10 Years of Mean Girls

No, I didn't see Mean Girls 10 years ago when it first came out. I do remember it popping up in all of the little pre-tween magazines that I used to hoard, but I never saw it until it popped up on TV one day in 2007. I recorded it off the TV on one of those gigantic fossils we used to call videotapes. Unfortunately, the first three minutes cut out of my recording, so I never saw those first three minutes until I bought it on DVD a year later. Yet, I didn't need those three minutes. Mean Girls was, and forever will be, my favourite high school comedy of all time. Hell, probably even my favourite comedy of all time. Why?

Because 7 years since I first saw it, I'm pretty positive there hasn't been a day go by that I haven't quoted it in some way. Like seriously, there is a quote for every life situation:

When someone does well with something: "You go, Glen Coco!"

When someone asks someone else why they're white: "Oh my god Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white."

When you're a mother: "I'm not like a regular mom, I'm a cool mom."

When it's raining: "There's a 30% chance that it's already raining!"

When you don't want to go out with someone: "I can't go out *fake coughs* I'm sick."

When someone annoys you: "Boo, you whore."

Possible valedictory speech: "I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me...but I can't help it that I'm so popular."

When needing to do a rap: "Yo yo yo all you sucker MC's ain't got nothing on me! From my grades, to my lines you can't touch Kevin G! I'm a mathlete, so nerd is inferred, but forget what you heard I'm like James Bond the third, sh-sh-sh-shaken not stirred - I'm Kevin Gnapoor! The G's silent when I sneak through your door. And make love to your woman on the bathroom floor. I don't play it like Shaggy, you'll know it was me. Cause the next time you see her she'll be like, OOH! KEVIN G!"

Literally the entire script is quotable. The entire thing.

A Conversation with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Robert Downey Jr. is the man of the moment right now with The Avengers hulk smashing box office records everywhere (don't you love it when we cinema-goers are brought together by one particularly awesome movie?). So what would be better than to look back at his box office hit from last year (earlier this year, if we're going by NZ time), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows? I mean, it ain't no Avengers, but RDJ is still cool no matter what, right guys?

CHRISTOPHER: It has been a while since I've talked to a manly movie. I don't know why I always get saddled with the girly movies. 
SHERLOCK HOLMES 2: Is it because you give off a girly impression?

C: Eh?
SH2: Well, I've been observing your other conversations, and let's just say, you didn't fit the bill as a Greek God, you lost a duel with a ginger cat who wears shoes, and you somehow convinced New Year's Eve that it's sequel should be based around Queen's Birthday. Does that not strike you as a little girly?

C: I guess your observations make you a super detective then, huh?
SH2: I'm knee-deep in the single most important case of my career.

C: What, investigating my suspected girly-ness?
SH2: Yes. The second is stopping the collapse of the Western civilisation. The third is being a movie worthy of Robert Downey Jr's awesomeness.

C: Ah, I imagine that is quite hard. 
SH2: I don't know how The Avengers did it. Something I should observe next, I suspect.

C: You mentioned preventing the collapse of the Western civilisation. What's that all about?
SH2: You see, Professor Moriarty is under the impression that he can just take down the Western civilisation and get away with it. But not without the help of a certain Sherlock Holmes, his long-suffering associate Dr. Watson, his brother Mycroft and a gypsy named Sim. 

C: From my observations (see, I have some of my own), Sim is played by Noomi Rapace. Wasn't she the original girl with the dragon tattoo? Couldn't she just have figured everything out herself?
SH2: No, you idiot. First of all, Noomi Rapace isn't going to be the girl with the dragon tattoo forever. Second of all, she doesn't have a dragon tattoo. I...checked. Finally, the girl with the dragon tattoo was good with computer hacking. The only hacking I know of is taking an axe to something. And I have a gun for that, so there you go.

C: Alright, then...
SH2: Plus, the girl with the dragon tattoo has nothing on a certain Sherlock Holmes!

C: Okay, I get it. So you are the sequel of a semi popular 2009 movie. How do you feel that you stack up compared to that one?
SH2: I appear to have a lot more slow motion.

