The Art of Getting By (review)

Let me start by saying that I feel like because I made a whole video about my feelings from this film and because I didn’t give an opinion on the film in the video, a majority of people are likely going to think that I really loved this film possibly more than I actually did. I can understand why someone would not like The Art of Getting By. It was not the best film I have ever seen and it is not the most impressive piece of cinema, but I’ll just say right now that anything that makes me think as much as this film as deserves my adoration and stamp of approval.

The Art of Getting By is the story of eighteen year old George, played by Freddie Highmore, who reminds me all too well of my brother and other boys I have known in that he sees no value in anything. Caught up in a bit of Holden Caulfield syndrome, he is approached by never single, fairly typical classmate Sally, played by Emma Roberts. One of the wonderful things about this film is that you know these characters, yet they definitely have something to bring to the table. You knew them once, but they have come back in trendier outfits, smoking cigarettes with a bit more mystique. The story follows their senior year in which they grow to be close friends, he slowly realizes that he may not graduate and they both deal with issues at home. It sounds typical and, in a way, it is, but this film felt unique.

The backdrop of New York City cannot go unmentioned, for it starred alongside Highmore and Roberts, who did not do too shabby themselves (except for Freddie’s accent, that was pretty bad). The film looked pretty beautiful, to say the least. The acting of some of the adults was hard to buy and there were a few named characters that were fairly pointless (her friends Zoe and…something else), but I really did enjoy the film. But what I found most fascinating about the film is how much it felt like high school and how much it felt like experiences I have had.

The cinematography, with help by (more or less) first time director Gavin Wiesen, really put you in the middle of these experiences. This is an opinion you will not likely find elsewhere in the midst of its one star reviews, but I found the realism really potent. I could relate. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I grew up in the same generation and age as George and Sally and therefore understand what they are going through more specifically. I feel like a lot of older reviewers who grew up without cell phones may not realize what it is like to struggle to form the perfect text or to jump at every phone vibration. They may not understand to the same extent that I do how living in a city means that you practically have to have a fake ID to have a good time with other teenagers at night and when you don’t, as I do not, you end up spending a lot of nights on Netflix. Just little things that are written off as silly, over the top and unrealistic by others are seen by me as relatable in some ways. This is a film for this generation in that way. A film for those who still remember exactly how firsts felt and how hard it was to get up and go to school when it all seemed pointless.

So that is how I see the film. I did not just see George get drunk for the first time, I felt it. I did not watch the two of them grow closer, but felt it as I have felt with so many dear friends. It was a film to feel and remember and for those who cannot remember those first because they are blocking them out, because they were too long ago or because they simply aren’t willing to open their memory a bit, they may not enjoy this. They may only see the awkward scenes, Freddie’s awful accent and another story about teenagers. I saw more and I felt more and while I will reiterate, this is not a film that I will watch over and over again and fall more in love with, I can appreciate it for what it was and what it made me think about. Which, in my opinion, is enough.

Summer thus far

Things that come to mind...cleaning, Lord of the Rings extended theatrical release, Clemence Poesy's style, re-watching Sherlock, the end of SIFF, excitement for The Art of Getting By, vague incompetence, PressPausePlay adoration, Merlin, painting, lens flare appreciation, Lymelife, trench coats, open windows, Phoebe in Wonderland, Martin Freeman, Super 8, Pottermore, dust in the air, Oh the Times and Places You'll Go, endless coughing & tissues, taking out loans, finally watching the It's Kind of a Funny Story film & liking it despite the negative things I have heard, playing my new ocarina, excitement for Marion to come in a week, longing for trees and warmth, dark cinema bound afternoons, this video, The Head and the Heart, the sound of trains, Somewhere, Topshop emails, too much exhaustion & trying my best to follow Kerouac's words...
"Be in love with your life. Every detail of it."

