Instagram. It has 700 million users, and this documentary is the story of 3 of them.
Kaylyn Slevin is a self-discribed dancer, “beach girl”, and aspiring bikini model. She lives in her parents’ mansion and Instagrams herself rollerskating around its cavernous hallways.
Humza Deas grew up in the projects and has come into his own as an urban photographer. He discovered his passion with a broken iphone and now has a serious Insta following thanks to his beautiful images often captured with some risk and daredevil antics. But when he accidentally exposed the subculture, he got death threats.
Emma Crockett is a midwest high school student challenging boundaries and testing limits on Instagram. Her parents don’t allow dating until age 16 but that doesn’t stop her getting dozens of DMs from strangers asking for booty pics. It’s a new world with new kinds of bullying and harassment and one wrong foot meant that Emma had to leave her Christian school to escape the nastiness.
This documentary is probably must-see for anyone over 25 because OH MY GOD it’s eye-opening and panic-inducing. I do have an Instagram account but I use it for one thing and one thing only: proof of life when I have charge of my sister’s kids. That’s it. Watching this doc, I’ve discovered that there are rules to Instagram that I never knew and break flagrantly every time I use it. Never post more than one picture a day. Did you know that? Like I said, I’ll post a hundred pictures of the kids on a weekend away with them, and then nothing for the next month. Never post two selfies in a row. Did you know that? That one doesn’t apply to me since I’ve never taken a selfie and realized I don’t know how. And I suppose don’t care to know. But teenagers, they know. They take this shit seriously, looking for love, for acceptance, but also constantly comparing and dealing with jealousy and envy. And competing for likes! And followers. And fame.
Humza takes thoughtful, inspired photos and deserves to be known for his work and his artistry. Emma is a kid who needs hugs and understanding. With Instagram’s sole purpose seeming to make popularity extremely quantifiable, it’s a dangerous beast to tussle with, and has dire consequences for some. Kaylyn is also just a kid, one who has fallen head-first into the image-obsessed culture of Instagram. And this documentary really forces us to ask how self worth will be measured when how things look is the only thing that matters.
There are very few immutable truths in this world, but here’s one: if you don’t like Steven Spielberg’s movies, then you don’t like movies. The brilliance of Ready Player One (and it is brilliant) is that it’s a Spielberg movie through and through, only because its source material references Spielberg repeatedly, the result is something exponentially more Spielberg than you could ever have though possible. Ready Player One is a true blockbuster and a worthy addition to Spielberg’s list of classics.
assert themselves sexually. All the usual bullshit about female virginity is thrown into the gutter with other outdated notions like the earth is flat, and bloodletting as a cure-all. These ladies are real, raw, and raunchy when it comes to sex, which, sure, is refreshing, and that’s nice and all, but the truth is we wouldn’t give a damn about myth-busting if it wasn’t entertaining, and this movie captures that elusive comedy magic and makes its audience howl with laughter.
happening, it’s clear this family was quicker than most to adapt. They appear to be among the only survivors. But even if you can manage to never speak, to never laugh – can you also manage to never knock over a glass of water? To never sneeze? And what about the poor mother, visibly nearing the end of a pregnancy. Can she labour in silence, and what about the newborn – won’t his first act be to cry? In fact, this movie keeps you so on edge I despaired as the mother doled out fish and veggies for dinner. Were the vegetables suitably soft? A particularly crisp cucumber could spell certain death.
when he learns that it was Mark Hamill making the 700+ episodes all along, his main takeaway is: anyone can make a movie! So why not him? Unfortunately, the cop (Greg Kinnear) isn’t keen to turn over the confiscated equipment, and his therapist (Claire Danes) isn’t keen on the idea, period. But this is the only thing giving a grown man comfort now that he’s out in a world he never knew existed, let alone how to exist in it.
depressed people can retain a sense of humour, where sadness and happiness often coincide, are two sides of the same debit card (who carries coins anymore?). Second, there are some very humane performances, particularly by JK Simmons. Writer-director Kurt Voelker manages to respect each of his character by giving them each an arc of their own. He manages to traverse some shaky ground by transcending the genres and making a film that is uniquely his.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 