10 November 3, 2010 + Over the Edge The Trotsky The revolution starts in high school SHELBY PETERSEN EDITOR IN CHIEF Canadian films get a bad rap. For the most part, they can be pretty strange — but there are a few gems. The Trotsky, starring Jay Baruchel, is one of those gems. As the name of the film title implies, the subject centres around Leon Trotsky himself. The protagonist, played by Baruchel, is Leon Bronstein, a not so typical Montreal high school student. Bronstein claims to be the reincarnation of Trotsky himself! After staging a hunger strike at his father’s Montreal factory over a lack of a union, Bronstein’s father punishes Leon by sending him to public school. While at public school, Bronstein is able to live out his “birth right” as a Trotsky incarnate when it becomes blaringly clear that the school’s principle is a veritable fascist. Bronstein joins the school’s Student Union and stages a revolution in an attempt to give the students of his school and all others in the district more of a say in their education as well as the freedom to be treated as adults. Michael Cera Still Playing the Same Character While the movie is clearly fanciful, and a little on the absurd side at times, Baruchel’s acting ability really pulls the movie together. The movie also has a lot of Canadiana in it as well. However, the Canadiana is not the kitschy sort that you would expect (i.e. beavers, maple syrup, and hockey) but rather, cleaver Canadian innuendos, as well as allusions to current Canadian political and social events. Directed by Jacob Tierney, the film was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and received very high reviews. Moreover, The Montreal Gazette noted that the screenplay was “inspired and often- dangerously-funny,” and that Tierney and the cast of the film were “too talented.” The film has been likened to 80s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, as both movies have a brazen young protagonist facing off against an aging pseudo-fascist teacher. If anything else, the Trotsky is a good way to spend a Sunday night when you should be studying for that midterm on Monday morning. “HIL ASF ONE OF THE BEST HIGH SCHOOL An overview of Cera’s previous film and television roles LAURA BLAKLEY THE MANITOBAN (UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA) Laura Blakley — The Manitoban (University of Manitoba) WINNIPEG (CUP) — Fans of the Scott Pilgrim series were collectively intrigued by the idea of the Canadian graphic novel being transformed into an Edgar Wright flick, and then Scott Pilgrim fans collectively slapped their foreheads when they found out that the title character was going to be played by Michael Cera. Is it possible that Cera could pull this off? Scott Pilgrim has to be a bit of a badass, and there’s no way that the same guy who played Paulie Bleeker — his Juno doppelganger — in every film is going to be that versatile. To find out, we pit Michael Cera against himself, using a selected number of his previous roles. Arrested Development (2003) — Cera’s character was a dweeby, weird, quiet, mumbling young man with an obsessive crush on his cousin, Maeby. His primary reaction in social situations is to mumble and look away from basically anything, while passively trying to romance his father’s sister’s likely-biological daughter, and not have his family mess up his life too badly. Meet George-Michael. Juno (2007) — This dweeby, quiet, athletic- ish young man with a penchant for orange Tic Tacs and a lost-cause crush, waits for the girl who once liked him to fall for him again. Lucky for him, she does. Then he quits the track team to play guitar with her. George-Michael finally got over Maeby and now has a prop-related idiosyncrasy. Youth in Revolt (2009)— The mannerisms of the principal character (Nick Twisp, not Francois Dillinger) are the same as the aforementioned characters, with the insertion of sarcasm. He doesn't play the guitar, but he carries around a journal. He lies to his family, girlfriend, and everyone else in his bumbling, charming way as he commits arson, grand theft auto (twice), a break and enter and drugs the girl of his dreams. The events that unfold are radically different from things his previous characters would do, but they are delivered with the same aplomb reserved for telling someone that perhaps Maeby isn’t his biological cousin, or that he’s out of orange Tic Tacs. Even his alter ego, Francois Dillinger, is a calm, mumbling rebel who exerts all his OMEDIES I'VE SEEN IN A LONG TIME.” ONLINE SOURCE assertive, as much as one can be without turning it into a foible, when defending himself against the irrationally-bitchy Julie, the cynical Kim and basically every woman he’s ever dated. Except Knives, who blindly follows him around like a lost puppy. Cera ditches the mumbling doofus routine, and instead takes on the I’m-in-a-band doofus routine. This new doofus has the audience rooting for him until the very end, when his self-editing and convenient memory loss routine lifts enough to show everyone, including Pilgrim, that he’s a cheating asshole. Pilgrim realizes he is, and always has been an asshole, confronts himself and apologizes to all the women he has wronged over the years, giving a bit of humanity to their characters and redeeming himself. This may be an incredibly disturbing aspect of Cera’s characters, regardless of how he actually plays them: They do creepy, weird and mean things to women they are interested in, but because Cera is playing the main character, the audience automatically wants to root for him. Is it going to be painful to see Cera return to the screen as George-Michael in the possible 2012 Arrested Development movie? Of course it is, but mostly because everything in George-Michael’s life is painful. We've lived through Cera playing this character a million times, and we'll live ONLINE SouRCE through it again. Thank your heavenly stars body’s energy to flip over a cereal bowl before going for a walk. George- Michael is going through a bit of a phase. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) — Cera changes things up here. As Pilgrim, he’s that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World granted a much-needed recess for the audience, so they can sit through another film with Cera in it. Congratulations, George-Michael.