Good Movies Teens Will Like: Extreme Days

Over the last 10 years I have done a ton of movie nights for teens, (ok, I know I say the word "ton", but that is just a metaphor, cause really, how do you weigh getting kids to watch movies together, what unit of measurement works, so lets just say that "tons" in this case means "a lot" and we will leave it at that.) and I have always ended up showing one movie more then any other, and that movie is Extreme Days.



So, why have I shown Extreme Days more then any other movie? Well, it has lots of sports montages, it is funny and most of all, it is incredibly clean, (more on that later) yet, teens still like it, (now when I say teens like it, not all teens do, there are some who don't, but I am talking in generalizations, so if you're reading this and your name is.... lets say D. Broda, no, that is giving away too much, lets just say your name is Davis B., yeah, thats what we will call you, and as Davis B. you are saying to yourself, "I didn't like it!" well you are in the minority my brother, but I still think you're awesome, so cool beans), so with that said, lets move on to what it is about and I will get back to why you will show it later.

What It Is About - Extreme Days is basically about 4 friends, (Matt, Corey and the two brothers Will and Bryan) that have grown up together doing stupid stuff and after finishing college they go on a road trip that they have been dreaming of doing all their lives. They first head to mexico to do some surfing*, and after only a short


Left to Right its Corey, Bryan, Matt and Will

time, Corey gets a call that his Grampa G has died and he has an inheritance to collect which is all the way in Yacama Washington. So the boys pack up their gear and decide to road trip to there instead. Shortly after heading in that direction they meet up with Matt's cousin Jesse, (Matt has a lot of cousins, and I mean a lot). Jesse is a smart, beautiful girl that has car troubles and is hit upon quickly by Bryan, and then joins the road trip after dismissing Bryan's come ons so that she can get back to university which is also in Washington. From there a lot of extreme sports happen, Corey bets Bryan that he can't get Jessie to do something he wants her to, (Bryan picks getting her to sing, cause she can't sing, which brings about a hysterical game of spoons) and they keep heading to their destinations where more surprises wait for them.

Why Teens Would Like It - Ok, so here it is, the moment you have

 been waiting for, the reason teens will like this movie. It has guys lighting farts on fire! Yep, that's it. Ok, that's not all, but man oh man do teens love watching farts explode into flame. Ok, the other reasons teens will like this movie is it is funny, has lots of cool sports highlights and everybody loves a good road trip. It's that simple, put together farts, sports and humor, and you got a movie that teens like.



Why Leaders Would Like It - Now as I said earlier, the main reason that leaders will like Extreme Days is that it is incredibly clean. Now, when I say clean I am not referring to the fact that it is washed in soap, or that the disc has no scratches, no, what I mean

This is the most skin you see in the whole movie!

 is that it is a teen movie that has lots of things that teens love, yet no swearing, or gratuitous violence and most of all, no sex. Yep, you heard me, it has no swearing, violence or sex, absolutely none, zip, zero, nada, (or any other word you can think of for nothing). It is a movie that you can show that won't get you in any trouble, (well, as long as your youth aren't stupid enough to try and light their farts on fire, so just incase make sure you tell them not to, cause you know someone will do it and say, "Well, you never said not to!") and what leader isn't always hyped for that, (unless of course you aim to misbehave, and then you may go looking for trouble anyway).

Extreme Days isn't a movie that hits you over the head with God, in fact, most of the time it kinda just hangs out in the background. The two main areas it does surface is first and foremost in the soundtrack. Extreme Days boast a very good and very very very Christian soundtrack. It consists of 17 songs from such artists as POD, Skillet, Toby Mac and John Reuben, just to name a few, (if

Riding in the Joyota.

 you have never heard of any of those bands, don't feel bad, you will probably like some of the music anyway). Throughout the movie they did a great job of matching music to scenes, getting the feel just right pretty much every time. Now saying that, this is not done in a way that makes the viewer really notice, especially if they don't already know the bands, (so basically, its not like every time a song comes up you think to yourself, "Yep, here comes another Christian song again"). So other then the music, the main God stuff comes up three quick little times. First in the form of Jesse mentioning that God is what

I have car trouble, and my dad was a jerk and
left our whole family, Thank God for God!

 helped her when her father left their family, when someone gave her a card that said, "God Understands". The second time is when Bryan and Will are discussing their sister dying and Bryan says, "the more you hope the more you get let down" and Will mentions that he is tired of Bryan blaming God for their sisters death, and that, "don't you think it hurt God to watch Amanda go through that". Lastly, Will does a voice over to finish the movie, mentioning that, "When God throws you a curve ball, don't duck, cause you never know what you might miss". So as I said, there is no bashing you over the head with God stuff or bible thumping, (just on a side note, bible thumping sucks in all forms, but I found this out in particular at a camp in my teens, when a leader mentioned not to bible thump people, and my friend, Mark, looked at me, then looked at his big freaking leather bound bible, then back at me, and then in one swift movement thumped me across the head with it. After my ears finished ringing, I looked at Mark and said, "What was that for?", to which he laughed and said, "Bible thumping!".**) yet it still manages to slip a few spiritual moments in amongst the sports and the flaming farts.***



Hey, does anybody know where to get our bags, anybody? 

So, if you are looking for a movie that is funny, and extreme sports oriented, and has flaming farts with a little God stuff thrown in for good measure, then Extreme Days is the film for you. So pack up your Joyota****, and grab all the pickled eggs you can carry, and remember to brush you teeth with Coke-a-cola, and sit back and enjoy the movie, but, "for the love of donuts" don't let Jesse sing, cause the world doesn't need to hear another coyote caught in a trash compactor.***** Until next time extreme readers, stay safe, stay toasty, and stay away from the Turkish Sailor, cause they had a problem with their meat. Blog at you later.

*I should point out that Extreme Days is not a big budget movie, so you and your teens will easily notice that the 4 friends are not actually in any of the sports montages, even though they do their best to make you think they are, so when your superknowitall teen points that out you can say, "Yeah, I know, the super cool good looking blogger guy already told me that, now shut up and watch the movie."
**After the first whack upside my head from Mark, you will be happy to know that I did some serious bible thumping myself, and it was after Mark and I had hit each other about 8 times that the leader finally saw us and asked what we were doing, to which we looked at each other for a second and then responded in unison, "BIBLE THUMPING!"
***Flaming Farts, now there is the best piece of alliteration that I have ever written.
**** Joyota, is a reconstructed jeep with a rebuilt Toyota engine, now you know.
*****This is how Matt describes Jesse's singing, which is apparently the only thing she can't do.