00s Movie Review - Mean Girls

Director: Mark Waters
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 97 minutes
Year: 2004
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Rachle McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, Tiny Fey, Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler, Lizzy Caplan, Johnatan Bennett

Description: Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron (Jonathan Bennett), the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George (Rachel McAdams).

Review: “Mean Girls” is the ultimate high school survival guide that remains razor sharo more than twenty years later.

Casy Heron has lived in Africa with her parents and has always been home schooled. She has never experiences life at an actual high school, until they move back to America. Here she learns that there are several different cliques in high-school. The most important one: The Plastics, led by Regina George.
Tina Fey’s script transforms the teen genre into a clever satire full of iconic one-liners that have become part of our collective memory.

Lindsay Lohan is at her best as the naïve Cady, but Rachel McAdams steals the show as the terrifying Regina George. The film brilliantly (and painfully) exposes the social hierarchy and the ‘girls’ world without even losing its humor. It is colorful, witty and surprisingly relatable for anyone who has survived high school.

One of the better teen comedies of the 00s.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 17: The Interview

Director: Evan Goldberg

Genre: Comedy/ Action

Runtime: 112 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Lizzy Caplan, Randall Park, Diana Bang, Timothy Simons, Reese Alexander, James Yi, Paul Bae, Geoff Gustafson, Dominique Lalonde, Anesha Bailey, Anders Holm, Charles Rahi Chun, Don Chow

Description: Dave Skylark (James Franco) and producer Aaron Rapaport (Seth Rogen) run the celebrity tabloid show "Skylark Tonight." When they land an interview with a surprise fan, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (Randall Park), they are recruited by the CIA to turn their trip to Pyongyang into an assassination mission.

Review: There was much ado about “The Interview”. Even before it was released it was criticized by the people representing Kim Jong-Un. But things got worse when the so called Sony hack happened. Fingers pointed towards North-Korea. It wasn’t sure if the movie was going to play in theaters. Luckily for us it did hit the cinemas, with off course some exceptions.

Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen have been playing with the idea of a satire where a journalist plans a hit on a world leader. There focus went to North-Korea when former NBA star Dennis Rodman visited Kim Jong-Un in 2013. That’s when “The Interview” got an actual script.

Presenter Dave Skylark and producer Aaron Rapaport are both responsible for the TV show “Skylark Tonight”, where celebrities are interviewed and gossiped about. After episode 1000 airs, they find out Kim Jong-Un is a big fan of the show. Aaron is determined to be taken more seriously and wants Dave to interview Kim Jong-Un. When North-Korea agrees, the CIA contacts Dave and Aaron. They need them to plan a hit on the dictator.

Humor comes in many forms and the kind of humor Goldberg and Rogen have is not for everyone. If you saw “This is the End” you know what to expect. Seth Rogen and James Franco both lose themselves in their roles and make this comedy a satire. Don’t take it too seriously, that’s not how this movie was intended. The in between jokes are the most successful.

All the attention this movie got before even premiering probably only worked in their favor, because everyone wanted to see what the fuss was about. I enjoyed it, because I appreciate Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen’s humor. If “This is the End” wasn’t your cup of tea, you better skip this one.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 56: Bachelorette

Director: Leslye Headland
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 94 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson, James Marsden, Adam Scott

Description: Three friends are asked to be bridesmaids at a wedding of a woman they used to ridicule back in high school.

Review: Three unstable, crazy bridesmaids and a lot of booze and drugs aren’t exactly the ingredients for a perfect wedding. That’s what bride Becky is dealing with in “Bachelorette”. Her maid of honor is Regan, an ambitious career woman who doesn’t want anything unless it’s perfect. Gena, the cynical and indifferent joker who does everything that God forbids. And then we have Katie, who isn’t very smart.
“Bachelorette” isn’t your sweet and cheesy chick flick, it manages to avoid clichés. But it turns into a slightly obscene comedy. Because the leading characters are very extreme, it makes them very unpleasant and highly unlikeable. It heads more in the direction of being caricatures instead of characters that you can relate too. They take it a bit too far, which makes it everything but funny. The only one I really liked was Clyde, played by Adam Scott, but maybe that’s because I genuinely like this actor.
“Bachelorette” didn’t succeed in what it was trying to achieve. I prefer “Bridesmaids”, a comedy that did get it right

Rating: 1,5/ 5