You Cool, Man?

Freshman Friday - for those of you who did not grow up in a small suburban town, Freshman Friday is a day at the end of the year when the incoming freshman class must hide in fear of being hazed by the new senior class. Just like rushing a frat or a sorority, upperclassman will do anything they can to make this one day out of the year utter hell for the 8th graders. Growing up in the exact kind of town described above, I remember being in 8th grade and getting let out of school early so I could have a head start getting home just so I could lock myself in my house, safe from 17-year-olds wielding water balloons filled with nair. As I got older though, the ritual began to die out slowly as more people began to realize that the animalistic beating of 14 year olds wasn’t actually fun. Having grown up in a town where Freshman Friday wasn’t just an urban legend, but rather a very real thing gives me what I like to think is a special connection to the cult classic Dazed and Confused.

For those of you who haven’t seen it, Dazed and Confused is a comical coming of age film about Freshman Friday in a suburb of Cleveland back in the 70’s. It’s one of the funniest films I have ever seen and very possibly the best high school movie of all time (sorry High School Musical). The movie follows  two 8th graders trying to avoid the hazing, Mitch and Sabrina, as well as a group of juniorswho are surprisingly likable considering they’re mercilessly beating up little kids with their meticulously hand crafted paddles. Ben Affleck and Matthew McConaughey both appear in the movie as young, unknown actors - Affleck playing a real jerk and McConaughey playing a twenty-something guy who peaked in high school. It’s a really wonderful movie that shows what it’s like to be teens at two separate yet profound times of every person’s life - 1) when they’re entering high school and getting their first taste of maturity, and 2) when they’re on the verge of leaving it and having to sort out what it means to actually be an adult. The movies ability to bounce back and forth from the perspectives of the different age groups and characters is really something to be admired and goes a long way to demonstrate the parallels, as well as distinctions, between the two times of our lives. Dazed and Confused also manages to capture that rare feeling of nostalgia that hundreds of directors have been trying to lure out in the audience for decades. 

I love Dazed and Confused. I really do think it’s a phenomenal piece of film in every aspect - cinematography, script, acting, and especially music (it actually has the best compilation of 70’s hits anyone could ever hope for), but something that really bothers me about it is that it portrays Freshman Friday as a good thing. It puts hazing in a positive light that almost makes it seem like a cool “right of passage” rather than the horror of suburban culture that it truly is. It’s actually unreal - especially for someone like me who’s seen classmates head off to the hospital with butts so raw from paddling they can’t sit down. Every time I watch the movie I feel like I’m being tricked somehow - doped or brainwashed into believing something so terrible could actually be okay. Is this a credit to the movie? Or is mistake?

What do you think of Dazed and Confused? What about hazing? Does liking this movie mean you approve of rituals like Freshman Friday? Are you cool, Man?

As Always,

Jess

Safety Not Guaranteed

Imagine this: It's late Sunday morning and you're lazily flipping through the classifieds, croissant in hand, when you spot the most peculiar ad. You read it over once, sipping from your ice coffee, a smirk playing across your lips at the absurdity of it, thinking it's nothing more than a clever joke. Then you read it again and it begins to dawn on you that this mysterious classified is 110% serious. It reads:

It's a variation of this ad that appeared in a magazine in 1997 which inspired the story line of director Colin Trevorrow's clever and comical 2012 indie film Safety Not Guaranteed. 

The film follows a team of magazine journalists working in Seattle who decide to do a little puff piece investigation on the ad's writer. Aubrey Plaza stars as the film's narrator and the intern who ends up being sent in undercover to befriend Kenneth (played by Mark Duplass), an eccentric weirdo who really does believe he can time travel.

Now, I have to be honest here - I watch Parks and Rec, I've seen Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and anyone else out there who's seen any of Plaza's work knows that she always plays the same role of a dark, broody teenager who has a monotone voice and a "damaged goods" backstory. Knowing this, I walked into this movie not expecting much change from her, but man was I wrong. Yes - Plaza did play a variation of her typical role, but for once I felt like she did it with such realism and sincerity that I couldn't help but to fall in love with her. Normally these broody teens lack any real depth and don't seem any emotions other than hatred and disinterest. In Safety Not Guaranteed Plaza plays a broody young adult, but she also shows other sides to a realistic personality such as her goofy laugh, easy smile, and even some vulnerability. Her role is really what makes the movie. Plaza, along with Duplass, make for an exciting duo that I was on the edge of my seat rooting for the whole time. 

(Also - I have a total crush on Jake Johnson and I think he's a fantastic actor. His role in this movie as the actual reporter on the story is no exception to his gleaming track record of making me swoon.)

There's really so much to love about this movie - the acting, the back and forth, the ridiculous story line, etc. etc. but I really think what makes it so wonderful is this sense of wonder it gives the audience. Not only does the crazy Kenneth manage to worm his way into our hearts, but he has us all wondering if time travel really is possible, if he really is crazy, and what our missions would be if we could go back and change something in our past. 