C: What if people don't particularly take to slow motion?
SH2: Then they might not really appreciate me. But they'll probably appreciate Robert Downey Jr's awesomeness. Even in drag.


C: I'm sure not having Mark Strong as your villain is a great disservice.
SH2: We tried to get him back and just wear a prosthetic mask, but we realised that was just too Mission Impossible.

C: But Mission Impossible is actually okay.
SH2: There's no impossible missions for a certain Sherlock Holmes!

C: Apart from maybe being a movie worthy of Robert Downey Jr's awesomeness?
SH2: That is going to be the subject of the sequel. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Not Being Robert Downey Jr's Shadow. 

What I got:

A Conversation with Mean Girls

Earlier this evening, I felt like I'd failed you all because I didn't have a movie to converse with. And then the brilliant Nikhat came to me at my hour of need and said "Oh you should totally do one with Mean Girls. It'll be so fetch ;-)" Fetch it would be. In case you don't know, I freaking love Mean Girls - it is definitely one of my absolute favourite films of all time. And not a day goes by where I don't quote it. This should be fun...

CHRISTOPHER: After being tormented by Greek Gods, robots, and a cat wearing boots, I'm ready to talk to a movie about normal people. 
MEAN GIRLS: You go Glenn Coco!

C: My name is not Glenn Coco.
MG: Well then, what is it?

C: Christopher. 
MG: What? Crisp-oaf-her?

C: No, just Christopher. As it sounds. 
MG: My apologies. I have a nephew named Anfernee, and I know how mad he gets when I call him Anthony. Almost as mad as I get when I think about the fact that my sister named him Anfernee.

C: ...Okay. Tell us all a bit about yourself.
MG: I am the guide to being a girl. I will teach you everything. For example:
-Butter is a carb.
-Halloween is the holiday where a girl can dress up like a total slut and no-one will say anything about it.
-You can't do to Taco Bell if you're on an all-carb diet.
-Everyone in Africa knows Swedish.
-Fetch is not going to happen.
-Joining mathletes is social suicide.
-Jingle Bell Rock is the best song you can perform at Christmas time. 
-Ex-boyfriends are off limits to friends. That's just like the rules of feminism.
-Don't have sex, because you will get pregnant and die! Don't have sex in the missionary position, don't have sex standing up, just don't do it, OK, promise?

C: Sounds very...interesting.
MG: Oh, and there's a 30% chance that it's already raining. 

C: Really? How do you figure that?
MG: I'm kinda psychic. I have a fifth sense. It's like I have ESPN or something. My breasts can always tell when it is going to rain. Or, at least, when it is raining.

C: That's a real talent. 
MG: I know, I bet you're jealous. I mean, I'm sorry that everyone's so jealous of me. I can't help it if I'm popular.

C: I'm sure you can't. 
MG: You want to hear a rap?

C: I'm sure you're going to do it anyway.
MG: Yo Yo Yo! All you sucka MCs ain't got nothin' on me! From my grades, to my lines you can't touch Kevin G! I'm a mathlete, so nerd is inferred, but forget what you heard I'm like James Bond the third, sh-sh-sh-shaken not stirred - I'm Kevin Gnapoor! The G's silent when I sneak through your door. And make love to your woman on the bathroom floor. I don't play it like Shaggy, you'll know it was me. Cause the next time you see her she'll be like, OOH! KEVIN G!

C: Wow, that was inspiring. But I thought joining mathletes was social suicide.
MG: Only if you're a girl. And preferably don't make up rap songs. So not fetch.

C: And I thought fetch was never going to happen?
MG: People thought that Lindsay Lohan was going to happen, but she didn't.

C: So fetch is going to happen?
MG: It is going to happen just like Rachel McAdams does in dreary romantic dramas.

C: But Regina George said it was going to happen...
MG: And of course you'd believe that. You've probably felt personally victimised by Regina George.

C: Yes, I have. Who hasn't?
MG: Exactly. Her face smells like a foot, anyway.

