Some Kind Of Wonderful

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: February 27, 1987

DVD Release Date: August 20, 2002

Plot 411: A story of teen angst involving a tomboy who is in love with her best friend.

Review: This is a John Hughes film that I wasn't familiar with until watching He's Just Not That Into You. It's used in the dialogue and there's a small clip in the film so I figured I'd watch the movie to get the whole picture. It was surprisingly good because the characters were all pretty complex, especially for a teen film. The movie stars Mary Stuart Masterson as Watts, a tomboy who is in love with her best friend Keith (Eric Stoltz). Both live their high school lives outside the popular kid's club and are from the wrong side of the tracks. However, Keith is intrigued with Amanda (Lea Thompson), who has been accepted into the club because she's pretty. This is one of those films about searching for one's identity, growing up amidst peer pressure, longing and teen angst. Despite this, the characters, especially the three main ones, are fully developed and you can picture them in kids you grew up with. Their problems, although not particularly important to anyone but them, are issues that all teens face. At the time, these problems are critical to your survival and may seem powerful enough to kill you. I like that the movie doesn't demean teens by downplaying the crucial nature of these life experiences. Again, Hughes seems to capture a time in everyone's lives that usually becomes idyllic or completely forgotten with age and recreates the highly charged atmosphere that was growing up.

Watch It: For a snippet of John Hughes brilliance.

Skip It: If Pretty In Pink and Sixteen Candles is enough teen angst to last a lifetime.

He's Just Not That Into You

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: February 6, 2009

DVD Release Date: June 2, 2009

Plot 411: A vignette of the lives of 20- and 30-somethings as they bumble through life and love.

Review: When this one came out in theaters, I wasn't really motivated to go watch it. However, it actually turned out better than I expected. First off, the ensemble cast allowed the movie to portray different personality types. Admittedly, they weren't vastly different from each other - all mostly middle to upper class professional types - but their take on love and where they were on their journey made it so everyone in the audience could relate to someone. Secondly, even at the end of the movie, when there's usually a distinct division between the good guy and bad guy, I still empathized with all the characters. I don't know whether that was a good one on the part of the cast and crew or if it says something horrible about me. Anyway, without giving too much away, the movie enlisted the use of the following character types: 1) a girl dying for her long-time boyfriend to pop the question; 2) a guy who truly doesn't believe in marriage; 3) a girl with the picture-perfect married life; 4) a married guy who is tempted by forbidden fruit; 5) a girl desperate for love in all the wrong places; 6) a guy who prefers to handle love with rubber gloves and a sterilized mask; 7) a girl who can't meet anyone the traditional way (ie. face to face); 8) a guy in love with a girl who is in love with another guy; and 9) a girl who's found "the one," except he's completely married. There might even be others but if you can't relate to at least one of these archetypes something is definitely wrong with you. What I assumed was a regular rom com actually turned into something quite like a documentary on dating. What I learned is that people are not inherently bad and don't really want to hurt others. They're just terribly, terribly confused that's all. Confusion leads to certain decisions, then actions that are either good or bad. These actions lead to other problems and the cycle continues. In the end, people are just trying to find a way to be happy. The cavalcade of stars in this movie include Ginnifer Goodwin, Kevin Connolly, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Aniston, and Jennifer Connolly.

Watch It: For a National Geographic look at today's dating scene.

Skip It: If you prefer to get out there and experience it yourself rather than play the Wii-version.