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The Boy (2015)
Topic Started: Jun 29 2015, 11:10 PM (368 Views)
Baby Firefly
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An intimate portrait of a 9-year-old sociopath's growing fascination with death.
Edited by Vanessa, Jun 30 2015, 03:30 AM.
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Vanessa
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Longer synopsis: It’s the summer of 1989. Nine-year-old Ted Henley (Jared Breeze) and his father John (David Morse) are the proprietors of The Mtn. Vista Motel, a crumbling resort buried in the mountains of the American West. Since Ted’s mother left, John has drifted into despondency—becoming a living ghost, haunting the motel—leaving Ted to fend for himself. In this isolation, unchecked by the bounds of parenting, Ted’s darker impulses begin to manifest. The arrival of a mysterious drifter, William Colby (Rainn Wilson), captivates young Ted and the two form a unique friendship – setting the stage for Ted’s final, unnerving metamorphosis. The Boy is a chilling, intimate portrait of a 9-year-old sociopath’s growing fascination with death.

August 18th
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Vanessa
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It got released in some theaters today, so I'm going to go ahead and move it.

There's still a few more days before the VOD release.
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Vanessa
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I'm watching this as soon as I can. SteelersFan is watching this right now and keeps sending me messages saying how great it is.

She also said to warn everyone that there's a lot of stuff with dead animals toward the beginning.
Edited by Vanessa, Aug 23 2015, 03:56 AM.
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Vanessa
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I like this. The actor they got to play the boy was rather creepy. David Morse and Rainn Wilson were also really good. Their performances added a lot of nuance to their roles. The movie wouldn't have been nearly as good without them. I liked the movie's look, and the locations they used were really great. It was nice to see a more subtle version of this kind of story.

This is still one to save for a day that you're in the mood for a slow burn. It is always on the edge of being too slow. The score and sound design are amazing. They are also constantly at eleven. It's like at any moment something really intense and scary is about to happen, but it doesn't. There's definitely unsettling scenes, but the sound design would have you think the kid is about to pick up a chainsaw and go on a killing spree at any moment. It also wouldn't have hurt to trim a few minutes off of the running time. This isn't a movie that really needed to be almost two hours.
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Baby Firefly
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This is definitely one of my favorites of the year. I loved almost everything about it and despite being nearly two hours long with fewer than ten minutes of action, I was never bored and I actually wanted it to be even longer (the last twenty minutes would be a great full length film, honestly).

The boy was a really great character. He's not totally new for the genre and he's not barrier breaking by any means. We've seen his sort of arc done many times, but it's usually not a 9 year old. I guess that is one of the things that makes this stand out from a lot of other 'birth of a serial killer' things - this really was a kid playing a kid, not a 25 year old playing a 16 year old or a 30 year old playing a 30 year old. (lol) I hated his guts because he was SUCH a fucking brat at times (the stuff with the ashes made me absolutely furious) but I loved him and felt really sorry for him at times (those damn prom guys should've been beaten for days and the kid's overall situation was sort of sad). He was well developed without going through MASSIVE changes over the course of the film and the kid's performance was pretty great.

I loved his father as well...just not when he was drunk. David Morse gave a really good performance and I was happy whenever he was onscreen, haha. Rainn Wilson did a good job too. I felt pretty bad for his character even though he came across as kind of creepy at times. The sheriff really should've had more to do, Mike Vogel is a damn fine man so I was disappointed that he only had like two minutes of screentime (the family should've had more to do as well), and I LOVED the stuff with the prom teens even if none of them were developed at all and
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I was kind of hoping the girl who tried to comfort Ted for a second would
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It's not a very bloody film. We get some dead animals, a
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With like five minutes trimmed (dialogue and some other elements included), this could probably be PG-13 and that's totally fine to be honest, since this really doesn't feel like it was aimed at the 'blood and guts crowd.'

I don't think the pacing was too slow at all though I *can* see why some might disagree. I was totally wired when I watched it so that might explain why the slow burn-y pacing didn't bug me at all. I would love for the sequel and third film to actually happen but i'm sort of nervous that they won't be as good as this was. <_>

7.5/10 quality, 7/10 entertainment.
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Baby Firefly
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More people need to see this. (un)
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Lasser
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I really want to watch this but I am waiting for it to go on Netflix
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Neurotic Chainsaw
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I bought this on a whim at Walmart today with what little money I had left before my paycheck tomorrow. (Hey, I didn't say I had to be a responsible adult all the time.) I have to say. This was one of the best films of 2015, at least of the ones I've seen.

It sucks that this film didn't get more attention. I guess people heard it was a "Chiller Original" and just assumed it would be B-grade crap, but it's actually a very artistic, slow-burn film with some of the best acting I've seen in a long, long time.

The character of Ted is absolutely fascinating. Jared Breeze did a fucking fantastic job, and I will most definitely be submitting him for Best Lead Actor in the awards this year. He certainly deserves it, as his performance was shockingly dark and cold for a child of his age, and holds its own against the many adult performances in horror this year. He was at once sympathetic and sad, broken and empty, and cold and terrifying. I don't think there are many kids that young who are capable of handling performances like this, but Jared was almost too good in the role.

