In honour of Project X, our resident columnist Cassandra Gallo put together a top five list of the best house party movies to watch this March Break. Who knows? Maybe the movies will serve as inspiration for your own March Break bash. 

Want to know what the key to becoming legendary is? It’s simple. Just throw an epic house party, one that people will talk about for months after.

For your mission to be successful, you need more than a basement with the latest Top 20 tracks playing on your iPod’s speakers. And you need more than a few of your friends gathered around discussing the latest Justin Bieber songs. To become legendary, you need an empty house, a few hundred people, and Bieber not only to be talked about at the party but to actually be there.

Okay, the standards are high but the outcome is usually sensational. Many have tried to throw a class A bash and many have failed. To those who only wish they could throw a bash like this, I invite them to take inspiration from this list of top five teen party movies, created in honour of the theatrical release of Project X.

1) Superbad (2007)

Here’s the movie that coined the name McLovin. It follows three friends (Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse) as they try to fulfill their promise to buy alcohol for a hot girl’s party. Oh, and they want to jump-start their sex life too. This movie is hilarity at it’s best, as these three friends want to end their high school career with a “bang.”

2) American Pie (1999)

Apple pie never looked the same after the release of this teen favourite. It follows a group of guys who make a pact to get laid by their senior prom… specifically at Stifler’s after-party. This movie has it all; beautiful girls, raunchy humor, and an unforgettable post prom party. It wouldn’t hurt to catch up on all the American Pie films (even the bad ones) in preparation for their upcoming reunion.

3) Can’t Hardly Wait (1998)

There’s one thing we party goers have learnt through the years … parties are messy! Either your so called best friend hooks up with your ex-boyfriend or you want to finally land a special night with your longtime crush. This movie gives us faith that parties make the unexpected possible. The film follows different students from separate cliques as they try and make the seemingly impossible possible.

4) House Party (1990)

Sneaking out, getting arrested, and dancing with hot girls/guys is the typical formula to follow when you decide to attend any rager — at least it is in the movie world. House Party is just the type of movie to prove you can get away with these things. When Peter (Christopher Martin) announces that his parents are going out of town and that he’s having a party, his house becomes the destination of the year. No matter what life throws at them the characters in this movie strive to make it to this party. RSVP at the door.

5) Risky Business (1984)

Dancing in your underwear alone at home is something we all secretly do (just me?) and Tom Cruise made it socially acceptable. In the movie Risky Business, Joel Goodsen miraculously throws a house party co-hosted with a prostitute, all while conducting his college interview. Win!

When your party is over and morning light starts to trickle through your window you can begin to nurse that hangover. Wait, who are we kidding? Still craving more? Here are three runner-up movies that nearly made the cut: Animal House (the classic!), Sixteen Candles, Weird Science.

Vancouver-born Seth Rogen, known for starring in films like Knocked Up, Superbad and Pineapple Express, won the Canadian Comedy Award for Canadian Comedy Person of the Year at a gala Friday held at the Imperial Theatre in Saint John, N.B., reports CBC.

Young People Fucking was awarded the awards for best writing, best directing and best performance by a male (Peter Oldring). The controversial film sparked much debate in the Senate last year about federal film sponsorship. The film was nominated for a total of eight awards.

Jon Dore won best performance by a male for The Jon Dore Television Show, which also won an award for directing.

Read more…

Despite being nominated twice in the same category, Michael Cera – along with his Canadian counterparts – lost at the 13th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards last night.

Cera was nominated in the Best Young Actor category for both his roles in “Superbad” and “Juno.” But it was Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada (The Kite Runner) who picked up that trophy.

The Broadcast Film Critics Association also chose Julie Christie’s performance in “Away From Her” over Ellen Page’s “Juno.” That’s good news for fellow Canadian Sarah Polley, however, as she directed and adapted the screenplay for “Away From Her.”

Page and Cera didn’t go home completely unhappy, however. “Juno” was named Best Comedy Movie and screenwriter Diablo Cody won in the Best Writer category for the script – her first ever. The hip soundtrack to the film is out in stores today.

Ryan Gosling also lost the Best Actor award to Daniel Day-Lewis.

Director Yves Simoneau was the only Canadian who didn’t go home empty-handed. His TV movie “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” won in the Best Picture Made for Television category.

