Jersey Girl (2004) and She's Having a Baby (1988)

JERSEY GIRL (2004)

Writer/Director:  Kevin Smith

The Quote I Quote Most Often:   “You love me all the way to the moon and back down to the dirt.”  ~ Will Smith

Favorite Quote This Time Around:  “You’re riding in the Batmobile.  How cool is that?” 

 ~ Ollie Trinke (played by Ben Affleck, the new Batman)

Character I Most Identify With:  Ollie Trinke, because I know exactly how it feels to fight with a

seven-year-old

Nod to John Hughes:  Kevin Smith patterned this movie from John Hughes’s She’s Having a Baby.

Now that I have successfully survived childbirth, I was able to watch Jersey Girl.  If you’ve seen the beginning of this movie you will understand why I couldn’t watch it antepartum.  This movie is extremely different in tone from Smith’s previous movies.  It’s pretty clear that getting married and having a kid softened old Kev.  

And that’s what having kids does to us, doesn’t it?  It softens us and rearranges our priorities.  I once read that to have a child was “to forever have your heart walking around outside your body.”  That’s pretty much what this movie is all about.  It’s also about making peace with living in the suburbs, a theme I love and one found in She’s Having a Baby.  The protagonists in both of these movies have big dreams and feel like their lives are hindered by living in the suburbs.  

Sometimes living in the suburbs can make your life seem small.  You live in any old house on any old street and you’re pretty much doing what everyone else is doing.  Don’t get me wrong here, I don’t mean parenting.  Parenting is a big, important job filled with purpose, but sometimes the lawn mowing and the grocery shopping and the dish washing all feel a little mundane.

Ollie Tinke makes peace with the suburbs by sacrificing the big, glitzy career for staying in Jersey for his daughter, which ultimately helps him open his life to a new dream.  My dream has always been three-fold: to be a teacher, to be a mom, and to be a published author.  I achieved one and two, but was so afraid of failing at number three that I kept sabotaging my efforts.  Being a parent, however, helped me reclaim that dream.  I never want to tell my kids, “Mom had a dream once, but she was too afraid to try.”  If I want my kids to pursue their own dreams, I have to be willing to set the example.  So even though I have THREE kids now, and a full-time job, and a husband, and two dogs, and I live in the suburbs, I’m going to keep writing and keep putting my writing out there.  I’m going to keep dreaming.

And just for funsies, here is my review of She’s Having a Baby from 2009, which essentially says the same thing:

Tribute to John Hughes: She's Having a Baby

August 30, 2009 at 4:23pm

She’s Having a Baby (1988)

Favorite Quote: “People don’t mature anymore. They stay jackasses all their lives.” ~ Grandfather

Character I Most Identify With: Jefferson Edward Briggs (Jake) 

I had never seen this movie before now. I have been meaning to see it for a long time because Kevin Smith has said that this is his favorite of the John Hughes movies. He patterned “Jersey Girl” after it. I’m glad I haven’t seen it until now. Just as “The Breakfast Club” spoke to me as a teenager, this movie speaks to me as a new parent – and aspiring writer.

I am a sucker for movies and novels about writers. For as long as I can remember, and probably even before that, I have identified myself as a writer. Yet, until very recently, I didn’t actually write, at least not regularly. I’ve tried to write lots of times, but I give up after a few days in a fit of despair. Nothing I wrote ever seemed good enough to keep going.

In “She’s Having a Baby,” Jake writes all the time, but has nothing to say. That is, until he has a baby. I always felt like I had something to say, but rarely wrote. That is, until I had a couple of babies and no real time to write. This isn’t coincidence. Like Jake, it is because of my babies that I have become a writer. It doesn’t matter anymore if my writing is no good. It doesn’t matter whether or not my writing ever sees the light of day. What matters is that I try. It has always been my dream to write a novel and try to have it published. I’m attempting it now, because I never ever want my children to give up on their dreams. I’m writing now because I have to be the example for them that you can still pursue your dreams even if you live in the suburbs. 

