Nancy Meyers

Nancy inspires a tremendous amount of hope in me, she defies conventional wisdom that women re over - both societally and professionally - past a certain age. I root for her in a way I do for all women who are trying to sledgehammer a hole into the wall of an audience and an output that's almost exclusively male-dominated.

Callie Khouri, Director of Thelma and Louise, New York Times, 2009

You can't start a new year without the release of a new rom com film and for 2010 that film is, It's Complicated which stars Meryl Streep and Alex Baldwin. This delightful romance flick is about a divorced couple who find themselves drawn to each other and embark on a torrid affair. It's Complicated is directed by Nancy Meyers who has a raft of successful films under her belt such as Something's Gotta Give, The Holiday, What Women Want and The Parent Trap. She also wrote and produced Father of the Bride, I Love Trouble, Baby Boom and Private Benjamin. Nancy Meyers' movies are a breath of fresh air in Hollywood as they tend to be about mature and affluent professional women who juggle careers and family so it is no surprise that she is regarded as one of the most powerful in Hollywood.  Her female characters are funny, clever, warm and ambitious and the type of lady who does not need a man to make her life complete. In a culture where youth and looks dominate this is quite fundamental. Critics have described her work as dipping into the bourgeois mainstream with the wannabee Oprah happy ending but bitch as they want, nothing can detract from Meyers excellent writing skills and well rounded characters.

The petite yet determined 60 year old grew up in the comfortable surroundings of Drexel Hill in Philadelphia, the younger of two daughters to a Jewish couple. Her childhood was blissfully happy with family and friends in abundance. In fact the close relationship that Annie played by Kimberley Williams-Paisley in Father of the Bride has with her Dad, played by Steve Martin is not too different from the one Nancy had with hers. In 1972 she graduated from American University with a degree in journalism and then promptly landed a job in public televison in Philadelphia. Six months later she moved to LA six and got a job as a production assistant on The Price is Right. which she did for two years before leaving to kick start her writing career. In 1978 she met Charles Shyer who went on to become her partner in business and life. The duo were together for 20 years and married for three, in an union that produced several hit films and two daughters. Films such as Private Benjamin, Father of the Bride and Parent Trap were just a few that they worked on before they split in 1998.

Nancy Meyers lives in Pacific Pallisades with her two daughters.

It's Complicated is released on 8th January, check out the trailer below.

Nora Ephron

At her best, screenwriter Nora Ephron turns out biting, sharply observed scripts that foreground strong, interesting characters. She has also, more unusually for a woman in Hollywood, made a commercially successful transition to directing, helming of comedies that includes two of the key rom-coms of the 1990s.

Samantha Cook, The Rough Guide to Chick Flicks, 2006.

Previously I promised you a post on Nora Ephron the hot shot director of Julie & Julia. Ms Ephron wears many hats; director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, author and blogger. Her beauties are rom-coms such as When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail and more recently Julie & Julia. Recently Nora has been named as one of the most successful creative women in Hollywood and is touted to be in the running for an Oscar nomination for Julie & Julia. Nora Ephron was born in New York City in 1941, the eldest of four daughters and grew up in Beverly Hills where she graduated from the glittery Beverly Hills High. Films were always in Nora�s blood as both her parents were screenwriters. Her sisters, Delia and Amy also went down the screenwriting route and her sister Hallie is a journalist, book reviewer and author. Her links to the literary world continued with her husbands ie hubby no 1 was writer, Dan Greenburg, hubby no 2 was journalist, Carl Bernstein of the Watergate scandal and current hubby is screenwriter, Nicholas Pileggi.

After graduating at Wellesley College in 1962, Nora did a stint as an intern at the White House for President John F. Kennedy. She was head hunted by the New York Post where she worked as a reporter for five years. She went onto writing a column on women�s issues in Esquire and collaborated with Bernstein on the script for All the President�s Men and although the script was not used this brought Nora�s illustrious talents to the forefront. Her first play was Silkwood which starred Meryl Streep and then she went on to write Heartburn which was based on former husband, Carl Bernstein�s affair with British politician Margaret Joy.  She hit pay dirt in 1989 with When Harry Met Sally in which she earned an associate director credit. This is My Life was her first directorial debut but it was Sleepless in Seattle that really made her in Tinsel Town, the film raked it in at the box office. Since Sleepless in Seattle, she has worked on numerous projects such as Michael starring John Travolta and Andie McDowell, Bewitched starring Nicole Kidman and of course, You've Got Mail which reunited Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The secret of Nora Ephron's success is that she makes films that speak to women rather than at them which is a rarity in Hollywood.