Here is the complete list of nominees and winners:

Best Picture
American Gangster
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
Juno
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood

Best Actor
George Clooney – Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling – Lars and the Real Girl
Emile Hirsch – Into the Wild
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises

Best Actress
Amy Adams – Enchanted
Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie – Away From Her
Marion Cotillard – La Vie en Rose
Angelina Jolie – A Mighty Heart
Ellen Page – Juno

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War
Hal Holbrook – Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There
Catherine Keener – Into the Wild
Vanessa Redgrave – Atonement
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton

Best Acting Ensemble
Hairspray
Juno
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
Gone Baby Gone
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

Best Director
Tim Burton – Sweeney Todd
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
Sidney Lumet – Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Sean Penn – Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joe Wright – Atonement

Best Writer
Diablo Cody – Juno
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Nancy Oliver – Lars and the Real Girl
Sean Penn – Into the Wild
Aaron Sorkin – Charlie Wilson’s War

Best Animated Feature
Bee Movie
Beowulf
Persepolis
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie

Best Young Actor
Michael Cera – Juno
Michael Cera – Superbad
Freddie Highmore – August Rush
Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada – The Kite Runner
Edward Sanders – Sweeney Todd

Best Young Actress
Nikki Blonsky – Hairspray
Dakota Blue Richards – The Golden Compass
AnnaSophia Robb – Bridge to Terabithia
Saoirse Ronan – Atonement

Best Comedy Movie
Dan in Real Life
Hairspray
Juno
Knocked Up
Superbad

Best Family Film
August Rush
Enchanted
The Golden Compass
Hairspray
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Best Picture Made for Television
The Company
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Tin Man
The War

Best Foreign Language Film
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
La Vie en Rose
Lust, Caution
The Orphanage

Best Song
“Come So Far”, Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley – Hairspray
“Do You Feel Me”, Anthony Hamilton – American Gangster
“Falling Slowly”, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova – Once
“Guaranteed”, Eddie Vedder – Into the Wild
“That’s How You Know”, Amy Adams – Enchanted

Best Composer
Marco Beltrami – 3:10 to Yuma
Alexandre Desplat – Lust, Caution
Clint Eastwood – Grace Is Gone
Jonny Greenwood – There Will Be Blood
Dario Marianelli – Atonement
Alan Menken – Enchanted

Best Documentary
Darfur Now
In the Shadow of the Moon
The King of Kong
No End In Sight
Sharkwater
Sicko

Receiver of the Joel Siegel Award: Don Cheadle

“Superbad”‘s McLovin, a.k.a. teeny actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse, will have the chance to steal scenes once again in the Judd Apatow film “Year One.”

Reuniting with Canadian pal Michael Cera, Mintz-Plasse will play a ” platform-shoe-wearing high priest,” according to Yahoo! Entertainment.

No word yet on what his catchphrase will be this time around.

The comedy, set in biblical times, will also star Jack Black. Vinnie Jones is also in talks to play a palace guard. Harold Ramis will direct. Filming will take place in Louisiana and New Mexico come January.

“Superbad” is now on DVD.

Ryan Reynolds will play an aspiring rock star in Superbad director Greg Mottola’s newest film, Adventureland.

The coming-of-age comedy, also written by Mottola, will star Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale) as a recent college graduate in 1987 who has no choice but to work at a local amusement park. The uptight Eisenberg will learn to loosen up with the help of his love interest (Kristen Stewart, In The Land of Women) and Reynolds’ character, who is worshipped by all the kids at the park.

Reynolds is currently dating Hollywood darling Scarlett Johansson. Though the couple has not confirmed their status, they caused a tabloid frenzy last week when they were photographed walking hand in hand at LAX. They were returning from Vancouver, where Johansson was reportedly introduced to Reynolds’ family.

Reynolds was previously engaged to fellow Canadian Alanis Morissette.

Brampton-born Michael Cera will star as Nick Twisp in the film adaptation of the 1993 C.D. Payne novel Youth in Revolt: the Journals of Nick Twisp.

The story’s heavy use of black humour, camp and overt portrayals of teen sexuality make it a perfect fit for Cera, 19, whose charmingly awkward comedic talents were showcased in the cult hit show Arrested Development and this summer’s blockbuster hit Superbad.

The film will follow 14-year-old Nick as he deals with his parents’ imminent divorce by setting his sights on his dream girl Sheeni Saunders, hoping that she’ll be the one to take his virginity.

Cera can be seen next in Juno, alongside fellow Canadian talent Ellen Page. The quirky comedy premiered to rave reviews at this month’s Toronto International Film Festival, being called “This year’s Little Miss Sunshine.” A must see, Juno will have a limited release in late 2007.

Until then, get your Cera fix by checking out the Juno trailer, his hysterical summer project “Clark and Michael”, and his indie band, The Long Goodbye.