitable ads.

I enjoyed the inclusion of the traditional Pakistani custom of arranged marriages, but at times this seems played for laughs rather than being a significant obstacle to the couple.

Kumail’s controlling mother parades one young Pakistani girl after another in front of her son as a way of encouraging him to select one of them. Kumail’s traditional family is played as stereotypes and the lighthearted foils of the film.

The Big Sick (2017) succeeds with crisp, witty dialogue and a solid story that nicely complements the intended comedy.

A few too many stereotypes and goofiness keep the action light even when compared to the more serious parts—great acting all around.

Oscar Nominations: Best Original Screenplay

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Best Supporting Female-Holly Hunter, Best First Screenplay (won)