32. Easy A (2010)

Code-name: Skype narr. (short for narrative or narration, I forget which)

Director: Will Gluck
Type: High School dramedy, 80's homage

Cast:
Olive Penderghast- Emma Stone
Rhiannon- Aly Michalka
Marianne -Amanda Bynes
"Woodchuck"/"Lobster" Todd- Penn Badgley
Micah-Cam Gigandet
English Teacher Mr. Griffith-Thomas Haden Church
Guidance Consular Mrs. Griffith-Lisa Kudrow
Brandon- Dan Byrd
Mr. Penderghast- Stanley Tucci
Mrs. Penderghast- Patricia Clarkson
Principal Gibbons- Malcolm McDowell

honorable mention- Juliette Goglia as 8th grade Olive-


her character on "The Michael J. Fox" show was the one I was always most excited to see because I saw a lot of myself in her... still bummed the show got cancelled, but clearly Will Gluck liked her enough in this small role that he gave her this other part.

Notable Nomination:
Golden Globe- Best Actress (comedy/musical)- Emma Stone

Write-up:

I saw the trailer for "Easy A" during one of the many movies I saw in 2010. Something about the premise sounded so intriguing that I couldn't resist.
I remember my mom and I went to a later show around 3 or 4pm. We were the only ones in the theater. We had to remind the concession people know there were actual people in the theater because the film didn't turn on for a while :-P

To me, it was up there with "She's out of your league," both 2010 movies that had really original scripts that I found myself quoting or thinking about quoting for weeks, if not months afterwards. And considering how it blossomed into a homage to John Hughes movies, I had to rewatch "Sixteen Candles," "Pretty in Pink" and I also saw "Say Anything" and "Can't Buy Me Love" for the first time (not John Hughes films, I know, but there were references to them).

Although I had in fact seen her once before in "The House Bunny" (Anna Faris was the only actress that made any sort of impression on me that first time around... after falling in love with the story, the actresses followed, including Kat Dennings), this was the movie that officially made me a fan of Emma Stone.
She owned this character, Olive Penderghast, your typical anonymous high school girl who gained a helluva reputation with a single big fat lie, in such a way... I felt like I could relate to her. Such a quirky personality, much like the version of myself I only saw in my inner circles of family and friends, with a heart full of the best intentions.

As far as girl crushes go, I would love to have Emma Stone's signature look from this movie. That shade of red hair and those stunning green eyes.
And of course, I'd kill to be as comfortable in my own skin as Olive is. No matter what comic mischief she unwittingly gets herself into.

Spoilers ahead!

For those who don't know, the story begins with Olive telling her bestie that she slept with a community college freshman. This lie all started because she needed an excuse not to go camping with Rhi's freaky vegan hippie family.
But that entire weekend, she spent falling in love with "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield. Hilarious from start to finish, this montage that started with her gabbing "worst song ever" to her musical birthday card, led to her singing in the shower (Ferris Bueller style, I might add, so I guess it's like this movie's "Danke Schoen"), and we find out it becomes her ringtone.
(On some VH1 countdown, Natasha Bedingfield even said how much she loved the homage they paid to her song in this movie... now that's awesome).

Of course, with the "strong personality" she has, Rhi winds up forcing Olive to admit to having sex with George... as if she wouldn't buy into the opposite, aka "the truth."
And for whatever reason, the rumor mill goes crazy over this and everyone starts looking at Olive in a different way. This is located in Ojai, California. When you think about it, the story is that she had a one-night stand with a college guy. Why is that a big deal? It's not as if this is a Catholic school and all the teenagers are frigid.

Although... case in point... Olive's biggest foes are the "Cross your Heart" club, led by the biggest Jesus freak of all, Marianne. She overhears Olive's exchange with Rhi in the ladies room and makes it her mission to "save Olive" from her pre-martial sexual desires.

Interestingly, Amanda Bynes (Marianne) and Aly Michalka (Rhi) were known for playing really good people in their respective kid-friendly TV series, but here, they both play the opposite. Who are really good at being bitchy. (Seriously, who constantly calls their bestie "bitch" as if it's a pet name? That's kinda messed up).

