North Hollywood (2020) is the directorial debut of Mikey Alfred, the creative director and founder of the first teen movie studio and skateboard/clothing brand, Illegal Civilization is a film that I have been anticipating for a while now especially since this was produced by Pharrell Williams. NH is a biopic, centered around Mikey, a high school water polo player/alter boy set on his course of being a pro skateboarder. This isn't without its obstacles as his dad and others, mostly Mikey himself, get in his way of achieving his dream. I had the pleasure of attending one of the live stream dates and it felt like such a unique occasion as everything has transitioned to some sort of virtual platform. Least to say that this was a very cool experience for me and I'm sure the rest of the viewers. This movie is not the best movie out. I was definitely expecting more from the Illegal Civ group, but what I saw was an elongated Illegal Civ YT video. I love music don't get me wrong, and music heavily influences the films that I script-write, but a lot of it seemed unnecessary. Some transitions seemed like they were in there because they "looked and sounded cool" which they did, but totally threw off the whole tempo of the film. The acting was subpar, especially from Ryder. I love you bro, but you definitely have a long way to go. I will say that some of the performances where very surprising to me, Angus, Nico, Armais, all really well done by them. The scene with Gillian Jacobs was great. I just have problems with the main cast. Miranda Cosgrove didn't really add much for me as Mikey's love interest. Not very compelling when she was on screen. Vince Vaughn as Mikey's dad had his moments, however there were parts where it was hard to distinguish his "caring" moments from his "lecture" moments. I think this was a great casting job however, but I think this leads into one of my main gripes with the movie, being the script. There were parts in this movie where it felt very natural, however there would be little instances of what I call "novel dialogue", sounding like someone is reading from a novel, which really throws thing off during the watch. There were some technical issues when it came to rack focusing, but overall the cinematography was very classic Illegal Civ, which is a good thing as it is unique to them. It is a beautifully shot movie, the set designs, the fits where all very well done. Overall, I see the potential, I really do, but this film left more to be desired. The editing choices, the acting, the script really slid this film of the rails for me. I will be looking out for more films by Illegal Civ however because you guys are sick and I love what you are doing! Keep at it!
