The Edge of Seventeen

Review by Bob Ignizio

At the point in time we meet Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), the protagonist of THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN, high school has most definitely not been the best years of her life. She's awkward, only has one friend, Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), and her dad, the one family member that seemed to understand her, died just a few years prior. Nadine still isn't over the loss, and neither is her mom Mona (Kyra Sedgwick), kind of a hot mess who leans heavily on Nadine's popular and self-confident brother Darian (Blake Jenner).

Things only get worse. When Krista and Darian start dating, Nadine is so upset she ends their friendship. As for Nadine's own romantic prospects, they aren't promising. She has an unrequited crush on Nick (Alexander Calvert), but he couldn't be less interested. Meanwhile nerdy but nice Erwin (Hayden Szeto) would seem to be a perfect match, but Nadine keeps putting him in the friend zone. The only person she has to talk about any of this is her sarcastic teacher Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson). Will Nadine manage to mend friendships, fix her family, and find love before the end titles scroll?

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Review by Joseph Anthony

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL feels so familiar. It’s as if Wes Anderson’s spirit and Michel Gondry’s BE KIND, REWIND met up with THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER and THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. That is to say, ME AND EARL feels like a hybrid of a quirky art film and an accessible indie teen film.

The “Me” in ME AND EARL is Greg (Thomas Mann), a high schooler who stays on the outskirts of high school subgroups – but in everyone’s good graces. He can be creative, intellectual, high-spirited, melancholy, whatever the situation dictates. Greg is happy to not call anyone his friend, while at the same getting along with everyone.

Beautiful Creatures

Review by Matt Finley

Whether or not it’s fair that THE TWILIGHT SAGA has become the de facto standard for contrast and comparison when folks talk teen paranormal romance, writer/director Richard LaGravenese (screenwriter of, among other things, Terry Gilliam’s THE FISHER KING) and Alcon Entertainment should be glad that it’s the case. By typical cinema standards, LaGravenese’s witch-populated adolescent hormone engine BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is a plodding, messy, heart-on-sleeve tangle of supernatural gibberish bolstered by occasional flashes of wit and a cauldron full of good intentions. By TWILIGHT standards, it’s practically Powell and Pressburger.

Fun Size

Review by Bob Ignizio

Having already portrayed two other cities in films this year (New York in THE AVENGERS and Detroit in ALEX CROSS), for Halloween Cleveland gets to dress up as itself in FUN SIZE. Aside from one or two self deprecating comments from its heroine early on, the old hometown actually comes off looking pretty good, too. Much in the way those “boudoir photography”places can make just about anyone look like a porn star with the right angles, lighting, and makeup, FUN SIZE uses slick cinematography and carefully chosen locations (some, to be fair, actually in Cleveland Heights and Lakewood) to make Cleveland look like a vibrant party town. And of course it really is, depending on how you look at it, since the fun spots the film visits on East 4th Street and Coventry Boulevard really do exist, and really are lively and fun. Call this the feature length antidote to that (admittedly funny) “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video” from a few years back.