Friday 20 July 2012

Girls Who Wanna have Fun

Mean Girls and Clueless are two of the girliest films possible. Admittedly they both have scenes or moments of dialogue not related to a) clothes, b) boys or c) friendship issues these are few and far between. I love them both despite, or perhaps because of, their unashamed chick-flick status and I'm going to review them both. The Clueless review will be posted here and the Mean Girls review will feature on Lou Moss' blog: Tips and Topcoats. I thought this would be an interesting way to share my take on two similar films (and hopefully get us both a few more lovely readers!) So I hope you enjoy them both, don't forget to take a look around Lou's blog while you're there - her nail art is amazing!
(I will add links to the Mean Girls post when it goes up so keep checking back until it appears!)

So, Clueless. Based very loosely on Jane Austen's 1815 novel "Emma", is this 1995 comedy more than a superficial and vacuous look at high school life in Beverley Hills? Clueless has become an icon of the 1990's, with the recent resurgence of the decade in fashion often referencing the film. Cher and Elton have recently been reunited in the TV show Surburgatory which I haven't been watching but might now have to start doing so. The film was written and directed by Amy Heckerling and the script, with lines such as
"My plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose."
"Well, there goes your social life."
"Hello, that was a stop sign." "I totally paused!" and
Cher: "You're such a brownnoser."
Josh: "You're such a superficial space cadet."
is one of the best things about the movie. Although the typically immature and Valley Girl type of humour and language is aimed at teenagers, anyone with a sense of irony will enjoy the well-timed and original gags.


It's Turk!!
Alicia Silverstone plays Cher, a sweet but "clueless" fifteen year old navigating the ups and downs of Bronscon Alcott Highschool. She lives with her father, an angry and overprotective litigator, played by Dan Hedaya. Personally, I love Cher and I think she's a much better role model than many characters in this type of movie. She's ambitious, kind and although can be selfish and shallow, part of the plot is her journey towards becoming a better person and realising there is more to life than shoes. Cher and best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash) adopt new student Tai Fraiser (Brittany Murphy) and transform her from an unpopular and shy girl into the new queen bee of the school. Along the way there are college parties, shoe shopping, disastrous driving tests and accidental matchmaking before a very happy ending for everyone involved. Other characters are Josh (Paul Rudd), Cher's ex-stepbrother and an environmentally minded student who Cher eventually realises she is in love with. Before this she has a brief attempt at a relationship with Christian (Justin Walker) before finally finding out that he's gay while driving on the freeway with Dionne and her boyfriend Murray (Donald Faison). Tai's love interests are Elton (Jeremy Sisto) and Travis (Breckin Meyer), the skateboarder who is eventually accepted by Cher and her friends as the one Tai is meant for. Many of these characters are based on those in the book Emma but I think, athough I haven't read it, the plot of the film will be quite different to it.



I noticed that the most popular colour used throughout the film is red. Cher's Alaia dress, the red roses in the photo shoot, cars, accessories and various other items are all bright red. It's like the Mean Girls pink phenomenon and perhaps is where they got the idea from. The film did surprisingly well; launching the career of Alicia Silverstone and was critically well recieved. It was selected as a New Classic, securing its status as one of the best teen movies of recent years. I hope you enjoyed my review and please leave any comments with your thoughts on Clueless. Have you seen it and if so what did you love/hate about it?
Jessica xoxo

6 comments:

  1. this is one of my favourite movies <3 it's so funny! (my friends however disagree, they think it's just vacuous)

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    1. I think it sort of is, but in a way that makes fun of itself, if that makes sense! I do love it though xo

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  2. I love both Mean Girls and Clueless- I never get tired of re-watching them :)
    It is very similar to Emma, the basic premise and plot (as well as characters)- I really disliked Emma, the novel,and prefer Clueless many times over. That's not to say I don't love me some Jane Austen :)
    Fun review!!

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    1. I'm definitely going to try and read Emma. I don't think I've ever actually finished a Jane Austen so maybe Clueless will inspire to get through this one! Thanks for commenting xo

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  3. Whatever happened to Alicia Silverstone?

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    1. I've seen her in the Stormbreaker series with Alex Pettyfer and then she's popped up again in Suburgatory aha but apart from that it's a mystery to me as well xo

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Thank you for your comments - they make me smile and I promise to try and answer them all :)