ScreenCrave.com » Youth in Revolt

Movie Releases: Daybreakers, Youth in Revolt, Leap Year…

Kara Stanford-Jones — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:18:29 +0000

This week in movies is a little bit on the weak side. The vampire flick starring Ethan Hawke, Daybreakers, hits theaters. The movie is about a society of vampires that farm humans for their blood, except something goes terribly wrong. The movie hasn’t gotten great reviews, but it might fit under the category of “watchable.” The loveably-awkward Michael Cera’s new movie, Youth in Revolt, about a nerdy guy who is trying to get the hot girl to like him. It should be wildly cliched, completely-predictable, and enjoyable. Then we have the romantic comedy, starring Amy Adams, Leap Year. Tim Allen and Mathew Broderick both have limited release movies coming out this week with Crazy on the Outside and Wonderful World, respectively.

Check out the movies coming out on January 8, 2010…

Daybreakers | ScreenCrave Review | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
Youth in Revolt | ScreenCrave Review | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
Leap Year | ScreenCrave Review | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
Crazy on the Outside [Limited] | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
Wonderful World [Limited] | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
Bitch Slap [Limited] | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes

Watch the trailers

Daybreakers

[youtube W9roxtugaUo 570 470]

Youth in Revolt

[youtube XbJyaO97QPY 570 470]

Leap Year

[youtube Argw8RXNREk 570 470]

Crazy on the Outside

[youtube rardyMGqHys 570 470]

Wonderful World

[youtube PIHKlR_AEik 570 470]

Bitch Slap

[youtube 0izJ6KrqpQk 570 470]

Which movie will you see?

Youth In Revolt: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 01:30:09 +0000

Michael Cera yet again plays an awkward high school boy who can’t get laid, only this time, he creates an alter ego who helps him get the girl and into a whole lot of trouble. Youth in Revolt is a surprisingly fresh take on a much seen before story about a boy who falls in love with a girl that’s out of his league. With great performances and a number of amazing guest appearances it’s a great pick if you’re looking for something both smart and funny…

The Players:

Director: Miguel Arteta
Writer: Gustin Nash (screenplay) and C.D. Payne (novel)
Actors: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Jean Smart, Zach Galifianakis, Steve Buscemi, Fred Willard, Ray Liotta, Justin Long and Ari Graynor
Music: John Swihart
Animation Director of Photography: Ivan Abel

The Plot:

Nick Twisp is a teen who loves Sinatra, Fellini, and never gets any. He falls in love with the beautiful, free-spirited neighbor on a trip out of town and will do anything to be near her again. Sadly he can’t do it alone, he needs his alter ego Francois, a capri wearing, chain smoking Frenchmen to help him get the job down.

The Good:

Animation: The film begins with a great stop-frame animation and goes back to it whenever needed. It was extremely well done and well used to help the story when needed. It gave it that perfect handmade touch that it needed.
Michael Cera: Yet again, Cera excels as the nerdy high school boy who wants to get laid but just can’t figure out how. He was phenomenal as this character in “Arrested Development” and he still is. I can’t help but be a little curious as to when he’ll stop playing a teenager seeing as he’s in his 20′s now. At least we get to see him tackle a different character when Twisp’s alter ego Francois comes out. He shows that he definitely has potential for different types of characters, now if someone would just give him a chance and cast him in something different.
Music: It’s great to see a film take risks and succeed. Their score is in no way typical but it lends itself perfectly to the film. It’s fun, quirky, and off the wall in all the right ways.
Screenplay: The film played with a lot of cliches in a fun and interesting ways and was able to create it’s own individuality through a multitude of story-lines that we’ve seen before. It’s a bit zany and eccentric, but well organized, and not without a sweet, cheesy message.
Guest Appearances: You can always tell a quality film when people like Steve Buscemi, Justin Long, or Ray Liotta show up for a couple of scenes just to lend there support. It’s good for the film and fun to watch great actors in solid comedic roles.

The Bad-ish:

Nothing in this movie was “bad” there were just some choices that seemed a little odd to me….

Slow-Mo: They used slow motion a number of times to help emphasize certain comedic moments. At times they used it perfectly and it got huge laughs from the audience. Others times, it just felt odd and like they were buying time when they didn’t need to. It almost felt like they were taking the slow-mo a little too seriously instead of letting it be what it needed to be… the cue for a big laugh.
Dialogue: Much like right after watching Juno for the first time, there’s a part of me that loves the dialogue for being so convoluted and another part that can’t stand it because it constantly takes you out of the moment because you can’t help but notice it. It’s a toss up.

