Weird enough to be cool.. Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt: where 16 year old kids have an annoying knowledge of auteur directors, early 20th century psychoanalysis and speak entirely in lousy post-modern witticisms. Where bizarre clashes with realism to result in an odd film which makes Napoleon Dynamite seem as earthbound as an episode of EastEnders.

Waning in the collective shadow of alpha-males everywhere, Nick Twisp creates alter-ego Francois Dillinger to live up to the expectaions of Sheeni Saunders, a cock-teasing francophile who loves all things Parisienne and Jean-Luc Goddard. Dillinger has the swagger of Michel Poiccard, smokes like a Frenchman and has daring and the requisite testosterone levels to get Twisp what comes so freely to everyone else in this film: sex.

Michael Cera plays the roles of both Twisp and Dillinger and he continues to live up to the comic promise displayed as a youth in the masterfully crafted story-arc sitcom Arrested Development. Although I would have preferred for Tobais Funke to have made a better go of it, Cera is doing well and here he recovers from the painfully awful Paper Heart (not that anyone watched it) with a skilled performance which requires depth you wouldn't know was there, so believable his consistently monotone onscreen persona.

As a side note, the art of having the same actor play two different characters on the same screen has long since reached it's zenith. I watched thinking about how, despite a great turn from Cera to play both Twisp and Francois Dillinger, it's not a selling point of the film nor did anyone really care. If Jeremy Irons playing twins in Dead Ringers registered a ten on the careometer back in '88 then this is a stone cold zero.

Cera, 22, is playing the 16-year-old protagonist. Twisp's age is only mentioned at the end of the film in what is intended to be a Clockwork Orange-like age-reveal shock twist. The difference in age between actor and character compliments the freakishly advanced maturity of the source characters, and adds to the generally weird and wonky experience.

It could be said Youth in Revolt follows on from the 'cool'-com model built up by the Apatow / Rogen collective. The dialogue is Apatow-esque and well-delivered and despite the fact that it would probably make more sense as an discussion board catfight, it's actually really funny.

Somehow most of the laughs are generated from a type of dialogue typical of the 'cool-nerd' persona which has flooded the peripherals of popular culture for the past 2 to 3 years. When watching, lesser humans may be left in a trail of laughter-dust from the spinning tyres of their more clever, knowledgeable and 'cool' contemporaries, I'd imagine. This ain't a slapstick comedy, and if you are expecting the hijinx found in the average Seth Rogen title you won't find much of it here.

Youth in Revolt reads like the fictional life of a sexually frustrated nerd, which is what the novel of that this film is based on must be. It's only the kind of life that Nick Twisp lives which forces one to become an artfag who would ever be interested in writing or directing anything like this. However, this is a well directed and truly unique film, though far from excellent. The script is broken up by two set pieces where the characters are travelling by car, director Miguel Arteta chooses to use cardboard cut out effects and puppets to tack on some Grondry-like scenes, presumably to further enhance the alt-appeal of this geek-com.

The script, in fact, appears to be the product of a week-long narcotics binge. And we aren't without drug scenes, which are becoming more obligatory with every sub-mainstream comedy. Marijuana and mushrooms are on the menu here.


Good film, but it won't be enjoying any commercial success. And that is a good thing, success for this style of comedy would not mean more films like Youth in Revolt, but more films like Juno, and I prefer my comedies to be funny.

This story is so strange it might as well take place in a parallel universe, but you still get the universal tale of lads in their mid teens not knowing what to do to get laid. Style-wise Youth in Revolt is the lovechild of Frederico Fellini and Judd Apatow.. born with too many chromosomes.

Doghouse: 'Now's not the time to stop objectifying women'

It's OK to make a film about a murderous male monster-race who rape and plunder innocent females on a weekend of cave (uterus) exploration — but apparently you can't have it the other way round.

Doghouse tries to wind up women, so some critics made a move to discredit it on the grounds that 'it borrows heavily from Shaun of the Dead!'  You've got to love people who get the concepts of plagiarism and inspiration so horribly mixed up.

What such cutting edge journalism fails to recognise is that Doghouse is actually a successful parody of anti-male ball-stompers like The Descent.

Now I'm not silly enough to ignore past patriarchy (it has been around since the beginning of time) but I was brought up to respect girls and I have the right to laugh at them in a film. It's no different to girls laughing at Owen Wilson getting hit in the nuts with an American football, or whatever. It's the same thing.

So, Doghouse sees a group of mates take main character Vince to a country village for a debauched weekend of boozing and birds, the perfect remedy to his recent messy divorce. During the opener, the male protagonists leave for Moodley against the behest of their angry significant others — putting them in the 'doghouse', clever.

If feminist alarm bells aren't ringing already, then a moaning tribe of blood-thirsty female zombies should do the trick. Moodley, conveniently in the middle of nowhere, has fallen victim to a virus that only affects women. And no, it's not bird flu.

Anyway, without revealing too much of the plot, it's a good story with a standard horror narrative and nods towards the now classic Resident Evil Umbrella corp scenario.

The influences and homages are plenty, and come in the size of 6 foot Evil Dead posters and 'groovy' weapon gestures. The man on woman combat is Bruce Campbell versus the dead, complete with the make-up, contorted grimaces and a 50 per cent tempo increase.

Danny Dyer does his usual turn while Noel Clarke is entertaining as 'nice Noel' from Doctor Who rather than 'nasty Noel' from Kidulthood. Stephen Graham plays Vince, the alpha male leading the fight against the she-zombie horde. Oh, and if you don't know who Stephen Graham is, you'll know his face. He's that Scouse actor who turns up like a bad penny in every British production with a modest budget.

Amongst the film's tongue-in-cheek sexism, there is actually some hidden respect for women. The characters express regret at having to off the man-munching birds and they also, boyishly, 'appreciate' the opposite sex. If all that sounds like a disclaimer it's because it is.

There is superb gore and well-crafted comedy. When Doghouse isn't being funny, it'll warm your heart with that certain brand of lad camaraderie found in pubs and on footy terraces.

Covert intelligence and genre awareness make this film the best Brit horror-com since Shaun of the Dead. Ownership of a penis is recommended, but not essential.