Libretio NEW PORT SOUTH Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDSAn unhappy student (Blake Shields) is prompted into rebellion against his teachers by what he sees as the mean-spirited bureaucracy of high school life, and his anarchy is fuelled by the story of a former student who appears to have been institutionalized against his will by an aggressive school administration.An ode to conformity. Written by James Hughes (son of John) and directed by Kyle Cooper, NEW PORT SOUTH is an odd but intriguing film, in which Shields and his cohorts are roused to action by a series of unconnected incidents which begin to form a recognizable pattern of manipulation and tyranny by teachers against students. However, those drawn by the promise of seeing Authority Humbled are in for a nasty surprise: By concealing the truth of what happened to the former student whose incarceration sparks Shields' crusade, Hughes is able to fashion a climactic twist which completely undermines the central narrative, though not before Shields is unmasked as a tyrant-in-waiting, no better than the uncaring faculty he seeks to denounce. In other words, rules are there for a reason, no matter how petty they may seem, or how belligerently they may be applied by malicious teachers exercising a Hitler complex, while rebellion - no matter how well-intentioned - breeds corruption and anarchy. So knuckle down, kids - do as you're told, accept the disrespectful way you're treated by some of your teachers, and whatever you do, DON'T ROCK THE BOAT...All dubious sermonizing aside, the movie is ignited by its strong cast of talented newcomers, including Shields as the increasingly disaffected protagonist (his showdown with snotty history teacher Todd Field crackles with real tension), and Will Estes as the aspiring artist forced to choose between obedience to his teachers or the moral uncertainty of his friends' rebellion. Curiously, director Cooper doesn't exploit Estes' teen idol good looks and refuses to indulge a romantic subplot with Estes' fellow student Melissa George, who hovers on the sidelines like an afterthought. However, despite its skewed viewpoint and a couple of confusing narrative leaps - one of the school jocks rallies too quickly to The Cause after being humiliated in a fight which ends with him having a staple-gun fired into his face, and there's a near-riot which erupts for no obvious reason during the final sequence - the movie is compelling in its own quiet way, and cinematographer Juan Ruiz Anchía makes a real virtue of the wintry Illinois locations.

bmb_q_t This was a one of the greatest movies I've seen in a long while. I is very entertaining for high school students, I might add. This movie is about a 17 year old (Maddox - Blake Shields) wanting the staff at his high school to lighten up on the students. He uses the excuse of a former student, (Stanton - Michael Shannon) who was placed in an institution two years ago, to manipulate his friends (Clip - Kevin Christy and Chris - Will Estes)to help him in putting posters up and making trouble for the teachers. One teacher (Walsh - Todd Field) is their biggest rival in this dramatic, and yet, funny and ironic-twist ending, film.

scud_muffin OK, not possibly, honestly the worst movie i've ever seen.this made absolutely no sense, there was no plot, no characterization, no acting, just nothing.here's what i thought when i first saw it may 28th, 2003 **caution, this is a spoiler alert. it's also alot of me complaining about how bad the movie is::ok so the movie begins and the characters are introduced, but there is no character explanation. as far as i knew the main character was new to this school, but apparently not. also it appeared that he lived by himself... then that he was a foster kid... then that his mother was a raging alcoholic who lived with him still. also all his friends apparently had no parents and lived by themselves.now we come to a main plot point, this insane guy has broken out of the insane asylum and is running rampant. now our main character is obsessed with this guy and focus' intently on him for the contingency of the movie. i think i must have missed a main plot element here, there was no REASON for the main character to get hooked. even if that's the point, having no reason, why do all his friends, who are skeptical like 5 minutes before, suddenly follow him and do what he wants.so the movie continues on, and it gets all right. they're running havoc on the school, blah blah blah. but wait a minute... suddenly everyone knows that the main character is running the 'show' here. wait a second, didn't the insane guy specifically tell the main character NOT to do that? it was supposed to be anynomous.ah another important plot element has been skipped over... the insane guy was supposed to not be insane... everyone said he wasn't insane. but as the story goes on, he is VERY CLEARLY OUT OF HIS MIND. but i thought the news people said he wasn't... hm...now the movie comes to a close. THAT WAS THE CLOSE? WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? not only did the ending not answer any questions about the main character, it didn't answer any questions about the insane guy. are these people in the same situation? if yes, then there are some very basic story lines that do not tend to this. if no then what is the point in saying "that's you in two weeks."??*end of the thing...*that's what i thought then. that is pretty much what i still think now. it's 6 months down the line, and if i can get it for free, i might give it another chance, but i doubt it. i highly doubt it.

rafterdog2 John Hughes can't seem to get out of the 'high school movie phase'. The man has made some great pieces, but it's time to move on. His newest release, New Port South, was by far his smallest. It tells the story of three high school rebels who lash out at the administration.Currently, I am a high school student. And I have seen students lash out against the teachers, the sports teams, whatever. But everything I have seen pales in comparison to what these three do. The posters, the demonstrations, the movies. It's all very intense, and honestly, I would be afraid to attend a high school that housed these types of teenagers.But if you're looking for a last minute weekend flick with a, well, interesting soundtrack, I would recommend New Port South, that is, if the New Release rack is empty.