First Period

So to be honest, I was scared to watch this one (partly because I feel the descriptiveness of the previous reviews might lead me to believe they're fake). But since it was free on streaming Netflix I gave it a chance. I am very glad I did.

This movie won't be for everyone, but for those like me that like their comedy a little silly, a little cynical, and extra random, it's perfect. Imagine if John Waters directed the high school portions of Romey and Michelle's High School Reunion on a shoestring budget. This movie is what you get. The innocence and campiness of Hairspray mixed with the irreverence of his earlier work, perfectly combines with the random silly comic sensibilities of the lead actors. I was laughing almost the entire film.

True, there are a few jokes that fall flat. (Like a toilet scene that was predictable and just not well done.) But most of the jokes fly a million miles a second, and I'm already planning on watching it again to catch the jokes I missed. Sometimes a single strange side glance from one of the leads was enough to make me bust out laughing. Not to mention the actor playing Cassie could basically have a movie all about Cassie and I would watch it in a second.

The thing that really struck me about this movie though was its treatment of all the characters. Most silly low budget films like this lose their way in the third act when they try to learn a lesson or become serious. It often comes off incredibly insincere. That isn't the case with First Period. During the third act we learn more about the characters and all of them become very relatable. I even was shocked to find myself smiling sympathetically during a very tense conversation with Maggie and the main antagonist. It was surprisingly well done. Even though the movie is often cynical, crude, and relishes making fun of its characters, it never loses its heart and understanding that these are real characters who have real emotions and feelings.

I was shocked I loved this movie so much and will definitely be showing it to my boyfriend and friends for some late night laughs. Second Period anyone? "You're welcome."

It has the flavor of Strangers with Candy and to a lesser extent Pen15 and Haters Back Off, but in the wildly inappropriate self-delusional main character genre, there's easily room for all 4.

I love this movie. You're welcome.

Written by and starring Brandon Alexander III who plays Cassie. She is the new girl at school and like all teens she just wants to be popular, date the hottest guy, eat sugary deserts and win the talent competition. Problem is Heather and the Other Heather are already super cool and have the boyfriends – the cute Brett and his best bud Dirk who is hotter than Satan's Microwave.

On her first day she meets Maggie (Dudley Beene) who is about as popular as a pork pie at a Bar mitzvah. But girls will be girls and they soon hit it off. The problem is when you have super biatch's like the Heather's in the mix it means all competition has to be eliminated and dreams must be trashed or they will not remain uber cool. Cue a week of shenanigans, loose underwear and partays, (sic) oh and some actual sick!

This is a genuine comedy with laughs scattered throughout like mozzarella on a 12" pizza – with a stuffed crust. Even the school teacher (Mr Klein) is dysfunctionally brilliant. Everyone gets to have a few good lines and the warmth shines through. This is one of those films that are destined to become a cult classic or even better. I enjoyed every single second and can't wait to watch again. After years of alleged 'comedies' where you can cram all the best lines into a thirty second trailer, it is a breath of fresh air to get one which keeps the hits coming; and that is right up to the final scene. I simply can not recommend highly enough, watch alone, watch with friends, watch drunk or sober or any way you choose but just watch it – excellent.

It is like, so totally the 80s. This is not your typical formula teen mean-girl movie, although after a while it does seem remarkably normal. Most of the leading actors do a really good job, and the two guys playing the female leads are among the best. At no time do they convince us that they are female, but that doesn't seem necessary. It does require imagination.

Cassandra Peterson, best known as Elvira, is so unbelievably nice and quite pretty as Cassie's mom. Mostly nice, anyway.

By the end of the movie, we have heard positive messages that give this movie some significance beyond being just silly, and we learn a lot about what made certain characters the way they are.

At first I was going to say that college students who need a safe place because they are easily offended should stay far away from this movie. But the Sue Sylvester level of cruelty doesn't last that long, and as I said before, later in the movie it's just the ordinary mean girl stuff. And most of the characters have the right attitude, at least by that time. Early in the movie, the combination of unbelievable confidence in the absence of a reason and unthinkable nastiness gives us hilarious results. The movie can't keep up that level of hilarity and it's just not funny at times later, but doesn't have to be. The seriousness is appropriate and needs to be.

Overall, it's wildly insane and certainly worth seeing.

A friend recommended this one to me, and it sat in my list for a good long while. But I started to watch it on impulse and found myself laughing so much. There were a few jokes that didn't work, but the overwhelming majority of them were brilliant, and overall this was the kind of offbeat comedy that I would rank up with Heathers...which obviously it took one or two inspirations from!

The performances are strong across the board, the dialogue is snappy and feels not only natural (which is amazing in such an almost surreal film at times), but also extremely clever. It's rare to find such a gem of a movie that is not only insightful and moving, but also hilarious and ridiculous. It never takes itself too seriously...just seriously enough to make you think, and then it's all fun again. But it does such an excellent job of everything that it's easy to love. You can easily forgive a couple of missed laughs when you end up laughing so much more, and even getting a little warm and fuzzy feeling. Not to mention hot guys all over the place!

At the end of the day, this not only deals with serious issues, but does it well and in a hilarious way. It raises questions that should be raised, and it's a lot of fun. I think this is a film that everyone should watch, because honestly it has the right idea in every way. Bravo.