A24 A-to-Z: #18. "While We're Young" (2015)

Scene from While We're Young

In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for ears to come.

Coming This June: A24 A-to-Z

I do apologize for being quiet in recent weeks. In all honesty, I have been doing my best to get through the final month of school through rigorous studying. Those who have paid attention noticed that I still produce work a few times a week, but currently find it hard. School and personal matters are keeping me from staying on top of current trends as much as I should - and most of what I do focus on is TV related, which I feel is antithetical to The Oscar Buzz's content (though I do highly recommend The Leftovers). If you want that content, please check it out on Optigrab. For now, I want to announce what will be coming this June. It's a new column, and probably one as ambitious as my Nothing But the Best column was initially. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce to you A24 A-to-Z. As the title suggests, it focuses on A24's rich filmography. But why them? Well, I'll tell you why after the jump.

Why Noah Baumbach is the Great American Director of Contemporary Life

Noah Baumbach

It wasn't long ago where I could say that I didn't like the work of director Noah Baumbach. It wasn't a vitriolic hatred. It was one of those apathetic things in which his work just didn't seem appealing. Of course, he had made The Squid and The Whale: a film that is still one of the rawest and truest looks into a divorce. But what else really was there? Greenberg felt like it was a retread to the navel gazing indie movement that Joe Swanberg perfected and most people hated. In fact, he was arguably better on script duties, hitting a home run with his second collaboration with Wes Anderson called Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is still one of the best animated films in recent years. In a way, there was something in that experience that got me to care. You see, it was a film that helped me to understand the appeal of Baumbach. In fact, I may even go as far as to think that he is one of my favorite working American directors now.

Review: "While We're Young" Explores Nostalgia and Aging in the Best Ways Possible

Left to right: Ben Stiller and Adam Driver

It is tough to get old. It isn't just the responsibility or the failing body that is tough. It's the notion of relevance that one must accept in the process or deem himself forever foolish. It is a subject that has created a subgenre of film trying to plant adults as relevant members of society. However, the unfortunate truth is that no matter what happens, there will always be the fear of irrelevancy, whether socially or personally. In director Noah Baumbach's latest While We're Young, he tackles the subject not with the typical affirmation, but the humbling humor of realizing just how silly you'd look in a hipster hat and attending strange spiritual rituals. It may not seem like it, but this is the study of aging from infancy to elderly age as best embodied in a bohemian city. It may be funny, but it's also painfully honest.