Customer Reviews

Not Another Teen Movie [UMD for PSP]

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(50)
3 star:		(40)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

Speaking as a long-time fan of teen movies, I was quite impressed by the scope and quality of this motion picture. I don't generally go for gross-out humor, but this film takes a slightly higher road than, say, Scary Movie, actually striving to encapsulate all of the bits and pieces of years of other movies into a coherent plot. Sure, there are a few aspects of real raunchiness included here, with two scenes in particular being pretty disgusting, but the movie never sunk to the level of becoming distasteful to my eyes. I also have to admire the verve with which the filmmakers went about their tasks; if you are going to do a full-fledged parody, I say don't hold back, and Not Another Teen Movie does not hold back at all, especially in terms of the language. This movie is brash and unafraid, and that is a real factor in its success.

I was amazed by the vast number of movies that found themselves ridiculed and incorporated into this film; I was expecting send-ups of teen comedies from the past ten years, but this movie draws heavily from a number of classic 80s films and even snatches a few things from 1970 classics such as Grease. Even a number of films I wouldn't consider teen movies (but which do feature teens) are pulled into this satirical universe - e.g., American Beauty. This could almost be a weakness because today's teens may be unfamiliar with a lot of the parodies involved in this production; having come of age in the 80s, I easily spotted the references to classics such as Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, etc., but I wonder how many of today's teens pick up on little things such as the name of the high school (John Hughes High), understand the origins of a character such as Ricky, or see the significance of the prom dress Janey Briggs wears. Of course, the most obvious nod to 80s teen movies comes in the form of Molly Ringwald's unusual cameo appearance and the impressive homage to The Breakfast Club, which I admit left me feeling a little older than I would like to be. I think it is safe to say that those unfamiliar with teen movies of the last twenty years will get little enjoyment out of Not Another Teen Movie; you have to know the source of the parodies in order to really "get" them, and the mere task of trying to count the number of different movie reference can be a source of amusement in and of itself.

The DVD comes loaded with extras. If you have only a limited knowledge of teen movies, you may want to start by taking the Teen Movie I.Q. Quiz; if you score less than 50% on the quiz, you would do well to bone up on your teen movie knowledge before taking the step of actually watching Not Another Teen Movie. The list of additional special features, I must say, is legion: commentaries by both filmmakers and cast, 18 deleted scenes including the original ending, three behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast promos, an illuminating yearbook montage featuring the class of John Hughes High, a collection of cast member auditions, movie trailers, Meet the Cast promos, and a track of teen movie factoids. But wait, there's even more. First-time feature film director Joel Gallen's first short film is thrown into the mix, alongside a Behind the Video look at the unrated version of Marilyn Manson's Tainted Love video. If you think the likes of Mia Kirshner, Chyler Leigh, and Jaime Pressly are hot in the movie (and I don't know how you could think otherwise), you really want to see this video.

The beginning of this movie shines as a most daring over-the-top send-up of the high school flick genre. The daring reaches its zany peak with the collapsing potty parody. Then it's rather downhill from there. Perhaps that's inpart because what's being spoofed is already so preposterous that the spoof can't melodramatize it much farther. Still, I believe it could have done better. The ending was lame and uninspired. If one wanted to make a case that Molly Ringwald is washed up as an actress, one could find lots of support for that in her cliched ranting in her cameo toward the end.

The beginning of this movie shines as a most daring over-the-top send-up of the high school flick genre. The daring reaches its zany peak with the collapsing potty parody. Then it's rather downhill from there. Perhaps that's in part because what's being spoofed is already so preposterous that the spoof can't melodramatize it much farther. Still, I believe it could have done better. The ending was lame and uninspired. If one wanted to make a case that Molly Ringwald is washed up as an actress, one could find lots of support for that in her cliched ranting in her cameo toward the end.

I love this movie. This was one of the funniest movies that has come along in years. Raunchy and no holes barred humor that reminded me of the days when humor was limitless and UNCENSORED!!

