Double Feature Review! (Going bi-polar)

I'm saying that I'm going bi-polar, because I'm covering two extremely different movies. (runs to flip a coin) I get to start with my girl, Milla Jovovich, in The Fourth Kind and close with my pre-teen guilty pleasure movie, Clueless with Alicia Silverstone. As I said: Extremely different movies.

Where to begin with The Fourth Kind? Let's start the way I was introduced to it: This is based on real events that happened in Alaska back in 2000. The movie starts off with Dr. Abby (or Abbey) Tyler being interviewed by Chapman University, in which she begins her "story" of alien abduction. She - Dr. Tyler - is played by two actors, the "recorded" and "interviewed" Dr. Abby Tyler is performed by Charlotte Milchard, while the flashback/memory Dr. Abby Tyler is portrayed by Milla Jovovich. She is a widowed mother of two and is a psychologist (or psychiatrist) researching nightmares of two different patients. Using hypnosis, Dr. Tyler discovers that both patients are experiencing similar nightmares. During hypnosis, the pair of patients undergo some seriously scary abduction sequences, including this freaky speaking in tongues ranting and raving that messes up the video recording and distorts the suffering person physically, emotionally and mentally. After a few sessions, Dr. Tyler is positive that the pair weren't just suffering from similar nightmares: They've had the same non-human abduction experience. As Dr. Tyler gets deeper into the "Fourth Kind" of existence - and as the movie continues to flip flop between the "recorded interview"/"recorded hypnosis sessions" and the memory/movie - she begins to suffer memory lapses, strange new memories, and then the worse possible thing happens: Dr. Tyler's youngest child, Ashley, is "abducted." After Ashley's disappearance, Dr. Tyler's eldest child (a son) willing leaves her custody, and Dr. Tyler is left alone, weeping and searching for her little girl.

Yes, I pretty much summed up the entire movie in a paragraph. The movie had plenty of "ruined" film of the hypnosis sessions of the patients and the back and forth between the "recorded interview" and the movie took up a lot of time. Sadly, for me, though I love Milla Jovovich for damn near everything she's been in (from The Fifth Element - "muul-ti-pass" - to Resident Evil series and even Return to Blue Lagoon), The Fourth Kind falls short of my "Milla" list and joins the ranks of Paranormal Activity... all thrills and suspense; nothing more.

Reading about what really happened in Alaska that triggered the creation of this movie actually saddens me. There's too many questions left unanswered for me to actually delve into the story behind the movie, but I will say that the reality behind the movie has left me thinking about alien abduction, and the movie managed to freak me out a bit.

As I've said in previous entries, I'm a pussy when it comes to thrillers, scary movies, etc. (If you don't recall me saying this, I urge you to either believe me now or read my entry on The Human Centipede.) So, I'd like to close this entry with something more upbeat: Clueless.

I remember when I was a pre-teen, I picked up this book titled Clueless in the library. I finished it and noticed that it was a movie too. I got a chance to watch it, and from that day on, I was hooked.

Now that I'm in my twenties, I look back and think: geez, I was such a dork. However, when my friend, T, brought it to my attention that Clueless is a rendition of Emma by Jane Austen, I had to re-watch the movie! Many Austen followers hate the idea of having Clueless as a "remake" of Emma. I don't know if it's because the movie twists Emma into a shallow, childish tale of teen life or if Austen lovers just hate Alicia Silverstone.... As a written literature student and lover, I do find it insulting that Austen's Emma was turned upside down by Hollywood and the depth of the novel became nothing but cheesy, one-word catch phrases. (Even though I did use "Whatever" in my pre-teen daily word dictionary....) However, as a lover of all entertaining literary arts (books, plays, movies, tv shows, poetry, photos, sketches, etc), I adore Clueless for its witty banter among the characters and the relatability of the "where do I fit in?" situation in high school.

Rough run through of the movie - to spare you from watching it: Cher (played by Alicia Silverstone) is popular, pretty and rich. She has her friend circle that consists of the popular, rich kids, and she also has the worldly conscious ex-step-brother, who lingers around the house because of her dad. She loves makeovers and make-making and is seemingly good at what she loves to do. Until, things begin to backfire on her; starting with the leader of "the Crew" - who mistook her signals as flirting - and ending with "makeover project" falling for her ex-step-brother. In the end, things sorted itself out with all happy endings, including for Cher.

