Filmmaker Gary Winick died on Sunday at the age of 49. While in recent years he was known for his work on larger movies like 13 Going On 30 and Bride Wars, we’ve always been partial to his breakthrough film: an indie comedy from 2002 called Tadpole. The premise is simple: Oscar Grubman, a 15-year old preppie with an ancient soul (think Max Fischer), has a crush on his oblivious stepmother, Eve. But because the film is set in the affluent social circles of the Upper West Side, our protagonist likes to randomly speak in French and quote Voltaire; when characters fight, the heated exchange takes place over a game of tennis; and a romance between an adult woman and a young boy seems plausible rather than illegal. It’s a very adult world for a teenager to inhabit, and one that has only been captured a handful of times on film. Click though as we revisit some of our favorite examples.
If you’ve ever seen or even heard of a reality show on Bravo known as NYC Prep, then you will appreciate this video. Camille’s big head and hairline are spot on. Keli is hysterical (especially when PC slaps her across the face). PC is… himself. Jessie’s characterization is a little mean, but still a riot. Sebastian’s intonations and hair-adjusting are just right, and poor Taylor is just boring, per usual. Make sure to stay tuned for the celebrity cameos at the end.
On Attractive Qualities in Men: Metropolitan, Nick: “Rick Von Slonecker is tall, rich, good looking, stupid, dishonest, conceited, a bully, liar, drunk and thief, an egomaniac, and probably psychotic. In short, highly attractive to women.”
NYC Prep, Taylor: “I’m, like, attracted to Sebastian. I like his hair.”
- The Faster Times compares dialogue from “WASP Woody Allen” Whit Stillman’s classic Metropolitan with the verbiage of the possibly morally and definitely grammatically bankrupt teens of Bravo’s NYC Prep. BTW, who watched last night? We hope the producers feel at least a little ashamed after they achieved their goal of convincingly insinuating that a 17-year-old girl did something slutty. Team Camille!
The only thing that surprises us about the upcoming debut of NYC Prep, Bravo’s not-so-thinly-veiled reality version of Gossip Girl, is that it took this long for them to roll out the idea. As early disciples of Josh Schwartz (btw, congrats on your wedding!) will recall, it was GG forerunner The O.C. that originally begat The Real Orange County: Laguna Beach, thus kicking off the “quasi-reality based on fiction” craze. Now the network that spawned The Real Housewives of [Insert Location] is poised to bring us a show that promises a peek into the lives of real Upper East Side prepsters and the public school outcasts that circle them. The show won’t premiere until June 23, but Hulu just put up a twenty-minute sneak peek, and we have to say, it’s good. Read More »