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys quirky, offbeat indie films.

Fun Side Notes: 

- Produced by the same people who did Little Miss Sunshine (Omg it totally shows) 

- Winner of Sundance Film Festival's Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award

Have you seen Safety Not Garunteed? Do you think Plaza gets type cast? Would Jake Johnson ever date someone ten years his junior?

As Always,

Jess

"This is a really volcanic ensemble..."

Eighties Movies: We've all been there, seen that, and obsessed over Molly Ringwald in her various stereotyped teenage roles. The eighties as a decade was a golden age for angsty teens who got to witness "real life" high school problems brought to the big screen. This decade was such a profound time in cinema that it really deserves to be called it's own genre, one that can be described as dramadeys: funny yet serious coming of age stories. Of course we all have our favorites -  Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles being the big three that everyone seems to have seen. That being said, there are so many more that really embody the eighties movie genre. So, in order to educate some of you cinemaphiles out there on some of the lesser known movies of the hippest decade of all time, here's a list of five "volcanic" films everyone should see:

Weird Science: (1985) If Molly Ringwald was the queen of the eighties, then Anthony Michael-Hall was her king. No matter if he's brace-faced or semi-suicidal, he always seems to be type cast as the nerd, and Weird Science is no exception. Possibly one of the funniest films of the modern era, Weird Science  tells the story of two nerdy guys who try to make their own girl - and succeed bringing the ever gorgeous,  and in this case super powered Kelly Lebrock into the world to make their high school existence wonderful. Of course, all kinds of highjinx ensue in this "coming of age tale" about to boys who learn to love themselves....and also through the most killer party imaginable. 

St. Elmo's Fire: (1985) The breakfast club grows up, goes to college, and tries to figure out what to do with their lives after graduating Georgetown.  Although technically not about high school, the movie really does capture that teenage feel. St. Elmo's Fire follows a tightly knit group of friends who are trying to find their own paths after their college graduation. I do want to put in the disclaimer that this movie tries really hard to be profound and deep, and it fails almost completely. That being said, if you are looking for a good, kinda brainless movie to watch with some good friends then this is the one for you. This film features high drama, high hilarity, and a majority of the actors from The Breakfast Club. I'm not kidding - they have Emilio Estavez, the freaky goth chick who's name I can never remember, and Judd Nelson. Talk about a reunion...

Back to the Future: (1985) How on earth could you have possibly grown up without seeing this movie?  An adorable Matthew Jay Fox plays Marty McFly - a dreamy high schooler who plays lead guitar and skate boards everywhere. In a bizarre twist, Marty gets sent back to the past in a Delorean by his best friend who just so happens to be an aging mad scientist (just go with it). He's sent back to the 50's where he encounters his parents as teenagers and almost accidentally keeps them from ever getting together. A movie about family, living with no regrets, and the basic fundamentals of time travel, Back to the Future is a classic that really can't be ignored. 

Pretty in Pink: (1986) I had to put up one of Molly's. I just had to. Weirdly, Pretty in Pink is probably her least known piece, but in my mind her best. It's a story about social classes portrayed by a scrambled Romeo and Juliet-esc storyline between a rag-tag Molly Ringwald and a super rich Anthony McCarthy (I actually love him). This movie's story line isn't really the best of all time, but the movie is made memorable by it's attention to little details such as Molly's beautifully pieced outfits, a foot tapping soundtrack, a crazy boss, and a hilarious Jon Cryer (the nerdy guy from 2 and a Half Men) who plays Duckie - possibly his best role of all time. A total "chick-flick" but worth a watch!

and my personal favorite....

Heathers - (1988) THE BEST AND MOST UNDERRATED MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Heathers was a Sundance film originally entitled "Lethal Attraction." It's essentially a parody of any eighties movie that makes high school seem unbearable (which it is). It stars one of my favorite actresses, Winona Ryder, as Veronica who's in the "popular" clique at her high school, a clique that is made up of three other girls all named Heather. The four girls dress in signature colors, play croquet, and are total bitches to everyone - including each other. This all changes when Veronica meets J.D. (totally a play on Holden Caulfield), who becomes her boyfriend and together they embark on a killing spree of all the popular kids at her high school who are jerks. This movie is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen - the writers actually went so far as to make up an entire language of fake eighties slang to make the movie even funnier. I highly recommend it as an insightful, black humor satire that captures the true nature of high school. 

Of course, there are so many other greats like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, etc. etc. The reason these movies as well as so many others didn't make my top five is because I don't consider them a total embodiment of an 80's movie. The two I just mentioned are more of stoner films than eighties, and other classics like The Goonies totally fit the coming of age part, but not really the whole high school feel. 

What are you favorite eighties movies? What do you think of these? 

Always yours, 

Jess