Youth In Revolt

A boring trailer. A terrible (movie) title, putting one in the mind of smelly Che Guevara t-shirts, and ratty Castro caps. The only reason I persevered and eventually allowed Netflix to tee this one up was I was less interested in Casino Jack & The United States of Money that day. One can only watch so many documentaries without a snack break.

And plus, hey, Michael Cera. I figured, "Yeah, I know what I'm going to get. Serve it up." But here he plays two characters: the Cera type we all know by now, and which I was looking forward to, and a more sinister, deeper-voiced Francois, who is funny merely because Cera is playing him. He even changes his slouchy physicality; it's an impressive bit of split-screen doppelganger-y. It's not Sam Rockwell(s) in Moon, a master class, but it's fun.

More, it's directed with a real sense of visual fun, incorporating some great stop-motion, slow-mo and animated sequences, which make a timeworn coming-of-age story seem fresh. And Miguel Arteta's got some real indie street cred, having directed Star Maps, Chuck & Buck and The Good Girl, not to mention my favorite Office episode ever: Diwali!

Anyway, catch this however you do what you do. It's worth every penny of the $1.09 you'd pay Redbox. Then watch Election again. And it's right up there with Assassination of a High School President. And if you've never seen The Chocolate War, give that a whirl too.

3-D

Just want to get this down in writing before it becomes the new call to arms: 3-D, as it applies to movies that is, isn't going to last. The cost-benefit ratio approaches zero. After having seen Clash of the Titans and Toy Story 3, I want my two dollars. Or in these cases six.

It Might Get Loud

Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page sit down together to talk about whether the guitar found them or they found the guitar, and play for each other and together. The look on Jack White’s face when Jimmy Page starts crunching “Ramble On” is, well, check it out. And when the three of them start pushing “Kashmir” around between them your mouth will drop open with a dumb, slack smile. Intercut with interviews and staged pieces and POV verite clips, it has a loose, free-flowing ease and when it’s over you feel, “can’t we hang out just a little longer?” Well, there are some interesting deleted scenes to get you over the hump. That they were left out was the right choice, but they’re not the usual deleted scene dreck, worth a look.

And an interesting production note for aspiring documentarians: the director, Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”), explains in the bonus press conference segment that he found his way in to this subject in the same way he stumbled on with Gore. He started with one-on-one interviews that a) provide the bulk of the voiceover and b) point him toward the things he’ll want to film with a full crew. Smart and economical.