C: So in this interview, we've covered the rules of being a girl, that your breasts can tell when it is raining, and you've performed a rap song. Anything else you need to say?
MG: On Wednesdays we wear pink.

What I got (obviously):

"You're in love with a fantasy."

Film: Midnight in Paris
Year: 2011
Writer/Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Michael Sheen, Nina Arianda, Carla Bruni, Alison Pill, Corey Stoll, Tom Hiddleston, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Léa Seydoux. 
Running time: 94 min.
NOTE: This probably has spoilers in it. But by now you should have seen the film, really. If you haven't, I suggest you do straight away.

Let's face it: all of us, at one point or another, have wished that we were born in another era. I myself would have loved to have been around during the transition from silent to sound cinema, living in Hollywood. Gil Pender (Owen Wilson), Woody Allen's latest hero, wishes that he was around in 1920's Paris. While he accepts that he could never go there, he seems intent on creating a life for him and his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) similar to his dream, and insists that they should stay in Paris forever, where they're currently on holiday. Gil is in love with this city, and decides to take a stroll at midnight. He is picked up by a 1920's style car, and transported to the world he has dreamed of. Along his journey he meets people like Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston and Alison Pill), Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll) and Salvador Dalí (Adrien Brody), who all help inspire him while he is writing a novel. Gil goes back to this place every night at midnight, and ends up falling in love with Adriana (Marion Cotillard), who wishes that she was around during the La Belle Époque, which she thinks is the Golden Age of Hollywood, as opposed to 1920's Paris.

My Top 10 Favourite (modern) Actresses

Of course, yesterday I made a list of my favourite actors. Today, as promised, I am going to list my favourite actresses. So, without further ado (I don't even know what that means), here is my list of favourite women in the movies:

Honorable mentions: Kate Winslet, Carey Mulligan, Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Williams, Meryl Streep, Chloe Moretz, Carrie-Anne Moss, Michelle Monaghan, Abbie Cornish, Ellen Page, Saoirse Ronan.


10. Rachel McAdams (in Morning Glory)

Probably not the most predictable choice, but I have been a long time fan of the lovely Rachel McAdams. She totally owned as high school bitch-of-all-bitches Regina George in Mean Girls, even though she was in her late 20s when she took the role. And no, she's not just my favourite actress coz she's in that really 'sweet' movie The Notebook. As time has gone on, Rachel has been outstanding in such films as The Time Traveller's Wife, Morning Glory, Sherlock Holmes, Red Eye, State of Play and Wedding Crashers. By the looks of her upcoming films, she's going to hit it really big in the future.
Favourite performance: Mean Girls
Favourite film: Mean Girls

9. Emma Stone (in Zombieland)

She's still a star on the rise, but Emma Stone has never failed to amaze me. Before her star turn in Easy A, she was the best thing about bad movies, like The House Bunny and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. In 2009, she managed to star in a couple of good movies - Paper Man and Zombieland - and be completely astounding. But hey, it all comes down to her first lead role in Easy A, where she makes that movie even better than it is. I can't wait to see her dramatic turn in The Help and her with Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man.
Favourite performance: Easy A
Favourite film: Zombieland

8. Marion Cotillard (in Public Enemies)

Whoever has seen La Vie En Rose will probably agree...Marion Cotillard is one damn good actress. I don't know how she did it, but role just fit her like a glove. Since that star turn she's been taking many supporting roles, all of which she has been scene-stealing in. She was perfect in Public Enemies as Johnny Depp's girlfriend. I don't even know how Penelope Cruz got nominated for an Oscar for Nine, Marion was no doubt the stand out in that. And in Inception, Marion performed probably the best out of that amazing ensemble cast. Anything she does, I'll be there.
Favourite performance: La Vie En Rose
Favourite film: Inception

7. Olivia Williams (in The Ghost Writer)

Olivia Williams is quite a new entry, but ever since I saw her performance in The Ghost Writer, I've become more and more interested in her body of work. British actresses always seem to do amazing things on screen, and none of them more so than Olivia. She seems effortlessly resigned to her work, and the fact that she is largely underrated makes me like her even more, too.
Favourite performance: The Ghost Writer
Favourite film: An Education