So, last night when I saw that the UNRATED DVD was available, I pounced on it and watched it alongside the original DVD (on a seperate TV) to see what they added.

Well... they added quite a bit. About 10 minutes more. Yet, NONE of it deserved to be deemed UNRATED by any means. Just a couple of added scenes (nothing dirty or risky at all), and some extended scenes (again... nothing dirty or risky at all). Fluffy kinda scenes.

Actually... most were unimportant enough that they deserved to be cut from the original version.

BONUSES for buying the DVD... there are some new SPECIAL FEATURES... like 3 brand new behind the scenes featurettes that are kinda cool. Seeing the cast talk about the movie and seeing RON LESTER THIN!!!!! WHOA!!!

Chyler's bedroom dance and her party dance aren't even included anywhere. On the previous DVD it was in the deleted scenes... it wasn't in the movie and there are no deleted scenes on this edition.

Don't get me wrong. It's still the same movie + some. But the DVD as a package is probably one of the WEAKEST UNRATED CUTS of a movie I've ever seen... maybe it's because they left all the dirty stuff in the original cut that they didn't have anything dirty to put back in???

The movie is a 4 star movie.
This DVD is only 3 stars.

Overall notes of the new unrated cut vs the orginal DVD -

-I count 8 of the 18 deleted scenes were incorporated in this version- the rest are missing and not in extras either, as the 'deleted scenes' extra was not
included;

-as advertised there is 10-11 minutes of new footage not found anywhere on the original DVD;

-cast commentary is not available - most surely left off cause it wouldn't sync with this new, longer version of the movie;

-I believe all the Easter eggs are there- I know the Mia-old lady kissing scenes are there and Chyler's wedding proposal;

-all the other extras are there from the orignal DVD - the omissions are the deleted scenes and the cast commentary mentioned above;

-very nice DVD case design, and also new music and a new menu choice design at beginning of the DVD;



More detailed analysis:

1) The 8 deleted scenes incorporated:

areola and janey go to class;
the bbq;
janey's transformation (with Mia);
Jake and Father;
Ricky at Party;
Pillow fight;
bruce and areola at prom;
ricky at prom;


The Good:
-you get high-res versions of the above scenes never before available;

The Bad:
-is an absolute crime the other 10 were not not still included as extras- some of the best scenes on the orginal DVD;


2) Some notes on the extra 10-11 minutes:

a) Some scene additions or major length additions:

-Janey-Ricky scene in hallway discussing the prom;
-Mitch and friends at cafe discussing sex;
-Jake and Ricky meet at Janey's house when chasing her at the end;
-Footloose parody scene at the prom;
-some exta 'shower footage' of the girls Mitch and his friends are looking at through the vent;
-little extra footage at football game and at the major party scene;


b) you will notice all kinds of extra few second splices right from the beginning all through-out the movie- too many to mention them all but a few examples-

-early scene when they all arrive at school- extra footage of Priscilla walking down hall- exta footage of them all walking over 'fat guy'; an extra comment
by the guy who shows up 3-4 times in the movie and makes sarcastc remarks;
-girl having sex against window at school says '**** me harder' instead of 'love me harder' (Chyler Leigh's voice btw);
-Mia Kirsher sucks on her brother's hand in their 'bedroom scene';
-dozens more like above;

The Good:
If you're a NATM fanatic you'll enjoy the xtra shots/footage gernally;

The Bad:
-most of the xtra footage is completely forgettable and was edited for a reason;



Overall:

If you can only buy 1 DVD- I'd highly recommend the orginal- has all the 18 cut scenes which are generally superior to the added footage and has the good cast
commenatary. Also the original edited movie cut is better than this one. But if you're a fanatic or collector, I'm sure you'll want this version as well though - getting high-res versions of the 8 previously cut scenes is nice and a few of the added scenes are funny or sexy.

