There’s a sub-genre of movies that I really like, and I don’t know what it’s called. ‘Smart/Self-Aware High School Movies’, maybe. Films like Easy A, or Mean Girls. Or Bring It On, which I maintain is an excellent film cleverly disguised as a terrible teen flick. Can anyone recommend me something similar?
And now for my girlfriend. She loves terrible, big-budget action films, especially if there’s mass-destruction involved. 2012? loves it. 10000 AD? Loves it. Knowing? Paid money to see it at the theatre, loved it. She’s going to see John Carter next week, and I’m pretty sure she’ll love it. I’m looking to pick up a few movies to give her as a present. Again, can the good people of the Dope find me something she’ll love?
For you, I recommend: Brick
*Buffy the Vampire Slayer *(TV show is better, but the movie does fit in this category) Clueless
*Jennifer’s Body *(a lot of people don’t like this)
*John Carter *was pretty good. A lot of the action movies I would recommend are pretty old, but try Big Trouble in Little China.
I own about 10 DVDs (Though I’ve rented about 1700 from Netflix). Bring It On is one of them. If you liked that, even though it’s not technically a high school comedy, I’d recommend Legally Blonde.
I’ll second Heathers and Clueless and also throw in a hardy recommendation for the Scary Movie franchise. I know they’re spoof movies, but if one of them is on TV I usually end up watching it.
“Terrible, big-budget action films, especially if there’s mass-destruction involved.”
Anything by Michael Bay comes immediately to mind.
The Resident Evil series (zombie movies, but more action than horror). War of the Worlds
The Darkest Hour
Skyline
Battle: Los Angeles
Babylon A.D.
Escape from New York/L.A.
End of Days
Reign of Fire
Ultraviolet
I second (or third) Brick, Election and Fast Times and add 10 Things I Hate About You
As for disaster films, does she need for it to be contemporary CG-heavy nonsense, or would old school disaster work for her, too? The Last Voyage and The Poseidon Adventure still hold up quite well.
“10 Things I Hate About You” is a high-school based “Taming of the Shrew” and pretty great. Heath Ledger is terribly charming in his first major US role. The dad has some of the greatest lines ever (“kissing isn’t what keeps me up to my elbows in placenta all day”).
Have to throw in for Clueless (a brilliant high-school based “Emma”), Election, Bring it On, and Heathers as well. With an honorable mention for “Not Another Teen Movie” which will be funny once you’ve seen the others, with a kickass Molly Ringwald cameo.
Edit: for action, I really feel like “The Rock” may be the greatest popcorn movie ever made, in case she hasn’t seen it. I know it has real acting and production values, but it’s awesome cheesy.
Not Another Teen Movie is a great parody of the teen movie genre. And I mean it actually understands the genre and isn’t just recycling scenes like a lot of bad parodies do.
If you liked Easy A, check out Fired Up. That was William Gluck’s first movie. It’s about two high school football players who go to a cheerleader camp. It’s better than it sounds.
Josie and the Pussycats isn’t set in a high school but I think it’s part of the genre. Another movie that’s better than you’d expect.
Summer School is a decent high school movie although the main character is the teacher rather than the students.
Action thrillers:
If she hasn’t seen Machete, she needs to.
Drive Angry was also good. Not as good as Machete but worth watching.
Kick-Ass was good if you’re looking for a comic-book action movie. RED was good if you’re looking for a spy action thriller.
If you’re looking for something more uncommon, Saving Private Perez was a good Mexican action movie abdout a drug gang going to Iraq to rescue their leader’s brother who’s being held as a POW.
Very much so. The “boy band” being named “De Jour” will give you an idea of the type of comedy we’re talking about. “Why are you here?” “I was in the comic.”
My I suggest Ginger Snaps, not really a comedy, but a horror film that is a lot more clever than the vast majority of horror films about two sisters in high school that uses lycanthropy as a metaphor for puberty.
Ok, for a really delightful outlier, The Trotsky, about a high school kid who believes he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky.
For Big Awful Disasters… there are so many, but two of note are:
*Twister *-- which has an evil meteorologist! Godzilla (the remake) – which completely wastes the talents of many talented people.
A great, often-overlooked teen movie is Saved! featuring Jena Malone and Macauley Culkin. It starts out looking like “Porky’s Goes to Bible School” but takes a much more interesting direction instead; it’s an edgy teen flick with a Christian Rock soundtrack. Michael Stipe was a producer for it.
Another of these: Ghost World, a dry, sarcastic teen flick about a too-cool girl named Enid who, after graduation, inadvertantly torches every relationship in her life until she has to sneak out of town to avoid the mounting consequences. Thora Birch, Steve Buscemi and Scarlett Johanson star, with brilliant cameos by Teri Garr, R. Lee Ermey, Bruce Glover (Crispin’s dad) and many others. Early effort by director Terry Zwigoff, who also directed Crumb (R. Crumb’s daughter Sophie did the artwork for Enid’s sketchbook).
As for big budget atrocities, try the oeuvre of Hal Needham, who made lots of car wreck movies with Burt Reynolds in the 70s.
Saved! and Ghost World are both good choices. Part of one of the Burt Reynolds/Hal Needham movies, Hooper, was shot about a mile from where I’m sitting right now.