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Mommy Update:  One week ago today, I gave birth to my baby boy.  Both of us are doing well.  The first week at home with a newborn is tough stuff, but we have survived and have even enjoyed it most of the time.  I don't have the kind of time or attention span for an entire feature film.  I've been watching snippets of whatever is on TV during feedings.  While in the hospital, I did catch most of Sixteen Candles, so until I can get back to watching movies, here is my review from August 2009.

Tribute to John Hughes: Sixteen Candles

August 9, 2009 at 9:45am

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Most Quotable Quote: “I loathe the bus.” ~ Sammy Baker Davis, Jr.

Favorite Quote This Time Around: “Not many women in contemporary American society today would give their panties to help out a geek like me.” ~ Farmer Ted

Character I Most Identify With: Samantha Baker


Some people say that high school is “the best time of your life.” This movie is proof positive that is not true. Even the beautiful people aren’t having a good time. Who can’t relate to looking forward to a major life milestone, only to be disappointed when it doesn’t live up to expectation? In my view, high school was a series of “milestone moments” that fell hopelessly flat. Here’s a rundown of some of those on the list:

1. “Sweet Sixteen.” My sixteenth birthday was pretty anticlimactic. Like Sam, I had always envisioned a big party, a great dress, a new Trans Am in the driveway. In reality, it was just a normal day: a full day at school, followed by driver’s ed, and then a long night of student teaching dance classes. At least my family didn’t forget. My mom made my favorite dinner and everyone sang “Happy Birthday” over a homemade cake, but by that point I was so down in the dumps over the lost dream that the only thing that could cheer me up would be to watch “Sixteen Candles.” Blake went on the quest with me. We went to no less than five different video rental stores. No one had a copy! Can you imagine? Another lost dream.

2. “Getting Your Driver’s License.” This is something teenagers look forward to with great anticipation, but this, too, was anticlimactic for me. The only course I ever failed in my life was Driver’s Ed. Oh, I passed the written portion, no problem. I had to spend the second semester of my sophomore year making up the actual DRIVING requirements. Consequently, I didn’t get my driver’s license until about six months AFTER my sixteenth birthday. By that time I hated driving so much I didn’t even want to use it.

3. Prom. So much emphasis is placed on the high school prom (see “Pretty in Pink”). I remember the anticipation, the scouring of magazines for the perfect prom gown, the images on TV and in movies of the magical night. I didn’t go. I wasn’t asked. Luckily, I had a group of great girlfriends who didn’t get asked either. We weren’t about to stay home. We had a Girl’s Night Out in the big city. From what I understand, we had a better time than those that went to the prom!

4. High School Romance. The media is filled with images of high school romance. I never had one. No romance, no first love, no first DATE! Talk about a geek! That’s why the end of “Sixteen Candles” is so satisfying. It’s nice to see the geeky sophomore get the hunky senior. A perfect fairy tale ending.

The Breakfast Club (1985)

I've had some requests to repost my John Hughes reviews.  This is the first one I wrote in 2009.

 

Tribute to John Hughes: The Breakfast Club

August 7, 2009 at 1:51pm

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Favorite Quote This Time Around: “But face it. You're a neo maxi zoom dweebie. What would you be doing if you weren't out making yourself a better citizen?” ~ John Bender

Character I Most Identify With: Brian Johnson

I started with “The Breakfast Club” because I believe it is Hughes’ magnum opus. This film is genius from beginning to end. I remember a conversation I had with Christina Raab who said, “I think watching ‘The Breakfast Club’ changed my life somehow.” Yeah. If you get that, you really get that, and if you don’t, I don’t know how to explain it to you.

This viewing was different for me, though. For the first time I watched this movie through the lens of a professional educator. The last couple of days I’ve been sorting through student data for the upcoming school year. I have lists of names, student numbers, and test scores. With this information, I make scheduling and program decisions. I hate this process. I hate reducing kids to test scores.

Don’t get me wrong, once I meet them, everything changes and I try to customize my instruction to meet their needs as real people, but something has to be done before I actually meet them. I have to have a place to put them on the first day of school; a place to start.