Nora Ephron now resides in New York City with her husband.

An Ondo Lady in New York

It was weird going back to NYC after an 11 year hiatus. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the place. Love in that I admire that the Big Apple is full of diverse people from around the world, you can more or less be what you want here, New Yorkers are out there doing there thing and everything seems to happen here. Hate in that it is cramped, entering the subway is like going into a dark pit (Michael Bloomberg sort it out please) and you need to be a zillionaire to be able to afford a property in Manhattan.

Ground Zero
I planned to visit Ground Zero on September 11 for obvious reason but as we were staying in a hotel in Newark and the Path train took me right to the World Trade Centre I decided to do a pre-emptive and check it out earlier. Ground Zero is the right word for it because what was once the World Trade Centre is now empty space undergoing construction. There are two museums, one that commemorates those who died on that fatal day and one that goes into depth about the new plans for the site. I decided to pay my respective to the victims of 9/11 and go the Tribute WTC Visitor Centre. The venue holds videos, images and artifacts that document the events of 9/11. Visiting the centre was a truly sad occasion and really hit home what a pure and utter tragedy it was. I cried and I don�t do crying.


Williamsburg
I have heard so much about this place in magazines such as Nylon and Elle so I needed to check it out. Apparently it is the place where the young and trendy hipsters who cannot afford Manhattan now live. So I trekked down to Brooklyn to have a nosey. You could have knocked me down with a feather, it is exactly how they described it. This area is all hipsters galore and full of retro cafes that serve organic cuisine, bagel shops, trendy boutiques and indie record shops. As I browsed by I spotted various PYTs sitting in cafes tapping away on their Macbooks. Yup you got the drift.

DUMBO
Otherwise known as Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overseas; this area in Brooklyn has been touted as an urban space with exciting galleries, cafes, restaurants and boutiques. Yippee I thought to myself and headed down there on the A train in anticipation. Sadly I was left disappointed, aside from one trying to be arty bookshop and a few restaurants, DUMBO has nothing to say for itself and it is just full of warehouses. Frankly it has a long way to go before it is Hoxton. I felt like a dumbo for wasting my time.


Fashion�s Night Out
I saw the posters for this New York�s Fashion Night Out during the day while I was browsing though the shops but I had no idea how huge it was. Later that night as we wandered out for dinner, the place was manic. It looked like the whole of New York had come out to shop and party. Ok rewind and let me give you some background, Fashion�s Night Out is a global celebration of fashion with the aim of boosting the shopping experience and getting people to part with their pounds or dollars in this instance. It took place on 10th September and is put together by Vogue, the CFDA and NYC. The shops stayed open till 11pm and most of them had DJs performing and were offering complimentary wine and champagne. A whole range of celebrities and fashionistas were on board such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Anna Wintour, P Diddy, Diane von Furstenberg and Donna Karan. That night had a real buzz about it and that was the moment when I thought, yes I really am in New York.

So that was my trip to NYC, short and sweet. If I had more time I would have checked out Harlem, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Lower East Side in Manhattan and Red Hook and Park Slope in Brooklyn. It was rainy and windy when we left NYC and as we were in the Shuttle bus heading towards La Guardia, I turned and looked at my travel buddy and said "I think we are leaving New York at the right time."

I leave you with a clip from a new film called New York, I Love You. I saw the trailer when I went to see The September Issue. It is a collection of 11 short films at 10 minutes long and stars a huge stellar cast. It made it's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be released in October in the US. I have searched for a UK release date but cannot find one.

Meet the Blythewoods

On Saturday, I played host to the lovely Ola from Diverse Traveller where I showed her the sights of my little town. After my great day was over I decided to chill out and treat myself to one of my favourite films, Biker Boyz. With a stellar cast of Laurence Fishburne, Derek Luke, Larenz Tate, Tyson Beckford, Orlando Jones, Djimon Hounsou, Terrence Howard, Meagan Good and Lisa Bonet; you pretty much had the creme a la creme of Black Hollywood. Biker Boyz is the baby of Reggie Rock Blythwood who wrote and directed the exciting action film while his wife, Gina Prince Blythewood served as a producer. With several quality films under their belts, the Blythewoods are pretty much the doyennes in African American film making.

