Confessions of a Teenage-Movie Connoisseur
A friend and I decided to go to the movies on Saturday. There are quite a few movies out right now that we both are interested in watching. When we met up, we were not yet decided on what to see. It was between Rango and Beastly. The latter, you might know, is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with a modern setting and high schoolers. As we drove to the cinema, my friend read reviews of each movie. Rango had great reviews, and Beastly had far from stellar reviews. We both agreed, though, that reviews always depend on the reviewer and the reviewer's expectations. If someone goes in to a movie like Beastly expecting for their world to be blown by new and witty dialog, a cutting edge plot, and Academy Award deserving acting, yes, they would definitely hate the movie. When seeing a movie like that, you have to know that you're seeing a teen flick and commit yourself to being a thirteen year old girl for a couple of hours and review the movie with a thirteen year old girl's eyes and expectations. Anyway, we kept driving, and we also kept hmm'ing and haw'ing over what to see. We decided to flip a coin. As she flipped, she asked, "What's heads?" I answered, "Rango." Heads it was. My friend suggested two out of three, just to be sure. She flipped again. Heads, again. "Three out of five," she suggested. I butted in. "Look, it's obvious which movie we both want to see but that we both refuse to admit that it's our preference. Let's see Beastly." And we did. And it was great... for what we expected from it, that is.
I have a confession. I adore teen movies. Specifically, I love those teen movies geared towards those of the softer sex. And, no, I'm not necessarily simply talking about the teen chick flicks of my own teenage years. (I must interrupt myself here. Nothing can beat the John Hughes movies of the 80s. Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Say Anything (aw, Lloyd...) --> the best!!!) I'm talking about the movies that were/are made well past the time that I could see my teenage years in my rear view mirror. (Okay, that's a bit of a lie; my teenage years don't seem in the too far distant past, so I could perhaps see them if I squint hard enough.) I'm talking about movies that include actresses like Hilary Duff. A Cinderella Story? Yeah, it rocks. Even The Perfect Man, which I know is God-awful, but I love it anyway.
Why do I like these movies? Upon first thought, I figured that I like them for their simplicity value, the escapism. Upon a bit more reflection, though, I think that it might be because I still like to believe that good always wins, that those in the wrong will either get what they deserve, or, even better, realize the errors of their ways, that love is something pure and not marred by difficulties (the latter I know to be false, but it's nice to pretend for awhile), and the outsider is the winner in the end.
Here are a few teen flicks that I think are great, in no particular order (because, really, how could I rate such awesomeness???):
Clueless This movie only for our teen years? As if! I have the DVD of this movie, and in the commentary, it is revealed that Alicia Silverstone mispronounced "Haitians"; it wasn't in the script. Hilarious!
10 Things I Hate About You Heath Ledger serenading someone as he runs up and down the bleachers? Priceless.
13 Going On 30 Jennifer Garner is not the best of actresses, but my heart breaks for her character a bit (see, I told you I revert to a 13 year old girl when watching...) when she realizes that her best friend is no longer even an acquaintance to her adult self.
Mean Girls Everyone loves this movie, though, right?
I should be embarrassed by this one, but I'm not: The Ice Princess There are a few things about this movie that bother me, but overall, it's a winner.
Penelope: This movie has moved up to my top 20 all-time/all genre movies. I love it. Granted, I like James McAvoy, but I'm fairly certain that he's not the only reason I adore this movie.
The Man in the Moon I used to have a crush on the London twins (Jason and... Jeremy?), but when I watch movies that they're in now, I can only think, "Why???" Still, this is a great flick.
Enchanted I don't know if this movie falls under the teen girl category, but I figure that it's a close cousin, if not. I don't laugh out loud at many movies that I've repeatedly seen, but this movie gets me every time.
Juno
Bend It Like Beckham I think I got a crush on Jonathan Rhys Myers and Keira Knightly when I first watched this.
Twilight and the rest of the saga (even the ones that are not yet released) "Team Edward!"
Ever After In addition to becoming a 13 year old girl for this movie, you also must ignore any and all bad accents. I love the part when Drew says, "Just breathe..."
Spiceworld Hilarious. I went to a Spice Girls concert in Vegas a few years ago. Girl power and all that jazz...
17 Again
The Princess Diaries
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Great music, too.
Superbad Okay, this one is for teen boys, too...