6. Julianne Moore (in The Hours)

Who doesn't love Julianne Moore? She seems like such a cool person. And she's a fantastic actress. Her resume is proof of that. But how is it that she can keep starring in all these great films with great performances and not getting an Oscar for it? It's beyond me. Her appearances in the recent A Single Man and The Kids Are All Right should have gotten her an Oscar nomination, but sadly not so. However, I will always remember her for her beautiful performance in The Hours.
Favourite performance: The Hours
Favourite film: A Single Man

5. Anne Hathaway (in The Devil Wears Prada)

Ever since I first saw Brokeback Mountain, I've been in love with Anne Hathaway, and have worked my way through her entire resume. She's had her highs and her lows (during that princess phase of hers), but since she's all grown up she's really come into her own; she's feisty, sweet and courageous. If her Oscar nominated performance in Rachel Getting Married is anything to go by, Anne may just become one of the greater actresses of our future. Well, at least I hope she does.
Favourite performance: Rachel Getting Married
Favourite film: The Devil Wears Prada

4. Cate Blanchett (in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Again, who doesn't love Cate Blanchett? Coz if you don't, you ought to leave. Now. She's so brilliant. Every movie she is in, even if it is as dull as Robin Hood, she is amazing in. You know if you're going to watch a Cate film there is a large chance that it will be great. Many of my favourite memories of Cate come from her luminous beauty on display in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Aviator, the later getting her a much deserved Oscar. How is it that she is so great? I will never know.
Favourite performance: The Aviator
Favourite film: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

3. Rebecca Hall (in The Town)

If you've never heard of Rebecca Hall, then shame on you. But I can understand if you haven't. She just fades into the background for most people. However, every time I see a movie with her in it, I am so impressed. She is such a great actress. Greater than people give her credit for. She did some amazing stuff in the lacklustre Vicky Cristina Barcelona (which earned her a Golden Globe nomination), The Prestige for Master Nolan, and recently The Town, where she brings a fresh take on an otherwise flat love interest. Rebecca Hall is just awesome. And really pretty, too.

Favourite performance: The Town

Favourite film: The Prestige



2. Vera Farmiga (in Up in the Air)

Anything that says Vera Farmiga and I'm in. She's such a chill person. And such a marvellous actress. Sure, she's had her highs and lows, but her resume shows diversity and a particular love towards those indie films. I'm a sucker for them. She's probably best known for her Oscar nominated turn in Up in the Air, and that's fair enough. She's absolutely amazing in that. Hell, she was even good in Orphan, which was hated by everyone else but me (hey, don't judge, I thought it was clever). I can't wait to see her directorial debut in Higher Ground. I hope she can direct as well as she can act.
Favourite performance: Up in the Air
Favourite film: The Departed 


1. Amy Adams (in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day)

Amy Adams must be the sweetest person alive. Every time I see her all I can picture are unicorns dancing over rainbows made out of marshmallows...in short, she makes me really happy. Not to mention she's been nominated for an Oscar three times. And she could have gotten a fourth nomination for playing a princess in a Disney movie. I kid you not, her performance in Enchanted is one of the best I have ever seen. In fact, any performance of hers is great. I personally think she was better than Melissa Leo in The Fighter. And at least she wouldn't have said a naughty word in her acceptance speech.
Favourite performance: Enchanted
Favourite film: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Righty-ho...next week I'm gonna go all old-school on you and reveal my ten favourite actors and actresses from the classics. Any objections to this list?

Cinema--Morning Glory

or: Early morning TV.

One word to sum it up: Delightful.

Going into Morning Glory, there was only one reason I wanted to watch it: Rachel McAdams. Coming out of Morning Glory, there was only one reason to watch it: Rachel McAdams. Yeah, she has starred in some pretty crap titles, but she always manages to outshine that badness and be really good, right? That's certainly the case with Morning Glory, except for the fact that the material isn't actually that bad. Just let yourself go and enjoy the laughs, alright?