Overall:

The film is fun, easy to watch, and definitely has moments that you won’t soon forget. The performances are amazing across the board and for those of you looking for something different and enjoyable to watch, this is definitely a great film for you.

In theaters starting January 8th!

Rating: 7.5/10

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Have you seen the film? If so, let us know what you thought!

New Youth in Revolt Trailer

Krystal Clark — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:05:33 +0000

A new trailer has been released for the Miguel Arteta film, Youth in Revolt. It’s an adaptation of the popular novel by C.D. Payne of the same name and stars Michael Cera as the lead character. The film was originally set for release later this year, but was pushed back to January 8, 2010.

Check out the second trailer for Youth in Revolt…

Youth in Revolt is the story of Nick Twisp a unique, but affable teen with a taste for the finer things in life like Sinatra and Fellini who falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful, free-spirited Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) while on a family vacation. But family, geography and jealous ex-lovers conspire to keep these two apart. With Sheeni’s encouragement, Nick abandons his dull, predictable life and develops a rebellious alter ego: Francois. With his ascot, his moustache and his cigarette, Francois will stop at nothing to be with Sheeni, and leads Nick Twisp on a path of destruction with unpredictable and uproarious consequences.

The latest trailer to the film is somewhat different than the previous one, but in a good way. It’s a bit more entertaining and includes music from Bon Jovi. What’s not to like? Youth in Revolt features plenty of well known actors in supporting roles such as Justin Long, Zach Galifianakis, Ray Liotta, and Steve Buscemi.

Check out the trailer…

What do you think?

AFI Festival: Youth In Revolt

Tom von Logue Newth — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:15:29 +0000

The big draw of the AFI Fest‘s 10 o’clock slot last night was not, surprisingly, Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers, but the new Michael Cera comedy (yes, it is now a genre) Youth In Revolt.

Nick Twisp is a polite, intelligent 16 year-old virgin. Meeting a hot, willing temptress (Portia Doubleday) on vacation compels him to create a rule-breaking “supplementary personality” (Cera as “François”, mustachioed, beloafered, permanently smoking) to help him get kicked out of home (child support issues) and reunited with his sweetheart. He does so in grand style, just as she’s carted off to boarding school, and he has her parents and ex-boyfriend to deal with also.

The supporting cast is excellent – Fred Willard, Justin Long, Jean Smart, Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, Zach Galafianakis, M. Emmett Walsh, Mary Kay Place – but none gets much of a chance to shine (Buscemi is perfect casting as sire of Cera and Willard of course turns his moments into gold). The standard teen rom-com formula is in effect, but with a welcome air of intelligence and lack of unnecessary vulgarity – the wanking joke is dispensed with immediately and a later erection gag turns out to be a great set-up for Doubleday. That her character is a paper-thin fantasy is a shame if appropriate (could Nick have dreamt her up too? Er, sadly not).

The first half is better than the second (the pre-credits exposition is particularly deft) and Cera plays Cera to perfection; if he cannot for the life of him play cool, it’s somehow better that François comes off as a semi-deranged psychic projection. For the most part it is very funny but there’s a more twisted comedy surpressed in the id fantasy and it ultimately revolves around not wanting to go to jail a virgin. Still, I find it hard to dislike a movie with a spot-on gags about Japanese film directors and futurist percussive poetry (even if the latter makes no sense in character terms).

(NB high tolerance for whimsical animated interludes required)

Rating: 6.5

Check out the official site

AFI Festival 2009!

Tom von Logue Newth — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:44:15 +0000

It is finally upon us – as I type the crowds are thronged outside the Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard for the American Film Institute Film Festival Opening Gala and North American Premiere of Wes Anderson’s stop-motion fable Fantastic Mr Fox (already covered by Screencrave from the London Film Festival – ahead of the game as usual).

Taking place all this week, largely at the Mann 6 Cinemas in the Hollywood & Highland Center, with special screenings at the Chinese and some in Santa Monica next weekend for the American Film Market, there’s plenty to see this year. But be warned – it’s going to be busy! Festival sponsors Audi have, remarkably, provided all tickets for free. Which means naturally that that they’ve all been pre-booked. But fear not, for there are standby lines opening an hour before each screening, and unclaimed seats are up for grabs fifteen minutes before the show starts. And this being LA how many people who pre-booked tickets are actually going to turn up do you reckon?

