Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Lynne

This week's analysis is thanks to Newbury Comics, for supplying such a great collection of used DVDs.  I'd never seen Girls Just Want to Have Fun until this weekend, and I love it for all it's campy, predictable teen-dance-movie glory.  Starring a young Sarah Jessica Parker (Janey) and Helen Hunt (Lynne), this movie very well could have set the stage for many of the teen movies in the 90's.  Watching it, I drew parallels to Save the Last Dance, Step Up, Mean Girls, She's All That and Clueless.  Here's a brief summary:


 Janey has just moved to Chicago, where a popular show called Dance TV is filmed.  Janey "loves to dance," as evidenced by her inability to not fidget and demi-plié  whenever she's standing.  At her newest Catholic school, she meets Lynne, and the two are instant friends.  Then they find out about a contest being held to bring two new dancers onto Dance TV.  The two try out, despite Janey's being forbidden to do so by her strict Army dad.  There, she meets her dance partner for the contest, Jeff, a public school boy who is expected to go to trade school.  The two doubt each other but then they fall in love, but then he is threatened by one mean girl's powerful father, and he decides it's not worth competing anymore.  They fall out, but then they are brought back together on the night of the final contest, and of course, they win, but not until after a dance-off after a tie score between them and the mean girl.  It's all very epic, and the dancing is all very 80's.  I kind of wish people still danced like that.  It seems so much more fun than the bump and grind seen at high school dances and night clubs all over.  Throughout the movie, the song that inspired the movie's title is played to a very nice effect - it gives the movie a bit more levity and giddiness that suits the teenage frame of mind.  It also helps to mitigate the effect of the cheesy synth score that swells around the characters at every significant glance or passionate kiss.  Speaking of kisses, Janey is the one to initiate the first kiss with Jeff, which is rather cool - she's a shy, inexperienced good girl, and she is the one to take control of the physical relationship.  I dig it.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - Jeannie and Michelle

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is the very archetype of a chick flick. Our two unlikely lovers meet, thrown together in unlikely circumstances - they have chemistry, but their conflicting interests threaten to derail both of their careers. Through it all, they reconcile for an implied happily ever after. Our main character Andie (Kate Hudson) is the "how to girl" for Composure magazine. Her love interest is Ben (Matthew McConaughey) "beer and sports guy" at a top ad agency. The two begin dating under equally deceptive circumstances, orchestrated by two ladies with questionable ethics: she is writing an article about the things not to do in a relationship; he has been set up on a bet to make a woman fall in love with him in order to land a large ad account. She drives him batty with clingy, obsessive behavior while he astounds her expectations by sticking with her through the teddy bear invasion, and the nick-naming of his penis, among other things. And while their lies and deceptions set up their courtship for disaster, we all know it will end well for these two pretty people.

Never Been Kissed - Anita

Never Been Kissed is an adult nerd's fantasy - Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) is a clever, socially awkward copy editor at a leading newspaper in Chicago. At 25 she is still scarred from the bullying and humiliation she suffered in high school, so when she is assigned to go undercover to get the inside scoop on teenagers, she is thrilled to get a second chance to be one of the cool kids. Naturally, she struggles with this, and with the help of her brother eventually does 'transition' into the popular crowd... (what's up Jessica Alba, James Franco). I'm sure most of you have seen it. Josie finds herself crushing on her English teacher (Michael Vartan) who is drawn to her as well - uh oh! She's supposed to be 17! And here is the main conflict in this cookie-cutter fantasy. It's a coming-of-age story, only she's not a teenager, but still it culminates at prom where Josie is crowned Prom Queen, and everyone learns a valuable lesson about bullying.

Josie and the Pussycats

Josie and the Pussycats is a fun, silly satire about teen obsession for bands and a mild criticism of the commercialization of the music industry specifically, the entertainment industry more generally. Steve Madden, Hostess, Puma, Reebok, Rite Aid, Starbucks, Motorola, McDonalds, John Frieda, Bugles, Target, TGI Fridays, Bloomingdales, Adidas, Revlon, TJ Maxx, Evian, Sega... all of these brands and more are visible in the movie. Certainly this is nothing new nor absent 9 years later - in Lady Gaga's video for Telephone, several brands are represented. Of course, with the increased availability of digital music, it's harder for artists and record companies to make a profit, so this promotion is mutually beneficial.

Coming Soon...

Just for kicks, I thought I might do a brief mid-week update, based on new and soon-to-be releases I'm looking forward to (in no particular order):

Mean Girls - Janis Ian

It was only a matter of time before I tackled Mean Girls. While this movie has a diverse cast of female characters, I've picked Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) as our beta-friend. This movie was incredibly popular when it was released in 2004, and was Lindsay Lohan's most successful film. The story is about Cady Heron (Lohan), but we actually have an alpha-female who is not the main character: Regina George (Rachel McAdams). Based on the book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, and written by Tina Fey, Mean Girls is essentially an anthropological satire about bullying, cliques and the social hierarchy in high school. It also addresses friendship, relationships, trust and identity.

Whip It! - Pash

Whip It! is the best female-driven movie of 2009, as far as this feminist is concerned.  The tag line is empowering as well: Be your own hero.  The story of Bliss Cavender's (Ellen Page) Roller Derby-ing into womanhood as Hurl Scout 'Babe Ruthless', this movie addresses many real issues young women face:  creating an identity while living under the influence of parents; finding a place in a new community; discovering one's sexual desires; first love; first heartbreak; taking a different road from your best friend; living up to one's passions and ambitions...