Becky (Rachel McAdams) is a hard-working morning TV show producer, or at least she was until she got fired. Desperate to get a job, she finally gets an interview with Jerry (Jeff Goldblum) - who is desperate to hire a producer for the struggling show "Daybreak". Becky accepts the job and it proves to be more difficult than even she might be able to handle. She has to fire the sexist co-host, then try to convince egotistical news reporter, Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford), to take the job, and then try and get him to actually do the job, properly. And she has to do this while falling for handsome Adam (Patrick Wilson), and trying to save the show from plummeting ratings. Will Becky be able to hold on to her dream job and her sanity?

Aline Brosh McKenna certainly seemed more at home writing a film about clawing your way to the top (in The Devil Wears Prada) than she did making a romantic comedy (27 Dresses). But what happens when she mixes both of those components together into one film? Well, you can take out the scintillating madness from The Devil Wears Prada and the Katherine Heigl from 27 Dresses, which may leave fans of The Devil Wears Prada wanting a little more, and fans of 27 Dresses still hung up on the fact that Katherine Heigl isn't there. While Morning Glory doesn't live up to The Devil Wears Prada, simply because the world of morning TV isn't anywhere near as interesting as the world of fashion, it's well written and really entertaining...you know, if you're a chick. McKenna seems to have this knack of telling stories of the workplace and how people struggle to have a social life and a work life, and she works that talent to a great effect in this movie, giving the audience plenty to laugh with and having characters we feel for. Giving that script to Notting Hill director Roger Michell only heightens it's ability to shine.

Without Rachel McAdams, though, Morning Glory could have been a real clunker. I don't know what it is about this woman. She seems to exude this radiance and happiness that it is so impossible not to fall in love with her. Sure, she's dabbled in the more serious stuff lately (Sherlock Holmes, The Time Traveller's Wife...), but McAdams has impeccable comic timing which gives her a sharp edge when taking on her co star Harrison Ford. On the subject of Ford, well, he ain't as good as he used to be. He's a little too arrogant in this movie to possibly even care for him, and Ford himself seems a little tired out. Diane Keaton, on the other hand, is superb as the show's main host. I'd love to see a show with just her on it, as she seemed to have that nice-but-really-a-dragon look down really well. Jeff Goldblum is good as the big boss and Patrick Wilson is always good to look at. As I said, Morning Glory is just the result of the loveliness of Rachel McAdams, plus a fine script which is packed with plenty of funnies. Just don't expect to much from it.


THE VERDICT: Morning Glory doesn't offer any scintillating views on morning TV...instead it offers genuinely good fluff and a flawlessly funny Rachel McAdams.

7/10

Red Eye

Sometimes I find the TV so handy. Just in the midst of my Cillian Murphy obsession, I get a text from one of my friends saying that Red Eye is going to be on TV soon. I'm pretty sure my stomach did a little backflip. I had heard that this was one of Cillian's better movies, and also his real American debut (though Batman Begins was released in the same year). Hey, if looks were anything, this guy has it won.
After attending the funeral of her grandmother in Dallas, the Lux Atlantic Hotel manager Lisa (Rachel McAdams) is waiting for a flight to Miami. Due to the bad weather and consequent flight delay, she meets in the airport bar Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy), who is also in the waiting list. They sit together in the plane, and Jack reveals that he wants Lisa to change the room in Lux of an important American politician to facilitate a terrorist attempt against him. Otherwise, Lisa's father will be killed by a hit man. Lisa has to decide what to do with the menacing man at her side.

The one thing that terrified me the most about Red Eye was the fact that Lisa was put under so much pressure on a plane. A plane is like the scariest place on Earth. You can't just run away, because there isn't anywhere to run to. You can't just ask for help, because the only help you are going to get is by being able to run and ask for security guards. You don't have any weapons on you. While the movie isn't overtly gory, it succeeds as being a Hitchcock style psychological thriller, because when you think about it, being in this kind of situation would suck.