Well, so far I've seen this twice, and it may grow on me some more. You gotta be a real teen movie buff to have "done your homework" enough to catch all the references. I guess the makers of this have seen all the movies it takes aim at. But I wonder if anyone else has. But the one movie it seems to zero in on most of all is SHE'S ALL THAT, which I'd have to see again to fully appreciate this. Too bad that's the only reason I've ever found to see SHE'S ALL THAT again. In fact, I'm wondering -- SHE'S ALL THAT was so silly, what if someone saw it AFTER seeing this? Could SHE'S ALL THAT look like a spoof of this instead? Other movies spoofed are with mixed results. The spoof of NEVER BEEN KISSED did nothing for me. I liked that movie but could still imagine an effective spoof of it, but this ain't it. On the other hand, they could have done more with BRING IT ON and I wish they had. A better cheerleader travesty is SUGAR AND SPICE. AMERICAN PIE is also spoofed ineffectively with an intended send-up of Nadia, that left me only missing the real Nadia. Some reviews are saying this spoofed also CAN'T HARDLY WAIT. But all I can remember of that uneven movie is Lauren Ambrose's surprise shining performance and I didn't catch anything in this to spoof that. For those totally uninhibited in their sense of humor, NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE spoofs a short scene from DETROIT ROCK CITY. If they were going to take on that movie at all, I'm surprised they passed up the most hilarious part - the priest under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms. But on second thought, a scene so hilarious would be hard to contribute more humor to through a spoof, so maybe that explains it. Well there's a lot more that could be said, but as for me I'm ready to rush out to my video store to catch up on some of this movie's targets that I missed!

This was so funny! It's like Scary Movie and Scary Movie 2 in ways, except this time they're making fun of teen movies. With parodies like She's All That, American Beauty, Cruel Intentions, 10 Things I Hate About You, and more this movie will have you rolling! If you're looking for a funny movie with lots of laughs then this is your movie!

I really enjoy this movie and I owned the original DVD before this directors cut, but I lost it in a move so when I was looking to get it back I found this edition. I was happy because at least I felt like I wasn't paying for the same thing. Well if you have the original and if you have watched the deleted scenes, then basically you have watched the directors cut. They just put all the deleted scenes into the original version. There are a couple of added bonus features like guess your teen movie quiz and a short skit with Jenny McCarthy that is kinda funny, but that is about it. I give this 5 stars because I really enjoy this movie, but if you have the original DVD don't buy this version, your not buying anything new.

Well, I know this movie has gotten wretched reviews...but I have to say, in my honest personal opinion, I truly enjoy it. Yeah, there are certainly scenes where I have to turn my head away. No, it's not a masterpiece, and yeah there is far too much gross-out humor. However, if I were ever involved in a movie, this is the kind I would want to be involved in. Why? Because it is fun. If you listen to the cast commentary (which I don't recommend, if swearing offends you...although if you're offended easily, I wouldn't recommend the movie at all), they had the best time making this film. They really got along with eachother, and because of that, they're going to remember it forever as a great experience. I think that's the most important thing, hearing that people had a great time doing something, makes it all that much more genuine, and I feel as if I can appreciate it a little more. Instead of just maybe thinking "oh geez, what a bunch of lazy, terrible people". I know, this has nothing to do with the quality of the movie, and like I said, I'm certainly not arguing that it is a brilliant piece of work. If you've seen the teen movies, which most teens have, whether you admit it or not, the movie is obviously a lot funnier. Some of my favorite things that were made into parodys were the "Bring it On" sequences (I enjoy Bring it On). Jaime Pressly does an awesome job portraying Priscilla, the evil b**ch...I mean nasty cheerleader. She was absolutely hysterical. I also loved Eric Christian Olsen, who played the cocky blonde guy, Austin. Some of the things with him got a little repetitive, but he's got some adorable and very funny lines, and executes them perfectly. Eric Jungman plays the obsessed best friend...how cute is he? Absolutely perfect, I think there could have been no better choice in the world to play the part. Now on to the reason why I really enjoy the movie-Chyler Leigh. She's an extremely fresh face, and plays the part of Janey to a T. Maybe it's not the best script in the world, but Chyler made it work in basically all of her scenes. She's also got a great voice. This girl is absolutely beautiful, and the fact that she is so free and does not hold back to act crazy and silly, is the greatest thing. She certainly does not just sit around and be pretty the whole time, she runs around acting like the funniest fool you can imagine, it's brilliant. I loved the deleted scenes, there are two scenes where chyler dances around that are so hilarious, but are cut (you can watch them on the deleted scenes portion of the DVD, however, which is great). There is this great musical scene in the movie as well, to me, it's the major highlight. There are also a ton of cameos, which gives the film a little bit of umph. Watch for the first scene with "Janey" painting in her art class...that one is classic, the best joke in the movie.

