Hacker Cinema
American Honey
2016 · Film · 163 min
Directed by Andrea Arnold
A restless teenager escapes her troubled home and joins a traveling crew of young drifters selling magazines across the American Midwest. Immersed in a world of reckless partying, risky hustles, and fleeting romances, she searches for freedom and belonging on the open road.
2 positive1 mixed1 neutralfrom 4 commenters
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4 comments on Hacker News
Please watch the documentary “Cow”, by the author of movies “Fish tank” and “American Honey” (both are unrelated to animals btw)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_(2021_film)
There’s a scene where cows finally run out of the barn at the beginning of spring. Their joy is obvious.
Only you can tell if you enjoy a film or not. I've enjoyed most of the films I've seen from them. You're not going to get such a rigid hollywood 3 act structure with all the beats being hit according to the formula. Some people like this, others find the films aimless and meandering. Here's one example of that: https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/american-honey-cannes-review/5103945.article?blocktitle=The-Latest&contentID=598
> But while American Honey exudes ample energy, this episodic piece doesn’t muster much narrative drive over its daunting running time of two and three quarter hours. There’s probably a stronger, tighter film in here, but fair game at least to Arnold in her commitment to following the winding back roads of filmic experiment rather than the well-mapped highway of storytelling.
Here are three films, but i've watched loads and I like most of them:
A Prayer Before Dawn is a better version of a film we've seen before - westerner goes to a harsh prison in a foreign country. It's not pretentious and the film avoids being too sympathetic to the lead. Metacritic gives it 76. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/a-prayer-before-dawn
Eighth Grade is I think amazing. A really difficult watch of a young person struggling to be a young person. It captures the awkwardness and cliques. The lead actress is brilliant. Metacritic gives it 89, but that has been pulled down by one reviewer who clearly hates the film. All the other scores are over 75. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/eighth-grade
How to Talk to Girls at Parties is a film that I didn't enjoy. But I'm glad they made it and some people do like it. MC gives it 50, but there's a mix of high and low scores. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/how-to-talk-to-girls-at-parties/critic-reviews
I'd like to add American Honey: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3721936/
Apocalypse now, casablanca, bowling for columbine, etc. were made in a certain context. That context can't be captured and commercialized because history moved on and it isn't there anymore. They can't completely exist in a vacuum. When I look at today's aaa movies whether the context is lacking or the movie suffers from the formula and lack of originality or personal vision (as you point it).
I remember gummo, searching for the wrong-eyed jesus, american honey, chop shop, land of plenty and winter bones. I am pretty sure three of them will pass the test of time.
(I am not american nor living in america so I don't know the movie scene as well as the european one)