Better Luck Tomorrow

Have I blogged about this movie yet? It's already been released in theatres for a while now (>1month), and it's just about to disappear. I think it's still playing in a few theatres in and around Toronto. I didn't have a chance to go see and support it, but I will definitely eventually watch it.

So what's this movie about? Is it any good? Unfortunately, I can't say, because I haven't seen it yet. But I strongly reccomend all of you watch it sometime. I know only what's on the website.

Everyone knows a person like Ben - the perfect Asian American high school teen. He's an extremely intelligent perfectionist, an overachiever whose tunnel vision will lead to nothing less than graduating at the top of the class and acceptance to the best Ivy League university.

Ben lives in an upper middle class, conservative L.A. suburb in Southern California. As he struggles to achieve social success in high school, we discover his darker side. Along with two friends, Virgil, a brilliant yet socially inept misfit, and Virgil's cousin Han, a lost soul with more brawn than brains, Ben leads a double life of mischief and petty crimes that alleviate the pressures of perfection.

At the start of his high school freshman year, Ben befriends Daric, the senior valedictorian and another archetypical overachiever and perfectionist. But Daric is somewhat odd. While being the most intelligent student in the class, he also seems to be the most volatile and dangerous. Behind his trusting and benevolent façade lies a lurking secret, a time-bomb ready to explode. With Daric at the helm, this group of misfit teens bands together into a suburban gang.

As their adopted identity grows, Ben and the gang tumble into a downward spiral of excitement, excess, fun and lurking danger. Ben's life careens out of control, into an intoxicating mix of sex, drugs and crime, leading to a surprising end that will leave audiences engrossed, speechless and ultimately disturbed.

A word about movies and hype. I never read reviews or previews before I watch a given movie. I think the only thing that can happen is that you can become so hyped about the movie to the point where it can't possibly meet your expectations. Or even worse, the review gives away important plot points. I only read the reviews after watching a movie. If you want to judge whether a movie is any good, just head over to Rotten Tomatoes and look up the percentage the movie got. It's a good indicator for whether a movie is worth seeing.

I read a lot of movie reviews (~10-15 after each movie I see) and their quality can really vary. Ebert, who is perhaps the most famous and one of the best, has won a pulitzer before. And more recently, Stephen Hunter won one. The movie reviewers at Slate and Salon are also quite good. You'll probably notice by now, that I'm blogging a lot about my daily links I have on the sidebar. For some reason I feel a need to justify them. Anyway, one thing I noticed is that almost all movie reviews are written by men. There are hardly any reviews written by women. Anyone want to explain this to me?