Born and raised in the Bronx, Reggie Rock Bythewood studied acting at Marymount Manhattan College. In 1990 he landed a job as a writer on A Different World where he met wife to be Gina who was also on the writing team. He went on to write for Fox's drama series New York Undercover, where he was the show's supervising producer. He penned the script for Get On the Bus which was directed by Spike Lee and went on to write Dancing in September, a drama which stared Tichina Arnold who now stars in Everybody Hates Chris. Blythewood's directorial debut came in 2003 when he pitched Biker Boyz to the Hollywood bosses. His most recent works has been writing the script for the biopic of Biggie Smalls in Notorious which was released earlier this year.

Gina Prince Blythewood holds her own alongside her husband; her body of work includes Disappearing Acts which is based on the book by Terry McMillan and the romance, Love and Basketball which starred Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps. Love and Basketball won an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. However her most remarkable work to date has been The Secret Lives of the Bees in which was produced by Will Smith and his wife Jada. The Secret Life of the Bees was a hit at the box office which is not surprising considering the talent in the cast which included Queen Latifah, Alicia Keyes, Jennifer Hudson, Sophie Okinedo and Paul Bettany. On top of the she has also directed episodes of Girlfriends and Everybody Hates Chris.

Black film making has come an awful long way since the 80s and if someone had told that an predominately Black cast would star in a Hollywood film about bikers I would have told you to shut up right now! However it looks like the Blythewoods are about to take Black film making to a completely different level.

Reggie and Gina reside in California with their two sons.

R.I.P John Hughes

I was really sad to hear about the untimely death of John Hughes last night. Hughes was one of the most important directors of his decade but he also lent his hand in producing and script-writing. His films such as The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles and Some Kind of Wonderful helped define pop culture in the 80s. They were the first films to cover teenage angst in a way that no one had done before and captured the way the youth talked and issues they had to deal with. In a nutshell John Hughes made movies that spoke to teenagers. Unlike directors today, Hughes made a lot of films in a short amount of time but still managed to maintain pure quality. My favorite John Hughes film is The Breakfast Club for it's compelling dialogue and characters which is closely followed by Some Kind of Wonderful.

John Hughes excellent body of work includes.

Sixteen Candles -1984
Weird Science - 1985
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - 1986
Pretty in Pink - 1986
The Breakfast Club - 1986
Some Kind of Wonderful - 1987
Planes, Trains and Automobiles - 1987
She�s Having a Baby �1988
Uncle Buck - 1989
Home Alone - 1990
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York - 1992
Home Alone 3 - 1997
Maid in Manhattan - 2002

Look out for a retro review of Sixteen Candles next month. Check out the tribute video above and tell me which is your favourite John Hughes film?

Retro Review: Pretty in Pink

Andie Walsh played by Molly Ringwald is the kid from the wrong side of the block who along with her friends has been given a pass to a privileged education at a top notch school. However everything is not so cheery as Andie and her mates are treated like second hand citizen by the in crowd. She draws on the support from her inner circle to get through the torment which include Duckie Dale played by Jon Cryer and Iona played by Annie Potts. Andie and Duckie are best friends who go way back although Duckie harbours stronger feelings for Andie. Meanwhile Andie has her eye on rich and popular guy, Blaine McDonough played by Andrew McCarthy and is astounded when he asks her out on a date. This does not prove to be popular with either of their friends and huge peer pressure poses a huge threat to their budding romance. Duckie is heartbroken as he long time plans of marrying Andie are cut short and Steff played by James Spader who is Blaine's best friend makes scathing comments about Andie.

