Guest Blogger Stephanie Edelglass Discusses Girls Just Want to Have Fun & Little Miss Sunshine
Below is a contribution from guest blogger Stephanie Edelglass to our continuing series in which I asked several of my close friends and colleagues to name their Favorite Movie of All Time.
What unit of measurement should I use in picking my favorite movie of all time? Should I go by my grandfather’s comment after seeing There’s Something About Mary, “It must have been good because I don’t remember the last time I stayed up for an entire movie”? For me, that would eliminate almost every movie I began watching after 9pm. Or should I go by the mood I was in when I left a movie? By that caliber I’d choose It Could Happen to You because I left the theater with a feeling that life is good and sometimes people actually can be good and fair. I remember leaving with a smile on my face. What could be more important than the entertainment factor important when rating a movie?
I’ve decided to choose two favorite movies, one from my childhood and one from adulthood. Girls Just Want to Have Fun is my childhood pick. I recently subjected Josh to this movie and he doesn’t quite agree that this is a timeless classic. He may have even thought it was formulaic!! Nonetheless, it has sentimental value, as there was at least a two-year period when I chose it every time I went to the video store. I can still picture which shelf I could find it on each time I went into the little independent video store in Needham, MA.
Girls Just Want to Have Fun stars Sarah Jessica Parker as “Janie” and Helen Hunt as “Lynne”. If you look closely, you’ll notice Shannon Doherty as the little sister of the lead actor. Helen Hunt is the “bad girl” who leads Janie to follow her dream of becoming a dancer on Dance TV. Adventure ensues. I always wanted to have the guts to be Helen Hunt in this movie. She turns her school uniform into a cool outfit with just a little Velcro and exudes a confidence that, as a twelve year old, I only dreamed of having in my life! The eye candy who plays Janie’s dance partner, Jeff, is your classic “bad boy” and although he doesn’t have the gymnastics and dance training that Janie has, he holds his own throughout the movie. There is a classic scene where Janie and Jeff are practicing their dance moves in the park and you can tell that romance is in the air. The music is fabulous and the wardrobe is classic ’80s. I recommend this as a must-see for anyone who wants to watch a classic ’80s chick flick.
My favorite movie as an adult is Little Miss Sunshine. This was a hard choice because there have been so many movies to choose from and Josh has actually motivated me to not fall asleep at the opening credits of most movies, so I have a much broader scope of movies to choose from these days! I remember leaving the theater, the first time I saw this movie, and wanting to turn back around and watch the movie again. I think that this is a great indicator of a winning movie. I also recommended this movie to all of my friends and family and offered to watch it again with them in theatres.
Little Miss Sunshine feels like a movie about real people. These actors don’t look or sound polished and that makes this film unique and entertaining. As with Lynne, my favorite character in Girls Just Want to Have Fun, the main character in this movie exudes a confidence that I think we can all hope to achieve. Except this girl is about ten years old, not fifteen or sixteen or thirty-one. This ten-year-old knows what she wants (to win a beauty pageant), and she works hard to succeed. I laughed and cried throughout this movie, and anyone who knows me knows that I am not a crier! The characters and the plot are equally unique and defy any simple summary. Just go watch it!
I hope I’ve been able to convince any of you who have not enjoyed these movies to Netflix them at once! You will not regret it!
Stephanie Edelglass teaches first grade in Sherborn, MA. Over the past several years, she has gamely watched an inordinate amount of science fiction along with her husband, yours truly. She rocks.
The series so far:
Hoosiers, The Frisco Kid, & Casablanca
Raiders of the Lost Ark & The Dark Knight
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