I was fortunate enough to attend last night’s world premiere of BEWARE THE GONZO, written and directed by Bryan Goluboff, at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. Watch Beware the Gonzo Movie Online
This light-hearted high school dramedy (emphasis on the –medy part, in the vein of JUNO) is a far cry from Goluboff’s last produced film credit, THE BASKETBALL DIARIES, for which he wrote the screenplay. His range is impressive, as both the comedic and dramatic elements of GONZO were quite well-executed. It felt real enough to be relatable, but outlandish enough to make me laugh out loud many times throughout.
Ezra Miller was a perfect choice for the leading role of ‘Gonzo Gilman’, an aspiring investigative journalist, who decides to create his own underground high school newspaper after being booted from the established school paper by Editor-in-Chief and Grade A Popular Douchebag, ‘Gavin Reilly’ (played by Jesse McCartney). Miller has the whole teenage angst thing down to a science at this point, especially having played the role of ‘Damien’ in the hit Showtime series CALIFORNICATION. With his hip alternative look and solid dry comedic timing juxtaposed with a markedly honest dramatic performance, Ezra definitely shines in this film. His co-star, Zoë Kravitz, was perfectly fine. The role was not particularly challenging or interesting, but she played it just right – maintaining the fun-but-angsty tone of the film without upstaging the more interesting characters. It certainly doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous. I have a sneaky suspicion that the mainstream media will describe her as “exotic” because her skin is darker than, say, Hayden Panettiere’s, but she strikes me more as gorgeous in a hip New Yorker kind of way. It works, regardless of what you want to call it.
To be perfectly honest, Jesse McCartney surprised me. I’ve never seen the TV shows SUMMERLAND or GREEK, so the Jesse McCartney I knew was a teen pop star who appealed mostly to young girls (and any member of NAMBLA). I had the pleasure of meeting Jesse prior to the screening, and for someone as friendly as he actually is, he played a convincing antagonist. His All-American appeal has not changed, and we should expect to see more of him on the big screen in years to come.
Goluboff also selected his ensemble cast very well. Amy Sedaris and Campbell Scott played Gonzo’s parents, and both nailed it. The teen ensemble was my favorite part of the film, particularly standout newcomers Griffin Newman (‘Horny Rob’) and Stefanie Y. Hong (‘Ming Na’). Newman has superb comedic timing, and Hong is just funny to see on screen, a la Jon Heder.
Beware The Gonzo is one of the better high school films I’ve seen in the past few years. It could very well be this year’s Juno, which scored major points at the box office after getting a full national release. It’s got comedy, romance, sex, awkwardness, passion, angst, nerds, hot chicks, and a little tenderness thrown in for good measure. Watch Beware the Gonzo Movie Online
You’ve heard it here first on themoviebanter.com, Beware The Gonzo is a must see at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.Precedents for a story like this prove that it can be done right. The “Fraudcast News” episode of “The Simpsons,” where Lisa’s grassroots paper overcomes Mr. Burns’s media tyranny, contains a lot more wit than the scenes where Gonzo resists his principal’s attempt to stymie the indie publication. His free-spirited mentality suggests everything from “Superbad” to “Freaks and Geeks” and Ferris Bueller, but lacks the inspiration of them all. Goluboff fails to provide Gonzo or his peers with any interesting quirks beyond the standard set of social and sexual issues that have already been done to death on “Gossip Girl” and countless antecedents. Bit parts for Amy Sedaris (as Gonzo’s anxious mother) and Judah Friendlander (as a pissy cafeteria employee) provide moments of brief inspiration on the merits of the performers ability to transcend the limitations of the material with pure comic finesse. To View The Full HD : free movies online for free
This light-hearted high school dramedy (emphasis on the –medy part, in the vein of JUNO) is a far cry from Goluboff’s last produced film credit, THE BASKETBALL DIARIES, for which he wrote the screenplay. His range is impressive, as both the comedic and dramatic elements of GONZO were quite well-executed. It felt real enough to be relatable, but outlandish enough to make me laugh out loud many times throughout.
Ezra Miller was a perfect choice for the leading role of ‘Gonzo Gilman’, an aspiring investigative journalist, who decides to create his own underground high school newspaper after being booted from the established school paper by Editor-in-Chief and Grade A Popular Douchebag, ‘Gavin Reilly’ (played by Jesse McCartney). Miller has the whole teenage angst thing down to a science at this point, especially having played the role of ‘Damien’ in the hit Showtime series CALIFORNICATION. With his hip alternative look and solid dry comedic timing juxtaposed with a markedly honest dramatic performance, Ezra definitely shines in this film. His co-star, Zoë Kravitz, was perfectly fine. The role was not particularly challenging or interesting, but she played it just right – maintaining the fun-but-angsty tone of the film without upstaging the more interesting characters. It certainly doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous. I have a sneaky suspicion that the mainstream media will describe her as “exotic” because her skin is darker than, say, Hayden Panettiere’s, but she strikes me more as gorgeous in a hip New Yorker kind of way. It works, regardless of what you want to call it.
To be perfectly honest, Jesse McCartney surprised me. I’ve never seen the TV shows SUMMERLAND or GREEK, so the Jesse McCartney I knew was a teen pop star who appealed mostly to young girls (and any member of NAMBLA). I had the pleasure of meeting Jesse prior to the screening, and for someone as friendly as he actually is, he played a convincing antagonist. His All-American appeal has not changed, and we should expect to see more of him on the big screen in years to come.
Goluboff also selected his ensemble cast very well. Amy Sedaris and Campbell Scott played Gonzo’s parents, and both nailed it. The teen ensemble was my favorite part of the film, particularly standout newcomers Griffin Newman (‘Horny Rob’) and Stefanie Y. Hong (‘Ming Na’). Newman has superb comedic timing, and Hong is just funny to see on screen, a la Jon Heder.
Beware The Gonzo is one of the better high school films I’ve seen in the past few years. It could very well be this year’s Juno, which scored major points at the box office after getting a full national release. It’s got comedy, romance, sex, awkwardness, passion, angst, nerds, hot chicks, and a little tenderness thrown in for good measure. Watch Beware the Gonzo Movie Online
You’ve heard it here first on themoviebanter.com, Beware The Gonzo is a must see at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.Precedents for a story like this prove that it can be done right. The “Fraudcast News” episode of “The Simpsons,” where Lisa’s grassroots paper overcomes Mr. Burns’s media tyranny, contains a lot more wit than the scenes where Gonzo resists his principal’s attempt to stymie the indie publication. His free-spirited mentality suggests everything from “Superbad” to “Freaks and Geeks” and Ferris Bueller, but lacks the inspiration of them all. Goluboff fails to provide Gonzo or his peers with any interesting quirks beyond the standard set of social and sexual issues that have already been done to death on “Gossip Girl” and countless antecedents. Bit parts for Amy Sedaris (as Gonzo’s anxious mother) and Judah Friendlander (as a pissy cafeteria employee) provide moments of brief inspiration on the merits of the performers ability to transcend the limitations of the material with pure comic finesse. To View The Full HD : free movies online for free
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