Oh, it's stuck
My affection for teen movies is well known, so you won't be surprised that while everyone else may be chewing over the X3 trailer today, I set my sights elsewhere. (OK, OK, I watched the X-Men trailer too, just to see if I could tell how badly Brett Ratner is going to fuck up the concept he stole from Joss Whedon's comic. Answer: hard to tell. The trailer isn't bad, but then, most Ratner movies would be pretty good if they ended after two and a half minutes).
There are two upcoming teen flicks I thought sounded intriguing. The first is She's The Man, an adaptation of Twelfth Night starring Amanda Bynes. Bynes can be fun, and while Ten Things I Hate About You was no Clueless, it at least suggested that Shakespeare can work as well as Jane Austen as launching point for a modern high school comedy (among other things). But then, "Ten Things I Hate About You" is a great title (possibly the best thing about the movie), which at least indicates some creativity at work. "She's The Man," well that should be a warning. That's worse than "Just One of The Guys". [Update: Relax, JOotG fans, I only mean the title is lame, not the movie. I've never seen the movie. Should I really?] And indeed, the trailer is one of the most painful I have seen in a long, long time. Really, don't watch it. It will make you weep for William Shakespeare and Amanda Bynes.
Fortunately I did not curl up into a fetal position and spend the rest of the day in bed, as I felt like doing. Instead I pressed on and checked out the trailer for Stick It, and all of a sudden it's a beautiful day. Stick It looks at least as sizzling as writer (and now director) Jessica Bendinger's awesome Bring It On. The trailer features one instantly classic line ("It's not called gym-nice-tics"), and a parade of hot chicks in hotter outfits (fortunately they opted for girls with curves as opposed to authentic gymnast bodies). I don't know who this Missy Peregrym is, but... damn. Eliza Dushku, watch your backside.
Comments
Are you fucking kidding me? This looks awful, in all regards. And I liked Bring It On.
Posted by: curmudgeon | March 8, 2006 11:10 PM
I saw "Just One of the Guys" when it came out, and I remember it being just fine. Actually i remember that I really liked it when the woman -- SPOILER ALERT! -- took off her shit to prove to her new best friend that she was really a girl. Also in trying to be manly, she repeatedly used the term "brewski," which sounded funny to me. Between the new slang I was learning and the boobs, I think I gave it about a 6 at the time.
What do you want, I was 15. Friday nights were devoted to this sort of thing. Also to getting high and watching "CHUD." (Much better in the theaters than on DVD, that one.)
Posted by: michael | March 9, 2006 7:12 AM
Okay, I should have trusted you on the trailer for "She's the Man," but I foolishly went and watched it anyway, which I believe cost me about 20 IQ points. Luckily, Shakespeare's survived some pretty awful things on film recently -- the modern day Hamlet with Ethan Hawke; Calista Flockhart, Keanu Reeves, etc. -- so I'm cautiously optimistic about his reputation surviving this movie.
As for "Just One of the Guys," there's no need for even a teen-movie connoisseur to bother with it. It used to be on Comedy Central a fair amount, but they're no longer that desparate for content.
Posted by: Jesse | March 9, 2006 11:12 AM
I have to disagree about CHUD being better in the theatres. The DVD features the writer, director and Daniel Stern sitting around mocking each other and every actor on screen for starring in that hunk of suck, which makes sitting through it past the age of 14 almost seem like a productive act.
Posted by: x. | March 9, 2006 1:58 PM