Nickel Boys (2024)
February 5, 2025 5:59 AM - Subscribe
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Colson Whitehead (previously), Nickel Boys chronicles the powerful friendship between two young African American men navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.
Enjoy, Growabrain!
I've seen it - and it sent me on a prowl through my library to read some of Colson Whitehead's work, something which I've always meant to do.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:08 AM on February 5
I've seen it - and it sent me on a prowl through my library to read some of Colson Whitehead's work, something which I've always meant to do.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:08 AM on February 5
EmpressCallipygos I love The Intuitionist, reread it again recently after more than a decade and still loved it. I don't see it mentioned that much, so maybe it's not on of his better regarded books and my affection is coloured by nostalgia, but possibly also because it's speculative fiction.
posted by sarble at 7:59 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]
posted by sarble at 7:59 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]
EmpressCallipygos, I'll recommend Harlem Shuffle. Social history masquerading as a heist story.
Would you please say more about the way Nickel Boys was filmed? How did you like the movie?
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:30 AM on February 5
Would you please say more about the way Nickel Boys was filmed? How did you like the movie?
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:30 AM on February 5
Would you please say more about the way Nickel Boys was filmed?
I'm honestly trying to think of a way to do so without spoiling a rather big point of the plot. I think it's safe to say that the film makes some interesting and strategic use of the POV camera technique for both of the two leads.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:13 AM on February 5 [3 favorites]
I'm honestly trying to think of a way to do so without spoiling a rather big point of the plot. I think it's safe to say that the film makes some interesting and strategic use of the POV camera technique for both of the two leads.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:13 AM on February 5 [3 favorites]
1. Barry Jenkins is directing The Intuitionist right now.
2. This one was written and produced by Joslyn Barnes.
3. This was David Ehrlich's #1 film on his 2024 countdown.
4. Also, one of my Top 3 this year so far.
posted by growabrain at 6:09 AM on February 8 [3 favorites]
2. This one was written and produced by Joslyn Barnes.
3. This was David Ehrlich's #1 film on his 2024 countdown.
4. Also, one of my Top 3 this year so far.
posted by growabrain at 6:09 AM on February 8 [3 favorites]
RaMell Ross directed only 2 documentaries before 'Nickel boys': Hale County This Morning, This Evening, (which I'm going to watch next), and a 13 min. short Easter Snap. (CW: 5 men in Alabama are processing of a butchered pig). The final shot here is parallel to the final shot in Nickel Boys.
posted by growabrain at 7:59 AM on February 8 [1 favorite]
posted by growabrain at 7:59 AM on February 8 [1 favorite]
I'm honestly trying to think of a way to do so without spoiling a rather big point of the plot.
It's first-person, and they split how they introduce the two main characters. The UK show Peep Show swaps perspective quickly to establish who's in a conversation, but this took its time.
This is a hard story, but worth your discomfort. The visuals are like remembering a thing you don't want to remember; the soundscape serves it well -- and deserves surround audio if you can set it in a cinema -- and I exhort you to go watch this.
posted by k3ninho at 2:54 PM on February 10 [1 favorite]
It's first-person, and they split how they introduce the two main characters. The UK show Peep Show swaps perspective quickly to establish who's in a conversation, but this took its time.
This is a hard story, but worth your discomfort. The visuals are like remembering a thing you don't want to remember; the soundscape serves it well -- and deserves surround audio if you can set it in a cinema -- and I exhort you to go watch this.
posted by k3ninho at 2:54 PM on February 10 [1 favorite]
This is the most recent movie I saw in theaters, and I hadn't read the book - like EmpressCallipygos, Colson Whitehead's books have been on my to-read list for a while but hadn't bubbled to the top - and seeing it really made me appreciate movies as a medium again. It does take its time, in all possible ways. It's beautifully shot, and yet it just builds a sense of dread. By the end I was completely devastated and I thoroughly second k3ninho's endorsement.
posted by sigmagalator at 9:47 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]
posted by sigmagalator at 9:47 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]
I loved Nickel Boys. It's devastating and beautiful, and it's doing more interesting things than any of the other Best Picture nominees. Well worth watching.
A friend of mine found the use of POV/first-person gimmicky, but I thought it was interesting and well-justified, both because of the twist and also by how it makes the audience identify with the characters all the more. This difference of opinion might be due to our respective media diets: she doesn't play any video games, but I do. Following a story over the shoulder or through first person was far more natural to me. That makes for a discrepancy: the synopsis and marketing suggest an audience of people who consume a lot of literary and historical fiction, but I suspect the film will land more with people interested in new media. It's a super interesting film.
posted by Pitachu at 7:52 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]
A friend of mine found the use of POV/first-person gimmicky, but I thought it was interesting and well-justified, both because of the twist and also by how it makes the audience identify with the characters all the more. This difference of opinion might be due to our respective media diets: she doesn't play any video games, but I do. Following a story over the shoulder or through first person was far more natural to me. That makes for a discrepancy: the synopsis and marketing suggest an audience of people who consume a lot of literary and historical fiction, but I suspect the film will land more with people interested in new media. It's a super interesting film.
posted by Pitachu at 7:52 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]
The PBS NewsHour interviewed director RaMell Ross, with some discussion about the movie's technical direction.
posted by JDC8 at 10:39 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]
posted by JDC8 at 10:39 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]
I understand why this movie isn't more in the Best Picture conversation than it is (the POV filming technique that has a meaningful storytelling purpose, and the use of avant-garde or at least "arty" film choices like collage -- some people at least find the POV thing alienating and even those who don't can usually admit that neither aspect is especially Oscar-friendly), but I have not seen a better or harder-hitting film among the nominees this year. I've seen the two current favorites* already, they are both very good, this is better. I was bowled over by it. Rearranged my heart. Deserves to be a future classic. An extraordinary, extraordinary, extraordinarily moving film.
That hug!
I was wondering how common it would be for reviewers to compare it to The Zone of Interest, which is the only other movie that really comes to mind to compare it to because of how each handles the atrocities at the center of their respective stories (not showing them graphically, but still centering them), and because of the impact each film has. They aren't necessarily similar otherwise, but yes, the parallel seems to come up a lot.
Please see this if you haven't already.
*I will admit that I have not yet seen The Brutalist -- the two I'm speaking of are Anora and Conclave, which seem to be the odds-on favorites as of this week, especially after Conclave swept the BAFTAs and Anora has done well with a lot of American preliminary awards.
posted by verbminx at 8:52 PM on February 20
That hug!
I was wondering how common it would be for reviewers to compare it to The Zone of Interest, which is the only other movie that really comes to mind to compare it to because of how each handles the atrocities at the center of their respective stories (not showing them graphically, but still centering them), and because of the impact each film has. They aren't necessarily similar otherwise, but yes, the parallel seems to come up a lot.
Please see this if you haven't already.
*I will admit that I have not yet seen The Brutalist -- the two I'm speaking of are Anora and Conclave, which seem to be the odds-on favorites as of this week, especially after Conclave swept the BAFTAs and Anora has done well with a lot of American preliminary awards.
posted by verbminx at 8:52 PM on February 20
(that last line is probably pointless; I'm not sure why anyone would be on this post if they haven't already seen it. but if I can convince anyone!)
posted by verbminx at 8:53 PM on February 20
posted by verbminx at 8:53 PM on February 20
@verbminx ,I agree with you 100%: These 4 are the only ones from this years nominee list that I was interested in seeing, and Nickel Boys is by far the better one.
posted by growabrain at 10:43 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]
posted by growabrain at 10:43 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]
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posted by growabrain at 6:02 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]