Mean Girls (2004)

Starring a pre-meltdown Lindsay Lohan as well as teenaged Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried we have a high school boner comedy from the female perspective.  Cady/Caddy is a new student trying to fit in her new high school.  She befriends a group of popular pretty girls nicknamed the Plastics, but really she doesn't fit in there either and ends up trying to sabotage their friendships from the inside.

Screenplay by and starring Tina Fey, its a Saturday Night Live movie produced by Lorne Michaels and featuring a number of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players.  Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury has a large role.  The humor is has light but sharp touch.

While it rides completely on stereotypes of high school (nerdy Asians, blond cheerleaders, dumb jocks, token blacks) 15 years later it doesn't age well.  For some of its timeless  DNA, see Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Chicago high school), Election (teacher/student relations) and Napoleon Dynamite (talent show).

*** of 5

Fahrenheit 11/9

A continuation if you will of Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore, the most famous/notorious documentarian in America now.

What is billed as Anti-Trump is really more an exposure of the system that created the opportunity for someone like him.    It starts with an interesting bit of recent history, and then moves into the better parts, the Flint MI water crisis, the West Virginia teacher's strike and the Stoneman Douglas H.S. shooting in Parkland FL.  Which is a continuation, sadly, of perhaps his best work Bowling for Columbine.

Another indictment that the system stays the same. If you like Michael Moore, or don't like him, this will confirm your opinion, as usual.

* * * * of 5

Pick of the Litter

 My cousin is a guide dog trainer and this should be a good look at what the trainers and dogs go through.

Crazy Rich Asians

Looking past the obvious (all Asian cast!  Return of the RomCom!) we have a pretty good story of the American going to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's family.  Who knew they would be rich?  Who knew they would think her a gold digger?  Will true love prevail?

Some good casting with Constance Wu (who fought for the role) and the new leading man Henry Golding as well the funny sidekick Awkwafina (also appearing this summer in Ocean's 8)

A solid movie - very old style Hollywood with the lush settings, the elaborate parties.  Not as shocking as it was billed to be.

* * * * of 5

A Simple Favor

From the darker side of Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters) we have this R rated modern day thriller mixed in with some light heartedness.   Anna Kendrick is Stephanie, a mother of one and a mommy blogger in suburban Connecticut.  At her son's school she meets Emily (Blake Lively) who is a fashionable executive who works "In the City".  They develop an unlikely friendship and then Emily  asks Stephanie for "a simple favor"  - pick up her son.  Then Emily goes missing.  Stephanie is then forced to help Sean (Henry Golding, Crazy Rich Asians) pick up the pieces.

Without giving away too much plot, what starts as a Gone Girl turns into a more complicated mystery which is solved in a classic Hollywood manner.    I won't mention the movie but it is a film noir classic.


A nice mix of serious and funny.  Some of the scenes between Stephanie and Emily are very well put together visually.

* * * * * - why not?  A nice mix of comedy and drama.  My 2 favorites.

Double Feature - Horrible Bosses (2011) / Hall Pass (2011)

I was home last night by myself so I saw two good movies on TV again.  Both successful R Rated comedies from 2011, both with good dialogue and a certain raunch factor that reminded me of the 80s.

Horrible Bosses had an all-star cast, particularly the villains, played by Colin Farrell (Southland View favorite), Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Anniston.  The 3 schlubs, Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudekis, decide to kill their bosses.  Based on advice from Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx) they decide that each should kill the others' boss.  Another One Crazy Night plot, it does it well.  It grossed over $100 million and got a 2017 sequel with new bosses.

Hall Pass, also starring Jason Sudekis plus Owen Wilson, is a Farrelly Brothers movie, straight from Providence, Rhode Island.  Rick and Fred are bored with their married lives, and they then get to go crazy (so to speak) for a week while their wives (Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate) go out of town for some fun of their own.  Very similar in tone to There's Something About Mary,  it's a fun look at the other side of the fence.

Both **** of 5

The Goonies (1985)

A entry in the 80s kid movie category, such as A Christmas Story and Stand By Me (also starring Corey Feldman), this is an adventure story about a group of 5 boys who find a treasure map and go on a hunt for the believed booty of pirate One-Eyed Willie.  Along the way they are chased by the Fratellis, a family of escaped cons, two brothers and their mother.

A Who's Who of filmakers here, story by Stephen Spielberg (Back to the Future), screenplay by Chris Columbus (Home Alone) and directed by Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon).  Early teen work of Josh Brolin.  Some of the pluses were the rapid action, the differing age groups of the kids, both girls and boys, and the cartoonish villians, plus the class warfare.

* * * * of 5