How's that for a rough sketch of the movie? Naturally, there's parties, small talk, Cher falling in love with a gay guy, and blah, blah, but you're not here to read about the plot of Clueless. If you wanted that, you can read the Wiki for Clueless.

I want to talk about the character links between Clueless and Emma. Why? Because I'm pissed about it. (This is the Jane Austen reader side of me.) If you're going to do a rendition/version of a book/novel that a few too many people (of course, mainly women) love and cherish, you never want to mess with it too much, because you'll end up pissing a lot of people off. I know my friend, J, hates the idea that Clueless is linked to Emma. I'm just perturbed about the characters. Remember: I'm making these comparisons as a literary critic. My "entertainment" critic thoroughly applauds the actors who portrayed their characters beautifully and hysterically hilarious (to me).

Cher (Alicia Silverstone) as Emma Woodhouse is surprisingly spot on (personality wise) - IF Emma was a teenager in Beverly Hills. My problem(s) with the character link is that Cher is a bit too shallow to be Emma. Emma is knowledgeable of not only social status but also political situations and economic issues. Emma has always served the poor (by visiting houses, blah, blah), and she never really pays much attention to her attire. I mean that in a good way; compared to Cher. Cher only starts "volunteering" when she realizes that she loves Josh and does her 180 self-make-over with the "Pismo Beach Disaster" (which is hilarious to me, because I live 30 minutes away from the actual Pismo Beach, CA). Not to mention, Cher has a slight obsession with appearances. Proof is the opening scene: She's using a computer to pick out her clothes for the day, and she has this HUGE rotating closet. Also, in debate class, her debates fail; big time. I could not bring myself to believe Cher's arguments. I always fall for Emma's arguments; agreeing with her, even though she's decently wrong after I think about it for a while. This cross over did not do Austen's Emma Woodhouse justice.

Tai (Brittany Murphy) as Harriett Smith is the most surprising. Both characters are naive, out of place in the upper class society, so willing to impress Cher (Emma), and adorably gullible, I mean, susceptible to love. They both were taught how to speak, how to behave, and pretty much be someone they truly aren't. However, in the end, both Tai and Harriett follow their hearts and get their true happy ending in their comfort zone. Though Harriett in Emma didn't really get a full appearance makeover, the cross over into Clueless, I understand the need for the outward makeover. The cross over worked for Tai and Harriett, and it was indeed wonderful to compare the two. Sadly, this is the only character I actually enjoyed comparing.

Josh (Paul Rudd) as the Mr. Knightley is somewhat a fail in my book. Okay, I'll give the age difference a thumbs up, as Knightley is Emma's senior by several years. I'll also give the "I can argue and win, but I usually let you win" attitude of Josh and Knightley a thumbs up. However, I refuse to approve the whole Josh being Cher's ex-step-brother.... Need I say more about the situation? Need I even say more about the Knightley-Josh cross over? I can't get over the whole ex-step-brother thing. Knightley is in now way related like that to the Woodhouse family!

I've gone on long enough about the Emma - Clueless cross over, but I do want to quickly touch on a few other characters.

(1) Frank Churchill > Christian (Justin Walker): Huge, gigantic N-O! Frank is not gay! Why is Christian gay?! He (Frank) is mysterious, elusive and secretly engaged to Jane Fairfax! Why the hell is his cross over Clueless counterpart gay!?!
(2) Isabella Woodhouse-Knightley > Dionne (Stacey Dash): Excuse me? Isabella lives in London; far away from Emma. She is not Emma's confidante; that'd be Miss Taylor - Mrs. Weston. So why is Dionne considered the cross over of Isabella Knightley??? I don't see it.
(3) Mrs. Elton > Amber (Elisa Donovan): Pardon, but Mrs. Elton was not in the same social circle as Emma Woodhouse. Why is her counterpart Amber in the "friend" circle of Cher??? However, Amber is as obnoxious and pain in the ass as Mrs. Elton. HAHA

I best end it there, else my severe literature nazi side will rear its ugly head and ruin Clueless' guilty pleasure entertainment for me.

I promise, I'll hit up another movie soon'ish. (I know, I have to write something about Legion. I'm falling behind!)

Until next movie -- (Legion!)