Andrea Arnold's 'American Honey' (Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf)

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by DanTheMan

Those are my two favorite of that year.

I'm referring to an Oscar nominee with the longest runtime of the bunch.

Ohh. Yeah, we can agree that's terrible

[Leonidas King]

Originally Posted by Stanis

I got it off Netflix discs (which I agree everything new I watched this year ended up on Amazon a month later), and I liked it more than LaLa Land. It might seem strange to compare the two, but I felt they had several themes in common, just grittier and more "realistic" in American Honey's case. The 4:3 framing worked nicely, and the cinematography was really pretty within that space. Now, I'm not a Shia fan and almost 3 hours of his leading romance shtick was a bit much but it didn't bother me as much as I feared, but the other performances were very strong, the acting good and real, the picture was picturesque and the production value razor focused. It was one of those films to relax and experience and not look for cgi explosions. It reminded me of some of Korine's work, that half documentary / half scripted style that indy does so well. Interesting, articulate, but not world changing. 4 from me

I'm not getting the connection between this and La La Land

[ThatOneGuy]

Originally Posted by Hawkguy

Ohh. Yeah, we can agree that's terrible

What is this movie?

[Mandalorian]

Originally Posted by John Klein

What is this movie?

Don't mind them. Just being wrong about how great Boyhood is again.

[ThatOneGuy]

Originally Posted by RJ Toca

Don't mind them. Just being wrong about how great Boyhood is again.

Ooooooooooooh, I still need to watch it.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by John Klein

Ooooooooooooh, I still need to watch it.

You're not missing out

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by DanTheMan

Most unnecessary? That belongs to a critically-acclaimed 2014 film.

Hell no. The movie needed to be that long, it's covering childhood/adolescence with depth. It's a cinematic experience of life in all its little details. It's an intimate epic. Cutting forty minutes to an hour out of it would've made it feel more conventional and less impactful.

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by Hawkguy

Ohh. Yeah, we can agree that's terrible

Originally Posted by Hawkguy

You're not missing out

[ThatOneGuy]

Originally Posted by Hawkguy

You're not missing out

I bought the Criterion edition of the film for whatever reason, I have to watch it at some point.

[Karmasux96]

Originally Posted by John Klein

I bought the Criterion edition of the film for whatever reason, I have to watch it at some point.

Because you're smart and have good taste, of course.

[ThatOneGuy]

Originally Posted by Karmasux96

Because you're smart and have good taste, of course.

We will see, I'm still very aware that a lot of people keeping praising it because it took 12 years to make rather then the content of the film itself.

[Karmasux96]

Originally Posted by John Klein

We will see, I'm still very aware that a lot of people keeping praising it because it took 12 years to make rather then the content of the film itself.

Yeah, I mean I like that about it but it has merit beyond that. Similar to Birdman it's easy to write that off as a gimmick. You'll just have to see for yourself, I guess.

To bring it back around to this thread, I think American Honey outdoes Boyhood by having a more satisfying ending but I still prefer Boyhood overall.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by John Klein

We will see, I'm still very aware that a lot of people keeping praising it because it took 12 years to make rather then the content of the film itself.

Exactly

[TheBoss062]

What is the meaning behind the title American Honey?

[manunited1]

Originally Posted by TheBoss062

What is the meaning behind the title American Honey?

It is probably just referring to the bitter-sweet life of youth in America and the pursuit of the american dream. Just my take at least. Just like his other amazing film Fish Tank. It is an obscure title referring to the journey and surroundings of the main characters.

[HorrorBlu]

It's also in reference to the Lady Antebellum song at the end of the movie.

Originally Posted by manunited1

Just like his other amazing film Fish Tank.

Andrea Arnold is female.

[TheBoss062]

Originally Posted by manunited1

It is probably just referring to the bitter-sweet life of youth in America and the pursuit of the american dream. Just my take at least. Just like his other amazing film Fish Tank. It is an obscure title referring to the journey and surroundings of the main characters.

Funny, at first I thought it could have been a reference to Star, calling her an American Honey.

[oubukibun]

I was watching American Honey, and saw something I'd never noticed before: around the 11:30 mark, the adult's face is blurred out by a black shadow to try and mask his breaking of character as he scolds his young son. This is during the sequence with Star putting the dumpster goodies in the fridge and right before "Take Your Time" by Sam Hunt begins playing.

It's so bizarre and took me right out of the film, but also, in an even more bizarre way, drew me more into it, realizing once more how Andrea Arnold used non-actors to portray these "roles".

This is a magnificent film, so those that have it, go check it out for the oddity, and stay for the experience. I know it ain't just my disc.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

This is currently streaming now on Netflix.