Even though I think the film was very well done, I unfortunately felt a little less than satisfied. This could come from my pre-concieved idea that Wes Craven made real slasher type horror films and I thought this might be like a whole plane killing spree. I defnitely thought that Jackson Rippner may have been more evil, but I seriously have nightmares about him with the pen stuck in his throat. I feel like this film will disappoint horror fans, be deemed as stupid by people who don't know a lot about film and only enjoy gross out comedies, but for just normal people who like to watch movies, it will be quite interesting and thrilling.

Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy make an interesting pair, and this film was pretty much the beginning of their burgeoning careers. McAdams is the epitome of a sweet and innocent girl under pressure and Murphy is creepy as the bad guy.

A good Wes Craven psychological thriller, just not the scary slasher movie I was expecting.

6/10

Things I love about Mean Girls...

Mean Girls has to be one of the funniest high school movies ever made, and has completely defined my generation. Sure, it could have just been another teen comedy, but being written by Tina Fey, it's not. It is smart and captures what high school is all about: bitches, bitches, and more bitches. Hey, my high school doesn't really have a group as harsh as the Plastics, but there are people like them in every school.

Instead of going all out on a review, coz you have probably seen it (if you haven't, GO GET IT OUT NOW! You better be gone now...come back later!), I will unleash another 'Things I love review' (maybe a recurring feature on this blog??). I know that most of the following five things are mainly cast related, but that's because the cast is so amazing and they are the biggest contributors to the greatness of the movie. So anyway, enjoy=)

Wow, Lindsay Lohan used to be an actress?
Hard to believe. I'm really thinking that the Lindsay Lohan in this is completely different to the Lindsay Lohan that we see nowadays. It's a real shame because she used to be an alright actress, and the jobs she does manage to scruff up (i.e. Labour Pains) aren't very well received, and basically, no-one even knows they exist. I guess people kinda went off her after I Know Who Killed Me. However in Mean Girls, she makes the role of Cady someone to sympathize with...she is really just a jungle freak who somehow manages to make herself popular. Without the Plastics she probably would have been the same jungle freak.

Rachel McAdams as the mean girl.

She was 27 years old at the time of filming yet still managed to play the part of a teenager so believably, and I'm sure she is a lovely person, but I don't think I have ever hated a character as much as I hated Regina George. Okay, maybe it wasn't hate, because I loved watching her. But Rachel McAdams was definitely the stand out in this movie, by far. Like Regina George, whenever someone was near her, they shrivelled up and were soon forgotten. It's hard to believe that this is the same girl who was in The Notebook in the same year. What a fine, under-rated actress she is. She should so play another super-bitch.

Let's not forget the other mean girls.

I don't think Lacey Chabert has ever had another film like Mean Girls, as I have only seen her floating around the dark corners of straight-to-DVD-land. But she is perfect in this film as Gretchen Weiners, a girl who has everything from her rich daddy but will do anything to make sure she stays in the Plastics and doesn't look like a loner. I know a few people who are like her...they don't like who they are hanging out with but they feel they have to so they can get higher social status. Pretty sad, but that's the way 'girl-world' works. Then there is Amanda Seyfried, who plays dumb girl Karen. I think Karen is perhaps the most entertaining character out of the lot, and believe it or not, I actually know some people as stupid as her. This is definitely Seyfried's finest hour, as the romantic drivel she has been starring in lately (ah, Mamma Mia!, Dear John and Letters to Juliet) have only proved her sweetness but not her talent.

Tina Fey wrote a funny script and then she played a funny character.

Ms. Norbury is a teacher I would like to have. She's just so unsure of herself but can be really funny at the same time. She is like the other characters in this film, and I think what Tina Fey has done with this film is taken real life and made it funny. Everyone is unsure of themselves, and they have to find ways to get over that. And they get over it in different ways, but the outcome is always funny.

I watch it all the time and have never, ever, get bored with it.
Just everything about it is so funny and so easy to relate to. Trust me, I could watch this 1000 times and never be bored. I think you get the point.

I absolutely love Mean Girls. I don't think that it is wrong to say that this is one of the best films of the last decade. They really shouldn't have made a sequel.