8 Mile
E had never seen this cornerstone of my childhood, so we gave it watch, and it’s impressive how it’s largely held up. Of course, as was the case then, the magic of this movie is Eminem. I didn’t realize until Ellen read the trivia afterward, but Eminem is in every single scene, and it takes a special performance to make you forget that. I wasn’t old enough to be aware of the Oscars at the time, but it’s somewhat shocking now he wasn’t nominated. The film certainly has some bizarre pacing, scenes, and directorial choices, none bigger than why they just didn’t make this a full-on biopic instead of semi-biopic, but if you’re a fan of acting, and/or Eminem, then this is must watch.
-Z
After Z’s constant disappointment with musician biopics, I realized that this is a movie that (kind of) fits that genre I had never seen, and Z confirmed that I probably needed to see it. The acting and dialogue felt a bit over the top for most of the film, but I definitely enjoyed the fact that Eminem played (basically) himself - this is something I knew, but didn’t fully appreciate until watching it happen. Not being a huge Eminem fan myself though, this was just okay.
-E
