New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.

Follow Me

• Dark Shadows ***
• Darling Companion **1/2
• God Bless America ***
• Marvel's The Avengers ***1/2
• ReGeneration ***
• Sound of My Voice ***
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits ***1/2
• The Raven ***
• Safe **1/2
• The Lucky One 1/2*
• 4:44 Last Day on Earth **1/2
• Blue Like Jazz **
• The Cabin in the Woods ***1/2
• Damsels in Distress ***1/2
• Lockout **1/2
• The Three Stooges ***
• The Turin Horse ****
• We Have a Pope **1/2
• American Reunion **
• Goon ***
• More

• Bird of Paradise
• Maniac Cop
• Miss Representation
• Mother's Day (2012)
• Murder Obsession
• Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
• Underworld Awakening
• The Vow
• Clueless
• Haywire
• Hit!
• Men in Black
• New Year's Eve
• The Red House
• More

• Peter Lord
• Abel Ferrara
• Nicholas Sparks
• Whit Stillman
• Sean Hayes
• Terence Davies
• Peter Lord Interview
• Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
• Taika Waititi
• Will Ferrell
• Interview: Ewan McGregor [SF Examiner]
• Interview: the 'Project X' stars [SF Examiner]
• Interview: Oren Moverman
• Interview: Rachel McAdams
• Interview: Ti West
• Interview: Elizabeth Banks
• 2011: The Year's Best Films
• Year's Best DVDs and Blu-Rays
• San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards
• The Decade's Ten Best Films: 2000-2009
• My Top 100 Films [Updated]
• My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
• Christmas Movies
• Essential Halloween & Horror Movies
• Cult Movies
• More Features and Interviews

• Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, by Alonso Duralde
• Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
• James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
• Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
• More Books

• Home
• Reviews A-C
• Reviews D-F
• Reviews G-J
• Reviews K-M
• Reviews N-Q
• Reviews R-T
• Reviews U-Z

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

SEARCH MOVIES / CELEB

American High School (2009)

Rating: 1 Star (out of 4)

No Principals

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy American High School on DVD

As far as sex comedies go, this one is stupider than most, but it's stupid in an interesting way; it's so stupid it's almost surreal. Its rhythms are so far away from life that you almost can't take your eyes from it. It might even make you feel more human, more alive. The plot has something to do with cute high school senior Gwen (Jillian Murray) who is actually married. Due to some strange circumstances that I either didn't follow or didn't care to follow, she causes a bunch of trouble, and then concocts a few "clever" plans to set everything right. These high schoolers are all sexually confident and active, which is totally different from your real experience of high school. But what I liked about them is that the movie didn't care a whit about "likeability." No one cares what you think about these idiots, which is very refreshing, especially after recent garbage like Miss March. What I hated about the movie is that for a sex comedy, it has almost no nudity; as Joe Bob Briggs would say, it has only "two nekkid breasts," both belonging to Playboy playmate Nikki Ziering. Any teenage boys looking to rent this should know that detail in advance.

DVD Details: Anchor Bay's DVD release comes with a cast & crew commentary track, deleted scenes and trailers. As if anyone cares.

With: Jillian Murray, Talan Torriero, Aubrey O'Day, Martin Klebba, Nikki Ziering, Brian Drolet, Hoyt Richards, Pat Jankiewicz, James E. Foley, Alex Murrel, Davida Williams, Madison Dylan, Cameron Goodman, Scotty Kyle, Ashley Morey
Written by: Sean Patrick Cannon
Directed by: Sean Patrick Cannon
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive strong crude and sexual content, non-stop language, some nudity and drug material
Running Time: 86 minutes
Date: March 30, 2009