Monthly Archives: January 2024

01.21.24
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Mean Girls (2024)

In this musical reimagining of the beloved high school comedy, Cady Heron moves back to the United States from Kenya, where she finds herself a part of the most toxic and destructive high school clique, the Plastics, led by the manipulative and egomaniacal Regina George.

Beloved films being adapted into stage musicals and the musical being in turn adapted into another film is nothing new — we’ve seen it happen with The Producers, Matilda, and most recently, The Color Purple. With the exception of the former, however, the trend still fails to justify the existence of a second film. The energetic songs probably make for a phenomenal stage musical experience in this case, but watching it as a film, it doesn’t have much new to offer if you’ve already seen the 2004 version. Angourie Rice is solid as Cady, and Renee Rapp does an incredible job singing in the role of Regina George, but it doesn’t feel like they do much to escape the shadow of what Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams gave those roles — though that isn’t their fault as actors at all, rather that of the first film’s cultural legacy. Auli’i Cravalho is the film’s most glaring strength and she expands on what the role of Janice has to offer. Every time Cravalho has to sing or deliver a line, she steals the entire film with her charm and talent and she’s the greatest improvement on the original movie. Some songs are more amusing than others, and they’re filmed very well with occasional extended takes, but they aren’t enough to add a whole new layer to the experience, because it still overall feels like watching the exact same movie again. You may feel like the film’s racing through iconic quotes and familiar set pieces that shouldn’t be changed because they worked so well, not to mention almost entirely the same dialogue. That 2004 film already felt really modern and continues to find new audiences that enjoy it today, so despite us having the age of social media to deal with twenty years later, this “even more modern” approach has nothing new to offer, and the themes feel executed in a weaker way here. Tina Fey and Tim Meadows even reprise their roles because so much of what already worked in the previous film comes with an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” disclaimer. If anything, it’ll make you want to seek this musical out on the stage because I’m sure it’s an absolute blast, but the cinematic element doesn’t justify another Mean Girls movie that looks, sounds, and feels so similar, or perhaps it was just too soon for this remake.

01.04.24
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Ferrari

Ferrari is legendary director Michael Mann’s latest outing, telling the titular racing driver and entrepreneur’s family life and his entering of his racing team into the 1957 Mille Miglia cup in an attempt to solidify Ferrari as the greatest auto name in Italy — and maybe even the world.

Adam Driver gives a great performance as a figure whose determination for glory and pushing the limits as to what’s possible are front and center — but not necessarily depicted in the most interesting way. His character’s decisions don’t have a lot to say, neither does the story of his relationship with his wife, played by Penelope Cruz; rather it’s the performances that elevate the material. Shailene Woodley is also strong in the film, as is Patrick Dempsey, but again, their characters are more fun to see due to the actors’ work than what they give the film. Like with Ali, Michael Mann seems to be in control of the era he’s depicting through the racing scenes and the production of the scenery. The shots of the cars zooming through the Italian countryside are nice, and everything around Ferrari’s preparation for the race is engaging. However, Ferrari doesn’t have anything as momentous to say as its titular brand and its portrayal of the thrill of the sport of racing by the end of its runtime, which occasionally slows down. The third act is especially noteworthy and there’s a devastating event that hits hard at the end of the film. It’s always a pleasure to see Driver commit himself to a great role, but there’s certainly more resonant racing true stories such as Ford v Ferrari and Rush.