Three (Surprisingly) Good Teen Films

You ever see a movie trailer for the next dumb teen flick and think "Man, that movie looks terrible. I kinda want to go see it anyway..."?

Many films are worse than the trailers lead viewers to believe. But a few films actually exceeded my expectations. I recommend them to you all.

1. Fired Up

Premise: Two football players, Nick and Shawn, join the school's terrible cheer leading squad to go to cheer camp and get girls.

Why you should watch it: Dialogue, plain and simple. The plot of this movie is very predictable, but the dialogue will have you watching it over and over. Here are a few of my favorite gems from this film.

Nick: Bottomless breadsticks only keep you at the Olive Garden for so long, until at some point you look up and say 'Why the hell am I at the Olive Garden with all these fat people?'"

Dr. Rick: [holding up his hands] If these weren't tools for healing, I would crack you in the jaw. 

Nick Brady: YOU'RE a tool for healing.

Coach: How do you spell 'fired up'? 

Cheerleaders: F! U! 

Shawn: Not really... 

2. Easy A

Premise: High school girl feels unpopular. Gets attention by pretending to be the school slut, without actually sleeping around.

Why you should watch it: Brutal honesty. While certain characters and ideas are wildly exaggerated (Amanda Bynes' character is a painful example of this), other aspects of this film are incredibly accurate. The damage that rumors can do is all too real, and the way things can spiral out of control may hit close to home for many viewers. The dialogue is also consistently well done, and the protagonist's family is sure to make you laugh every time they're onscreen.

3. 10 Things I Hate About You

Premise: Taming of the Shrew...sort of...in high school...

Why you should watch it:

- Heath Ledger singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" (also known as "I Love You, Baby")

- Plot- very cleverly put together, just enough Shakespeare and just enough modern changes to keep things interesting. They, UNLIKE "She's the Man", pull of the fusion of Shakespeare and modern culture extremely well.

- Dialogue- mostly modern and hilarious, but some Shakespeare every so often.

- Cast- very good and drama and comedy, especially love Larry Miller as the overbearing single father of two teenage girls (and his day-job involves delivering babies).

- Julia Stile's "10 Things I Hate About You" Speech from the end of the film.