Part of “The Breakfast Club” is about how adults don’t see teenagers as individual human beings. The system is set up to categorize them. I’m sure, left to their own devices, teenagers would categorize themselves, that’s what human beings do, but I’m not sure they would do in the same ways that adults do it to them. And so, as I categorize the human beings I have yet to meet I will keep this quote, shown at the beginning of the movie, at the forefront of my mind:

“And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through.”
~ David Bowie

And finally, what is up with Brian not getting a kiss at the end of the movie? Someone once said to me, “he gets to kiss his essay.” Yeah, that’s not quite the same as kissing a PERSON, even for a nerd. Lame.

This is my favorite scene.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)

Writer/Director:  Kevin Smith

The Quote I Quote Most Often:   “When Lord?  When?  When’s it gonna be my time?”  ~Holden McNeil

Favorite Quote This Time Around:  “Yeah!  We’re gay!  And this is our adopted love child!

We’re not from around here!  Don’t make us go back to our liberal city home with tales of

prejudice and bigotry from the heart of Utah!”  ~ Jay

Blake’s Favorite Quote:  The song Jay sings at the beginning of the flick.  If you want to know how it goes, you’re going to have to watch it.

Nod to John Hughes:  Cameo of Judd Nelson.  He plays a Utah sheriff.

I made a mistake in a previous blog by saying that Mallrats was my least favorite of Smith’s films.  Mallrats is way better than this movie.  This movie is alright.  The cameos are funny (especially the one of Buddy Christ).  Every single thing Affleck and Damon say is funny.  (“Affleck was the bomb in Phantom!”)   Appearances by Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill are funny.  (“I think George Lucas gonna sue somebody!”)  And Chaka Luther King is brilliantly played by Chris Rock.

Jay and Silent Bob bring together the characters from the first four movies and if you watch past the credits, you’ll see that this film ends the Jersey stories (except it doesn’t – stay tuned for Clerks II). 

What is most fun about this movie is that it follows up on our favorite characters from the first four movies.  Surprise, surprise – Dante and Randal are still working at the Quick Stop and video store respectively. 

I don’t have much to say about this movie.  I think the most accurate review of this movie was given by Kevin Smith’s mom when she said, “That was really cute!  You guys ran around a lot!”  Exactly.

Dogma (1999)

Mommy Update:  No baby yet.  I had an ultrasound on Monday and baby is 100% healthy and happy right where he is.  I’m trying to feel the same.

Writer/Director:  Kevin Smith

The Quote I Quote Most Often:   “Snoogins.”  ~ Jay, the prophet

Favorite Quote This Time Around:  “When are you people going to learn?

 It’s not about who’s right or wrong.  No demonination’s nailed it yet, and

they never will because they’re all too self-righteous to realize that it doesn’t

matter what you have faith in, just that you have faith.  Your hearts are in the

right place, but your brains need to wake up.”  ~Serendipity, the muse

Blake’s Favorite Quote:  “Did I know Jesus?  Brotha owes me twelve bucks!” ~ Rufus, the 13^th apostle

Character I Most Identify With:  Silent Bob, the prophet

Nod to John Hughes:  Jay has a great tirade about why he and Silent Bob are traveling.  They are looking for Shermer, Illinois where all of Hughes’ movies take place.  The best line is, “Breakfast Club, where all these stupid kids actually show up for detention.”

Disclaimer:  I’m not going to provide a disclaimer this time.  The movie comes with its own at the beginning of the flick, along with a definition of “disclaimer,” which is pretty handy.

Two angels, Bartleby and Loki (Affleck and Damon), who were banished from heaven and sent to Wisconsin for time and all eternity, find a way to get back into heaven through a loophole in Catholic dogma.  An entourage made up of prophets, an apostle, an angel, a muse, and the Last Zion must stop them, lest they negate all of human existence.  I think of it as Kevin Smith’s love letter to God.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding this movie when it first came out and Kevin Smith insisted that you can’t take it too seriously because “it has a rubber poop monster in it.”  But rubber poop monster or not, stories are serious stuff.

