Cherrybomb (2009)

If there's any demographic whose daily lives have been outlandishly glamorized on film, it might be teenagers. From the Shakespearean hierarchies of "She's All That" to the sparkly designer gloss of "Gossip Girl," these teens have always partied harder and done more drugs than the average adolescent. However, in the Irish indie, "Cherrybomb," the filmmakers strike a solid balance between the realities of restless kids and how far they go when flirting with danger, even if the film doesn't bring new insights into their behavior.

Rupert Grint's fate as "Harry Potter's sidekick" is a near certainty in the minds of many moviegoers, but in his starring role as Malachy McKinney, he succeeds in edging away from Ron Weasley's comedic instincts and heroics. Malachy earns good grades, is quiet and respectful with his family, and does what he's supposed to do, including grunt work for his cocky boss at the Titanic Leisureplex fitness center. His best friend, Luke, played by Robert Sheehan with a young Mick Jagger swagger, lies at the opposite end of the spectrum. Luke's family is in pieces, and since he must watch out for his alcoholic, drug-addled father, no one watches out for Luke. While Malachy watches cautiously, Luke runs wild.

The boys balance each other out until the arrival of Michelle, the daughter of Malachy's boss, played by Kimberley Nixon. She's dangerous, and in making Luke and Malachy fight over her, she pushes the boys to increasingly extreme heights. As Luke does the crazy things he always does, Michelle challenges Malachy to go further. Nixon does a great job of portraying this unattainable girl without boundaries. She plays the boys off each other with supreme confidence, staring into Luke's eyes an inch away from his face as if she knows she's the one thing he can't reach, and taunting Malachy with the understanding that he's been desperately waiting for an excuse to be the bad boy.

Malachy's sheltered upbringing is understandable. Luke's broken home is not shocking. Michelle's apathetic parents are expected. All three of the talented young leads are convincing and relatable in their performances, but the plot itself is more of a revelation than the character development. The movie is still worth seeing, and waiting to find out which boy Michelle chooses is the most interesting aspect of the story. The film's tagline sums this up perfectly: "Two guys. One girl. Game on."

Infamous (Playstation 3, 2009)

Superheroes have been in action since the start of the 20th century. Whenever a city needs a savior, its citizens can look to Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and a myriad of other mentally- or physically-enhanced characters to bring them from the edge of destruction. Now, for the modern age, Infamous reinvents the wheel and gives us Cole MacGrath, a young man who started his day as a bike messenger and ended it with lightning bolts shooting from his hands. It is a videogame that makes a better superhero movie than most superhero movies.

When the story begins, players learn that the cause for Cole's amazing new abilities is also the explosion that blew his hometown, Empire City, apart. As Cole, you are given an immediate responsibility to answer to those who now blame you for the deaths of thousands. Here is where Infamous gets its name: Players have the option to either pursue a path of righteousness and save Empire City, or unleash Cole's power and make the city go down in flames. Will you fight the trigger-happy gangs of junkies that have taken over the streets, or let the people suffer?

The characters of this game, and how they push the twisty plot, are almost more of a wonder than Cole's ability to summon lightning storms from the sky. Cole, the gruff and reluctant hero (or villain, depending on which Karma Track you choose), is an average guy who just wants things to be the way they were before the blast. Trish, his girlfriend, is struggling through her feelings for him, because she sees him as the reason her sister is now dead. Zeke, Cole's best friend, wants to be a hero, but must sit and watch as Cole becomes someone he can never be. Infamous sucks the player into these relationships and leaves players wanting -- no, needing to know what happens next.

A great videogame story can still fall flat if the gameplay is boring, but that is certainly not a problem here. The game includes a modern twist on a classic superhero pattern: the character begins as an ordinary person, except for one thing that gives him a little extra "oomph." For Peter Parker, it is his scientific knowledge. For Bruce Wayne, there are his detective skills. Cole McGrath, on the other hand, is super-agile thanks to his background as a free-runner, an athlete of the neo-sport parkour. No surface in the game is unclimbable. No wire is unreachable. Cole can jump, slide, scale and balance on nearly anything in the living, breathing game environment, which makes traveling the city as much fun as taking out the bad guys (or innocent citizens, again, depending on your Karma).

The most shocking part of the game is the fact that Sucker Punch Productions, well... didn't pull any punches. Where many superhero stories allow for cheap escapes and ignore repercussions, the creators of this game pushed through. Where you expect characters to get off easy, no one does. The game is realistic, and explores what would actually happen in the event of a situation like Cole's. You will find no bright red spandex here, or glossed-over versions of big American cities. Infamous is grittier, with greater emotional impact, and allows a hero to rise (or fall) at your will.