Rating: Summary: wish I could give it zero stars. Review: This movie insulted my intelligence; (...). First off, the music was terrible in this movie. Scenes of white suburban girls hanging with the "wrong crowd" while accompanied by cheesy guitar riffs were laughable. Every cliché was used, like some "very special episode" of Full House or an after school special. What disgusted me the most is that I found this movie to be very racist - the white girls would escape with black guys for a night of drugs and sex. Not a single white person badly influenced these girls in the beginning of the movie. "Mothers keep your daughters away from black guys" is the message I got. This is horrible Hollywood drivel that will probably shock the very sheltered audience, but wow, I saw right through it. If you want realism, watch the movie "Kids", which I think this movie attempted to rip-off but failed miserably. This might be the worst movie ever because it tries to send an important message but does it in such a way that actually strengthens sterotypes of high school teens.
Rating: Summary: pretty good... i guess... Review: Although the beginning seems a bit... fake? rehearsed? (not sure what to call it) it is shocking, obviously based on teenage life, and has wonderful acting. The whole movie kind of suffers, though, when in a very grave voice tracey's teacher reports, "your going to be held back in the seventh grade." These girls do not act thirteen, look thirteen, or do things thirteen year old girls do. In sum, the movie was, in the end, quite powerful. However it is not always as realistic as most reiviews claim. really she could have avoided all that trouble by not buying that shirt.
Rating: Summary: Powerful...but can kids see it? Review: This is a powerful exposition of peer-pressure and teen angst. Director Catherine Hardwicke has presented a devastating and totally honest display of contemporary ideas, with the help of fellow screen-writer and star, Nikki Reed (13 at the time).Nikki plays the bad-influence, while Evan Rachel Wood gives the performance of a lifetime, as the victimized "outcast". Holly Hunter is there, as the mother who wants to let her kid grow by herself, until it's so out of control that she needs to intervene. It's a pure, 100% performance, with total conviction. It's uncomfortable to watch, but it pulls no punches. Good DVD with extras.
Rating: Summary: must see for moms and daughters Review: I would highly advise everyone with a preteen girl to attend this film and then have a discussion about the real reality behind it. So many girls believe they would never give in to peer pressure but you just never know. being a teenage girl is probably the hardest thing in the world. I should know because I lived through it. Takeyour girls to this film. It was a real bonding experience for my daughter and me. It opens doors for discussion and I think everyone would agree that if we can get our kids to be honest with us and know that we will love them no matter what, we are half way there.
Rating: Summary: Different from all the rest.... Review: This movie is one of the best movies i've seen in awhile. All the recent movies all seem to be the same but with different titles but this one was different from any recent movie I've seen. I recomend this movie to anyone who is tired of the same old thing.
Rating: Summary: Sad Review: First of all this movie has no script or talent. It just shows what MTV does to young girls. Very sad.
Rating: Summary: Awesome. Review: This film was so powerful, and I think that every parent on the face of the planet needs to see it. This film scared me, because stuff like this has happened in my family before, and trust me - this film presents everything in a very factual way. This is not teen exploitation. This is not some Larry Clark film. This is how it REALLY happens. All of what I have just stated comes from personal experience, so I should know. I didn't expect this film to really come close to what teen rebellion is really like. It can get bad...REALLY bad. Alot of the time, parents can be the ones responsible. Like the teens in this film, all they really want is help. Whenever they act the way they do, it is a cry for help and nothing more. All of that aside, the performances are excellent all around, especially Evan Rachel Woods and Holly Hunter. You forget that they are simply actresses playing their parts. THIS is acting. When you can BECOME the character and get everyone to forget that it is a performance, that's when you realize that you've got true acting ability, and these women do have it. Nikki Reed is very good, too. She plays her part very well, also. You become very tense while watching this film. You not only feel it for Rachel's character, but for Nikki's as well. You don't want to see these girls dig themselves deeper into the pit. Catherine Hardwicke is a great director, and this film proves it. The soundtrack is good as well, but one wishes that the DVD had more making of features. HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended, especially to parents and teens 15 and up.
Rating: Summary: Reminded me of "Poison Ivy" Review: As I was watching this movie, I kept thinking that it reminded me of the Drew Barrymore movie "Poison Ivy". Where a teenager befriends a shy teenager and changes them and tries to get in good with the family and tries to take over the family, etc. That's kind of how this movie is too.
Rating: Summary: What - EVER! Review: I'm a bleeding heart and former trailer kid of divorce... but I couldn't stand these "edgy" characters. 1) They were lame; from a decent background, but wallowing in their self-created problems. 2) The players are straight outta bleach commercials, then dirtied up a bit to "keep it real." 3) The characters need special effects to seem "edgy" -- camera people are consciously dizzy, weaving cameras in/out/side to side. A person watching this family in person would NOT be that disoriented. If one stood still to watch these drama queens, their story would seem dull, repetitive, pathetic. In short, camera techniques added nothing but a headache. 4) The heavy subject matter and "edgy" edits somehow play as banal. It feels like writers (and hence the characters) had a checklist: piercing - check; drugs - check; promiscuity - check. 5) If the kids act up to get attention, they got less from me -- my thumb was on fast forward to cut the film length down to an afterschool special 50 minutes. 6) All summed up, what-EVER!
Rating: Summary: "Thriteen" The Dark Depths Of What Is Reality. Review: Though many films try, most do not truthfully depict the active lifestyle of a teen. But this is not so for the cinematic achievement, "Thirteen." Winner of the Sundance Film "Directing Award", this film is truly a cinematic gem. Co-written by 13 year-old Nikki Reed, "Thirteen" delivers the truth and darkness of the real world teens must face now days. When seventh grader Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) starts the school year, she is faced by the fact that her young-girlish image must be erased to be accepted by the all the boys, and the girls they go after. When Tracy must change her look and personality to match up to the "hottest girl in the school", Evie (Nikki Reed), Tracy is finally accepted into a world she had longed for. But the world she uncovers beneath the "ahead-of-her-time" Evie, drinking, drugs, sex and shoplifting. When Tracy is accepted into the "hot girls" crowd, not only does her whole world change, but also her relationship with her family drastically turns sour. Her single mother, Mel (Academy Award® Winner Holly Hunter), notices this unbelievable streak of not eating enough, going out late and the array of skimpy clothing on Tracy's bedroom floor. The dark truth in this film is blatantly examining every parent's worst nightmare: "Your kids are doing it, too." Even the fact that Tracy's only way to deal with stress is through cutting her arm with a razor blade. The fresh camera work, which is the "hand-held-camera" feel, makes this film even better. But the hardest part of it all is knowing that all this is really happening, due to the feeling of "wanting to fit in" and the whole issue of peer pressure. "A horror movie for every parent of a young girl, the film pulls no punches in its portrayal of newly teenage girls and the trouble they can cause." (www.Thelantern.com) The beginning sequence of the film is also hard-hitting, which shows Tracy and Evie, breathing in Aerosol cans, and beating each other up, shouting "Hit me harder, I can't feel anything!" Then we are greeted with the words, "Six Months Earlier" and see good girl Tracy walking her dog. The blatant downward spiral of Tracy's life is definitely a factor in this movie. "Thirteen" is a movie that's real, raw, and gives no mercy to the viewer. Rated R, this movie is definitely a victory for first time director Catherine Hardwicke.
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