9.5/10 – Grilled Seal of Approval

Alright, I understand I’m getting a bit of a reputation around these parts because I rated two 2013 high school coming of age dramedies the very, very high score of 9.5/10. The Spectacular Now and The Kings of Summer. “What does this mean, Dom? Are you trying to make up for your own shitty high school experience by vicariously living through a movie? Do you regret doing nothing in high school except watching movies, and no, we’re not joking, we really mean NOTHING BUT WATCHING MOVIES, ya damn slag!”

Alright, seriously? I don’t know what’s up with all of the hostility, but you need to cut that out Jack. Cause this is my house, and I-dun-play-like-dat. That being said, no, I am not trying to vicariously live high school again. Nah, high school is over and done and I have no interest in living it again in either a good, bad, or mediocre capacity. And for the record, I didn’t have a baaad time in high school. I just didn’t have good one either. It was definitely in the mediocre range.

The thing about high school:
1) I didn’t give it a chance.
Yep, it’s true. I honestly didn’t give it a chance. Not a good chance anyway. I was excited to go to high school. I was ready for bigger things, new people, new experiences, and all that other baloney. I was under the (foolish) impression that everyone would be entering the school “new” – and that they wouldn’t know each other. I was mistaken. Horribly mistaken. On Day One I saw everyone already forming into their cliques and telling jokes and slapping each other on their asses like they knew each other for years. Day One. Day Fuckin’ One. I have a clear memory of looking out at all of the quickly consolidated groups and telling myself, “Meh. I guess I’ll just wait until college.”

That was my perspective. That high school was simply a necessary requirement until I was able to have the “real fun” – college. I didn’t really care that I didn’t have many/any (pick the numeral adjective that will cause you the least amount of wondering about how depressed I was during H.S.) friends. Ah shit, well sometimes I cared. Sometimes I was annoyed and sometimes I was angry and sometimes I thought I would explode from all of the dark and devilish thoughts brewing inside my skull. But I always had something waiting for me back home:

Movies
Great television
Maybe even a few videogames.

I built a world inside my basement and only left for the essentials: Food, Bathroom, School, Sleep.

And throughout it all, just to tell you how weird I was (am), I always just assumed college would be a great time. I lived my entire high school life under one very big assumption. The reason I don’t have friends is because everyone already knew each other and formed the cliques without me. That was it. That kept everything cool inside my head. I didn’t worry, because I knew that in a few short years I would be heading to a place where no one knew each other. And that was what I wanted. The people who “knew” me in my early school career – they didn’t fucking know me, but I was still trapped inside their perception. I needed an escape to a world where I could create and/or let my personality out into the sunlight.

So! Did I rate these two high school dramedies highly because of my own high school experience? Hell no! I rated them highly because I thought they were great examples of filmmaking! I connected with them and I enjoyed my time in their company. And fuck you, this my site, so if I wanna rate two indie high school dramedies higher than Oscar jerk-off favorite American Hustle than I’m gonna do it!

(And then a faint husky voice from the very rear of the bleachers….

Yeah boy!
Preach!!

Preach!!!!)