Rainn Wilson was also very good. I'm used to seeing him in less serious roles, and even his more serious ones (such as Super) are still very comedic in tone at times, so it was a breath of fresh air for me to see him in such a dark, tragic role. I will most likely be submitting him for Best Supporting Actor, even though I don't think he deserves an award quite as much as Jared does. If I could hand Jared a Chainsaw Award right now (even though he wasn't nominated in those awards), I would. No doubt.

It was weird for me to see Bill Sage as a good guy sheriff type, after seeing him in Mysterious Skin as a child molesting little league coach, but that just shows what a good actor he is. His role is fairly small, and has a seemingly pointless subplot that
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I love the fact that the film refrains from being too violent.
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The prom kids towards the end were played pretty interestingly. I expected more of them to be nice, but instead, we just got the one girl who was nice.
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I was very, very, very impressed with this movie. Everything about it was top-notch, and it's really annoying that this wasn't a bigger movie. It sure deserved to be. Jared Breeze did an amazing job, particularly in the darker scenes. He was at once evil and cold, yet sympathetic and sad at the same time.
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One of the best films I've seen in a long, long, long time.

Grade: A
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Baby Firefly
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I don't think I'd go as far as saying that the father was shitty overall. He just slowly BECAME shitty. (lol) And you don't give the one girl enough credit. I did not think she was 'just as bad as the other teens' by any means, honestly. A witness to something not stepping in is NOT equal to an abuser. Kind of cold, you are. (troll)

Still, I'm really glad that you loved this as much as I did. I hope they go through with making the sequel(s) to this.
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Neurotic Chainsaw
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I'm so angry that Jared Breeze was not nominated for a Chainsaw Award. That's pretty much the Oscars for horror, and he was totally snubbed. Rainn Wilson got a nomination, and while he deserved it, his performance did not require as much as Jared's, and that doesn't even factor in the fact that Jared was like 9 when the movie was being filmed.
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MacReadyOrNot
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I tried so hard to watch this, but it didn't hold my interest. Soooooooo slooooooooooooooooow. It might as well have been a found footage movie, IMO.
Edited by MacReadyOrNot, Jun 26 2016, 01:23 PM.
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Lasser
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Oh yeah this is incredibly slow for what should be a "killer kid" movie. I think it's a great character piece though.
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Baby Firefly
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MacReadyOrNot
Jun 24 2016, 04:46 PM
I tried so hard too watch this, but it didn't hold my interest. Soooooooo slooooooooooooooooow. It might as well have been a found footage movie, IMO.
Learn to be patient? ;) You might not like a lot of older movies then. There are hundreds of pre-1970s horror films that are just as slow as this.
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Baby Firefly
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DVD Contents:

Movie: 1:50:35
Behind The Scenes: 15:15

This totally deserved more imo.
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MacReadyOrNot
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Baby Firefly
Jun 24 2016, 09:11 PM
MacReadyOrNot
Jun 24 2016, 04:46 PM
I tried so hard to watch this, but it didn't hold my interest. Soooooooo slooooooooooooooooow. It might as well have been a found footage movie, IMO.
Learn to be patient? ;) You might not like a lot of older movies then. There are hundreds of pre-1970s horror films that are just as slow as this.
I actually do like a lot of pre-1970s horror movies. Hell, I watched a 4-hour silent film called Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler and loved it, for the most part. This movie, The Boy, however, just has David Morse and Rainn Wilson sulking the whole time and a child actor either just staring at something or screaming at nothing. Nothing more. Nothing less.
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Baby Firefly
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How long did you give it before turning it off? It's close to two hours and the big shit doesn't start until the last 45 minutes or so.
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MacReadyOrNot
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I mean, I did a lot of fast forwarding. It's hard to say when I turned it off. I saw David Morse get mad at the kid. He hit him even, I think. Rainn Wilson had the cops asking him questions. Yadda, yadda yadda . . . it just didn't hold my interest, like I said. It comes across as being, at least to me, Rob Zombie's Halloween but with just Michael as a kid dealing ONLY with his family for 2 hours. No school bullies. No Dr. Loomis. Much less dialogue. Much less action. I can understand the filmmakers wanting to set a particular mood, but, come on. If you want a nice slow burn check out The Minus Man with Owen Wilson. It has one of the best trailers ever.
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Lasser
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I actually think the slow pace and lack of action worked to help you relate to the boy. It felt very human and mundane. I liked that aspect.
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Baby Firefly
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Not having a lot of dialogue or action actually helped the first two thirds of the movie imo. (wary) I don't know. I just think it's silly to fast forward through something. That's pretty much the biggest way to completely take yourself out of a movie and is a proper example of not really giving something a chance. I'm guessing you started fast forwarding twenty or so minutes into it when you got bored and then turned it off after fast forwarding through an hour or so of it. Because you spent so long 'out of the movie', it probably wouldn't have made a difference if you saw the ending when quite a bit happens.

Since I'm assuming you won't finish it, I guess it might be safe to tell you that
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Edited by Baby Firefly, Jun 27 2016, 02:04 AM.
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