American Pie (1999) or, Losing It Before Prom

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+ Best High School Movie of the Year + Best Sex Comedy of the Year + Best Youth Movie of the Year 

The over-night major stars of Chris and Paul Weitz's American Pie exude youthful energy on the poster

Four friends make a pact to have sex before their high school prom. And by using such auxiliaries as apple pie, laxatives, Stifler's mother, a webcam and good, pure intentions, they eventually succeed.

American Pie, written by Adam Herz (Go Fish (2001, TV-series)) and directed by brothers Chris (About a Boy (2002)) and Paul Weitz (Grandma (2015)), is a generational hit and a modern classic in the youth sex-comedy genre. It's a sweet and funny high school-set comedy with a lot of laughs and a charming cast: 
Especially Jason Biggs (All at Once (2016)) and Eugene Levy (Serendipity (2001)) as father and son work very well. The music is very contemporary for its time, and therefore, for me at least, feels very nostalgic today. Though it seems simple, the film succeeds in catching lightning in a bottle, and no wonder that American Pie was a giant, worldwide hit and spawned many sequels and rip-offs.

Related posts:

Chris Weitz:  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) or, Ginny's Fate: A Star Wars Calculation (co-writer) 

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Paul Weitz: Admission (2013) - Despite messy script, Fey is hilarious in Weitz's romcom  (director)

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 11 mil. $
Box office: 235.4 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 21.4 times the cost)
[American Pie premiered 7 July (Los Angeles, California) and runs 95 minutes. Shooting took place from July - September 1998 in California, including Los Angeles. Universal Pictures were not convinced of the film's promise and stupidly sold off the foreign rights in order to recoup their investment as fast as possible. The film opened #1 to an 18.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#3) and grossed 102.5 mil. $ (43.5 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. The film also made in excess of 109.5 mil. $ in global home video sales, further underlining its monster success. Chris and Paul Weitz returned with Down to Earth (2001). Biggs returned with an uncredited appearance in Detroit Rock City (1999) and in a real part in Boys and Girls (2000). The Weitz brothers were out, but the film spurred a franchise that continued with American Pie 2 (2001), American Wedding (2003) and American Reunion (2012) as well as 4 direct-to-video spin-offs. American Pie is fresh at 61 % with a 5.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
 
What do you think of American Pie?

Antichrist (2009) - Trier's cabin-in-the-woods psycho-horror

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+ Best Horror Movie of the Year

Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg's faces during lovemaking are disturbingly connected to a rusty pair of blood-dripping scissors on this poster for Lars Von Trier's Antichrist

A couple, whose infant son has recently perished in a tragic accident, while they were having sex, choose to isolate themselves in the forest cabin, 'Eden', where the husband, - a psychotherapist, - tries to cure his wife of her mental instability, SPOILER but fails, as she proves completely maniacal!

Willem Dafoe (John Carter (2012)) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (21 Grams (2003)) give fine performances in Danish master writer-director Lars Von Trier's (The Idiots/Idioterne (1998)) tortured mind's projection, which an awful many have analyzed, but few can make definite sense of. The film has beautifully distorted pictures (fine work by cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Dredd (2012))), - not least the opening sequence in black and white, - and an ambiguous dig towards religiousness, hence the title, but when the film's explicit, sexually charged violence breaks out full force in its fourth chapter, the focus is on the psycho-sexual and the female as a monster.
Antichrist is an unusual, disturbing experience; a successful art-film, and sure to bring Trier's trademark discomfort into any living room daring to screen it. As a horror film it is unconventional, but unquestionably intriguing.
I was never as engaged in Antichrist, which is a downwards-moving trip with fairly bare-bones, archetype-like characters, as I have been in Trier's great films, first and foremost, of course, in his masterpiece Breaking the Waves (1996), but also The Idiots (1998), Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005) and The Boss of It All (2006), are all essentially better films in my opinion.

Related posts: 

Lars Von Trier:  Nymphomaniac (2013) short version, vol. 1 & vol. 2, or, Lars Von Trier's Suck It  
Melancholia (2011) - Von Trier's heightened reality doomsday reflections 

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1/De Unge År: Erik Nietzsche Sagaen Del 1 (2007) - Thuesen and Von Trier's hilarious film school comedy (autobiographical screenplay) 
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Boss of It All/Direktøren for det Hele (2006) - Von Trier's hilarious absurd comedy 
Dear Wendy (2005) - Vinterberg and Von Trier's unpopular, gun-themed megaflop (writer)
The Five Obstructions/De Fem Benspænd (2003, documentary) or, Lars von Trier vs. Jørgen Leth (co-director) 
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Dogville (2003) - Von Trier's implacable, truly unique drama
Dancer in the Dark (2000) or, Selma the Immigrant    
Zentropa/Europa (1991) - Von Trier's audacious ode to the heavy continent is a fever dream on celluloid
Epidemic (1987) - Von Trier's trippy, bizarre second film  
The Element of Crime/Forbrydelsens Element (1984) - Von Trier's ultra-strange debut 

