Topic: The Art of Getting By

Recent Indie Movies Like ‘Terri’ and ‘Submarine’ Treat Teen Sex Realistically

Recent Indie Movies Like 'Terri' and 'Submarine' Treat Teen Sex Realistically

When I was a junior in high school, I contemplated having sex with my boyfriend. Not because I was in love with him, but because I was 17, and 17 was the age in all the high-school movies that girls seemed to be sexually active. Thankfully, I didn’t follow through with it because I realized that movies did not equal real life and that I’d rather wait.

I thought of that adolescent whim, and the movies that inspired, while looking at recent movies that have portrayed teen sexuality a lot more realistically. What they all have in common is that they’re independent projects, so they don’t need to cram their trailers with nubile teenage girls to sell tickets. More »

Interview: Freddie Highmore on High School and First Love in ‘The Art of Getting By’

Interview: Freddie Highmore on High School and First Love in 'The Art of Getting By'

We’ve watched Freddie Highmore grow up since his tear-inducing turn as a sickly child in Finding Neverland and as a musical prodigy in August Rush. Now the 19-year-old soccer enthusiast is a student at Cambridge University, and (back in 2010) spent five weeks in New York City filming The Art of Getting By. In the film, he plays George, a fatalistic young artist who refuses to do his homework and masks his familial insecurities with witty comebacks. This all changes when George meets the bright, sexy Sally (Emma Roberts), who leads him into the popular crowd and encourages him to explore his art. More »

Emma Roberts Manages to Play a Better Version of Her Past Roles in ‘The Art of Getting By’

Emma Roberts Manages to Play a Better Version of Her Past Roles in 'The Art of Getting By'

Hollywood typecasting makes it easier to audiences to figure out what a movie’s about without knowing anything about its plot — thanks to actors who play the same roles over and over again, trying to recapture lightning in a bottle. With each role, they run these characters into the ground until they’re the most bare-bones stereotypes.

It becomes shorthand: Sarah Jessica Parker is a highstrung, Type A businesswoman. Sandra Bullock is tough-as-nails and uses a breezy attitude to hide her secret insecurities. Penelope Cruz played the same role in both the Spanish and American Vanilla Sky movies, with the second an awful remake of what had been a fantastic performance the first time around.

Emma Roberts‘ good-girl muse Sally in The Art of Getting By could have been just a worse rehashing of her radiant character in Twelve, but the combination of director Gavin Wiesen‘s script and Roberts’ own know-how elevates Sally to a better version of what we’ve seen before. More »

Interview: ‘The Art of Getting By’ Writer-Director Gavin Wiesen on Making an Anti-Clique Movie

Interview: 'The Art of Getting By' Writer-Director Gavin Wiesen on Making an Anti-Clique Movie

It’s clear that Gavin Wiesen based The Art of Getting By off his own adolescence: He attended private school in New York City and bears a striking resemblance to the movie’s star, Freddie Highmore. (Or technically, Highmore looks a lot like his director.) Originally titled Homework, the movie follows reclusive smartass George (Highmore), who gets away with doing no homework during his senior year, and Emma Roberts as Sally, a popular girl who brings him into her world of parties and fun. More »

5 Facts About ‘The Art of Getting By’ Actress Sasha Spielberg

5 Facts About 'The Art of Getting By' Actress Sasha Spielberg

During the screening of The Art of Getting By, I kept wondering who was the brunette who played Emma Roberts‘ best friend Zoe, a pretty, popular girl with money and charm to spare. It wasn’t until the credits rolled that I got her name: Sasha Spielberg. Though there isn’t a ton of information on Sasha due to her being an atypical Hollywood kid and not getting drunk/in catfights, we were able to glean a few tidbits. More »