Mean Girls (2004)

Fifteen years after its release, this film is still as relevant as ever. Based on the book "Queen Bees and Wannabes" by Rosalind Wiseman, the film showcases what being in high school is really like, especially for teenage girls, who live with the desire to be noticed, and the pressure to be popular and liked.

Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) has her first day of "real" school at the age of sixteen, having been home-schooled her entire life thus far. Her parents were zoologists living in Africa, and have only just returned to the United States when her mother was offered tenure at Northwestern University.

On her first day, she doesn't really fit in anywhere; the cliques in the school are already well-established, and there isn't any place for her.

Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese).

But on her second day, she is taken under the wing of outsiders Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese), and introduced to the highly-observed and strict political system of cliques in the school. She is warned primarily about a group called The Plastics, the three most popular girls in school, whose mission in life seems to be making life miserable for everyone else.

However, the next day, Cady is taken in by The Plastics: Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert), Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried), and self-appointed leader Regina George (Rachel McAdams).

At Janis's insistence, Cady infiltrates The Plastics, observing them from within, and passing information on their goings-on to Janis and Damian.

Unfortunately, it isn't long before Cady starts to take her new lifestyle and emerging personality a little too far, becoming a Plastic herself, to the detriment of her other relationships.

L-R: Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert), Regina George (Rachel McAdams),Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried).

I don't want to spoil things, in case there are still people out there who haven't seen this film yet, but the story carries with it many lessons and messages that are still as important and relevant to young people as they were when the film was made. (In fact, the lessons of the film are still so important, the film was recently adapted into a Broadway musical, and is enjoying great success on the stage after more than 600 performances at the time of writing).

The screenplay, written by Tina Fey (who also plays math teacher Ms. Norbury), is very clever. There are so many quotable lines that have quickly become part of popular culture. The characters are all very clearly defined, with plenty of conflicts, but there are also plenty of teachable moments. Having said that, the film doesn't come across as didactic in viewing as it actually is, which I believe is testament to its genius. Fey shows her incredible talent for writing (particularly comedy) here, and also plays the role of Ms. Norbury in a brilliantly understated way.

The costume design (by Mary Jane Fort) and production design (by Cary White) are also perfectly on point, establishing character and location respectively in such a strong way.

Ms. Norbury (Tina Fey).

It is in the performances of the cast, however, where this film truly shines. In particular, Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams play their respective roles with perfection, breathing real life into their characters, characters that could have fallen into cliche in the hands of other performers. Amanda Seyfried also deserves a mention here; playing a character as unintelligent as Karen actually requires a great deal of intelligence and skill, both of which she displays beautifully.

Director Mark Waters has made a wonderful film here, a teen classic that still stands the test of time, and is sure to continue to delight and educate audiences for years to come. It doesn't matter how many times I see this film, it still gets to me every time.

If you haven't seen it yet, you totally should check it out as soon as you can. This film is totally "fetch", and with Mean Girls Day (yes, it is a thing) tomorrow, now is the perfect time to do so.

9 out of 10.

Les Miserables (2012)

Based on the hit stage musical by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (with English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer), which in turn was based on the novel by Victor Hugo, this film is a true visual spectacle that is guaranteed to not only warm your heart, but break it as well.

Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) has served 19 years of hard labour in France. By 1815 his sentence is up, and police inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) hands him his parole papers, warning him that if he refuses to abide by the terms of his parole, he will find himself arrested again.

But Valjean has dreams of a better life. Eight years later, he has assumed a new identity, and has become Mayor of Monteuil, and is in charge of a local factory.

One of the girls who works in the factory, Fantine (Anne Hathaway), is sending as much money as she can to an innkeeper (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his wife (Helena Bonham Carter), who are caring for her young daughter Cosette. But when she loses her job, and is forced to live on the streets, making whatever money she can in whatever way she can (and it isn’t pretty), things go from bad to worse.

If that wasn’t enough, Javert is certain he recognises Valjean, and threatens to bring his whole facade crashing down.

The timeline advances yet again, and we find ourselves at the beginnings of revolution in Paris, involving many young men (and women), including young Marius (Eddie Redmayne), who has his eyes on now-grown Cosette (Amanda Seyfried). But any revolution doesn’t come without sacrifice, and a great deal of loss.

