Palo Alto

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

I saw Palo Alto this morning and although it didn't really say anything new, I liked it quite a bit. It could be a companion piece for The Bling Ring or even Spring Breakers, but it was far more watchable than the latter.

I'm tempted to read (but don't want to pay for, ha) Franco's book of short stories that the film was based on. Without exactly knowing how connected the stories are I thought Coppola did a good job by adding a through line, but keeping a mosaic quality to the film.

The young actors did fairly well, and I certainly liked Emma Roberts more here than I did in AHS: Coven.

I know these types of films want to peel back the veneer on high school life, but they are in danger of becoming cliches and parodies of each other.

In a slow movie week like this I would easily recommend this over the other options out there; saw Belle yesterday and was decidedly unimpressed.

[Jungle Red]

I'm looking forward to Belle, if only to see Mrs Crawford in something besides Downton Abbey.

[strummergirl]

It was one of my favorite films I saw at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. Scion Gia Coppola appears to be a very talented young lady.

I am not going to bother reading Franco's stories. I personally think the film by being more of an Altman-esque- that's right- ensemble piece that jumps from character to character, it felt much more natural given it is a high school film.

Roberts was really good as was Jack Kilmer but I actually think Nat Wolff was easily the best in show.

I am not really certain the rhythms of this film are familiar except that Gia definitely takes to her aunt Sofia Coppola's style. The characters to me, however, really were familiar and it was personally one of the closest films that I have seen that really captured the closest to my high school experience.

It is essentially everything I wanted The Spectacular Now to be. Really solid debut film that I actually in increasing distance really have come to like and find very memorable.

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

I feel like I'm one of the few people who was left cold by The Spectacular Now, and agree that this was far, far better.

I'm usually turned off by characters like the one Nat Wolff played because they can be so grating and obnoxious. Wolff won me over though in his scenes with Zoe Levin, who gave my favorite performance. I thought her story was the most interesting too.