This film was a huge success when it was released in 1986 and caught the imagination of teenagers all over the US. This was directed by Howard Deutch (who went on to direct Some Kind of Wonderful and Melrose Place) but the script was written by John Hughes. It is easy to see why it was so popular as it was one of the few of its kind; a film that explored the issues that were prevalent in teen life. Finding out who you are, dealing with peer pressure, trying to fit into social cliques, dating and working out what you want to do with your life. All these experiences are dealt with superbly in John Hughes films aka Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and Some Kind of Wonderful which I blogged about here. I felt that Pretty in Pink was a pretty good movie and Molly Ringwald really creates a lot of empathy as Andie but it is her side kicks who steal the show. Jon Cryer who puts in a cracking performance as the very charismatic Duckie and Annie Potts is hilarious as Andie's quirky work buddy, Iona. What stands out about this film is the emphasis on youth culture hence Andie being a New Wave girl working in an indie record store. Andie's fashion sense is a the selling point of the film, her vintage and hand made wardrobe consisted of floral leggings, lace tops, boy blazers, waistcoats, trilby hats, cute cardigans, with layers of junk jewelery and lots of pink. Face it, Andie Walsh was the 80s Carrie Bradshaw.

Beyond Biba

Mention the word Biba and you can bet that any decent fashionista will go all starry eyed. This is because along with Mary Quant, Diane von Furstenberg and Twiggy, Biba is right up there as one of the iconic fashion brands of the 60s and 70s. Biba is a store which was created by Barbara Hulanicki, a glamorous Pole who ran the famous outlet with her husband. To be frank, Biba changed the face of UK fashion by making clothes that were seen on catwalks around the world accessible to young women. According to Barbara, typical Biba customers were �postwar babies who had been deprived of nourishing protein in childhood and grew up into beautiful skinny people: a designer's dream.'

Wikipedia describes the phenomenon of Biba below:

'The shop's main appeal was that an average woman in London could for less than 10% of her weekly earnings share the look of the most glamorous woman in Europe. What could be seen on the catwalks in Paris could now be bought with a Biba twist for much less money. As the Biba logo became more and more recognizable, the more and more people wanted to be seen in it.'

In 1974 the Biba brand was extended into a mail order catalog and new lines for men and children were created along with a food and book range. Sadly the Biba phase came to a demise in the late 70s when punk was all the range and the brand failed to react to the changing trends. However we had not seen the back of Biba and in 2006 the brand was revived under Bella Freud. A new collection made it's debut at London Fashion Week with plans for a new boutique.

As for Barbara well she continued to work in the fashion business and went on to design a line for children that was very successful. She also moved into the interior business working on projects for a variety of famous people such as Ronnie Wood and musich honcho, Chris Blackwell. Barbara has added another string to her bow by designing a wallpaper range for Habitat and Graham and Brown. She is now collaborating with Topshop on a Biba (esq) creation which are doing very well thank you very much. She lives in Miami where she has made a significant contribution to aesthetics by playing a huge part in the regeneration of Miami Beach. With an amazing career like that behind her it is no surprise that a film has been made about Barbara Hulanicki. Beyond Biba is a documentary gives us a rare insight into Barbara the woman; looking at her tragic childhood in Poland, the powerful impact of Biba, the impact her husband had on the brand and her thoughts on modern America.

Beyond Biba is being screened on Friday 17th July at 7pm at the Victoria and Albert Museum. A Q&A with Barbara Hulanicki will take place afterwards.

Check out the Beyond Biba blog here.

Here is a preview of the documentary below.


Beyond Biba Trailer from November Films on Vimeo.

Also check out this interview with Barbara on mydeco.com along with a really cool video.

Retro Review: Some Kind of Wonderful

With his love of art, a part time job in a gas station and a tomgirl for a best friend, Keith Nelson played by Eric Stoltz is the school social outcast. In a teen culture where looks and money are considered high importance, Keith's working class roots do not cut it at his clique high school. So he spends his time with his best mate Watts played by Mary Stuart Masterson, a sassy lass whose activities include playing drums and spouting feminist rhetoric. However, Keith and Watts are broken out of their solitary existence when he falls for Amanda Jones played by Lea Thompson. Amanda is a gorgeous IT girl who rolls with the popular crowd and is also dating one of the richest guys at school. When Amanda breaks up with her boyfriend Keith takes this chance to ask her out on a date. Unknown to Keith, Watts is secretly in love with him but nevertheless helps him with his plan to woo Amanda.

Some Kind of Wonderful is produced by the legendary John Hughes who brought us The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty In Pink and Sixteen Candles so I had very high expectations before watching it. I can safely say I was not disappointed and Some Kind of Wonderful was a great film to watch. The storyline is not the most original but the script and dialogue makes up for it. Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson and Lea Thompson put in fantastic performances and really gel in this movie. I admit that Mary Stuart Masterson's character, Watts does steal the limelight with all her wise cracks and sarcastic comments but Lea Thompson brings a lot of warmth to a character that you are just yearning to hate. Amanda may be popular and beautiful but her embarrassment of her working class roots demonstrates that things that look perfect on the outside are not always so. Eric Stoltz is great as the guy who does not fit in, this is a little unconvincing in the looks department but he plays the part very well.

