The story, as anyone with access to media in the last three months might tell you, centers around Olive. Olive is a confident, but lonely teenage girl in a stereotypical California high school. She turns faking sex with homosexual and outcast peers from a charity project, into a business. Of course, the presence of a fundamentalist Christian group (which may as well be named the Tea Party) seeks to ostracize her, and her fake bedmates in the name if Jesus. The persecution only encourages Olive (who’s English class happens to be studying The Scarlet Letter) to dress in lingerie with A’s either on her bodices or her jewelry. If you didn’t see this coming, all the lies about promescuity end up hurting most of the people involved. Who would have thought.

This truly sounds like a film churned out of Hollywood high school cliches and stereotypes. Nothing more would be expect of Gluck, who’s only other directing credit comes from the god-awful Fired Up!. Yet Gluck manages to make us forget the likes of his previous films, and other high school genre movies. In fact, this film (specifically because of Stone’s performance) is very reminding of Alicia Silverstone’s run as Cher in 1995′s Clueless. Meaning Easy A suffers from a bit of the expected, but really excels when it comes to a fresh script, and some very talented performers. Among those in the supporting cast, Thomas Haden Church and Lisa Kudrow standout, as a married couple, teacher and guidance counselor respectively, who also happen to be some of the most damaged by Olive’s poor choices. They are funny, and authentic, and a pleasure to watch every second they’re on screen. Olive’s parents are played by the fantastically talented Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. These are both actors I uniformly love watching, but here they’re mildly typecast as the quintessential, liberal California parents who are just a little too perfect.

All compliments and complaints aside, the thing I loved most about Easy A‘s script (excluding Stone), was the wildly fresh script that kept me laughing out loud over and over. Credit is due to Bert V. Royal here, who’s only other writing credit (according to IMDb) is one episode of Gigantic in 2010. There’s a humor and intelligence in the crisp writing that I haven’t heard in a comedy since, well, for a long time. This film is well worth anyone’s time and I suggest you get yourself to the theatre sooner rather than later.

3.5 out of 4 stars

A European friend of mine once told me that if I watched an Almodovar film, even if I hadn’t been to Spain, I’d feel like I had. I don’t know if that’s necessarily true, but I do know that I feel like I’ve been there now after watching Vicky. Or at least, I saw the the Spain that every American wishes existed. The film follows BFFs Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) as they spend their summer in Barcelona. Both are frustrated artists at heart (but mostly they’re just pretentious as hell).  After a chance encounter with a Spanish artist, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), the three go away for a weekend of lovemaking.  Although Juan is quite clear about his intentions, both girls pretend they’re going to experience a different part of Spain (and I’m not taking about Juan’s part). Things are quickly complicated by the fact Vicky is engaged to be married, and Cristina had food poisoning. Then enters Juan’s ex-wife, the tortured soul: Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz).  Sound like French New Wave?  While it’s not the definition of the style, the love triangles, and the matter-of-fact narration (which I fell in love with) is New Wave as Allen has ever been.

This goes without saying, but the cast is so talented, it makes you feel like the film is sort of selfish, hoarding all this talent.  It’s a pleasure to see Bardem perform in such a different environment then that of No Country For Old Men, although I did keep waiting for him to kill someone.  Patricia Clarkson and Johansson are reliable, as always and were a pleasure to watch, but I think the real stars of the show are Rebecca Hall and Penelope Cruz, both of whom act the hell out of the parts (in a good way).

Allen denied himself some of the ridiculous self-indulgences he’s allowed himself in the past, like his off-pitch improv antics in 2006′s Scoop (also starring Johansson), or 2007′s Cassandra’s Dream which was weighed down by pointless, boring dialogue. Vicky is a tight, quickpaced, sensual (without being erotic) good time that will leave you endlessly entertained.

4 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 81% – Cream of the Crop: 85%

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexuality, and smoking.