Before going to see this film, I revisited Josh and Benny Safdie’s previous directorial effort, Good Time, and it reminded me why I was so excited to see Uncut Gems. From that film alone, it’s easy to see all the potential for the Safdie brothers both as writers and directors. Uncut Gems is the embodiment of that potential; they have found a type of narrative that they can tell extraordinarily well and a style that perfectly coincides with that narrative.
A wave is the perfect metaphor for the feeling with which Waves leaves you. It feels like a sudden crash of emotions; the highs and lows of life are all experienced through the lens of an African-American family living in South Florida. Primarily, we are taken inside the lives of the son, Tyler, and daughter, Emily. Throughout the film, they experience hardships that send ripple effects through their communities. Ultimately, the story explores ideas about how to love and forgive in the face of hate.
In 2015, director Robert Eggers released his feature debut with The Witch (also known as The VVitch). A hyper-stylized period horror film about a family of isolated 17th century settlers in New England, the film went on to be a smash hit, snatching up over $40 million in box office revenue despite a relatively meager budget of $4 million. It garnered decent critical success upon its initial release, and since then, the film has only grown in stature, and is now recognized as one of the best horror films (if not of any genre) of the decade. It was as a result of this success that allowed Eggers to actualize a project he had in the works for years before the release of his feature debut The Lighthouse.
Every time someone asks me to describe The Farewell, the only way I can is telling them that it’s the perfect combination of heartbreaking and heartwarming. Despite the contradictory nature of this sentence, for me, it is the ideal description for the film based on a true lie as The Farewell provides an oddly familiar tale exploring the complexities within the immigrant family in our modern world.
Just one year after the release of Hereditary, writer/director Ari Aster has released his follow-up, which is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious horror releases of the year. On this podcast, we discuss its dynamic storytelling, unique themes for its genre, and probably compare it a little too much to its predecessor. Is this trip worthy of its 2.5 hour long runtime? Find out on the 42nd episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!
What do you get when you combine a pagan cult with a group of unassuming friends, psychedelic drugs, broad daylight, and demonic rituals? Well, you get a summer self-empowerment film in Midsommar. Yes, Midsommar, the psychological horror thriller, directed by Ari Aster, creator of last years’ horrifying hit Hereditary, is a self-empowerment film, and it is a damn good one as well.
You wouldn’t trade this podcast for anybody else’s podcast! This week, Louie, Greg, and Ivy discuss Jonah Hill’s directorial debut: Mid90s — a coming of age film about a boy named Stevie who joins a group of skaters in the wake of a troubled home life. This episode in particular is extra special because we not only host the usual round table discussion, but we also have an interview with the cast of the film! Give a listen to our thoughts and theirs now!
On this week’s episode: Ivy Pottinger-Glass, Louie Ghalib, Greg Arietta
You can find us on Facebook at /UWFilmClub, and on Twitter and Instagram @FilmClubUW. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts and Soundcloud, and tune in every Monday for a new episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!
We recently had the opportunity to interview the stars of Mid90s, a coming of age film that tracks the trials and tribulations of a rebellious young skateboarder. Headlining Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, is a band of real life skateboarders turned first time actors: Sunny Suljic, Olan Prenatt, Ryder McLaughlin, and Gio Galicia who play Stevie, Fuckshit, Fourth Grade, and Ruben respectively. We sat down and discussed what it was like on set, their personal takeaways from the film, and what it was like to be acting for the first time under a first time director.
This interview has been edited for clarity and readability. Interview was conducted by Greg Arietta and Megan Bernovich.
From left to right: Na-Kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin, Sunny Suljic.
Greg: How did you guys get cast in the film?
Ryder: Mikey Alfred?
Sunny: Yah, Mikey Alfred.
Olan: Mikey got 70 kids that he knew from L.A.. All of them were skateboarders like Jonah asked. He wanted to teach skatborders how to act rather than the other way around because you can’t teach anybody how to be a skateboarder… it takes being apart of the culture to know. From there we were the chosen ones.
Sunny: I went to Stoner [Skatepark] and Mikey Alfred introduced me to Lucas [Hedges] and Jonah [Hill]. I didn’t even know that Jonah was making a movie or anything [ at the time]. I thought he was just stopping by Stoner with Lucas, who I didn’t even know back then. Now, he has three films out this year which is crazy. We all just started talking and he asked me if I had any acting experience, and from that, [he knew] there’s gotta be something. [Jonah] didn’t even know I acted before. I went in for an audition. Got a call back and . . .
Greg: Now you’re here…
Megan: …drinking Starbucks in Seattle.
Sunny: Yo, that’s a good-ass slogan! [laughter]
Greg: So Sunny, you had acted before right?