On to the DVD features...it has a lot of them! Honestly, the entire DVD is funny, even the extras.
-3 behind the scenes featurettes, which i think is a fabulous idea.
-A ton of deleted scenes (and I don't mean the kind of deleted scenes where at the end of it you're like "Uh okay?" for the most part, they're actually very entertaining)
-commentaries with the director and a writer, and with the cast (Eric Jungman, Chyler Leigh, Chris Evans-who I didnt mention before, and plays "freddie prinze jr" beautifully, Jaime Pressly, Chyler Leigh and Eric Christian Olsen)
-Personal pictures of the cast and director
-Teen movie trivia game which is presented by cast members and director Joel Gallen (whom also does all of the MTV movie awards)
-Montage of the casts auditions
-Making of Marilyn Manson's "Tainted Love" video which features the cast. It also plays the unrated version of the video
-Teen Movie Factoids, which is a thing you can turn on durring movie play, like the audio commentaries, and little boxes pop up, telling you facts about making the movie etc. Like VH1's Pop Up Video. You can turn this on simultaneously with audio commentary, or by itself while watching the movie

Way too much information, I know. Anyway, I want to let those of you out there who are contemplating purchasing the DVD, know that it's a nice buy with all the extras. Don't expect the funniest thing you've ever seen, expect ridiculous humor and have fun with it.

Very very silly, at times a bit too gross, but worth it when you just want to not think, and have a few blunt laughs. It's one that you could watch over and over, just to forget about what life is really like.

Let me just add one more thing-there are not only references to recent teen movies, but 80's teen flicks as well. I think this is an important element because it brings more of a diversity. For all the Molly Ringwald fans, check it out, she's got a great cameo.

"Not Another Teen Movie," directed by Joel Gallen, is a silly, entertaining spoof of the whole teen movie genre. Films from the 1980s John Hughes heyday onward are satirized: "Pretty in Pink," "The Breakfast Club," "American Pie," etc. Although not all of the jokes work, the movie as a whole is pretty funny.

The story follows a group of students at John Hughes High School (wink, wink). Each character is a recognizable genre stereotype: the cocky blond guy, the desparate virgin, the sexy foreign exchange student, etc. One of the film's best assets is its likable young cast. The actors tear into the silly material with enthusiasm. Chris Evans is solid as "popular jock" Jake Wyler, as is Chyler Leigh as Janey Briggs, the "ugly" girl who just needs to lose her ponytail and glasses. But the most hilarious performance is probably turned in by Jaime Pressly, who is deliciously over-the-top as "nasty cheerleader" Priscilla. The main cast is nicely complemented by some clever cameos; I won't ruin the fun surprises by revealing those cameos here.

There is a lot of gross-out humor involving incest, masturbation, and various bodily secretions. The film actually starts off strong with a spectacularly funny sequence involving an adult "toy." Yes, some of the dialogue and abundant sight gags are crude, cruel, violent, and even exploitative, so avoid the film if you're sensitive to such stuff.

The cast performs a big musical number, and the film also makes clever use of recognizable songs. NATM isn't exactly Oscar Wilde, but for what it is, it's fun.