This film is a gender revised version of Pretty in Pink which was made a year earlier but with the ending that John Hughes - along with many others - wanted. You see the suits at the films studio pressurised John Hughes into changing the ending of Pretty in Pink so Molly Ringwald's character would end up with McCarthy when he really wanted Ringwald to end up with Cryer's character. So apparently John Hughes wrote this film in response with the ending he really wanted. He did a really good job as I much prefer this version which is uplifting and really celebrates teenage years while Pretty in Pink was somewhat depressing. This film was well received by the critics but did not do that great at the box offices.

Images taken by moviegoods.com

Mean, Meaner, Meanest

"Women would run the world if they did not hate each other." Interesting words uttered from the mouth of Chris Rock but also very true. Where ever you look examples of girl on girl hate is prevalent; books, TV, film and music, we are all party to seeing young women treating each other badly. These are issues that author and educator, Rosalind Wiseman tackies in her book, Queen Bees and Wannabees where she looks at ways of handling aggressive girl behaviour. She also goes into the secret world of school cliques and breaks them down into six categories: Queen Bees, Wannabes, Messengers, Bankers, Targets, Torn Bystanders. Queen Bees and Wannabees is an important book because not only does it give us an insight into the socio-political inside of girl world it is also the inspiration for Mean Girls. Defined as a combination of Heathers meets Clueless, Mean Girls was released in 2004 to critical acclaim and is now regarded as one of the best teen films of all time. The success of the movie might have had something to do with the hotness of Lindsay Lohan at the time but Mean Girls is truly all about Tina Fey and her brilliant script writing skills.


Mean Girls was Tina's debut as a writer and actor in a feature film and I supposed you can say that it was also a semi bio project as the movie touched on a lot of things that she experienced at high school. The cast also includes performers from Saturday Night Live of which Tina is an integral part of. This teen dramady is the story of Cady Heron played by Lindsay Lohan, a teenager who moves to a new school after having an idyllic upbringing in an African country. New to the social rules of high school she finds herself an object of interest by The Plastics ie the Mean Girls who run the school. The Plastics are headed by Regina George played by Rachel McAdams and they take her under their wing and she finds herself escalating into the school popularity ranks. However, unknown to The Plastics, Cady is secretly plotting with social outcasts Janis Ian played by Lizzy Caplan and Damien played by Daniel Franzese to bring down Regina. As she becomes immersed in life as a Plastic Cady usurps Regina to become the new Queen Bee but pretty soon she gets addicted to her new found power and starts to neglect her real friends.


The character of the Queen Bee runs similar in a lot of films and TV shows from Heather Chandler in Heathers, Taylor Vaughan in She's All That and Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl. Rosalind Wiseman defines the the Queen Bee below:

"She holds the combination of charisma, strong will, looks, money, force and manipulation. She is the centre of the group not because she is well liked but because of the fear that she holds over the group. She sets all the rules and changes them to suit her own purposes."

As enjoyable and funny as Mean Girls is, the film also has a steely edge that is a tad bit disturbing. As Tina Fey describes, the film shows how girls know how to mess with each other. Talk about art imitating life.

Retro Review: 10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You totally slipped under my radar when it was released back in 1999. I 'missed' the release hype that took place ten years ago and have never got round to watching it on TV. Silly me because last weekend I realised exactly what I have been missing out on. 10 Things is another Shakespeare update that is based on The Taming of the Shrew and is the tale of two very different sisters. Kat is the elder sister played by Julia Stiles and she is an anti social feminist who is best known for her extremely sharp tongue. She spends her time listening to Riot Grrrl music, reading feminist books and sneering at teenage school life. Her sister, Bianca played by Larisa Oleynik is a total contrast. A complete and utter Valley Girl, her life consists of shopping, make up, boys and more boys. Both sisters are forbidden to date by their over protective Father and while this may suit Kat it infuriates Bianca who has her eye on lothario, Joey Donner who is played by Andrew Keegan. However their Father relents and comes up with a new rule that Bianca can date as soon as her sister starts dating. Meanwhile Bianca is also pursued by newcomer, Cameron James played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt who comes up with a plan in order to get Kat dating. He enlists the services of Patrick Verona played by the late Heath Ledger, who is as much of a misfit as Kat and a rebel without a cause. He is hired by Joey to take Kat out on a date after negotiations with Cameron proved fruitless.