Sunny: Yah.
Greg: I had looked at your IMDB and I didn’t even know you were in God of War which I had played earlier this year. But for you other three, what was it like being on set [acting] for the first time?
Olan: Every single day on set I didn’t know what level professional actors study [their parts]. Everyday, even if i had one line for that whole day, I practiced that one part literally all day. I’d be nervous up until the cameras started rolling. That was my approach to it. Dedicate every second [on set] I have to it. It was a great environment that was created on set by Jonah… to the point where we can all just have fun with each other and bring it out on film.
Megan: Yah, I was gonna say he’s been directed by some of the greats and he’s on his way to being a director now.
Olan: I can’t believe this was his first time directing. He’s like a genius at this. He choreographed my brain without me even knowing, and it helped my performance.
Sunny: Yah, I think he definitely got the role of the director because he’s really really good at it. He taught me a lot of things with regard to acting too. He’s just a good dude.
Greg: It helps that he’s an actor too. We’re both university students and we took a screen writing course where the teacher told us that if you want to be a director you should probably be an actor first. His logic was if you want to direct actors you have to know what they’re going through and what they’re thinking. I got caught on to Jonah Hill in 2011 with Moneyball, and up until that point I had just known him as the kid from Superbad. Then he went on to do projects like Wolf of Wall Street, work with the Coen brothers, and now he’s directing which is crazy to think about.
Sunny: He has a diverse acting career.
Olan: I’m stoked to see him direct, and [think],”Oh, shit! i’m apart of it.”
Megan: So you guys were previously familiar with him? You had seen him in some of his other stuff…
Olan, Sunny: Oh yah, definitely.
Greg: Any favorite Jonah Hill film?
Olan: The Sitter [laughter]
Sunny: Actually, I like all of them. I’m still watching Maniac right now. You know what’s funny about watching Maniac is that since we’re all close to Jonah, it feels like he’s never acted before… as if he’s a good friend [you know] who does something big, [and makes you] go, “Woah! He’s in this show!” I’m watching it as if I see Olan in a big video or something.
Megan: Just like your friend?
Sunny: Yah. But, I really really really like him in Wolf of Wall Street and War Dogs. I literally just watch little clips of him laughing [in that movie].
Greg: That laugh is so good. When he gets out of the car [in that one scene] because someone insulted him and he pulls out the AK-47…
Olan, Sunny: Oh yah yah yah…
Sunny: …where he gave them money for weed and they didn’t give it to him, so he comes out with the AK. Bro, that [part is so good].
Photo by A24
Greg: He’s just so good. I’m kinda jealous… Did you have a favorite day on set? How long was the shooting process?
Olan: Let’s see… well everyone shot for two and a half months, but Sunny, Lucas, and Catherine [Waterston] shot a little bit before us.
Sunny: My favorite day on set was when we shot the party scenes or when we were outside the [Motor] skate shop and we skated because all the extras were my friends, so it was cool to watch everybody [have a good time].
Megan:Yah, it felt very authentic seeing you guys hang out with your actual friends.
Sunny: And with Jonah he has OCD too, so he’s was very specific with [how the] trash [was displayed] and everything.
Olan: Everyday on set was my favorite day. Another day another person to meet.
Greg: It helps to have a nice working environment too. Most of the time you hear rumors coming out of sets where everything is pure chaos…
Olan: Yah, I think it’s typical to not have a dope environment like ours was. Like, this was crazy.
Sunny: I think it’s also cool that we’re all really close. And I’m not just saying that because I’ve filmed before and it’s been really fun, but I’ve never … ummm, like we all skate and we all hang out outside of shooting so it’s so cool to be going on press and traveling because it just feels like we’re just going on a skate trip. Like we’re going on a plane or we’re going on a train [together], and it’s just so tight.
Megan: Did either of you, Gio orRyder, have a particularly favorite experience?
Ryder: I was just a chaperone.
Gio: Everyday was just something new to learn by everyone on set That’s how it was for me at least.
Megan: I guess for everyone except for Sunny, you guys didn’t get to see alot of the filming of [Stevie’s] home life. What was your guys’ reaction to seeing the finished, full film and all the parts that you weren’t in?
Ryder: I wish there was more because there was a lot of that sort of stuff. I feel like it was supposed to be a bigger chunk of the movie.
Greg: Did it get cut?
Sunny: Yah they cut like a lot.
Gio: The movie was like three hours long…
Sunny: … And now it’s like 80 minutes with credits. I think what Jonah’s goalwhen editing was that he realized that some scenes just didn’t have to go in.
Ryder: He took out all the stuff that didn’t add to the story if that makes sense. It’s literally just enough stuff to get the point across without having parts where we’re just messing around.I also have like no clue [since i didn’t cut it].
