Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997)

It has been a long time since the last time I did a Sheldon's Choice here on the blog and I believe it was almost when this whole Quarantine thing happened. For all the time that I have known Sheldon, there was always one film that he kept telling me to watch and that is 1997's Romy and Michele's High School Reunion which was directed by David Mirkin (The Simpsons). The film stars Mira Sorvino (The Replacement Killers) and Lisa Kudrow (Booksmart) as our title characters Romy and Michelle who have been best friends through out all their years in school. Despite not being the most popular, they had always stuck together. Now it's ten years later and they aren't really doing much in Los Angeles, but after hearing about the ten year high school reunion they have a plan to get everyone back. The film also stars Janeane Garofalo (Ratatouille) as Heather Mooney, Alan Cumming (Son Of The Mask) as Sandy Frink, Julia Campbell (Kicking & Screaming) as Christie Masters, Elaine Hendrix (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll) as Lisa Luder, Vincent Ventresca (This Space Between Us) as Billy Christiansen), Camryn Manheim (The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers) as Toby Walters, Justin Theroux (The Girl On The Train) as Cowboy, and Jacob Vargas (Heaven Is For Real) as Ramon.

Now I know you're going to say that A Night At The Roxbury came out a year after Romy And Michelle, but there are just way too many similarities as far as structure is concerned. We also know that release dates mean absolutely nothing because a film could have been in development hell, but nonetheless I will tell you what I mean. Both films have to deal with two nitwits who are just clueless to how society really works. The differences are one features two guys and the other features two women while the two men are brothers and the women are best friends. They both like to go to clubs and dance and they are just dumb as rocks. Both films do feature two different plots, but at one point in the film there is a separation between the duos only to have the amazing reunion. I will say though that Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino are a lot nicer to look at than Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell. Now this one did have it's funny moments, but the real gem in this film is the soundtrack that is attached to it which is a mix of 90's with the best of the eighties and the same could be said about the clothing and the hairstyles as well in the film. The one thing that I will say is that Kudrow's character was a not a far fetch from what she was used to playing in Friends, but that's what we loved about her. I definitely recommend this film for anybody wanting to take a trip down memory lane to a time that may have been different, but it was simpler than today. I am going to give the film an B for a final grade and there is still time to check it out for free on VUDU, but you only have until May 31ST.

Booksmart (2019)

Trailers for films can be deceiving especially when it's a film that looks hilarious from what you see in the short two minutes and it contains a who's who of young Hollywood. It's always a 50/50 crapshoot when you enter that theater or you hit play on your app when it comes to a film and that is what I did with todays film as I took a chance on Booksmart which was actress Olivia Wilde (Tron: Legacy) directorial debut. Kaitlyn Dever (Last Man Standing) and Beanie Feldstein (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) play long time best friends and nerds Amy and Molly who have been so detached from the world of high school around them that they realize that they have not done anything truly daring and fun ever. They hear about a student who is throwing a party and their goal is to make it to the party to let it all out and not be so booksmart for a night. The film also stars Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses) as Principal Brown, Lisa Kudrow (Friends) as Charmaine, Will Forte (Nebraska) as Doug, Victoria Ruesga as Ryan, Skyler Gisondo (The Amazing Spider-Man) as Jared, Diana Silvers (Glass) as Hope, Molly Gordon (Good Boys) as Triple A, Billie Lourd (American Horror Story: 1984) as Gigi, Eduardo Franco (American Vandal) as Theo, Noah Galvin (Assassination Nation) as George, and Jessica Williams (Hot Tub Time Machine 2) as Ms. Fine.

Now as far as my opening statement is concerned, this actually was a really enjoyable film, but it wasn't as funny as I thought it was going to be. There are a lot of great moments in the film, but those are spread out over the course of the film. I thought direction wise, Olivia did a really great job, but my issue was just that it didn't live up to past legendary young Hollywood films like American Pie, Can't Hardly Wait, or even Superbad. The weird thing is that I loved the story, I was invested in what was going on, but it just wasn't non stop funny which is OK because this was more of a coming of age story. Our main character Molly has always had this notion that hard work and no play equals success, but when she finds out that in reality that both can coincide with each other, it throws her world for a loop. For Amy, she has always just been the trusty mate that always goes with what her best friend says and she figures out that you have to crack a few eggs to get some respect. They both change at the end of the film for the better and they realize there is more to life than just being booksmart. There is this one character in the film that starts off just looking obnoxious, but he sort of redeems himself int he film and he becomes lovable and that was Skyler Gisondo's character Jared. He represents the kid who will do or say anything just to be loved and you can feel for him in this film. So, I am definitely going to be fair with my final judgement on this one because as I said, I liked the story, the cinematography, and there were some funny moments. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.