While 10 Things has does not steer from traditional romcom values it proves to be an utterly charming film. Julia Stiles is surprisingly brilliant as the kick ass Kat while Heath Ledger shows early signs of the amazing acting that led to his Oscar win. The scene where he serenades Kat with the song, 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' is hilarious. Larissa Oleynik is kind of ok as Bianca and it was nice to see her working again after her show, The Secret World of Alex Mack. However, the success of the film really belongs to Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger who show a lot of chemistry.

Now this cute film has a TV series follow up which will hit the small screen this year. Gil Junger who directed the film is back onboard and newbies Lindsey Shaw and Meaghan Jette-Martin play Kate and Bianca respectively. I am a bit sceptical about this as I was not a fan of the TV version of Clueless but I do think it is kind of cool that they have waited 10 years before they made the show and sort of poignant.

Retro Review: Clueless

So now I know where the phrase, 'My Bad' came from. After years of hit and miss I decided to watch Clueless today and I am so glad I did because I feel like I have just fitted the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Clueless is based on Emma which is a novel written by super scribe Jane Austen and it features Cher Horowitz played by Alicia Silverstone, a sweet natured Beverly Hills princess who is just a tad bit pampered and self involved. This film is one of many adaptation of novels penned by Jane Austen and William Shakespeare that hit the scene in the 90s. Remember Romeo + Juliet and 10 Things I hate About You - films that were based on popular period dramas and were given a modern twist. Well Clueless led the pack of films aimed at the MTV Generation and is now revered as the ultimate teen comedy.

Cher and her best friend Dionne played by Stacey Dash are the most popular girls in school which is fitting as they are both named after the singers. Cher lives with her lawyer father in a big mansion and her life is picture perfect although it is marred slightly by a short visit by her former step brother, Josh played by Paul Rudd. Josh and Cher are poles apart as he is a deep thinking intellectual while Cher's deepest challenge is sussing out which pair of shoes to wear. The banter between the duo is very entertaining and serves as a focal point for the film as Josh's comments about Cher's superficiality leads her to become less involved. She becomes something of a match maker by setting up her two teachers on a date and while doing this she develops a taste for helping people. So when new girl, Tai played by Brittany Murphy joins the school Cher takes her under her wing, giving her a makeover which escalates Tai's popularity. Meanwhile she becomes so wrapped up in sorting out other people's love lives that she does not notice that she has an admirer of her own.

I will admit that the reason why I did not rush to see this film when it was released back in 1995 was because of the title which sounded like a lightweight comedy. By god was I wrong, Clueless is iconic in so many ways and way ahead of its time. Without this film there would be no Legally Blonde (which is really the naughties version of Clueless), and there would definitely be no Mean Girls. That snappy dialogue that had everyone keeling over set the benchmark for how teen comedies should be. Director, Amy Heckerling certainly did her homework here and conveys pop culture in the most accurate form.

Language
It was the first film to portray how teenagers spoke to each other. Hence phrases such as 'Whatever,' 'Totally,' 'As If,' and of course 'My bad.'

Fashion
The film was full of cute plaid suits, baby doll dresses and over the knee socks, all of which became the rage in the mid 90s.

TV Series
The success of the film led to a spin off TV series which starred a few of the key characters. Cher was played by another actress.

Books
A collection of books were released after the film came out.

There is no doubt in my mind that Clueless is a pop cultural phenomenon.

In case you are a Clueless fanatic you can buy the special DVD edition, Clueless Whatever holds interview with the cast and delves into the fashion and trends from the film. You can purchase it here.