The full list is on the AFI website and it all looks pretty good, but there’s a handful of titles about which I am really excited (Sunday is a particularly good day):

Tonight at 9.30pm: Everyone Else, a German film that has gotten rave reports from Europe, exploring a young couple’s relationship in light of another couple they meet on holiday. Truthful and daring, it won the Grand Jury Prize at Berlin.
Saturday at 7pm: Mother, the latest from The Host director Bong Joon Ho continues to uphold the high reputation of contemporary South Korean cinema in a crime thriller featuring a mother as amateur detective, trying to clear the name of her son. More good festival reports, from Cannes and Karlovy Vary
Sunday 4.15pm (also on Friday at 1pm in Santa Monica): Police, Adjective seems to have been the most impressive film on the European festival circuit so far, a thriller of sorts, but also a philosophical examination of language. Romanian cinema is on a roll right now and if this is any indication, only getting better.
Sunday 7pm: White Ribbon won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and it looks for once as though Michael Haneke may be holding his haughty contempt for the audience in check (*he *calls it “respect”). Mysterious and sinister goings-on in a German village in the years leading up to WWI point fingers at the social mindset soon to be seduced by national socialism (but does not, non-spoiler alert, reveal the source of the aforementioned mysteries. He’s still got to piss some people off apparently).
Sunday 10.30pm: Castro is a short and fast-paced hunt through Buenos Aires for a missing person, described as a cross between Samuel Beckett and Mack Sennett, and reputed to be one of the best films from the very exciting alternative cinema scene in Argentina right now (I am still recommending Historias Extraordinarias to anyone who will listen. Or can find it…)
Monday at 7pm, Centerpiece Gala: The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus is the movie in the middle of making which Heath Ledger popped his clogs. So director Terry Gilliam replaced him with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, playing alongside Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole (rather good, apparently), Verne Troyer and Tom Waits as the devil (excellent!). A traveling magic show features a magical mirror and lots of freaky stuff and no-one seems to want to come out and say if it’s any cop or not, just that it’s a Terry Gilliam film and that he’s back on top eccentric form. Which is good enough for me.
Tuesday at 7pm: I Killed My Mother generated loads of buzz at Cannes, in part because it was written, directed by and stars French-Canadian first-timer Xavier Dolan, who’s a mere 20 years old, and in part because it is actually rather impressive, a caustic and tender tale of familial and (homo)sexual relationships.
Tuesday at 10.15pm: Youth In Revolt. My sister said “I am so over Michael Cera” approximately 15 minutes before seeing the preview for this and her decision was instantly reversed. He plays a nerdy young man (you don’t say) who, to win the love of the girl next door, invents a smooth and unbridled (and mustachioed) alter ego whom only he can see. Much chaos and hilarity ensues; the trailer is, indeed, pretty funny.
Wednesday at 7pm: The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is not a remake of the Abel Ferrara film but does feature Nic Cage as a very badly-behaved police lieutenant, as directed with gloriously surreal touches by Werner Herzog. I got a screening of it last night and it is very funny, hugely enjoyable and Nic Cage is back on wonderfully insane form.
Thursday at 7pm: A Single Man is directed by ex-Gucci head Tom Ford (his first) and stars Colin Firth as a bereaved gay man in 60s LA. More terrific word of mouth from Europe and Oscar buzz for Firth, it’s reported to be arty (in a good way) and deeply moving.

But don’t take my word (entirely..) for it – take a look at the calendar, go stand in line, and enjoy high quality films from all over the world, many of which will never get near a North American release. And do it for free! Full details at AFI.com.

New Youth in Revolt Poster

Krystal Clark — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:15:55 +0000

A new poster has been released for the coming of age dark comedy, Youth in Revolt. The film is directed by Miguel Iterta, and co-stars Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long, and newcomer Portia Doubleday. The film is scheduled for wide release on January 8th, and is based on the novel by C.D. Payne of the same name.

This poster scares me with it’s excessive airbrushing, but check it out…

Nick Twisp (Cera) is a cynical sex-obsessed 16-year-old who, while on vacation in a trailer park, meets Sheeni Saunders (Doubleday), an intellectual. When Nick realizes she is not interested in him, he comes up with an alter-ego named Francois, who resembles Nick, but has blue eyes, a mustache, a deeper voice, and a bad boy attitude to help him with his romantic pursuit. But when Francois ends up making Nick a wanted criminal, everything spins out of control.