 

Visually stunning, Antichrist is a rollercoaster of negative emotions

Cost: 11 mil. $
Box office: 2.5 mil. $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.22 times the cost)
[Antichrist premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, in competition) and runs 108 minutes. Trier wrote the film from 2006 while struggling with heavy depression, spending some time in a mental hospital. He was inspired by Japanese films Ring (1998) and Dark Water (2002). Gainsbourg was cast as a substitute for Eva Green, whose agents would not allow her to appear in the film. The Danish Film Institute contributed 1.5 mil. $ to the budget, which came together from a tangle of 23 companies and governmental support bodies in Germany, France, Denmark, Poland, Sweden and Italy. Trier was still mentally unwell during production, unable to film as he is wont to do, and excused himself often. Shooting took place for 40 days in Germany in August - September 2008. A "Catholic version" of the film was released in some markets, where some violence was cut out.  The film opened #42 in 6 theaters to a 71k $ first weekend in North America, its peak there, though it widened to 19 theaters, grossing 404k $ (16.2% of the total gross). 82,050 bought tickets to the film in Trier's native Denmark, almost certainly its biggest market, although a detailed gross sheet is missing. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. It won the Best Actress award in Cannes, 1/3 European Film award noms, the Nordic Council film prize and 7/12 Robert nominations (Denmark's Oscar). The film was banned in France in 2016, because a court ruled that its age 16 rating was a mistake. Trier returned with Dimension 1991-2024 (2010, short) and theatrically with Melancholia (2011). Dafoe returned in Farewell (2009), Gainsbourg in Persécution (2009). Antichrist is rotten at 52 % with a 5.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Antichrist?

Are You Scared? (2006, video) - An awful hororr rip-off time-waster

[ZERO]

+ Worst Movie of the Year

A woman is caught behind a metal mask in mortal agony on this grim DVD cover for Andy Hurst's Are You Scared ?

Some people get locked inside a shady building, where they are told that they are participants of a reality show. But the 'producer' takes their lives in sadistic ways. He turns out to be one of the girls' disfigured, demented father.

Are You Scared? is written and directed by Andy Hurst (You're Dead... (1999)). It is a teenage-oriented horror movie that's a shameless rip-off of James Wan's great Saw (2004), so ineptly done that it should have resulted in a lawsuit. Also Eli Roth's Hostel (2005; 07) movies are aped, but the Are You Scared? creators seem totally unaware of what make these or any other horror movies great.
Are You Scared? is utterly bereft of charm: It is awfully acted, edited, lit. - Its digital photography proves how bad the new technology can look. Hurst is responsible for this trash; he has also directed straight-to-DVD titles like Diary of a Serial Killer (2008) and written scripts for such titles as Single White Female 2: The Psycho (2005, video).
Are You Scared only lasts 79 minutes but is still a gigantic crap of a movie.

Related posts:

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Listen to Charlie Clouser's iconic Saw theme from the great 2004 movie here and forget all about Are You Scared?

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown
[Are You Scared? was released 12 September (USA), seemingly straight-to-DVD, although details are extremely scarce, and runs 79 minutes. Shooting took place in Los Angeles. Hurst returned with Diary of a Serial Killer (2008, video). An unrelated sequel, Are You Scared 2, was released in 2009. 12,695 Rotten Tomatoes users have given Are You Scared? a 2.7/5 average rating.]

What do you think of Are You Scared??

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or, Don't Fall Asleep!

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Something vicious lurks in the shadows of sleep on this neat, painted poster for Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street

I really love this film and definitely consider it better than the just reviewed American Graffiti.

Teenager Nancy and her friends find themselves in mortal danger due to the deceased neighborhood child molester Freddy Krueger, who steals them away in their nightmares.

The original Elm Street is the 7th theatrical feature from great Ohioan writer/director Wes Craven (The Last House on the Left (1972)). It has ultra-cool practical effects, Robert Englund's (I Want to Be a Soldier (2010)) charismatic, diabolical performance as Krueger, sweet girl Heather Langenkamp (The Demolitionist (1995)) as iconic final girl Nancy, Ronee Blakley's (She Came to the Valley (1979)) memorable turn as her souped-up mother, the always competent John Saxon (Killing Obsession (1994)) as her father and a very young, very delectable Johnny Depp (Lucky Them (2013)) as an ill-fated youth in his movie debut.
The central idea of getting offed by your nightmares is very scary and evocative, and Craven made this film an outstanding and marvelously entertaining classic for every fan of horror.