Adding to the irony of it all, the book they're studying in English class is "The Scarlet Letter."
Olive even includes this in her narration, how funny it is that the books you read in school have some odd connection to whatever you're going through.
Her English teacher, Mr. Griffith, is a great character for sure. He's got this dry sense of humor with hints of sarcasm strung throughout. And while she's going through the turmoil of her new "based on lies" life, he keeps an eye out for her.

A lot of the adults in Olive's life are written so well, like they're on the same level as the teenagers. The way they interact with each other. Another good example is her parents, the dynamic (or not so much, lol) duo of Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson. No matter what's going on, they have Olive's back and don't outwardly overreact to anything she means off the cuff. The most laid-back parents in the history of high school movies 8-)
I guess you could say they embody the spirit of Ojai, which is said to be a very "hippie friendly" city... if you believe Wikipedia, which I often do ;)

Olive narrates over the course of 5 stages. We already had "Part One: The Shudder-Inducing and Cliched, However Totally False Account Of How I Lost My Virginity To A Guy At A Community College." and the rumor mill with "Part Two: The Accelerated Velocity of Terminological Inexactitude."

Then we come around to "Part 3: A Lady's Choice and a Gentleman's Agreement."

At her detention (for calling Marianne's friend, Nina, a bad word from the British slang) with Brandon, she tells him the truth about the rumors and he says he was sent there because he called the principal a fascist... despite the fact he was the one bullied to a bloody nose.
The next day, he asks her to help him convince the school he's straight to make the bullying stop.
And boy do they make a scene about it. At Melody Bostick's party, they have the best fake sex scene ever. Involving brute force and a lot of "Oh yeah's!" from Olive.

She has a fight for Rhi, who is pissed about who she had to hear about this from, and decides to go through another change. Or at least her wardrobe does.

She buys a bunch of lingerie tops and sews a red letter "A" onto them. You'd think that would break a bunch of rules for the dress code. I mean, this is coming from the same place where the Principal threatened to throw her out if she makes one more transgression.
Hard-core stuff, but just love the spirit she embodies throughout this.

After the episode with Brandon, a bunch of guys ask for her help with favors of their own and they all pay her in the forms of gift cards. From Bath & Body to Auto Zone to movie tickets only good at the foreign film theater.
Definitely not your typical high school movie, so I enjoyed every minute of it, unsure of things would follow.

As is often the case, something dramatic does happen that "changes the course of history" as it were. Which brings us to part 4:
"How I, Olive Penderghast went from assumed trollop to and actual home-wrecker."

Another lie had to be told, but this was a big one. Because it was about more than just her and her rumored promiscuity. She did it to cover up an even bigger scandal.
Marianne's guitar strumming boyfriend and fellow Catholic, Micah, finds out that he has chlamydia and blurts out that he got it from Olive. Of course, this is very much a big deal, considering how his family and community are about pre-martial sex, but the truth is even huger...

and as a fan of "Mean Girls," of course I was laughing that they picked this of all the STD's.
"At your age, you're going to have a lot of urges. You're going to want to take off your clothes, and touch each other. But if you do touch each other, you will get chlamydia... and die."

Micah got it from the school's guidance counselor who happens to be married to Olive's English teacher. And to save her favorite teacher's marriage, Olive takes the blame. This, of course, incurs the wrath of the "Cross Your Hearts" club (now including Rhi and a rather random dude dressed in a Quiznoz costume).
While trying to find more out about the religion, we hear One Republic's "Good Life" play in the background (this was a month or two before it became a radio hit... whereas with their better 2010 song "Secrets", played in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" took an extra 3-4 months to do the same). This trek does not go well, when you take into account how long the Bible is, Olive confesses to an empty confessional and almost seeks advice from Marianne's Pastor dad... the most straight-laced character SNL alum and "Portlandia" star Fred Armisen will likely play in his life.

Something else Olive also ponders in this part of her narration: why has no guy actually asked her out on a date? Does that chivalry only exist in 80's movies?

This touched such a tender spot in my heart, I need to share this passage:
"I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window. I wanna ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey. I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me. I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he got me. Just once I want my life to be like an 80's movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life."

