I’m going with another theme within a theme post for this week. I know, I’m getting really good at these! The reasons this week is a little weird though is because these movies aren’t all as good as they should. But I was having a weird week, so here is the weirdness reflected in my today’s picks: platonic friendships in teen movies.
1. THE KISSING BOOTH (2018)
While an awful movie, mostly due to its second half, The Kissing Booth had a very sweet friendship between Elle and Lee in its center. The friendship was the high light of the film, and it reminded me how important it is for teen movies to showcase not just romantic relationships but also platonic. But if you ever do watch it, stop after the kissing booth scene. After that, the movie takes a deep dive into shitty territory.
2. A CINDERELLA STORY (2004)
Now, another not so good movie but with a very good platonic friendship in its middle. A Cinderella Story is a retelling, obviously, and while young Chad Michael Murray almost steals the spotlight, Dan Byrd’s Carter still wins. He is funny, adorable and a good friend! And while I did have a little fangirl moment in my youth, I fully acknowledge the fact that Hilary Duff does not know how to act all that well. She has improved over the years, but she always seems so uncomfortable on screen.
3. STEP UP 2: THE STREETS (2008)
Probably the best of the three is Step Up 2, which takes the dancing to the streets. Within its plot is Andie and Moose, bit of an unlikely pair of two people but it works too well to be dismissed. While their friendship starts before their mutual love for dance is out in the open, it’s through dance that their friendship grows. Wow. That sounded super cheesy… but I mean it.
THIS SERIES IS CREATED BY WANDERING THROUGH THE SHELVES
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I watched A Cinderella Story for Hilary Duff and I remember enjoying it. I was like 12 or something though 😂
I love Step Up 2. I’m kinda obsessed with it to be honest and it’s my fav of the series.
I mean, for 12 year olds it’s a pretty decent movie! 😀
Not sure I can get behind you loving Step Up 2 more than the original but alright 😂 You know I’ve never rewatched A Cinderella Story so I have no notion of Duff not being a good/decent actress???
I have not seen The Kissing Booth, I’ve lost track of teen movies these days, but… yeah, does not look good lol
I actually thought the dance scenes were a lot stronger in the second one, probably because they are much louder and bigger. The one in the end with the rain, my favourite!
Duff is so awkward in Cinderella Story, it’s so strange and uncomfortable. 😛
These 3 films sound…not that great and I have not seen any. Maybe, one day, when I am sick and want some fluff on tv I will see one. I almost want to see the first film just to watch the dreck after the kissing booth scene.
They aren’t… but I mean, they each have a solid friendship in the middle. Plus, I’m running out of movies to recommend, since I don’t want to reuse movies for my TMP posts, which is why I have to pick ones that aren’t as good too! 😀
I worked at a movie theater when A Cinderella Story came out so I have found memories of that even if it isn’t great. It’s a shame Rupert Grint didn’t get that role as it was originally planned. I would’ve loved to have seen that.
What role was Grint supposed to play!? :O
I’ve heard of your second and third picks but haven’t seen any of them. Well that’s not entirely true, my nieces would watch A Cinderella Story all the time when it came out on tape and I caught snippets of it at different times….enough for me to know that was enough for me!
I also did a small theme within theme since my three are all about female friendships.
The Women (1939)-Wealthy happily married Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) spends her days in the company of a circle of equally well-heeled women friends whose main distraction is gossiping about each other. The worst offender is Mary’s cousin Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell) a smiling Judas with a vicious streak. When Sylvia finds out at the beauty parlor that Mary’s husband is stepping out on her with a cheap piece of baggage named Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford) she makes sure Mary finds out protesting all the time she’s doing it for her own good. It’s off to Reno and back where new complications await Mary and her buddies both old and new. Witty comedy has an entirely female cast (down to the animals) and great dialog. Musicalized (pleasantly if unmemorably) in the 50’s as The Opposite Sex with Joan Collins stepping in for Crawford and shredded in 2008 with an abysmal redo.
Old Acquaintance (1943)-Serious minded Kit Marlowe (Bette Davis) and flighty Millie Drake (Miriam Hopkins) have been best friends since college. Several years on Kit is now an acclaimed, respected but not terribly profitable authoress while Millie has married and is expecting a child. During a visit Millie confides to Kit that she’s written a book as well, a romance novel, which Kit passes along to her publisher and which becomes an enormous hit followed year after year by one frothy concoction after another making Millie fantastically rich and successful. However Millie remains envious of Kit as her marriage fails and her daughter turns to Kit as a mother figure and their friendship is strained but never breaks. High class soap opera was notorious at the time for the behind the scenes feud between Davis and talented but legendarily difficult Hopkins-a shameless upstager. At one point Davis had to shake Hopkins hard in a scene and when she finished the crew broke into applause!
Beaches (1988)-On the Atlantic City beach in the 50’s child performer CC Bloom (Mayim Bialik) meets lost rich kid Hillary Whitney (Marcie Leeds) and they strike up what turns out to be a deep lifelong friendship as they grow up to be Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. Except for a brief break their kinship endures just about every obstacle under the sun leading to a teary conclusion. Though there is solid work from Lainie Kazan as Midler’s overbearing mother and John Heard as a director both women fall for this is Midler and Hershey’s show and their powerful chemistry carries the movie.
I would have been very surprised if you would have seen any of the three picks, haha. 😀
Nice theme within a theme in your picks too! I definitely support female friendships, which are nowadays portrayed very strangely in movies. Bridesmaids and Rough Night etc, make it seem like female friendships are bonkers most of the time.
The KIssing Booth – Yep very cheesy. I think it’s aimed at very young kids to very early teens.
A Cinderella Story – I remember it as being very bad. I have not seen Duff in anything recently, but she had been a terrible actress in her teens.
The only Step Up movie I’ve watched in full is the first one. That was passable only because of the chemistry between the leads and the good dancing. I’ve watched one other Step Up (don’t know which one) movie only in parts and it gets old quickly,no story…just dancing..