Chick Flicks

Glam.com have published their list of the best chick flicks of all time. 25 films have been listed with Clueless heading the list. With the news that Hollywood studio bosses are planning an output of Chick Flick titles for this year, it looks like the genre is finally getting its dues. According to this article in The New York Times, filmmakers are even going as far as to aiming the titles at men as well as women. This is great news for me as I am an avid fan of chick flicks and along with many Sophie Kinsella fans, I am awaiting the release of the film Confessions of a Shopaholic later this year. Till that date arrives I have the Rough Guide to Chick Flicks to keep me instead. The book is an entertaining guide to the films millions of women round the globe love; from rom coms, bio pics, melodramas and thrillers - it is all here to savour. Divided into sections such as the history of chick flicks, the must sees - the lowdown on 50 essential women's films, the faces - a profile on the sheroes and heroes of chick flicks, chick lits and chick flicks - looking at the fascinating relationship between books and films, women of the world - featuring fantastic material from across the world.

The Rough Guide to Chick Flicks is written by Samantha Cook who uses these words to describe the genre, "The chick flick. Most of us recognise one when we see one but as a genre it is difficult to define. Regarded more of a guilty pleasure than as an art form, it is a breed of movie that's given little attention in comparison to other more recognised genres. Mention chick flicks and people come over all condescending, bandying words around like light, frothy formulaic. This book dosen't knock froth. In fact it thrives in it. What, afterall would a cappuccino be without froth, or a bubble bath" This title is a really fun read as it teaches you the ins and outs of the genre and also points out a few titles that make essential viewing. Check out the website here.

27 Dresses

Always the bridesmaid and never the bride is a common phrase and one that a lot of single ladies get to hear one time too many. Enter Jane Nichols, played by Katherine Heigl, an all round sweetie who just does not know when to say no. She will do anything for anyone even to the expense of her own happiness. Things such as being a bridesmaid at wedding after wedding (27 in fact) and even two on one night and dashing about like a grass hopper to each wedding reception. Madly in love with her free spirited boss, George played by Edward Burns, Jane plods along at her work place desperately hoping that he will notice her. Her heart is crushed when George falls head over heels with her self absorbed younger sister, Tess, played by Malin Akerman but she manages to put her feelings aside and help the couple plan their wedding. At one of her many stints as a bridesmaid, Jane meets Kevin Doyle played by James Marsden who - unknown to Jane - is covering the wedding for his wedding column in the New York City Journal. The two clash right away due to their contrasting views on marriage. Jane is the eternal romantic optimist while Kevin is a true cynic who detest the idea of marriage and dislikes writing his column even more. When Kevin comes across Jane's diary he takes a peep and sees that it full of back to back weddings and he immediately pitches a story to his editor about the perpetual bridesmaid in the hope that it will advance his career. To add a twist into the tale, Jane is a great fan of Kevin's wedding column but as he writes it under the pseudonym of Malcolm Doyle, Jane has no idea that it is penned by him.

27 Dresses is very entertaining and draws great performances from Katherine Heigl and James Marsden but moreover it also serves as a wake up call. If you have ever held a light for that special someone and waited around in the hope for that wondrous day when he or she would see the light and declare their undenying love - then this film is for you. 27 Dresses contains many themes such as loyalty, friendship, honesty and good old fashioned romance as well as delusion. The film teaches you that if that person who you have been mooching around for a certain period of time has never shown a romantic interest in you then - guess what - he or she never will. Despite how many nice and helpful things you do for that person you will always be good old Jane.

My first exposure to Katherine was seeing her play Gerard Depardieu's daughter in the comedy, My Father, the Hero back in 1994. She shone like a bright light in that film and I thought that she would rocket to stardom but funnily enough it never really happened. However a role in the last year's hit film, Knocked Up and the TV series Grey's Anatomy made certain of Katherine's future as one of Hollywood's leading ladies. The success of 27 Dresses combined with her Marilyn (esque) look at The Oscars now has the industry touting her as heiress to Meg Ryan's crown of the new queen of rom coms. In my opinion it is a worthy title but I am sure a certain Renee Witherspoon will have something to say about that. Also great to see James Marsden in a big film. the last time I saw him was in the mystery thriller film, Gossip. Anne Fletcher does a great job in what is her second directing job. The dancer turned choreographer turned director has had amazing success with dance film, Step Up and Step 2 the Streets so it is no surprise to me to hear that she also produced another of my favourite films, The Wedding Planner. Talking of favourite films, Aline Brosh McKenna comes up trumps with a cracking script but then what else would you expect from someone who produced the script for The Devil Wears Prada and Laws of Attraction.