I don't know when Bert V. Royal wrote this movie. Wikipedia says he wrote all but the last 10 pages in 5 days. Also says "Ferris Bueller" was Will Gluck's favorite movie, which explains all the references.
Since John Hughes passed away the previous year (August 6th of an unexpected heart attack), it felt like this movie was paying tribute to him after his passing. Whether that was the intention or not, I can't say, but as a HUGE John Hughes fan, this was just a thought I really appreciated.

Olive gets asked out by a guy, whom she believes is interested in her, only to find out he was under the impression she really was having sex for money (or in this case a $200 Home Depot gift card). Luckily, things don't get super heated and she gets him to back off, but she realizes she needs to rethink things.

It also helps that this guy, Todd, whom we see several times throughout the movie, was willing to give her a ride home and listen to her.
Early on, Olive divuldged the first time she lied to cover up for someone. It was another party at Melody Bostick's and she was in 7 minutes of Heaven with Todd. Neither felt comfortable with kissing, so she agreed to say they did. Amazingly, this was something Todd never forgot either and just how easy-going he is about everything. He was the only person that never judged Olive or bought into the rumors, almost like he's too good to be true, but in this rare exception, he really is good.

When none of the people Olive helped agreed to change their stories for her, Todd helps her stage a kick-ass random musical number at their pep rally in Part 5: Not with a Fizzle but with a Bang!
By the way, I never knew how racy that song "Knock on Wood" was before this.
The purpose of it: to tell everyone about her tell-all webcast, which we've been watching since the beginning.
(According to trivia, Emma Stone did that in 14 hours on the same day and it was how she auditioned for the part).

I won't give too much away about the ending, but let's just say it's one final big fat love letter to John Hughes and 80's movies. When the music started playing in the theater, I flipped out. Just WOW 8-) grinning from ear to ear.
Yeah, that's my idea of epic.

Coming Next Week

A rom-com that almost plays out like a fairytale. Girl from the dodgy end of LA winds up with a super rich businessman. It was the reason a lot of girls fell in love with its male lead. Full of clichés but who doesn't love a cliché?
Probably the most shocking part was that it's not an 80's movie because it has all the makings of it. But it was released in 1990.

Looking at it now, I'm surprised to see all the flack it's getting on IMDB, but for people like my mom and me, it's the definitive chick flick. It just took me a few extra years to fall in love with in the way I have.

45. Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion (1997)

Code-name: Post-it's
[contrary to the testaments of our titular duo, Post-it's were invented by Art Fry in 1977]

Writer: Robin Schiff
Director: David Mirkin
Type: R-rated comedy, 1980's playlist

Cast:
Romy White- Mira Sorvino
Michelle Weinberger- Lisa Kudrow
Heather Moony- Janeane Garofalo
Sandy Frank- Alan Cumming
Christy Masters- Julia Campbell
Billy Christiansen- Vincent Ventresca
Lisa Luder- Elaine Hendrix
Ramon- Jacob Vargas
Clarence ("the cowboy")- Justin Theroux

Write-up:

Plot

Romy and Michelle are besties who'd been living together in LA since high school graduation in 1987. They love to go out dancing and design their own clothes. While working the receptionist desk one day at a Jaguar dealer, Romy runs into fellow Sagebrush High graduate, Heather Moony, from whom she hears about the upcoming 10 year high school reunion.

The girls quickly discover that their lives might not be as glamorous as they had once thought, what with Romy being just a receptionist and Michelle being unemployed, and neither of them in a relationship. They then get the idea that they should pretend to their classmates that they were successful. Part of this lie is that they are businesswomen who invented Post-it's... of course, not all goes according to plan, but they quickly discover that being themselves was good enough.

Characters and Dialogue
Some spoilers to follow

Both of these items go hand in hand because they're the reason I keep coming back to this movie. Everyone is approachable, either because you were them in high school or you knew them in high school. You have the popular girls known as the A-Group (Christie, Kelly, Lisa and Cheryl), the hot jock (Billy Christansen) dating the queen bee that you had a monster crush on, the nerds, geeks, goths and everyone in between.