I really don’t want to say any more about the plot. Sure, the musical has been around for some time now (and of course the novel for even longer!) and the film isn’t exactly a new release, but still, if you haven’t seen it yet, I don’t want to spoil anything for you; you really need to experience it for yourself without knowing everything about it beforehand.

Of course, as with any musical film review, I need to talk about the music first of all. All I can say is that it is absolutely fantastic. The entire musical (and it is almost entirely through-sung, with only a few portions of spoken dialogue) is fabulous. Many of the songs serve primarily to advance the plot (as with recitative sections of an opera) but even these songs are cleverly written, with sensational music, and cleverly written lyrics with brilliant rhyme schemes throughout.

When it came to making this film, the filmmakers tried something very different. Rather than pre-recording the songs, and having the actors mime to a playback track on set (as virtually every other film musical has ever been done before), the actors sang live on set, accompanied in an earpiece by a rehearsal pianist. The entire score was then reorchestrated and recorded to fit to the timings of the cast’s performances, which allowed for much greater expression and nuance from the performers.

And this difference has a very clear effect on the performances. You will know what I am talking about when you see Hugh Jackman’s inner wrestling with himself going on as he sings ‘Who am I’, or when you are brought to tears along with Anne Hathaway as she sobs her way through ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ with a rawness that could never have been achieved if they had been miming to a pre-recorded track.

Eve Stewart’s production design, and Paco Delgado’s magnificent costumes, absolutely make this film, and the locations and characters, come alive. There is a real grittiness to the environment, and a bleakness to the landscape that allows the viewer to feel as though they are right there in the middle of everything that is going on.

The cinematography, by Danny Cohen, is absolutely stunning; the scope of this massive production is captured so beautifully on screen. There are many interesting contrasts between light and dark throughout the entire piece, and these are all done with such skill as to make it look effortless (and, believe me, it isn’t effortless).

Director Tom Hooper has made an incredible film here, that captures the stunning stage musical on which it is based, but also stands on its own as a film. If you haven’t seen it yet, seriously, you need to see it. I can never see this film too many times.

10 out of 10.

While We're Young (2014)

While We're Young - directed by Noah Baumbach - is the story of forty-somethings Josh and Cornelia (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) and their growing friendship - and in some cases idolisation - with twenty-somethings Jamie and Darby (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried).

Josh is a documentary filmmaker who has been working on his current project for the last ten years, meaning he and Cornelia have had to forgo other things they might have wanted to do with their lives. Unfortunately for Josh, there is something not quite right with the documentary, and he doesn't seem to be able to work out what that something is.

When he meets Jamie and his wife Darby, there is something about this young energetic couple that awakens something in him and in Cornelia.

Jamie is also trying to make a documentary of his own, and Josh takes him under his wing in a way to help him out, perhaps seeing something of himself in the young filmmaker.

As the friendship between these couples develops, Josh and Cornelia's other friendships seem to fall by the wayside, due to them spending almost all of their time with Jamie and Darby.

Josh's relationship with his father-in-law (played with a beautiful subtlety by Charles Grodin) is also strained. Grodin's character is/was also a documentarian, but has enjoyed significantly more success than Josh has. He tries to give Josh advice about his current project, but it doesn't seem that Josh wants to take his advice.

I don't want to go into too much detail, because I feel that would spoil your own potential enjoyment of this film, but I will take a moment to talk about some of the underlying themes as I see them. The idea of documentary, and fact vs. fiction, plays a big part in this story. Most of the characters are at some point lying either simply to themselves or to others about who they really are and how they really feel. This does of course make for many large-scale disagreements further down the track, and it isn't until each of them are able to be honest - first with themselves, later with each other - that things can even begin to change for them.

Ultimately, this film is about the choices we make in life, and the fact that each of us is a product of the choices we have already made, and the choices we continue to make each day. If we want to change ourselves for the better, perhaps we need to change some of the choices we make.

There are a lot of laughs to be had in this film, but it also allows for a lot of tears. It is a wonderfully heartfelt piece of cinematic art, and I feel there is a lot to digest after watching the film, perhaps I will have more to say about it once it has percolated in my mind a little longer.

6 1/2 out of 10.