This Christmas

Christmas is a season when all the cheesy films are put upon us, duds like Jingle All The Way, Home Alone and various sequels of sequels all come out for an airing. Frankly Christmas is a time when I avoid the cinema like the plague. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel due to the release of a film called This Christmas. Before you turn your nose up, hear me out. This Christmas is a warm film about the Whitfield family who for the first time in four years are set to spend Xmas together in their LA family home. The Whitfields are a large clan and like most big families they come with their dramas. The head of the family is Shirley 'Ma'Dere' played by Loretta Devine who awaits the emotional gathering of her beloved three daughters and three sons. Eldest of the clan is Lisa played by Regina King is an unfulfilled housewife who has sacrificed her own happiness for her family. She is married to an ambitious businessman who is pressuring her to persuade her family to sell the dry cleaning business that their mother runs. Eldest son, Quentin played by Idris Elba is a talented jazz musician who is on the run from gambling debts so seeks refuge at the family home. Kelli played by Sharon Leal is a hard nosed business women who comes to blows with Lisa and her husband. Claude played by Columbus Short is an active duty Marine who is harbouring a dark secret while younger brother Baby played by R&B singer, Chris Brown longs to break out of the family nest and pursue a musical career of his own. Youngest daughter Mel played by Lauren London is an unfocused college student who brings home her boyfriend, Devean played by Keith Robinson. Then there is Joseph played by Delroy Lindo - Ma'Dere' long time partner who clashes with Quentin on several ocassions. With the secrets and tensions at bay you wonder if the Whitfields will ever sit down and enjoy a Merry Christmas.

This film is extremely heart warming and really portrays what Christmas is like for Black families in the US and UK. The main elements are drama, food, laughter, music, dancing and more food. The film is written and directed by Preston A. Whitmore who also has a short part in the film. ER star, Mekhi Phifer is an Executive Producer here and plays a love interest to Lisa. This Christmas is very enjoyable and if you are a Tyler Perry fan or like classics such as Soul Food and Love Jones then you will adore this film.

This Christmas is released on 30th November.

Daddy's Little Girls

The genius that is Tyler Perry just seems to get better and better. This writing, producing, directing and acting combo is proving to be the best thing to happen to Black films since Spike Lee. Perry's first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman became one of the most talked about films in 2002. Diary of a Mad Black Woman depicts the traumas of Helen, an African American women who comes to terms with a bitter divorce. This film put Tyler Perry on the map and wet the public's appetite for inspiring and uplifting stories on African American relationships. So it was no surprise when the follow up, Madea's Family Reunion was a box office success and now his new title, Daddy's Little Girls has been released to great critical acclaim.

Daddy's Little Girls is the story of Monty, played by Idris Elba, a hard working mechanic who is the doting father of three adorable little daughters. He is estranged from their mother as she is now living the life of drugs and crime with the local hood so Monty and his mother-in-law are raising the three girls while he works long hours at the garage to make ends meet. When Monty's mother-in-law dies he brings his daughters to live with him in his tiny apartment. Meanwhile he takes on a job as a driver for a snooty lawyer with the aim to buy a bigger apartment and provide his daughters with a better life. Unfortunately while he is out working a fire breaks out at his home and his daughters are brought to hospital. Although they are not hurt social services declare that his living arrangements are not fit to raise three children and award temporary custody to their mother. In order to get his beloved daughters back and away from a life of drugs Monty has to go to court. Enter Julia, played by Gabrielle Union who is the snooty lawyer whose whole life revolves around work. While climbing up the corporate ladder Julia seems to have misplaced her sense of humor as well as the ability to find a good man. When the Monty and Julia meet, sparks fly but not in the romantic sense. Julia dismisses Monty as a uncouth handy man and Monty writes Julia off as a stuck up prima dona. However, Monty's impending court case draws the two of them together and while working on getting Monty his kids back the two begin to open up and see what the other is really like.

Daddy's Little Girls is a real lushy romantic story but it is funny as well. Strangely it is the first film without Tyler Perry in it but the pairing of Elba and Union make up for it. These two possess real chemistry and complement each other in every way. Daddy's Little Girls also throws up the interesting topic of the class issue within African American relationships. This is articulated through Julia's friend's (Brenda and Cynthia) dismay at the relationship. "You are supposed to have fun with him, not fall for him." says a horrified Brenda. This film is just perfect to watch on a perfect night in, curled up on the sofa with some popcorn.