Romy and Michelle roll off the tongue, not just because they're in the title, but because they've been besties their entire lives. They stick by one another and support each other no matter what is going on in their lives. You can't have one without the other. Romy is the realistic one who comes to the conclusion early on that they might not impress their classmates. Michelle is the optimist, a little clueless in a Valley Girl sort of way, but her heart is in the right place.
For me personally, I think I'm more of a Romy, but I had scoliosis like Michelle did (minus the back-brace... we had to opt for surgery in my case).

Heather Moony is a role clearly written for Janeane Garofalo. She's an avid smoker, kinda like a pit-bull with a dry sense of humor with anti-social tendencies. Interestingly, though, she found success in inventing quick burning paper for cigarettes. We see her get this idea in a high school flashback where she moans "they should have a cigarette you can finish in between classes"
She was also in love with the nerd "affectioniately" dubbed Freakazoid, Sandy Frank who only had eyes for Michelle, who wanted nothing to do with him.

A lot of the movies on this half of my countdown are highly quotable, to the point where it's hard for me to shut up during the movie. I can't necessarily put "Romy & Michelle" on mute and do it all from memory, but the dialogue is unbelievably hilarious... even witty on occasion. In general, I think most of the best quotes are zingers.

Like when Romy and Michelle have the falling out before the reunion, an argument that included which one of them was "the Mary" ala Mary & Rhoda... the dream sequence version of the reunion goes as planned, the girls go their separate ways, we fast-forward 70 years and Romy, who's on her death bed, refuses to talk to Michelle until "you admit that I'm the Mary and you're the Rhoda." To me, it's just hilarious hearing a 90+ year old Lisa Kudrow repeating "I'm the Mary! I'm the Mary!"

Then at the actual reunion, Michelle comes to Romy's defense after Heather ruins their  Post-it's lie.
Michelle: What are you picking on us for? We're not the ones who got fat.
Christie: We're pregnant, you half-wit
Michelle: Well... I hope your babies look like... monkeys.

Sometimes, it isn't just the line, it's the delivery. And Lisa Kudrow does it so well.

Then and Now

Next to quotability and memorable characters, I love this movie because of how the characters change (or don't change) over the years. Things even briefly alluded to, if you pay close attention, return and it brings a nice sense of unity to the film.

The A-Group is still phony and horribly written, no matter if it's 1987 or 1997. Christie Masters isn't just a class-A bitch, but sometimes you feel like you lose brain cells listening to her. No real person talks like that or that demeaning while doing so. She acts like she's always in control, both of her boyfriend and the rest of the A-group. But at the reunion, we find out that isn't quite the case.
It's an even nicer pay-off that Lisa Luder, who'd fallen out of touch with the A-Group, became an associate editor for Vogue and goes out of her way at the reunion to say that she approves of Romy & Michelle's clothing designs (after they ditch the phony businesswomen persona)... something she received disbelieving stares for saying in a flashback.
Then there's Christie's relationship with Billy. They'd been married 10 years, but their happiness is a complete farce. Even in flashbacks before he became an alcoholic, I didn't think he was as good looking as Romy did. But gotta love how they burn him for leaving Romy at the prom after saying he'd dance with her.

Heather Moony didn't really change UNTIL the reunion where she finally got to know the "cowboy" in high school who kept flicking cigarettes in her direction cuz she didn't have a light.
Toby, the eager-as-a-beaver yearbook girl, didn't change at all, but she did get up the courage to tell Heather how she hurt her feelings in high school... I mean, c'mon, every time they were in a flashback together and she wanted to get a yearbook picture, Heather told her to "f*** off."... it's even more hilarious that Heather is thrilled to hear this because she didn't think she made anyone as miserable in high school as Romy & Michelle did (because they looked good and it drove Sandy crazy).

