Cherrybomb (2009)

Two guys. 
One girl. 
Game on.

Malachy (Rupert Grint) is a straight A student with a part time job and a good family. Luke (Robert Sheehan) lives with his good-for-nothing father in a place rented to them by his brother, all of them dealing drugs. Playing off eachother, the guys stick together as best friends, until Michelle (Kimberley Nixon) moves back into town... A tease and a troublemaker, she is trying to make a life living with her father, but unfortunately the three are ticking off just the wrong reactions in eachother.

I really liked this movie! It is intense, fast-paced and smart, portraying British teenagers and their struggles with love, life and experimentation. Visually I particulartly liked the text messages, displayed very 'in-your-face' on the screen, giving a good idea of how we are sometimes miles away from our surroundings when texting. It is also a bit too indie at times, with lots of close-ups and cross-cutting, but all in all a great film.

Grint and Sheehan are both guilty pleasures; too young, too hot! And it's in Irish - lovely stuff! Though a teen flick, Cherrybomb is well made, well played, good entertainment.  A must-see for fans of British indie.

Runtime: 86 mins
Starring: Rupert Grint, Robert Sheehan, Kimberley Nixon

An Education (2009)

Where to begin... I'm thinking more about the heavy rain outside my window than the film I just saw...

An Education is about a hard working girl (Mulligan) in England in the 60s (or so), studying to be accepted into Oxford. She is both smart and pretty, straight A's, plays the cello... Pretty much got her whole life planned out. Until one day she meets David (Skarsgaard).

It's the classic 'girl meets boy - boy's no good'. But it's also about living, enjoying and appreciating life. The pictures are beautiful, and if you can get over the slightly pedophile relationship, it's actually a really cute movie. Because sometimes an education isn't by the book.

Runtime: 100 min
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson

Fish Tank (2009)

This British indie film is stripped of glamour and anything superfluous, and it hits hard. The repressed anger creates a tension that kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through, flipping from frustration, to worry, to empathy. It's a good movie, very real, and it left me with a great sense of sadness...

So, Mia is a 15 year old English girl with serious anger issues, and with good reason. She lives with her mother and younger sister, a family with too much yelling and booze, and too little care and boundaries. All her life keeping the world out, she has become introverted and temperamental. Now, with a serious crush on her mothers "latest catch", a possible break for her dancing and a nice guy with a car, life is suddenly breaking down her defences.

Runtime: 123 mins
Starring: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender