Watch Her Disappear

Clueless (1995)

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 97 minutes

Box Office (in today’s dollars): 88 million (approximately)

Characters: Cher Horowitz, Dionne Davenport, Tai Frasier, Murray Duvall, Josh Lucas, Travis Birkenstock, Amber, Christian, Elton, Summer, Mel Horowitz, Ms. Geist, Mr. Hall, Ms. Stoeger, Lucy

Favorite Quote: “They’re playing our song. The one that Elton and I danced to. ‘Rollin’ With the Homies’.”

Favorite Scene: Any scene where Cher is watching Beavis and Butt-Head or The Ren & Stimpy Show

Favorite Character: Josh

Other need-to-see nineties movies directed by Amy Heckerling: none

I expected this movie to have the most dated feel to it from my list, but I think that it was almost a parody of itself so it may have been ahead of its time and holds up extremely well. It is loaded with nineties catchphrases like “Snaps”, “As if”, “Surfing the crimson wave”, “Herbal refreshment”, and “Totally buggin’”, and pop culture references to The Cranberries, Marky Mark, Mentos, Twin Peaks, Christian Slater, Luke Perry, Pauly Shore, Jason Priestly, The Real World, and Forrest Gump. There are a lot of fresh new faces to love in this movie: Cher the popular girl, Dionne the best friend, Tai the new girl, Murray the boyfriend, Travis the stoner, Amber the rival, Christian the gay friend, Elton the jerk, Summer the quiet friend, Mel the protective father, Ms. Geist and Mr. Hall the teachers who fall in love, and Ms. Stoeger the stereotypical phys ed teacher. But my favorite is Josh, the tries-to-be cool college kid who is really just a big dork.

Speaking of Josh, he is a big fan of Radiohead, and I was a big fan of the soundtrack when it came out. Mostly for the Counting Crows song that was on it, but it also had fun songs from Radiohead, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Coolio, and Jill Sobule. My favorite quote is when Tai says “They’re playing our song. The one that Elton and I danced to. ‘Rollin’ With the Homies’.” I have always found it funny that that song could be someone’s song. My favorite scene was any involving Cher watching Beavis and Butt-Head or Ren & Stimpy because it’s kind of cute, and I can see myself being into a girl like that when I was in high school.

I prefer this movie over Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling’s directorial debut and a movie from my essential eighties movie list). Maybe it’s because this movie has a song covered by Jewel in it (“All By Myself”) or a scene where they play “suck and blow” a party game I wish I had been a part of when I was seventeen.

Next movie to review: The Usual Suspects