Tuesday 1 August 2023

Fired Up! (2009)


A couple of high school lotharios who look like they've each had a pretty rough paper round decide to ditch football camp for cheerleader camp in pursuit of sexual conquests in "Fired Up!", director Will Gluck's sophomoric answer to "Bring It On". Naturally, the boys learn that there's more to life than sex, such as teamwork and also the prospect of eventually locking lips with Sarah Roemer. Even as someone who has his own soft spot for 2000s sex comedies, this wasn't all that for me. Not just because its leads (charisma vacuum Nicholas D'Agosto and the vastly more enjoyable Eric Christian Olsen) are about a decade past the point where they should be unironically playing high schoolers, but because the comedy is neither as funny as "Not Another Teen Movie" nor as outrageous as "Sex Drive" (two similar but much better movies). It's just stuck in this tame, tedious middle ground where badly miscast actors try to make the best of bad material and the audience can practically see the hope fleeing their bodies. There are a few laughs here and there, but mostly this is a by-the-numbers teen comedy that you'll forget quickly.









Immaculate (2024)

Following young American nun Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) as she starts her new life in a remote Italian convent, only to discover that her new ...