And I couldn't figure out if I loved it or hated it.
The one thing that really bothered me was there was no development of the skating of the main character Stevie. That kid can skate (well now at least). I feel like the story would have been stronger if he landed a kickflip or something near the end of the film or maybe skated down that hill without having to drag his foot on the ground. At least give him a shoveit. I think it would make his acceptance into the group more believable and not make the movie feel like it took place over the course of 10 days and more like a couple of months like he says in the film.
I also think this movie was way too short. I don't understand how he cut scenes out of the film when it was only 85 minutes. I was pretty surprised when the credits came up. I guess it was a logical ending, it just didn't feel like it was about to end until it was clearly ending. He could have easily added more character development scenes with Stevie's mom, the grunt kid, the "poor" kid, his brother. Also, they should have cast an owner for the skate shop and maybe an extra or two to be around or shopping there.
I did get a kick out of seeing in the credits that Chico Brenes and a couple of other pros played the cops at the LA Courthouse scene. So I just checked and it was him, Aaron Meza, Rick Howard and Donny Barley. That Del homeless scene was pretty stupid and apparently Chad Muska played another homeless guy but I missed it. I especially liked the older brother character, with the clothes and the CDs and all that. That was pretty spot on.
Overall I enjoyed it while it was happening, especially seeing it on the big screen. It's not really that inspiring of a film and I'm wondering what young people would get out of watching it. I probably would have been better off just waiting for the DVD release. I was expecting it to be funnier from what I saw and read about it beforehand. Overall I would give it a solid B- or a tenuous C+.
3. "i haven't seen it but...not all skaters were good" In response to Reply # 2
so i wouldn't be mad at this...in fact it's more realistic to show a kid who is not good and is still hanging out. i hung out with these kids growing up and some just wanted to be down...others were the real deal.
>The one thing that really bothered me was there was no >development of the skating of the main character Stevie. That >kid can skate (well now at least). I feel like the story would >have been stronger if he landed a kickflip or something near >the end of the film or maybe skated down that hill without >having to drag his foot on the ground. At least give him a >shoveit. I think it would make his acceptance into the group >more believable and not make the movie feel like it took place >over the course of 10 days and more like a couple of months >like he says in the film. >
5. "RE: i haven't seen it but...not all skaters were good" In response to Reply # 3
Yeah I agree with that. But I think a kid skating for a couple of months every day should have been able to do at least ollie over a crack or something. It would have made the roof gap attempt a bit more believable as well.
>so i wouldn't be mad at this...in fact it's more realistic to >show a kid who is not good and is still hanging out. i hung >out with these kids growing up and some just wanted to be >down...others were the real deal. > >>The one thing that really bothered me was there was no >>development of the skating of the main character Stevie. >That >>kid can skate (well now at least). I feel like the story >would >>have been stronger if he landed a kickflip or something near >>the end of the film or maybe skated down that hill without >>having to drag his foot on the ground. At least give him a >>shoveit. I think it would make his acceptance into the group >>more believable and not make the movie feel like it took >place >>over the course of 10 days and more like a couple of months >>like he says in the film. >> >
no plot, not even hugely developed characters, but damn if everything didn't feel so familiar. it hit certain notes so perfectly.
Kids comparisons are inevitable. Kids was just down on overall humanity though. Mid90s off course this wasn't a sunny take either, but has heart in its own way.
Small scene that stood out (spoiler) was the big brother getting punked by his homie. This guy who bullied him mercilessly, who he also looked up to.
It reminded me of watching this kid Jaime who used to kick the shit out of me in elementary get bullied to tears by another kid the next year in Jr high. I should have reveled in watching him get his, but I just felt shitty and i didn't know why. part i guess was how was I ever letting this weak ass kid pick on me? but also, i genuinely remember feeling bad for him. I imagine it would be a much more offputting thing if he was my big brother.
6. "RE: man, i loved this" In response to Reply # 4
Yeah the brother stuff was great and I think that and the interactions with Stevie and Ray were the highlights of the film.
>no plot, not even hugely developed characters, but damn if >everything didn't feel so familiar. it hit certain notes so >perfectly. > >Kids comparisons are inevitable. Kids was just down on overall >humanity though. Mid90s off course this wasn't a sunny take >either, but has heart in its own way. > >Small scene that stood out (spoiler) was the big brother >getting punked by his homie. This guy who bullied him >mercilessly, who he also looked up to. > >It reminded me of watching this kid Jaime who used to kick the >shit out of me in elementary get bullied to tears by another >kid the next year in Jr high. I should have reveled in >watching him get his, but I just felt shitty and i didn't know >why. part i guess was how was I ever letting this weak ass kid >pick on me? but also, i genuinely remember feeling bad for >him. I imagine it would be a much more offputting thing if he >was my big brother.
12. "yes. this hit with me, flaws and all" In response to Reply # 4
the music, of course. the same TMNT pillowcase that I had. my poser stage in middle school trying to be like my skater friends. the awkward stage of "nonchalant" masculinity through vulgarity and casual homophobia (everything not cool being gay).
7. "I enjoyed the nostalgia but the kid annoyed the fuck outta me" In response to Reply # 0
for some reason his tininess bugged me. Just made him a mascot IMO, and I know a pre-teen is gonna be an asshole but there was not much interesting about him. Would've much rather followed Ray though that would've been an entirely different movie
Still I chuckled at all the visual references, def brought me back
------------------------------ For the record, my teams: MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets
10. "man, God of War kid got range" In response to Reply # 0
I guess it's fair a large swath of who watches this movie aren't gonna connect Sunburn to God of War, but watching this put a whole new spin on how well he dug into that character. I'm suddenly super excited to see how he grows into acting.
Like others said, it's a little weird how tiny he is compared to all the other people in the movie, but the music selection, lens choices, aspect ratio, general beats, relationships, conversations, all of it is just so on point.
This movie's been on Amazon Prime for a minute now and if you missed it last year, it's a super charming (and kinda heart-wrenching) 90 minutes about what it is to grow up hoping to be cool publicly and trying to ignore how out of place you feel privately.
>I guess it's fair a large swath of who watches this movie >aren't gonna connect Sunburn to God of War, but watching this >put a whole new spin on how well he dug into that character. >I'm suddenly super excited to see how he grows into acting. > >Like others said, it's a little weird how tiny he is compared >to all the other people in the movie, but the music selection, >lens choices, aspect ratio, general beats, relationships, >conversations, all of it is just so on point. > >This movie's been on Amazon Prime for a minute now and if you >missed it last year, it's a super charming (and kinda >heart-wrenching) 90 minutes about what it is to grow up hoping >to be cool publicly and trying to ignore how out of place you >feel privately. > > >~~~~~~~~~ >"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas >http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517 >Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz
A sweet coming-of-age film that relies heavily on the charisma, natural charm and chemistry of the non-actor Illegal Civ kids he cast in the main roles.
It's not a particularly ambitious debut in any sense but it's a solid one.
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A lot of you players ain't okay.
We would have been better off with an okaycivics board instead of an okayactivist board
16. "it's flawed but I still loved it" In response to Reply # 0
if you grew up as a hip hop head in that era I think it's a pretty difficult film to not enjoy. the nostalgia angle alone makes it worth the watch.
the biggest mistake to me was not delving further into stevie's home life. big bro was worthy of an entire storyline. that was some powerful shit when he broke down crying in the kitchen...I felt kinda cheated that we didn't get to understand what his deal was. they barely scratched the surface on the stevie/big bro/mother dynamic. especially odd given that it was only an 85 min movie.
what's interesting to me is that where I grew up skate kids didn't fuck with rap music at all. maybe it was different out in LA.
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