Not Another Teen Movie was pretty much made for people my age (30 somethings). From John Hughes High School to the Anthony Michael Dining Hall, from the dozens of movie references and clichés to the obviously hot "nerd" girl, NATM spoofs everything, mostly well. Unlike the Scary Movie franchise, NATM is consistently funny. The Breakfast Club set is a great recreation (in the detention hall scene) and they even have the same actor in the part.
This is not to say that NATM hits on all cylinders. Some of the humor is stupid (the literal flying pooh scene comes to mind), but some of it is so unexpected that it's almost a breath of fresh air. The slow clap guy, the "nerd girl" and her "paintings", the one black guy running into another black guy at a party -- there are a lot of priceless scenes.
The plot is appropriately predictable, but how they get from point A to point B is for the most part hilarious. The music references are perfect as well. I had no idea I was so well versed in 80s pop music. The straight-up weirdness of some things like the jock's family is funny because it's so unexpected. The poor "nerd" girl's dad, portrayed by Randy Quaid, could probably make a spin-off movie. (He calls his daughter pumpkin tits, and has some of the best lines in the movie. After saying he won't be able to pick up the kids after school and being asked if he has a job interview, it goes something like, "No, I'll probably just be too s***-faced to remember." "Good thing you won't be driving then!", to which he replies, "Oh, I'll be drivin'!")
The younger set may not appreciate this because the younger types don't like being made fun of for the most part, and the older crowd may not understand it at all and will be turned off in particular by some of the potty humor. The third porridge, though, is us middle-30s types that lived through this era. This movie is a catalog of our youth, put hilariously to set pieces and scenes. It's certainly a breathes new life into an era of stale parodies.
This is not to say that NATM hits on all cylinders. Some of the humor is stupid (the literal flying pooh scene comes to mind), but some of it is so unexpected that it's almost a breath of fresh air. The slow clap guy, the "nerd girl" and her "paintings", the one black guy running into another black guy at a party -- there are a lot of priceless scenes.
The plot is appropriately predictable, but how they get from point A to point B is for the most part hilarious. The music references are perfect as well. I had no idea I was so well versed in 80s pop music. The straight-up weirdness of some things like the jock's family is funny because it's so unexpected. The poor "nerd" girl's dad, portrayed by Randy Quaid, could probably make a spin-off movie. (He calls his daughter pumpkin tits, and has some of the best lines in the movie. After saying he won't be able to pick up the kids after school and being asked if he has a job interview, it goes something like, "No, I'll probably just be too s***-faced to remember." "Good thing you won't be driving then!", to which he replies, "Oh, I'll be drivin'!")
The younger set may not appreciate this because the younger types don't like being made fun of for the most part, and the older crowd may not understand it at all and will be turned off in particular by some of the potty humor. The third porridge, though, is us middle-30s types that lived through this era. This movie is a catalog of our youth, put hilariously to set pieces and scenes. It's certainly a breathes new life into an era of stale parodies.
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