Related posts:

Wes Craven: 2011 in films - according to Film Excess Scream 4 (2011) - Craven & Williams serve an irresistible slasher treat
My Soul to Take (2010) - Craven returns with a subpar teen slasher
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) or, Your Kids and the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs
Remake: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - Another terrible remake of a horror classic 

 

Watch a short TV ad for the movie here

Cost: 1.8 mil. $
Box office: 25.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Mega-hit (returned at least 14.16 times the cost)
[A Nightmare on Elm Street premiered in October (West Germany) and runs 91 minutes. Craven based his idea on reports about male South East Asian refugees in America in the 1970s, who were dying in their sleep from extreme nightmares, while basing Freddy Krueger on his childhood bully. The prospect was rejected by major studios except for fledgling distributor New Line Cinema, who went into production with Nightmare, which solidified the company immensely. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from June - July 1984. 500 gallons of fake blood were used. Jsu Garcia (Traffic (2000)), who plays Rod Lane (as Nick Corri), had recently been homeless and took heroine during filming. Craven and New Line leader Robert Shaye disagreed on the ending, which made Craven reject making the first sequel. The film opened #10 to an 1.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it later peaked at #2 in its only week in the top 5, behind holdover hit Beverly Hills Cop. The foreign grosses are not made public, but the film must have made at least 30-35 mil. $ in total. Craven returned with Chiller (1985, TV movie) and an episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1986) and theatrically with Deadly Friend (1986). Langenkamp returned in Nickel Mountain (1984), Englund in V (1984-85), Hollywood Beat (1985, TV-series) and theatrically in the first Nightmare sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985). A Nightmare on Elm Street is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of A Nightmare on Elm Street?

American Graffiti (1973) or, Cruisin' Modesto '62

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A 1960s-nostalgic drawn poster for George Lucas's American Graffiti

American Graffiti comprises 4 stories of young people on one night in Modesto, California of 1962. - Young people cruising in their long cars, listening to rock 'n roll, fooling around with each other; young people who will soon have to leave their safe nests and fly out into the world.

Wonderful, fresh actors' performances embellish this romantic youth car drama from Ron Howard (I Spy (1966), TV-series), Charlie Martin Smith (Perfect Alibi (1995)) as 'the Toad' and others. It is written by Gloria Katz (Howard the Duck (1986)), Willard Huyck (Lucky Lady (1975)) and great Californian co-writer/director George Lucas (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)), who is from Modesto.
The music plays a great part of this narratively loose, refreshing and funny film, and it swings beautifully. American Graffiti combines the peculiar cruising phenomenon with such innocently charming lines such as, "Go kiss a duck!".
Innocent, underplayed or down-toned bordering on the conflict-averse and nearly sleep-inducing, Lucas's extraordinarily successful, nostalgic American Graffiti may boldly be labeled the deciding factor that Star Wars ever came to be, simply because of its surprisingly enormous success.
The film is by many considered an American classic.

Related post:

George Lucas: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) - Despite stale romance and Anakin, Episode II excites 

 

Watch an original trailer for the film here

Cost: 777k $
Box office: 118 mil. $
= Blockbuster
[American Graffiti premiered 1 August (Los Angeles, California) and runs 112 minutes. Lucas developed the film following his unsuccessful sci-fi THX 1138 (1971), and all the major studios turned down his pitch except for Universal Pictures, who bounced the small 600k $ budget with 175k $, when Francis Ford Coppola (The Florentine (1999)) signed on to produce. Harrison Ford (The Fugitive (1993)) was focusing on a carpeting career and would only appear, if he didn't have to cut his hair. Shooting took place in California from June - August 1972. The unruly production is notorious for its many later stars appearing and for the rambunctious stories; Ford was thrown out of his Holiday Inn hotel for drunkenness and climbing its sign; Richard Dreyfuss (Nuts (1987)) concurred a gash in his head after being thrown in a pool on the day before he was to shoot closeup scenes; Paul Le Mat (Wishman (1992)) was hospitalized for an allergic reaction to walnuts; Lucas' hotel room was set on fire by an actor; and two camera operators were nearly killed filming the climactic race scene. The film was edited down from an initial 3½ hour version, and Universal threatened with releasing it only as a TV movie, if Lucas didn't cut 4 more minutes from his final version. Only through terrific word of mouth did Universal decide to give the film a 500k $ marketing campaign. It made sensational 55 mil. $ in North America. The only foreign market that was good for it was France, where it was a cult hit. The 4 minutes were put back for the 1978 re-release, where the film took another enormous 63 mil. $ in North America. It is one of the most profitable movies of all time and has exceeded 200 mil. $ in earnings with home video sales taken into accounts. According to Lucas, Coppola "still kicks himself" for not having financed the film himself. It was nominated for 5 Oscars: Supporting Actress (Candy Clark (Niagara, Niagara (1997))), lost to Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon, Director, lost to George Roy Hill for masterpiece The Sting, Editing, also lost to The Sting, Picture, also lost to The Sting, and Original Screenplay, lost to David S. Ward for The Sting. It won 2/4 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a BAFTA and other honors. Lucas returned with great sci-fi adventure Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), partially made possible due to profits from American Graffiti. A sequel by Bill L. Norton featuring most of the original cast, More American Graffiti (1979) was released to a much smaller reception. American Graffiti is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of American Graffiti?