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…
Wow, loved the infectious energy in this post.. not seen either of the Mean Girls offerings but I love the glitter idea. Glitter is seriously lacking in the movies.. I vote they add glitter albeit of a tasteful silver kind to the final song and dance number with those leading ladies in Chicago and.... (Have seen Heathers and love your take on it).
ReplyDeleteIf you're in the mood for a new musical, I recommend mean girls and I love the idea of having glitter to that final number in Chicago? The buildup in that song is so great that it needs that burst of glitter flying out into the audience!
DeleteI as for heather's, I love the film and should review it sometime. The musical, however is just painful and I've said enough about it. Lol
Fun review, John! I'll have to remember "flying fluffernutter," LOL! :) Admittedly, I've never seen any incarnation of Mean Girls, but this version sounds entertaining. As a fan of the original Heathers, I'll steer clear of that musical version.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Barry! I expect flying fluffernutter to start trending soon! 😂
DeleteThe energy to this version of mean girls with infectious, which is the opposite of the musical version of heathers!
Great, LOL review John! To bring all of this full circle, they need to make a non-musical Broadway version of the movie musical and then make a movie of that. 😉
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brian! That's a real mind Bender of an idea! 😂
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