What do you think of the new poster for Youth in Revolt?

Poster Courtesy of Joblo

Toronto Film Festival Review Round-Up

Mali Elfman — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:25:12 +0000

The Toronto International Film Festival has once again come and gone. Over the short festival days, some films came, saw, and conquered the audiences, while others were left lifeless in the event’s wake. For movies that were strong enough to bear the criticism, we’ve created a Review Round-up of the top ten buzzed about films of the year. We’ve got everything from Michael Caine‘s geriatric vigilante in Harry Brown to George Clooney’s goat killing Jedi in The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Let’s take a look at the best and the worst that TIFF 2009 had to offer…

Whip It: The results are in, Ellen Page makes the film…

The Highs: Without a doubt, this is Ellen Page’s movie; everything rests on her shoulders, and she pulls it off with ease and tough abandon. [Collider]
The Lows: While Whip It is fun, it’s got some issues, mainly with its script. It was written by Shauna Cross, a derby girl herself, who also wrote the novel that it’s based on. She’s a writing newbie, but unlike someone such as Diablo Cody…. Overall I was impressed with Whip It and I enjoyed it. Barrymore isn’t a strong point (in front of or behind the camera), but Ellen Page and her sidekick Pash (played by Alia Shawkat) are [FirstShowing]

Get Low: Balancing comedy and drama isn’t as easy as it looks…

The Highs: This wouldn’t have been as good as it was if it weren’t for Lucas Black, who plays Murray’s assistant. He adds an additional dynamic to the story that I loved. While Black has only starred in films like Fast and the Furious previously, he really steps it up in Get Low and delivers a performance that actually made the film for me.
The Lows: Balancing the Bill Murray humor and Robert Duvall emotion was quite a challenge. While it works most of the time, there were a few moments where it just felt out of place. I was expecting to tear up when Duvall was talking, but then Murray would throw in a quip or two and kill the mood. [FirstShowing]

Defendor: Woody Harrelson saves the day…

The Highs: Harrelson features large in virtually every scene and his work here is among the very best of his career, showing some remarkable depth and willingness to really let everything go to make Arthur work and he absolutely succeeds. [TwitchFilm]
The Lows: This debut feature by writer-helmer Peter Stebbings likewise seems destined for eyeblink theatrical play. [Variety]

A Serious Man: Move over Big Lewboski, here’s another classic Coen Brothers comedy…

The Highs: It is not only a brilliant dark comedy which will have you laughing out loud, but a masterful character study filled with great performances, of a family in crisis, the moral decisions they face, and the horribly funny consequences that result. The ending will have you talking about the movie well after leaving the theater, which to me is one of the definitions of great cinema. [/Film]
Best of all – in a film about one man’s utter misery, a series of bad luck that never seems to end – A Serious Man never falls into that world of discomfort that distracts from the experience. The pangs are there, but the Coens know how to ease the sting. [Cinematical]

The Men Who Stare at Goats: It’s a hit or miss…

The Highs: Clooney’s Lyn Cassady is easily one of the best roles he’s ever had, as, for the first time, he`s able to both embrace and subvert his seemingly smooth/ macho image with this. [Joblo]
The Lows: The Men Who Stare at Goats plays out like a slapstick betting match where each piece of ridiculousness gets topped by the next. And, as one would imagine, that means the ending can never quite live up to the journey it takes to get there. [Collider]

My Son My Son What Have Ye Done: A bad David Lynch rip off…

The Lows: My Son should probably be considered the biggest disappointment of the festival this year. There’s lots of ideas here, and maybe some of them will stick more on a second viewing, but so much of this is just poorly acted and scripted that it can’t be seen as anything less than a misstep in the career of a great and ambitious filmmaker.[The Playlist]
The dialogue is delivered in an entirely unreal manner, all of it strangely stilted as if the film itself has been corrupted by the mental illness which occupies its core. [Twichfilm]

Youth in Revolt: Michael Cera does it again…

The Highs: I think it helps that Cera`s got a really great director here, with Miguel Arteta- who previously helmed similarly dark comedies, CHUCK AND BUCK, and THE GOOD GIRL. His comedic sensibility seems to suit Cera, with him giving the performance of his life. [Joblo]
The Lows: The problem with Youth in Revolt (the book) is that it’s practically impossible to smash 499 pages of dark comedic brilliance into an hour and a half on the big screen, and, as such, Youth in Revolt (the film) definitely ends up feeling disjointed and forced in some areas. [Cinematical]