Taking a step back

As you guys may have noticed, over the last month or so, I've been very distant on the internet. There are plenty of reasons for this ranging from my need to focus on the work I had neglected while traveling the country, bring up a calculus grade that was plummeting due to missing classes, spending more time on art in various forms, et cetera. But the main reason was just that I had been feeling like I was suffocating online and was severely lacking in creativity on the home-front. After making so many videos this year about the exciting adventures I was having, being creative amidst the mundane was just not really working for me. On top of my videos slowing down a bit, I found that there were certain sites online that were only really leading to me feeling annoyed or frustrated, rather than, I don't know, what are social networking sites supposed to make you feel? Interested? Facebook and Twitter are the sites I am referring to. I've never been a fan of Facebook and really only ever used it for the SAFT (Secret Awesome Facebook Thread - the main for of 5AG communication). But the SAFT has slowed down a ton and so I just sort of took facebook off my bookmark tabs and started to not use it.
Next was twitter. Now, there is a fine line on Twitter between sharing bits of your life and just being damn annoying, let's be honest, haha. Call me a bitch all you want, but it got to the point that I was following too many people because I felt obligated to (friends of friends, etc) and I just don't care if you're hungry or you have to write a 2000 word paper. There should really be a Twitter 101 on the do's and don'ts of the site and what is interesting to people who are not you and what isn't. I do not enjoy putting negativity on the internet, especially to people who genuinely want to hear what I have to say, so I don't understand why other people feel the need to complain to ten, a hundred or even thousands of people. Despite the fact that I make videos on the internet, I've never been the type of person who craves praise or attention. I just like making videos and blogs. I was doing those things when my IRL friends were the only ones reading and/or watching. At any rate, I was just sick of the amount of complaining on that site, so I quietly just removed myself for a bit. In addition, I found that the only things people were @replying me on Twitter anymore were people asking me to do them favours* or asking personal questions. I understand that I make myself accessible, but I just started feeling used, like the people who followed me on that site had access to my personal life, which they don't. Very few people have access to my personal life and mostly those are the people in it.
Taking a step back was good for me and not only did it feel nice not to feel obligated to check so many sites, it meant that whenever I had a funny anecdote, I could just send it to my friends, rather than the whole internet. More communication with those who are close to me if never a bad thing! Not spending as much time online has allowed me to get a lot of work done, paint for the first time in a long time (I'm working on a painting video pretty soon, actually!), make a lot of lists, see about 15 films, spend time with my family and finally watch Sherlock and start Pushing Daisies. May was the most uneventful month of my year so far, it's true, but I was very busy for pretty much all of it with stuff here at school and home.
I'm sure there will be at least one person out there who will inform me of what a massive bitch I sound like in this post and how I should just "get over myself because no one cares," but I hope the rest of you awesome people understand. It is not you guys I was taking a break from, it was just the whole internet experience that I needed to part with before I throw myself back into more videos this summer. I'm not sure if I will start using Twitter again, though. Funnily enough it is sort of like cutting something out of your diet. Once you don't tweet for a while, you realise that nothing is really that pressing to share with 9000** people on the internet. But we'll see!
But now I want to hear from you because the voice inside my head it lonely and tired of talking to itself. What have you been up to? How are you currently feeling about the internet and specific sites? I gave to dash off to my second to last Western Civilization class. Man, I am so ready for summer! This quarter has been an exhausting one, to say the very least. Blog ya later, bros. xx


Films seen in cinemas in May: 14. 9 SIFF, 2 independent, 3 Hollywood.

* I was actually getting complete strangers asking me to make collab clips for them by the following day. I mean, chances are unless I was completely free, I wouldn't do that for my close friends. It just feels a little disrespectful to ask a favour of someone without even giving them time to CONSIDER if they want to help. On or off the internet.
** Just went to twitter to check how many followers I have and oh my god! I had no idea *that* many people followed me. Now I feel vaguely as though I've let 9000 people down...They'll probably get over it.