Olan: I agree with him, that’s not my check either. I don’t know why he chose the decisions that he did, but I heard him state that it’s so great great to over write and over shoot in the editing places.
Greg: I bet having that in the editing process really helps cause then you can pick and choose what you want… All these characters feel genuine and true to life, do you guys see yourself in any of these characters or have any take aways from them? Obviously they’re your performances, but when I saw the film, I look back and see something different than someone like yourselves who are currently living those lives.
Sunny: What I took away and what I really enjoyed about my character is the subtle facial expression I would make. I watch them, and I would have a little smirk or . . .
Ryder: So you’re just a really good actor [laughter]
Olan: Yah. Pretty much.
Ryder: “Yah so I was watching it and I did a really good job. I killed it…”
Sunny: Yah, I was watching it and I was like, “Damn, I’m the best actor ever and I should just keep going. It’s so crazy!” [Laughter] But actually, I think Jonah wouldn’t “make a meal out of it,” especially with the cameos too. Alot of the violent scenes he would just keep it on wide shot and let it just play out…
Olan: Let it be what it is.
Greg: You guys did all your own stunts right?
Sunny: Yah…
Ryder: That’s crazy that that’s even considered stunts.
Sunny: Yah that’s tight though.
Ryder: The only stunt in that movie is falling off the roof. That’s the only thing I would consider to be a stunt.
Sunny: I did have to bring in a stunt person because of liability, but they still used me. I actually did jump off the roof for one of them. I just jumped on a pad. They brought in a lady [to do another take], but I guess they ended up going with my take because you can kinda tell [if it wasn’t me].
Greg: Yah, I thought it was cool that they just let you guys do your own things. It’s not the most dangerous stuff out there…
Sunny: With skating though, it would be weird if there were stunt doubles doing our skating. Na-Kel [Smith] is pro. Ryder is Am. Olan is one of the fucking best skaters. And Gio is really good too.
Greg: Did you have to fake or act when you had to learn how to ride a skateboard for that one scene?
Sunny: Yah.
Gio: Like Sunny is really good. He’s a talented skateboarder. He needed to play someone who couldn’t skate. But like, that was pretty hard for him.
Sunny: I’ve had people tell me, “Oh so did you have to learn how to skate before the film?” And then I get really happy because I know it looks realistic then.
Ryder: You’re just a really good actor.
A24
Megan: One of the integral parts of Ryder’s character is that you’re the one who is filming all this and going along with all everyone and documenting everything, how was that in addition to skating and playing this character, but also holing a camera? How did that feel for you while you were shooting?
Ryder: I enjoyed filming on set. I really liked my character just from the script because his whole thing he doesn’t talk, and [how] filming and documenting everything is his role. That’s what he can contribute because he doesn’t make jokes. He’s the scapegoat for tense situations… when things get serious and then it’s like, “Oh, yah lets just make fun of Fourth Grade,” and then it goes back to normal and continues on.
Greg: Just out of curiosity, do you know what were you shooting on the handheld? Was that microtape?
Ryder: Yah, it was like a Sony Hi-8. I’m not sure exactly what kind of Sony camera, but I went through alot of tapes.
Megan: Did you get to be apart of the editing process at the editing, putting together your little film?
Ryder: Uhhh, no that was all Jonah. I got sent a couple rough versions and then I didn’t see it for a while. Then later they said, “Hey can you do all these title [cards] for it,” so I did all that stuff for it.
Greg: We’re almost out of time, so final question. You guys do all these junkets, but what is the one thing wish someone would ask about you or just something no one knows?
Sunny: That I skate. I want people to know that.
Ryder: I like to keep it vague so no one really knows. Especially if you’re gonna act, you don’t want people to know too much about you.
Gio: For me at least, [I want people to know] that I’m not like Ruben is in the movie. I’m not a dick I guess [laughter]…
Sunny: Alright, that’s enough. That’s enough. That’s all they need.
Gio: Alright fuck you Sunny. [Laughter]
Megan:That’s a great note to end on, I think. Thanks for your time and we hope the rest of press day goes well!
Mid90s, Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, is a painstakingly authentic homage to the not-so-distant past. Set in the age of camcorders and Discmans, anachronistic Super 16 film gives a charming air of nostalgia to this grungy ‘coming of age’ tale that follows Stevie (Sunny Suljic), a boy on the verge of adolescence, reconciling his developing identity amongst a rag-tag group of skateboarders in 1990s Los Angeles. With impressive attention to detail, down to the accuracy of 90s Dorito packets and the trash bags, Hill, in a feat of first-time-filmmaking, achieves poignancy and humour in this unconventional period feature.