Easily, the most changed for the better since high school was Sandy Frank... who apparently became super rich after inventing a special kind of rubber that's used in every tennis shoe... yet the only thing he wanted but never got was Michelle.
Kinda shallow, yes, but now she gives him the time of day.
Surprisingly, Heather sees how much he changed and said "what the hell was I thinking?" as if getting rich and polished ruined him for her :-P

The Music

We own the soundtrack to this movie. Pretty much everything you hear used in the movie was from the 80's (except for No Doubt's "I'm Just a Girl," heard during the opening credits)... my favorite musical decade.
The physical soundtrack is good, though none of the songs are in order and it only has 10 songs... they should have released an extended edition.

1. Our LIps are Sealed- The Go-Go's (the reunion after dream sequence)
2. Venus- Banarama (the reunion after the costume change)
3. Something to Remind me- Naked Eyes (the reunion dream sequence)
4. Dance Hall Days- Wang Chung (high school prom flashback)
5. Turning Japanese- The Vapors (on the car ride to the reunion)
6. I Want Candy- Bow Wow Wow (lunch time flashback)
7. Karma Chameleon- Culture Club (on the car ride during the argument)
8. Everybody Wants to rule the world- Tears for Fears (after Romy & Michelle's clothes get rave reviews)
9. Heaven is a place on Earth- Belinda Carlisle (Romy & Michelle leaving with Sandy)
10. We Got the Beat- The Go-Go's (the scarf-folding scene at the end)

Yes, a little heavy on the Go-Go's, but they do kinda fit Romy and Michelle to a tee with their attitude. I love a lot of Euro pop music, particularly Tears for Fears and this Wang Chung track.

Other songs that stand out include:

• "Time after Time"- plays during prom AND the reunion during Romy & Michelle's three-way interpretative dance with Sandy... it could almost be their theme song
• "Footloose"- which we heard go on and off because their Jaguar stalled out a couple times before they could take off
• "Don't get me wrong" by the Pretenders- the first song you hear when you arrive at the reunion... somehow for me, it just sets the perfect musical tone for these pivotal scnes
• Robert Palmer tracks "Addicted to Love" and "Bad Case of Lovin' You"

Final Thoughts

FYI, there was a made-for-TV prequel that was released... it was God-awful. Beyond the title characters, it brought back nothing that made this movie as great as it was.

If anything, this movie got me thinking about counting the years down to my own 10 year high school reunion. I'm one year away from that, but I really have nothing to show for it except a college degree. I suppose I could share a couple links to my blogs and say I wrote a bunch of short stories and a couple novels not ready for publication, but there's nothing I can physically show for myself. Not yet anyway. Maybe at the 15 or 20 year reunion, I might be better off and feel confident enough to show up.
There's also the fact that the guy I had a crush on who didn't return my feelings recently got engaged. I only maintained one friendship from high school and we knew each other in middle school.

Yeah, if anything, I went out of my way to not really make friends because I never fit in anywhere... so I can relate a lot to Romy & Michelle except for the fact I didn't have a bestie to spend that time with. Most of the time, I think of high school as being a time of endless misery.. unless I had something to preoccupy me. I did take part in concert choir and did a couple musicals... too bad most of those people weren't in the same grade as me :-P

I know I usually go through these reviews saying how I knew the different actors and such. For me, most of it is about the characters rather than the actors who play them. Of course, there are a couple exceptions:
LIsa Kudrow, I only knew because I love the show "Friends." Mira Sorvino, I'd later see in my favorite "Will & Grace" episode. And Alan Cumming... I adore him. He's a great guy and a great actor. Even though he's gone gray recently, he looks good and I especially loved his recent cameos on "The Colbert Report." Yet another actor who can sing real well.

I saw one Janeane Garofalo HBO special and fell asleep halfway through. I don't know if it's so much that I didn't find her funny or I disagreed with the jokes she was telling (none of which I remember). She was a guest on "Seinfeld," who Jerry thought was going to be his soulmate, but decides to break off their engagement cuz they're too much alike :-P only on a TV show do you have that situation, seriously.
Recently, though, when I hear her name, I automatically think of this line in "Fanboys" said by Zoey (Kristen Bell).

"A girl who's a cross between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Janeane Garofalo, it's too good to be true."
Personally, I find it kinda hilarious that Windows (Jay Baruchel) considered her hot. Not the typical girl that gets fan-boy'd over, to my understanding.