# Are movies like "Lucas" completely a thing of the past? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2011, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275 "2011-03-11T05:49:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/21 "2011-03-11T19:54:40Z")
Michael Cera has done some movies that are kind in the vein the OP is talking about. _Juno_, _Superbad_, that one about somebody or other’s playlist, that video game/comic book thing…somebody vs. the world? Those movies are good hearted, and fairly non-cynical, even if they’re tweaked to a 21st century sensibility. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/22 "2011-03-11T20:04:48Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Michael Cera has done some movies that are kind in the vein the OP is talking about. _Juno_, _Superbad_, that one about somebody or other’s playlist, that video game/comic book thing…somebody vs. the world? > > Those movies are good hearted, and fairly non-cynical, even if they’re tweaked to a 21st century sensibility. True, but they’re also laden with ironic hipsterism, and self-conscious wiseass dialogue to boot. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/23 "2011-03-11T20:13:14Z")
It’s pretty old now, but would _Dazed and Confused_ fit this genre? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/24 "2011-03-11T20:14:52Z")
Yeah, I don’t really buy the idea that those films are in the same category as the '80s kids movies. There is far too much of the writers’ and directors’ own personal idea of wit and humor oozing through the films with Michael Cera, as well as Cera’s own extremely self-conscious and crafted persona. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/25 "2011-03-11T20:18:43Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I think you might be overestimating the importance of being Ernest. > Roddy Thank you. I love the anti-woosh. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/26 "2011-03-11T20:31:35Z")
I don’t agree. I just saw a movie just last night, **Beastly** , that seems to fit the bill (obviously there’s a bit of magic to start the premise, but it’s mostly set in the ‘real’ world). It was surprisingly non-hipster and sweet. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/27 "2011-03-11T20:32:37Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I think you might be overestimating the importance of being Ernest. > Roddy Very awesome. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/28 "2011-03-11T20:44:13Z")
Does it have to be about high school? [Diary Of A Wimpy Kid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary_of_a_Wimpy_Kid_%28film%29), released in 2010, fits the OP, except it’s about middle school. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/29 "2011-03-11T21:21:59Z")
Maybe we could answer the question after we get a ruling on what “self-conscious hipsterism” is. Because I’m not sure how Michael Cera’s filmography doesn’t count as recent coming of age movies. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/30 "2011-03-11T21:28:56Z")
The deadpan delivery, the fact that he’s constantly throwing off witty one-liners every ten seconds, the fact that hardly anyone in real life acts like Michael Cera’s characters do, and the fact that all of his dialog sounds like “movie-talk” and never ever sounds like the way that real human beings talk to each other. I feel like the way Daniel and his mother, for instance, in Karate Kid, talk to each other, is extremely naturalistic and believable. The genuine frustration and anxiety of a kid who is bullied and scorned comes through. In Michael Cera’s movies, it just seems like every line is a setup for a joke. That’s the other thing, Cera’s movies are more on the comedic side and the kind of '80s films that I mentioned in the OP are really more dramas with occasional bits of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/31 "2011-03-11T22:53:47Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > By chance, I was just visiting my closed [Blockbuster.com](http://Blockbuster.com) account to copy the film reviews and ratings I’d posted there. One of the 29 reviews I’d posted was of Lucas. > > [INDENT]Lucas > PG13 > 1986 > _Enhhh… > Some good points, but ultimately another by-the-numbers Hollywood teen movie. The “inspirational” ending is just awful. Winona Ryder was 14 during filming and looks about 12, which is interesting to see. Cory Haim’s “Boy Genius” character is 180 degrees from his “retard” role in “Stand By Me.”_[/INDENT] > > I don’t actually remember the film now, but don’t suppose I don’t care if they make any more movies like it. You forgot one other good point about _Lucas_: [Kerri Green](http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1600&bih=799&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=kerri+green&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=)! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/32 "2011-03-11T23:16:25Z")
Adventureland and Can’t Hardly Wait might fit. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/33 "2011-03-12T03:15:44Z")
_Angus_ was more or less Lucas in the 90’s, so it didn’t die out entirely in the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/34 "2011-03-12T03:30:55Z")
Although I’ve never seen a single episode of it, wasn’t Dawson’s Creek kind of like the type of movies you are talking about? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/35 "2011-03-12T03:33:43Z")
“Holes” was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/36 "2011-03-12T03:46:14Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Yeah, I don’t really buy the idea that those films are in the same category as the '80s kids movies. > > There is far too much of the writers’ and directors’ own personal idea of wit and humor oozing through the films with Michael Cera, as well as Cera’s own extremely self-conscious and crafted persona. Sort of along those lines, I’m sort of sick of the whole, “Dorky/awkward kid” movie. Not that that character hasn’t always been around but at one point that kind of personality was something to overcome, not really revel in. It sort of seems like that’s being celebrated in our culture now which is starting to get old. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/37 "2011-03-12T04:04:48Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > “Holes” was pretty good. Actually, this might work. Holes is definitely positive and non-hipster. It’s fun, upbeat, and has a good ending. Hard to think of much wrong with it. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/38 "2011-03-12T04:12:59Z")
[Permanent Record](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KscEB9fJvW4&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/39 "2011-03-12T04:27:20Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Adventureland and Can’t Hardly Wait might fit. ding ding ding ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275/40 "2011-03-12T04:30:27Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > _Angus_ was more or less Lucas in the 90’s, so it didn’t die out entirely in the 80’s. Yes; as I said earlier, > [@](#): > > I think the final movie in the genre may have been Angus, made in 1995. One of my favorite teen movies - fantastic cast, including George C. Scott and Kathy Bates - and incredible soundtrack. If you grew up in the mid 90s, the nostalgia will knock you dead. _Angus_ is a little more comedic than _Lucas_. But yes, it is a similar movie. _Lucas_ is probably a little better done. There are some truly great scenes in it, like the choir practice where the camera pans through the mass of singers, lingering for a few moments on each of the principal characters: Lucas, Maggie, Cappy, Rina, and finally Alyse. I feel like another movie has done the same thing (a much more serious and adult movie) to emphasize the same point - that all the disparate characters have intense feelings about each other. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-movies-like-lucas-completely-a-thing-of-the-past/574275.md?page=1)