It’s been a long January with sub-zero arctic temps and a less than stellar paid STURGEONS book promo. I obviously needed to get out of the house and out of my mind for a bit. The cinema has always been my home away from home, so I grabbed my mad scientist glasses and walked to my town’s 3-screen theater. I could’ve checked out THE BOYS IN THE BOAT, but I knew it wasn’t a sequel to THE BOYS IN THE BAND. THE BEEKEEPER was also playing, but despite the look of the poster, I knew it wasn’t a spin-off of the CANDYMAN franchise. There was only one film left and I was one of 5 people who caught the Sunday musical matinee of MEAN GIRLS.
freakboy confessions…
The only things I remember about the original, non-musical 2004 film of the same name is it starred Lindsay Lohan and I thought it felt like a watered-down version of HEATHERS. That being said, the only thing I knew about the new version was that it’s a musical based on a stage musical, which I heard about at exactly the same moment I heard about the new film. Whatever, don’t look at me that way! You know as well as I do that unless they turn John Waters’ DESPERATE LIVING or Andy Milligan’s FLESHPOT ON 42ND STREET into gleefully inappropriate musical extravaganzas, I really don’t give a flying fluffernutter what happens on Broadway!
Yes! It’s true! I seriously enjoyed this version of MEAN GIRLS! I laughed out loud! I tapped my feet to the beat and may have engaged in some neck-dancing! In my opinion, the main source of my enjoyment was the energy this film radiated! I mean, I fully expected glittery confetti to explode from the screen during the deliciously manic “Revenge Party” scene!
In climax…I mean, conclusion…
The new musical film version of MEAN GIRLS is just what no hot doctor ordered, but definitely what I needed to momentarily escape my possibly imagined frozen wasteland of mediocre obscurity. Oh, and I know some haters will totally hate me for this, but much like the 2020 musical version of VALLEY GIRL, the 2024 version of MEAN GIRLS surpasses and improves on its source material. Deal with it!
Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind, exclamation mark heavy words!
Freak Out,
JLH
P.S. freakboy confession…
I have listened to the soundtrack to the stage musical of HEATHERS and it was like I had a brain tumor for breakfast. Even the RIVERDALE episode couldn’t rescue that travesty of teen-angst tuneful torture! 👎
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Speaking of torture, my books are available from an Amazon near you…
