Review: 'Ticket to Paradise'

By: Christopher James

It's an Ocean's Eleven reunion, as George Clooney and Julia Roberts headline "Ticket to Paradise"They don’t make them like they used to.

I’m talking about movie stars, not movies. From frame one of Ticket to Paradise, Universal’s new romantic comedy, George Clooney and Julia Roberts have not just expertly defined their “love to hate” relationship. They’ve also reminded the audience that movie stars like them don’t exist anymore, and it’s a damn shame. Clooney’s twinkly eye and Roberts’ infectiously wide grin both make them instantly recognizable. However, both actors are shrewd enough to know how to use their movie star gifts for maximum effort. Ticket to Paradise hardly reinvents the wheel, but it is a breezy enough excuse to reunite the Ocean’s Eleven co-stars for an incredibly fun and funny trip to Bali.

The stage is set pretty quickly.

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Review: Booksmart

by Chris Feil

Booksmart feels like a gift from the comedy gods - it’s firmly built in the teen buddy comedy traditions yet with its own unique diversions, representationally rewarding without the condescension of pandering, and a gaspingly funny look at female friendship that is also authentically moving. An impressive first feature from actress Olivia Wilde, Booksmart is joyous and it is here to fucking own the summer movie season.

Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein star as Amy and Molly, two best friends who prioritized their studies all throughout high school in the hopes of landing in the elite colleges of their dreams. On the eve of graduation, they shockingly discover that all the hard-partying kids also managed to nail their SATs and get accepted into top schools despite appearances. In a comically foiled and app-assisted evening, the two young women try to make up for lost time by finding a way into the most epic pre-graduation party.

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SXSW: Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever in "Booksmart"

Abe Fried-Tanzer reporting from the SXSW Festival

Everyone loves a buddy comedy – usually. It’s rare that such films are both crowd-pleasing and critically well-received, since entertainment value doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with quality. Though its detractors would surely disagree, Superbad is a great example of a film that, while inherently stupid, manages to be intelligent and funny in its portrayal of two teenagers trying desperately to have sex before the end of high school. It’s fitting that Jonah Hill’s younger sister Beanie Feldstein, who is close to the age he was when he made that film in 2007, is one of the two stars of a new buddy comedy that feels particularly forward-focused.

In Booksmart, Feldstein plays Molly, the class president and valedictorian whose need to point out other people’s mistakes and shortcomings earns her few friends. She has the only friend she needs in Amy, played by Kaitlyn Dever, who shares her passion for homework and whose social skills are only moderately more palpable...

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