Boyhood

Although I didn't write about all of them here -- trying to maintain a movie blog in the days of Facebook and Twitter feels peripheral and quaint, after all -- I saw some tremendous movies in 2014.

Some were great popcorn flicks (I am Groot!), others tear-jerkers ( We are Groot ), and some movies were funny as hell (He said that he may be an... "a-hole", but he's not, and I quote, "100% a dick").

Well, just trust me . . .  I saw more than one movie in twenty-fourteen.

The best of the bunch, however, was Boyhood.

Richard Linklater's Boyhood is, literally, a coming of age story. Filmed with the same cast over a twelve year period, the audience watches Mason Evans, Jr. grow from a 6-year-old child into a man. We're granted an intimate, inside-the-family perspective -- we become the aunt or uncle watching little Mason celebrate and struggle through the milestones of life.

Boyhood will be remembered as an epic achievement in film- mostly because it was filmed over a long period of time. But that's just a gimmick; that alone isn't what makes this movie great.

The movie is great because Linklater patiently and honestly explores the small moments of Mason's boyhood. As we all know, it is those small moments that make us  the adults we become.