Short Cuts - Film

NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE Directed by Joel Gallen With its gratuitous sex/shock/poop humor, Not Another Teen Movie may very well be a better sequel to last year’s Scary Movie than this past summer’s painfully unfunny Scary Movie 2. Essentially, NATM co-opts the patented Wayans Brother-approved method (a combination of smack-you-over-the-head pop-culture satire and gushing bodily fluids), but skewers teen movies of past and present rather than films that frighten.

This plagiarism yields mixed results. Sure, NATM has its moments: Many of the film’s parodies are indeed quite sharp, especially its nailing of classic teen movie student stereotypes, such as the gorgeous girl who everyone thinks is ugly because she wears glasses and overalls. And the surprise cameo by former teen-queen/brat-packer Molly Ringwald at the film’s climax is both classy and hilarious.

Yet NATM ultimately suffers the same fate as its predecessor Scary Movie. In the end, the major laughs in both films are induced by shocking the viewer by crossing a line previously believed uncrossable. While this technique produces a few giggles and chuckles initially, by the time the movie progresses to its conclusion, one simply becomes numb to its relentless attacks on good taste. It may be not another teen movie, but it’s not another Airplane! either. —Daniel S. Fox

Better Than Sex Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky

Better Than Sex, the relaxed and enjoyable directorial debut of Jonathan Teplitzky, is a story of a one-night stand that goes horribly right. When Josh (David Wenham) and Cin (Susie Porter) share a cab ride home after a party in Sydney, it seems only natural for them to have a brief, no-strings-attached fling, especially because Josh will be going back home to London in a couple of days. After they spend a night together, though, they discover that going their separate ways won’t be as easy as they had expected. Wenham and Porter do a great job of establishing an easy, comfortable and convincing chemistry between the two characters. Neither of them has the conventional movie star look, but both make up for that deficiency with charisma and humor.

Teplitzky does a good job of preventing his film, which takes place mainly in Cin’s apartment, from inducing claustrophobia. He does this using a variety of techniques, from slow closeup shots to documentary-style interviews with the characters, that would have been cheesy in a more serious film but fit perfectly here. Though the film has no great and important statement to make, it is certainly a good time for the audience. It provides a nice change of pace, because it is an easygoing sex comedy of the kind Hollywood has been unable to produce. Frank in its portrayal of the characters’ sexuality and free of “Sex in the City”-style neuroses, it is a simple and touching story of two young adults who want something more from life but are afraid to admit it. —Alex Potapov