It’s pretty clear that Kevin Smith tells this story as a way to express his own take on religion and spirituality and God and that’s exactly what all stories should do.  In my opinion, stories should always work on two levels: they should entertain and pull us away from everyday lives, while saying something to us about our everyday lives.  Dogma is pretty heavy-handed in its commentary about our real lives with lines like, “The people that held the pens added their own perspectives and the pen holders were men,” but it’s also funny and slap sticky with clever dialogue.

I find it very difficult to strike that balance between saying something about what you believe about the world without getting too preachy.  Especially in my genre, young adult literature, the last thing you want to do is get “preachy.”  No one likes to be preached to, but least of all teenagers.  But teenagers don’t merely want to be entertained either.  Well, maybe sometimes they do, but they also look to stories to help them make sense of what they believe and who they are.  

The best stories, in my humble opinion, make us laugh and cry and think.  Dogma delivers on all levels.  There is a lot to think about; it’s very funny, and when God shows up in the final scene, the pain in her face makes me cry every time.

Also, this is one of my favorite explanations of God:

Rufus:  “She’s not really a woman.  She’s not really anything.”

Bethany:  “She’s something, alright.”

Orange County (2002)

Writer:  Mike White

The Quote I Quote Most Often:  

-          Tropical storm three miles off Laguna.  Let’s go!  Surf’s Up!

-          What about next period?

-          Twenty footers, man!  Screw your period!

Favorite Quote This Time Around:  “I have the sneaking suspicion that my English teacher is illiterate.” ~ Shaun

Blake’s Favorite Quote:  “I need a drink.  Do you have any beer, Coyote Ugly?”  ~ Shaun’s dad 

Character I Most Identify With:  Shaun Brumder

I am a sucker for any story where the protagonist wants to be a writer.  Shaun Brumder, an Orange County surfer, finds a copy of Marcus Skinner’s novel, Straight Jacket in the sand at the beach.  The novel changes Shaun’s life and inspires him to attend Stanford University where he can study with Mr. Skinner and become a writer.  When a mistake prevents him from getting into Stanford, he goes on a quest to find a way in.  Unfortunately, his friends and family members unwittingly sabotage his every effort to get into college.

This movie has an extraordinarily funny cast: Chevy Chase, Lily Tomlin, Catherine O’Hara, John Lithgow, Kevin Kline, Leslie Mann, Ben Stiller, Jack Black – but the actor who carries this movie is Colin Hanks, who has his dad’s talent for playing that “every man” character we can all identify with.  Hanks’ character, Shaun, believes that the only way he can become a good writer is to leave Orange County.  Through the course of the movie he learns there is no “one way” to become a good writer.

I spent several years reading books on how to become a writer.  I read lots of conflicting advice and I tried it all: I wrote in notebooks with cartoons on the cover, I participated in dozens of writing exercises, I took a creative writing class, I joined a writing club at a bookstore, I woke up early to write, I stayed up late to write, I avoided using adverbs, I avoided clichés, I wrote what I knew . . . and while I was following all of this advice, I didn’t ever actually write very much.  It wasn’t until I learned to put all the rules away and just write – without rules and without fear – that I was able to actually write an entire novel.  Then for revising and editing, I referred back to all those rules, and many of them became very very helpful.  But what I learned, is there is no one way to BE a writer.  The most important thing to do is to WRITE, and in the writing, find your own process.  

A lot of people who want to write talk about finding the time and space to write – as if you have to lock yourself away in a cabin in the woods to be a writer.  What I have found is that you have to steal away little moments in your life to write. You can’t put life on hold to do it.  In fact, if you put life on hold to write, what would you write about?  

***SPOILER ALERT***

My favorite scene while watching Orange County this time was the final scene where Shaun picks up Lonnie’s surfboard and runs for the ocean.  Shaun learns, as I have finally learned, that you have to live to be a writer.