The Prince and Me
Just My Luck What? I like both Hilary Duff movies AND Lindsay Lohan movies? Oh, yes, I do. Speaking of Hilary--> Skip Raise Your Voice, and if this is coming from a teeny-bopper movie lover, you know it's got to be bad.
And last, if you've gotten this far, is Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, but I must admit that I cannot rate this movie. I have seen it at least three times, something an ex-boyfriend of mine can attest to, because everytime I saw it in the video store, I would get happy and state, "Oh! I've never seen this but have wanted to!" He would remind me that we had seen it, to his chagrin. I'd insist I'd never seen it, rent it again, and completely forget about it. This happened more than once, so I'm not sure how many times I've seen it, but I still don't remember it. This, though is not a good indication for a movie, but it did inspire the title of this post.
I have a confession. I adore teen movies. Specifically, I love those teen movies geared towards those of the softer sex. And, no, I'm not necessarily simply talking about the teen chick flicks of my own teenage years. (I must interrupt myself here. Nothing can beat the John Hughes movies of the 80s. Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Say Anything (aw, Lloyd...) --> the best!!!) I'm talking about the movies that were/are made well past the time that I could see my teenage years in my rear view mirror. (Okay, that's a bit of a lie; my teenage years don't seem in the too far distant past, so I could perhaps see them if I squint hard enough.) I'm talking about movies that include actresses like Hilary Duff. A Cinderella Story? Yeah, it rocks. Even The Perfect Man, which I know is God-awful, but I love it anyway.
Why do I like these movies? Upon first thought, I figured that I like them for their simplicity value, the escapism. Upon a bit more reflection, though, I think that it might be because I still like to believe that good always wins, that those in the wrong will either get what they deserve, or, even better, realize the errors of their ways, that love is something pure and not marred by difficulties (the latter I know to be false, but it's nice to pretend for awhile), and the outsider is the winner in the end.
Here are a few teen flicks that I think are great, in no particular order (because, really, how could I rate such awesomeness???):
Clueless This movie only for our teen years? As if! I have the DVD of this movie, and in the commentary, it is revealed that Alicia Silverstone mispronounced "Haitians"; it wasn't in the script. Hilarious!
Click to view10 Things I Hate About You Heath Ledger serenading someone as he runs up and down the bleachers? Priceless.
13 Going On 30 Jennifer Garner is not the best of actresses, but my heart breaks for her character a bit (see, I told you I revert to a 13 year old girl when watching...) when she realizes that her best friend is no longer even an acquaintance to her adult self.
Mean Girls Everyone loves this movie, though, right?
I should be embarrassed by this one, but I'm not: The Ice Princess There are a few things about this movie that bother me, but overall, it's a winner.
Penelope: This movie has moved up to my top 20 all-time/all genre movies. I love it. Granted, I like James McAvoy, but I'm fairly certain that he's not the only reason I adore this movie.
The Man in the Moon I used to have a crush on the London twins (Jason and... Jeremy?), but when I watch movies that they're in now, I can only think, "Why???" Still, this is a great flick.
Enchanted I don't know if this movie falls under the teen girl category, but I figure that it's a close cousin, if not. I don't laugh out loud at many movies that I've repeatedly seen, but this movie gets me every time.
Juno
Bend It Like Beckham I think I got a crush on Jonathan Rhys Myers and Keira Knightly when I first watched this.
Twilight and the rest of the saga (even the ones that are not yet released) "Team Edward!"
Ever After In addition to becoming a 13 year old girl for this movie, you also must ignore any and all bad accents. I love the part when Drew says, "Just breathe..."
Spiceworld Hilarious. I went to a Spice Girls concert in Vegas a few years ago. Girl power and all that jazz...
17 Again
The Princess Diaries
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Great music, too.
Superbad Okay, this one is for teen boys, too...
The Prince and Me
Just My Luck What? I like both Hilary Duff movies AND Lindsay Lohan movies? Oh, yes, I do. Speaking of Hilary--> Skip Raise Your Voice, and if this is coming from a teeny-bopper movie lover, you know it's got to be bad.
And last, if you've gotten this far, is Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, but I must admit that I cannot rate this movie. I have seen it at least three times, something an ex-boyfriend of mine can attest to, because everytime I saw it in the video store, I would get happy and state, "Oh! I've never seen this but have wanted to!" He would remind me that we had seen it, to his chagrin. I'd insist I'd never seen it, rent it again, and completely forget about it. This happened more than once, so I'm not sure how many times I've seen it, but I still don't remember it. This, though is not a good indication for a movie, but it did inspire the title of this post.