My Town : Dance School
Entertainment and Games
App
Welcome to My Town's new Dance School, a must have addition to your Town. Practice in ballet lesson,...
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Mean Girls (2004) in Movies
Nov 22, 2020
The third film on my 100 Movies Bucket List is Mean Girls, a film I’ve seen but never had any strong emotion for. Mean Girls stars Lindsay Lohan as Cady, who after living and being homeschooled in Africa for most of her life, must now enter the terrifying world of an American high school. Here she meets Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese) who clue her into high school hierarchy, including introducing her to the Plastics: Regina (Rachel McAdams), Karen (Amanda Seyfried) and Gretchen (Lacey Chabert).
Mean Girls is a teenage movie that is unlike many others – instead of being dumb and crude, it’s surprisingly smart and humorous. From the opening scenes, it’s obvious that this is intelligent. It’s full of subtle jokes and remarks and some absolutely superb one liners, and these are all down to Tina Fey who has written an excellent script. And in the process appears to have some of the best lines as teacher Mrs Norbury, but do you blame her? Mean Girls manages to portray the high school hierarchy and social interactions perfectly. Whilst is is obviously catering more to American high schoolers, I doubt there are many that would watch this and not see something that they personally experienced at high school. It’s almost poking fun at the high school experience but in such a smart and enjoyable way. There are moments and lines in this that are almost verging on inappropriate, and likely wouldn’t be acceptable in today’s society, but even though this was made in 2004 I don’t doubt that this impropriety is still reflective of modern day high schools.
The acting on offer here is superb. Lindsay Lohan is entirely believable as Cady and this is hugely important considering the message Mean Girls is portraying. This film is entirely about the realisation that you should be happy about you are, and that putting other people down will never achieve anything. Getting this message across is done very well, in a funny yet almost heartwarming manner although admittedly it is all rather obvious. Although at least this tries to avoid as many teenage film clichés as possible, which makes for a refreshing change.
My problem with Mean Girls is the whole bitchiness of it all that underpins the second act. I know “mean” girls were to be expected, but by the end I found myself getting very irritable with how horrible these girls were and the constant sniping at each other. This may stem from my own sometimes unpleasant experiences at high school, but teenage girls stabbing each other in the backs gets very old very quickly. Fortunately the ending does at least relieve some of the meanness and provide a surprisingly heartwarming and uplifting resolution, but I’m afraid some of the damage remains. And I must admit that seeing a smart girl play dumb and risk failing for a boy really makes my blood boil, and yes I do know it’s only a film.
Overall Mean Girls is a well done teenage film which stands out mostly because of its very smart script. It’s probably one of the best high school based films out there but it isn’t perfect, and I do question as to whether it deserves a spot on the bucket list when there are so many outstanding films that have missed out.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #2) in Books
Feb 1, 2018
I actually found myself enjoying this book more than the first. Perhaps I'd just become more accustomed to Lara Jean and her style, but this was a really sweet and enjoyable novel. Lara Jean comes into her own in the sequel, as she negotiates high school and all the romantic woes she encounters along the way. The second book also avoids a few of the "icks" I felt from the first (e.g., crushing on her older sister's boyfriend). You become a little more used to some of Lara Jean's idioms, and she really does grow up a bit -- taking care of her sitter, Kitty (still a spitfire and a great character all in her own), looking out for her dad, and coming out of her own world a bit.
Even better, the plot is unpredictable and keeps you guessing. Both boys seem viable options for Lara Jean, and she truly comes out of her shell and lives a little, while still remaining true to her self (key). The book presents a great family dynamic with Lara Jean's dad, a single guy raising his three girls, and the supporting cast of characters (especially Kitty) are fun and well-developed. Overall, I read this one in about 24 hours and found it quite entertaining and delightful. A great presentation of high school life and certainly a worthy sequel.
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Gangster School in Books
Sep 24, 2020
Our main characters in this book were Milly and Charlie, two year seven students, who just started a school for future villains. The whole book was told from these two people’s perspectives, sharing their thoughts and adventures. Like in most of the books about schools, there are plenty of various characters to choose from, but my favorite in this novel was Milly. I loved her personality and smartness, and I think she was a great young female lead. She is a very intelligent and observant girl indeed.
The plot of this book was about how Milly and Charlie had to stop an evil villain, who wants to ruin their school. It was filled with quite a lot of action and interesting details, but as an adult, I found the plot was quite predictable. I think that the idea and the setting are very original, but the “good vs. bad” thing was quite unimpressive. But this book directed at children so, I believe, they would love it. 🙂
I really enjoyed the light and funny writing style of this book, where the chapters are pretty short, bringing in something new in every chapter. I don’t think this book is suitable for very young children, it is all about how to be a good villain and it encourages the use of lying and deceit, so I would not want to encourage that in my 6-year-old nephew… However, I noticed that children’s books about thieves and villains are kind of on the “wave” right now… 😕
So, to conclude, as an adult I had great fun while reading this book. I found the characters very charming and the whole idea of gangster’s school pretty intriguing, and I would recommend this book if you (or your child/sibling/nephew/niece etc.) are into villains and saving the world (in this case saving the school). This book is a first in a series, and I will be waiting for more books to come. Please do give this a try and hopefully, you will enjoy it. 🙂
Sue (5 KP) rated Murder at the Makeover in Books
Aug 13, 2018
Georgia and Aleta are 60+-year-olds, full of spunk, and can’t resist tasty pastries. They often find themselves in the middle of murder investigations and often find themselves in trouble with Georgie’s ex-husband Stan. Did I mention that he is a homicide detective?
If you like humor, hijinks, cozy mysteries, and fun-loving characters then this book has what you are looking for.
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Hellraiser (1987) in Movies
Feb 1, 2020
They Let Me Write a Book!: Jamie's World
Book
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Jamie, I'm 19-years-old. I make videos on the Internet, and...
City Kid
Book
From the author of international bestsellers A Circle of Children and Lovey comes an inspiring true...
King's Cross Kid: A Childhood Between the Wars
Book
Ninety-three-year-old Victor Gregg has had a rich and fascinating life. King's Cross Kid follows his...
Hard Reset
Video Game Watch
In the only remaining human city of Bezoar, Major Fletcher, an Army Combat Veteran and soldier of...
shooter