Say Anything…

May 5, 2006

How did I make it out of the 80s without seeing Say Anything…?

You’d think I grew up in a box or something. There are a lot of important movies I just haven’t seen. As you can probably tell, I’m making a valiant attempt to catch up. Say Anything… occupies a revered place in pop culture. The boom box scene has been spoofed innumerable times. Some friends of mine even used “In Your Eyes” as their wedding song. Kinda cheesy, but still kind of cute. I guess I can’t talk, since I used a popular song from a film made at about the same time for mine.

If Molly Ringwald is the queen of 80s rom com teen movies, John Cusack is definitely the king. I wonder why no one ever thought to put them together? Surprisingly, their careers have taken on totally different trajectories – Cusack is still making silly rom coms (Must Love Dogs – ew!) and Molly is…well…not doing shit.

I don’t know if this kept me from watching it or not…but the only actress that my mother ever said reminded her of me was Ione Skye. Although it’s possible that she had a little bit of Diane Court in mind, I’m thinking she was referring to her role as Clarissa in River’s Edge. (I’m fairly certain that none of my friends in high school killed anyone, then again – I’ve been wrong before.) As much as I would like to indulge in a bit of revisionist history and write a paragraph about how much I identify with Diane Court and how hard it is to balance a social life with education – it would be total BULLSHIT. The truth is – being smart in High School SUCKS. You either learn to hide it or flaunt it. And believe me – it’s far easier taking the low road and hiding it. And that’s how you end up like me and Clarissa – hanging out behind the administration building, learning to make a bong out of a coke can. Besides – Keanu Reeves or John Cusack – either way, Ione Skye wins. Does it really matter which path she takes?

This is the first time that I have ever NOT wanted to stab Lili Taylor in the face. I hated her as Lisa (in Six Feet Under for the uninitiated) and I hated her as Rory. I hated her in The Haunting too, even though I didn’t watch it. But I didn’t hate her as Corey. Even though those songs she wrote were kind of lame and pathetic – I like how she finally rejected Joe and kept on with the music. For the record, I do still think she is weird looking.

I’m disappointed that kickboxing didn’t turn out to be the “sport of the future.” However, I did DVR a 2005 movie called Vampires: The Turning, which is about Thai kickboxing vampire hunters. Kickboxing still has a chance then, huh?

*ding*