Barquillo de limón 2

The growing pains felt by adolescents are timeless and, as this hidden gem I found that was set in 1950's Tel Aviv shows, apparently universal. Thankfully this was tossed in a 50-film megapack, 'Drive-In Movie Classics'--otherwise, from the producers, director, and no-name cast involved, I would likely never have come across it. It's basically a mix of 'American Graffiti' and 'Porky's', but the script is the right mix of angst and humour, and the actors make a little go a long way with their charisma and chemistry. The 50's songs and complete lack of any sort of pretension are overwhelmingly refreshing and appreciated! I had no idea that this was in fact a sequel (another name for it is 'Lemon Popsicle 2') and part of a series. I would certainly love to track the other films down...

Dreary. Dull. Devoid of any real merit. That is just for starters. Yotzim Kavua, a film I saw under the pretense of Going Steady, was an experience to sit through. First, let me explain how I came to watch it. I bought a 50 movie pack from Mill Creek Entertainment as I like bad movies that can be fun to watch. Some are entertaining as so-bad-its-good types, some are much better than one might imagine, and then there is the third group - those which are painful to sit through and induce a catatonic stare 15 or so minutes into them. Going Steady wasn't that bad, but it really has nothing going for it as far as I am concerned. I didn't know anything about it prior to seeing it. It is a sequel in itself and had at least three or four more sequels after it. Really? This was a sequel and had more sequels? It was produced and made in Israel and is spoken in Yiddish(I think). Sophomoric tales of kids trying to get tail are that popular in Israel? Who'd have thunk it. Anyway, the acting is not horrible just not inspiring. The jokes are along the vein of what you would find in Porky's or American Pie and other crap like that. I can't say I fell in like with anything in the film, but for what it was trying to be I guess(I know by its future successes) it must have achieved them. I am not going to write about the director and actors as I am not familiar with any of them. One thing I did find interesting is that it does offer a window into life in another culture and country. That is always something I find interesting, but beyond that seeing one distasteful scenario after another, a fat boy wedged out a window, and the typical high school pranks that mark adolescence supposedly are not the stuff my dreams are made of.

The main problem I had with the Israeli-made Lemon Popsicle-and its American remake The Last American Virgin-was that despite Benji in Popsicle and Gary in Virgin having a big crush on Nikki/Karen, he still went out with his friends to have sexual encounters with other women. So it's just as well that this sequel to Popsicle basically ignored pretty much all the events from its predecessor since here, their characterizations are a lot more consistent. This time, Benji's got the hots for a girl named Tammy, Bobby's going out with Shelly, and Huey's girl here is Martha who was in the last one as the best friend of Nikki who's nowhere to be seen this time. As before, Martha actually likes Benji and even tries to make the moves on him this time when Benji and Tammy have a fight. I'll stop there and just say because of the more consistent characterizations, I found myself laughing more than its predecessor got me to do and I also liked the way things went on sequentially especially the end which wasn't a sad one like the last one. Though I have a feeling Tammy will be gone by the next installment of the Lemon Popsicle series but for now if there's an entry that I feel works best for me right now, it's this one. So that's my recommendation of Going Steady.

"Going Steady" is the second film in the Lemon Popsicle, and is really just more of the same. This time it is less emotive than the first Popsicle movie - who could forget that ending - but is also too good natured to dislike, unlike all of the sex comedies of the next decade, which were just flat out sleazy and nasty.

Like the original film it benefits from the presence of Yiftach Katzur in the lead role of Benji who is charismatic. The same can't be said for his knucklehead friends, ie. The guy his girl went off with in the first movie (Momo) and the fat guy, Yudale. These guys make no impression in this movie either. The movie also benefits from female talent with the two actresses playing the boys' love interests this time round, though none as showstopping as Avat Atzmon was in the first movie.

This film is, doubtlessly, pretty forgettable, as all the Lemon Popsicle flicks probably are. Not sure I can be bothered watching them all. At least it was entertaining. Too bad all these movies never got a better release than VHS, apparently. Even the DVD releases are VHS quality. No doubt this is because, like the first film, "Going Steady" is wall-to-wall with iconic '50s music that the producers used illegally.

This movie I found to be kinda cute. It's not a great film but is a bit funny and may remind some people of their high school days. It's about stereo-typical teenagers.

I'd say this movie is in category of "Last American Virgin" and "Porky's" with a feeling of "Grease" due to the 1950s setting. So it's not that bad of a watch.

What I enjoyed the most about the movie is the music and the cars! The film has a good soundtrack and some really cool rides. The story was just so-so with some comical moments.

4/10