This Is California, Not Kentucky: Fast Times at Ridgemont High vs. Clueless

I'll vote for Fast Times, which is one of my favourite films ever, but I liked Clueless more last night than the first time. I'll post about it later.

Both good. Voted Fast Times; I just clicked with it a little more. John Hughes = dud-ish.

When I saw Clueless at the time, I was probably thrown by how much lighter it was than Fast Times--it just wasn't as ambitious, and it wasn't as funny. I found it ambled along for about half-an-hour this time--the satire still seemed a little pat--but it got better and better after that. I thought there was at least one part that was great: when Cher reflects on the different kinds of goodness in the people she knows, especially the way she notices how considerate Dionne and her boyfriend are to each other when they're alone. My favourite line was Cher complaining about Complaint Rock. And her way of smiling after she'd give her insane debate presentations must be high on the list of why people love the film so much.

It was part of a "Back to the '90s" series at Lightbox. Music before the screening: "Mr. Jones," "Zombie," "Shoop," "The Impression That I Get," "Talk Show Host" (didn't know that one at all--I looked it up later via a lyric I remembered), "Crazy," and "Vogue." The music in Clueless could have been used better. I could barely hear "Fantastic Voyage," and using a cover of "Shake Some Action" made no sense.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I wonder if Cher would classify Bob Dylan in 1965 as Complaint Rock. He had a few.

I missed this! I would've voted for Clueless.

me too

I voted Clueless, but this really is a coin-toss.

I didn't vote, but few things in teen movies are funnier to me than Judge Reinhold shouting, "Mister, if you don't shut up, I'm going to kick one hundred percent of your ass!"

virtually Lubitsch

Yeah well Lubitsch's teen movies were pretty banal so shut up.

The scene where Brad gets fired is a good illustration of why I think Fast Times is the better film. That's a really uncomfortable scene to watch; every teenager experiences that feeling of complete powerlessness. (The guy who complains is such an idiot.) As funny as it is, Fast Times is so good at the really unpleasant side of teenage life. Clueless is a really sweet film, and going back to it I understood why it means a lot to some people, but it just didn't have that extra dimension for me. (Admittedly, it doesn't try for that, so that's unfair.)

These movies are so different - Fast Times is very nearly a horror movie.