This film was seen at the 44th Seattle International International Film Festival. The film is now in wide release in Seattle. You can read our interview with director Bo Burnham and lead Elsie Fisher here.
To no one’s surprise, A24 has done it again. They have put their name on one of the most original, earnest, and memorable films of the year. This is Eighth Grade, Bo Burnham’s directorial debut. It follows Kayla (Elsie Fisher) through her last week of middle school as she endeavors to break out of her “quiet girl” image. As she grows, she shares her advice with her YouTube audience of one or two, a sort of visual diary. Burnham himself began his career in comedy and music on YouTube over ten years ago; since then taking to Vine, to Comedy specials, and now exploring a new chapter. It is apparent he hasn’t forgotten where he came from, with a loving look at humble beginnings. Kayla’s objective is to find and share confidence and self-love. He has found his creative match in Fisher, who is so endearing we don’t even realize how exacting and purposeful she is in her portrayal. Bearing witness to her life is familiar yet anxiety inducing, as she radiates a nervous energy that Burnham and Fisher have said comes naturally to them.
I had the privilege of attending Eighth Grade’s screenings at SIFF, standing with Burnham and Fisher at the back of the theater as we watched the first five minutes to make sure everything was up to his standards. He requested the already bombastic audio be turned up to an overwhelming and immersive degree so that everyone could feel just how Kayla felt. In that moment, it drove home how involved he was with his direction. It is clear throughout the film how effective sound design, production design, editing, and everything else can be with such intentionality.
Burnham also takes his young lead very seriously, and it rings true. The movie isn’t out to make Kayla seem small or silly, rather it convinces us to relate to her and believe her circumstances are important. Her journey has real stakes with the tiniest of victories, like singing karaoke in front of a birthday party and talking to the cutest boy at school. We shrink into our seats as we watch the situations she finds herself in, but she is never the butt of any joke. I’m personally sick of movies that make fun of how kids and teenagers (specifically girls) behave and what they enjoy, teaching internalized misogyny from a young age. None of Kayla’s emotions or reactions are trivialized or written off as ‘cringe’ or immature. The film seriously deals with the idea that people can be affected with anxiety from a young age, perfectly describing the feeling.
Eighth Grade intentionally dates itself as a 2018 film, not a film about nostalgia for a past childhood. Though some experiences like crushes and bothersome parents are almost universally relatable, this is the Gen Z telling of that reality.It lives in the here and now, even politically. It carefully dissects what contemporary middle schoolers are facing, from fixation on social media to school shootings. The film also conceptualizes social media at least as successfully as last year’s Ingrid Goes West. It is authentic to the current online landscape, playing with memes and fads that have come with Gen Z flocking to Instagram and snapchat. Burnham realizes we don’t have to understand what eighth graders talk about because half the time they don’t understand it themselves. He lets these kids be kids in their own language. These kids move at a breakneck pace, and it is impossible to keep up with them, and far more fun to have our sense of humor taken for a ride. The film’s R rating is dismaying, as I am fascinated by the idea of eighth graders’ reactions to seeing themselves in this mirror.
And while the film reaches moments when you cannot help but laugh out loud, it remains in balance with times when there is nothing to do but cry for Kayla. Her relationship with her father Mark (Josh Hamilton) is a true highlight of the film, as they push and pull on each other in a tumultuous period of her life. He is helpless to keep his daughter from being miserable, unsure how even to begin to relate to her. Alongside him, our hearts shatter for Kayla when she is anxious and hurt, because we can do nothing but watch. Again Eight Grade brushes close with reality, as it confronts the expectation that teenage girls are forced to grow up too fast. They are pushed to appeal to adult beauty standards and become sexual entities. They are told to change who and what they are for others; messages reinforced by the media. Fisher herself said she had planned to take a break from acting because of her acne. In any other film this actor, who is well on her way to becoming a young phenom, may have been overlooked in favor of an unrealistic, fantasized idea of what a middle school girl should look like. She is living and breathing proof that authentic casting is far more rewarding than putting a twenty-something in the role.
Overall, Eighth Grade is heartfelt and fun as simply a Bo Burnham film, but Elsie Fisher is what makes it extraordinary. She commands attention and sympathy because we all have been in her place, in some manner or another. Her vulnerability is powerful as she attempts to conquer her fears and not only that, but then have the humanity to turn her experiences into advice for others. And she doesn’t stop even if her videos only get a couple views. She is an icon for everyone who doesn’t want to be the quiet girl anymore, which is immeasurably valuable for a time like middle school when expressing individuality can be utterly terrifying. I am thrilled for Fisher’s future, and for all the teenage girls who would watch this and hopefully learn to love themselves a little bit more. Because being yourself can be really hard.
A24