Disappearance of Alice Creed: The less you know the better…

The Highs: Much like Eric Valette did with Malefique, [J.] Blakeson has here created a film with a severely restricted cast placed in a severely restricted setting and yet managed to keep it fresh and engaging throughout. It never feels claustrophobic. It never feels repetitive. His sense of these people and the space they occupy is absolutely bang on. [TwitchFilm]
The Lows: The big twists in this, while shocking, are also actually kind of funny, and I’m not sure that was J Blakeson’s intention. There were a lot of moments of dialogue and other reveals that were unintentionally funny, or at least that’s what it seemed like. [FirstShowing]

Chloe: It’s really a tale of two ladies…

The Highs: Julianne Moore’s performance is breathtaking, as the disconnected Catherine her emotions are living and breathing vividly in every facet of her face. Amanda Seyfried is striking; the first image of the film is of her and we never forget that (”I can be your living, breathing dream and then disappear”). She is a remarkable natural beauty that you believe in – her performance is cogent, so remarkably telling. Julianne Moore and Seyfried have fine chemistry; their scenes together are deeply effective while the plot evolves around them in often surprising ways. [FusedFilm]
The Lows: The performances in Chloe seem fine, but removed. On one hand, it seems fitting — the chemistry-free connections revealing the utter disconnect from life that these characters seem to live. But at the same time, this is an erotic thriller, and if you can’t feel that attraction, that need, that at-all-odds desire, it won’t unfold and grab you as it should. [Cinematical]

Harry Brown: Get Carter on a pension…

The Highs: Barber doesn’t shy away from depicting violence, but he doesn’t dwell on it to a needlessly off-putting degree. He’s also subtle about getting across plot points that help define characters: Without beating viewers over the head, he provides ample explanation for why Harry might interrupt his guerrilla war, and actually risk capture, to aid a young woman near death after a drug overdose. [Variety]
The Lows: The problem lies mostly with first-time feature director Daniel Barber, whose previous work includes television commercials (always a bad sign) and an Academy Award nominated short film (no real guarantee of talent). The clichéd bleach-bypass-ish lighting that contrasts with the deep, semi-noir-ish deep blacks is not without mood, but there’s no real imagination to the compositions – no urgency, no real edge. The cutting is even more by the numbers and lacks the same kind of drive and build-up that made a lot of the 70s crime pictures so intense. [Daily Film Dose]

The biggest and most well reviewed film at this year’s TIFF was Precious, the winner of the festival’s top prize. We have a separate post devoted to the film, that highlights some of its reviews. Click on our Precious Review Round-Up to read more.

What do you think of our top ten films from the Toronto Film Festival?

Official Youth in Revolt Trailer

Krystal Clark — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:35:18 +0000

There just isn’t a shortage of Michael Cera coming of age comedies out there is it? A trailer has just been released for Youth in Revolt. It’s a film by Miguel Iterta, and co-stars Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long, and newcomer Portia Doubleday. For the most part it’s that same deadpan comedy that we know and love, with a touch of romance and a dash of multiple personality disorder. Believe me, it looks crazier than it sounds. You can view the trailer below.

Is it just me or does Portia Doubleday remind you of actress Emma Stone? You notice that Superbad connection? As you can see the cast of supporting actors in this film are beyond talented. Jean Smart, Ray Liotta, and the always funny Fred Willard (I love that man) are featured. Youth in Revolt is like Fight Club for love struck teens! Something tells me this is the only bad ass incarnation of Michael Cera we’ll ever get to see.

Youth in Revolt is scheduled for released in October.

What did you think of the trailer? Will you go see the film?

VOTD: Michael Cera Attempts to ‘Bale Out’

Mali Elfman — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:00:40 +0000

In an attempt to build some publicity for Youth in Revolt a video was “leaked” of Michael Cera flipping out on set. I think this is awesome. The best part is how not threatening Cera is. He’s kind of like the anti-Bale freaking out. It does show one thing, Cera’s hilarious.

Although it’s obviously a fake, but it’s still a lot of fun. Check it out below…

Don’t worry Cera, we all think you’re down to earth enough.

What did you think? Did you find him scary?

ScreenCrave.com » Youth in Revolt

Movie Releases: Daybreakers, Youth in Revolt, Leap Year…

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Youth In Revolt: Movie Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Good:

The Bad-ish:

Overall:

Rating: 7.5/10

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

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Rating: 6.5

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