Let us anticipate Greta Gerwig's directorial debut "Lady Bird"

OK, this was about 3 degrees less irritating than the Garden State/Adventureland/Little Miss Sunshine axis wtf is wrong with everyone.

Idk maybe we all have a soul

It’s possible

the jokes are funnier than Adventureland, c'mon

haven't subjected myself to the other two

OK, this was about 3 degrees less irritating than the Garden State/Adventureland/Little Miss Sunshine axis wtf is wrong with everyone.

― two cool rock chicks pounding la croix (circa1916)

That formulation makes as much sense as Bush's Axis of Evil.

yeah this movie was much much more genuine than either of those three, none of which featured characters as deep as the gym teacher-turned-drama teacher who shows up for two scenes, let alone any of the core family members.

like where does Garden State come from? that movie was basically overwrought pathos-by-numbers. this was a much more believable, lived-in universe.

It is more deeply felt and a cut above those films, but there’s a shared aesthetic (really is it hard to fathom that grouping?) and it’s not one I can stomach so easily in 2018.

Expectations tainted by uninhibited praise from all corners I guess. It’s a better version of a thing I hate.

Unpack the grouping

I can see that, it's a thin line, I understand the criticism & dislike, I hate all that shit too. But it never crossed my mind watching Lady Bird. But I understand it

OK, this was about 3 degrees less irritating than the Garden State/Adventureland/Little Miss Sunshine axis wtf is wrong with everyone.
― two cool rock chicks pounding la croix (circa1916)

Idk maybe we all have a soul
― valorous wokelord (silby)

It’s possible
― two cool rock chicks pounding la croix (circa1916)

Like Lady Bird, love Adventureland, but I love that exchange.

there’s a shared aesthetic

what is it?

youth?

Whiteness. Let’s be honest.

Let's say I'd love for Gerwig to have directed Garden State to see how she would have dealt with those tiresome tropes.

films about people that are annoyed all the time?

i haven't seen Ladybird fwiw but it seemed like one of those from the trailer.

films about people that are annoyed all the time?

― Heavy Messages (jed_),

teenagers?

ILXers on the politics threads?

I haven’t seen Little Miss Sunshine but nothing makes me think it belongs in the same category as Ladybird

fwiw she was definitely not annoyed all the time. thought she took the genuine frustrations in stride, which is an actual complaint from some parties who didn’t find a conflict in the movie

IMO the trailer made it seem like a much worse movie than it is.

I don't even object to circa1916's characterization of this as three degrees less annoying than Garden State et. al. It just turns out that's a winning formula for a lot of people, myself included.

Although I've actually never actually seen Garden State. But Adventureland, sure.

um I’m in a movie theater about to see I feel pretty alone and greta gerwig just walked in and sat down in front of me

— jaye hunt (@hayejunt) May 9, 2018

lmao

Queen of my heart

amy schumer: “when we’re little girls–“
greta: “HEEEERE WE GO”

— jaye hunt (@hayejunt) May 9, 2018

i'm dying, don't even care if that twitter person made this all up, it's hilarious

um I’m in a movie theater about to see Annihilation alone and I just walked in and sat down in front of me

— yaye (@danvasmoon) May 13, 2018

Finally saw this. At first I thought I was disappointed by it, and there are still some writing choices that annoy me: I think Gerwig repeatedly emphasizes the family's (relative) poverty a bit too much; Lady Bird making a crack about "the wrong side of the tracks" and passing off her (boy)friend's grandma's house as her own are enough that we don't need the mother constantly reminding her (and us) how poor they all are. Also, the bit about the coach directing the play was funny until Gerwig decides to hammer the joke home a bit too much; I found his discomfort with making the switch from football to theatre a lot funnier before he started mapping out plays and barking out cheers. I took both of these things as a lack of confidence in the material that is likely the result of being a first time director, but they annoyed me all the same. I also didn't find the conclusion as moving as I expect I was meant to, and I wish the movie had found a way to end without the New York stuff, and particularly the phone call.

But the stuff that's good is very good: pretty much all of the performances (Tracy Letts is kind of a secret weapon here), the dimensions afforded to Metcalf's character, the way that the whole prom episode plays out, and the line about attention = love (truthfully, it was these last two that finally bumped me from a strong 6/10 to a more enthusiastic-with-reservations 7/10). At least two bigs laughs for me, as well: I'm thinking of Ronan's response to Chalamet's posturing about Iraq--"Different things can be sad, it's just war!"--and her later bafflement over what's wrong with Greatest Hits albums--"but they're the greatest."

Also, I am embarrassed about how I keep failing to recognize Lois Smith, who was very good both here and in Marjorie Prime and, now that I look her up, has been in a bunch of other things I've seen.

i liked the coach and felt the joke wasn't too laboured. i disliked the ending, just didn't work that well for me, though i liked that she decided to stop calling herself lady bird at least.

overall this was decent, a lot better than whatever crap baumbach shits out these days for sure, but also just sort of middling and ok, a 6 out of 10 maybe if i were to quantify it. feel like "old man shouts at cloud" but the movies these days that get hyped as films of the year are generally pretty good and nothing more.

we don't need the mother constantly reminding her (and us) how poor they all are

But that's what Moms do.

^^^

Liked this movie but slums of Beverly Hills did this coming of age thing way better

Among more recent movies about teenage girls, I still prefer the previous year’s The Edge of Seventeen. Walter Chaw’s review alluded to Ghost World and Hal Hartley’s Trust, which are also much stronger films. But there’s room enough in the world for all of them.

I just saw this on the plane. It was fine; I was likely disappointed since I had higher hopes. I came away from it thinking of Little Miss Sunshine too! Both are films that I never need to see again.

I agree with some upthread. Everything was pleasant, Ronan's character was moderately interesting, the dialogue was moderately amusing. The acting is the best thing in it.

Oh come on, this is way better than LMS!

I think it was better than all of the movies referenced above

Ghost World is probably better.

Both movies mystifyingly had that best picture hype and both were very pleasant enough.

Also I was a high schooler during this time period and everyone loved Crash, regardless of the other music you listened to. But I also was in Virginia.

I think I relate to the story of Lady Bird more than Ghost World, although haven't seen GW in many years and wonder what I would think now. I mainly remember enjoying Thora Birch in it, don't think I've seen her in anything before or since

oh nm she was in American Beauty

Thora Birch's character had more of a personality, outside of her hair, in Ghost World. And she was smarter.

I automatically will like any movie/tv show set in high school, which is why this was such a letdown.

I like high school movies too!

with the exception of classic stuff where I've been pre-exposed to the hype/dismissal, films are often a letdown for me when I go into them with high expectations

Mean girls ftw and easy A

Ladybird was great.

i really dislike high school movies/tv shows/books/etc and avoided lady bird on account of it -- but then i saw it one day when i was home sick and thought it was much better than i expected and less depressing. the scene with the nun about love and attention is what really stuck with me.

ghost world was alright at the time but i still find it too male-gazey

i enjoy HS movies but tbh they never really feel even slightly like my own experience. lady bird actually felt closer to it than most of them (even tho i didn't go to catholic school), maybe because the stakes felt so low, there was a sense of things just sort of happening from day to day. you have a crisis and then you move on to something else. you have a terrible cathartic moment and then the next day you're just sitting in class. so, i dunno, i enjoyed the low-drama aspects of it that ppl complained about upthread. ghost world is great and much much sadder than this movie.