Video Teaching Mrs. Tingle

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Average Rating: Rating: - Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a brilliant black comedy Unfortunately, this brilliant movie was all but overlooked at the box office. Perhaps this is from pressure from teachers and parents who believed it promoted violence against teachers w/o ever seeing it. I believe it is this compounded with the fact that a teen film is rated R, thus no one under 17 can go w/o parents and who wants to go with parents? Then the parents don't go b/c they think it will be a teen movie. It's a vicious cycle and it lead to this outrageous, brilliant, endlessly inventive, creative, and original film not getting the money it deserved. The truth is this is an amazing satire/horror film about those horrible teachers who constantly pollute high schools--cruel, evil monsters who feel determined upon making students' lives miserable, praying that they will fail in life. This situation happens all of the time. However in this film one teacher goes too far, and....See the movie to find out. In it are brilliant performances by Katie Holmes and Helen Mirren. You will not be disappointed and you will never guess how it will ever wrap up well. Rating: - "No More Teacher's Dirty Looks....." In the wake of Columbine, this film, originally titled "Killing Mrs. Tingle", was changed to "Teaching Mrs. Tingle". I think it sounds more appropriate. To tell you the truth, this movie isn't as bad as has been written about it. Writer Kevin Williamson is on board as director as well on this film. Three students decide to take action against a nasty teacher(brilliantly played By Helen Mirren)who thinks they were cheating on a test(which they weren't)and now stands in their way of graduating. They go to her house and a series of incidents occur which now has the three students keeping Mrs. Tingle locked up in her house, with each one of them taking turns watching her. One by one, Mrs. Tingle begins to mess with their minds. Helen Mirren is exceptionally convincing and brilliant as the nasty teacher. She will have you hooked on her through the entire film. The other stars, Katie(Dawson's Creek)Holmes, Barry(7th Heaven)Watson, and newcomer Marissa Coughlan are all pretty good. Coughlan is especially delightful. Many bad things were said about this film because of Columbine and the violence in the movie, but there is no deaths. No nothing. It's PG-13 after all. This isn't grand filmmaking, but it's entertaining to a certain degree nonetheless. Williamson has a nice eye for directing as well. The film was loosely based on Williamson's own bad teacher. And, I think, we've all had a Mrs. Tingle. Rating: - A Great Movie! This was one of the best movies I have seen recently. Kevin Williamson clearly shows off all his talent with a very witty script and shows that he can also direct. The movie follows Leigh Ann Watson (Holmes) as she struggles to get a much needed scholarship to get into college. All she needs is an A in History. When the history teacher Mrs. Tingle (Mirren) falsely accuses her of cheating, her two friends Jo Lynn (Coughlan) and Luke (Watson), go to Mrs. Tingle's house to prove Leigh Ann innocent. When their plan goes way out of control, they decide that it is time to give her lesson! This movie shines with talent from Helen Mirren who is perfect for the role as the teacher from hell. The teen cast was impressive as well. Katie Holmes plays the role of Leigh Ann with such sympathy, you really get pulled into the situation. And the new actress Marisa Coughlan pulls off an amazing performance, certainty one of the best highlights of this film was seeing her comedic scenes, especially when she imitates perfectly Linda Blairs performance in The Exorcist. Barry Watson also did an impressive job in the role as Luke, the boy Jo Lynn and Leigh Ann both secretly have crushes on. Molly Ringwald and Vivica A. Fox both have cameos as members of Grandsboro High Schools staff. Overall, this movie is wonderful in all genres. It is a wonderful comedy, drama, and thriller all rolled into one great movie. If you didn't catch this one in theaters, you should definitely rent it. You won't regret it! Grade: A

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