Distracting Medicines
We didn't realize we were making memories, we just thought we were watching movies.
I mentioned last night we watched the Hot Chick (2002 – Rob Schneider, Rachel McAdams, Anna Faris). And I have to say, I forgot how riotously hilarious this movie is. Crude at times, most certainly offensive (it would never get made in 2025), and not just a little uncomfortable in its heavy-handed message of “accept everyone as who they are without question”, it still had us both rolling with laughter most of the time.
The premise is similar to Freaky Friday, the whole body switch thing, only instead of a person waking up in someone else's body and life, they wake up in their own life with someone else's body. Schneider was simply mind-blowing as a 40 year old man pretending to be a teenage girl. There were stretches where suspension of disbelief fully took the wheel. As an actor, he gets too little credit. Poor Rachel McAdams was robbed. I would have LOVED to see more of her aping Schneider's character, Clive. Her moments pretending to be Clive are some of the funniest of the movie.
I am very impressed with the clever plot to get Schneider's Jessica into the lives of her/his family and friends. The father mistakenly hires 'Taquito' as the family gardener (like I said, this would NEVER get made today) and he quickly befriends both the husband and wife and inadvertently helps to reunite them romantically. In order to keep Jessica in school as a newly minted 40 year old man, the writers get him/her hired as the school janitor, which means Schneider's character is reasonably present for all of the major plot points and conversations with friends.
There are heartfelt moments too, if sometimes a tad corny. Jessica's mom and dad reconnecting is quite lovely, though a tad shallow. Jessica's realization of the things she took for granted forms a satisfying arc. And seeing Anna Faris' April fall in love with her best friend as a man— bittersweet.
I do recommend this. You will find parts offensive. You will sometimes be uncomfortable. But you WILL laugh. How can you not, watching a teenage girl with a middle-aged man's body foisted upon her suddenly have to figure out how to work her newfound appendage in a public restroom? Again, bravo to the writers for giving us a bathroom attendant who mirrors the audience’s reaction perfectly. It is comedy gold.
'No ice please.'
Laughter is the best medicine.
Since movies are the mood this morning, here’s a look at our recent watches. This goes back a few months, but maybe there's an old favorite of yours here that you'd like to watch again, or something you never knew existed. See any favorites? Any oddballs we should add to the list?
Row 1
1. The Hot Chick
2. Airheads
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
4. Bowfinger
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
6. Superman
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Row 2
1. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
2. Empire Records
3. Dead Poets Society
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
5. Last Breath
6. Something’s Gotta Give
7. Chasing Liberty
Row 3
1. The Iron Giant
2. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
3. Star Wars (1977)
4. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
5. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
6. Spies Like Us
7. The Greatest Showman
Row 4
1. Flow
2. Blue Jasmine
3. French Kiss
4. Promised Land
5. The Glass Castle
6. Spider-Man (2002)
7. Sydney White
Row 5
1. Spy Game
2. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
3. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
4. Watership Down
5. Groundhog Day
6. She’s the Man
7. Jaws
Row 6
1. The Prince and Me
2. The Time Traveler’s Wife
3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
4. Hounddog
5. Good Will Hunting
6. Wonka
7. Blue Crush
Row 7
1. The Misfits
2. Blade Runner 2049
3. Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
4. Drillbit Taylor
5. Superman III
6. Skyfall
7. Overboard
Row 8
1. The Last of the Mohicans
2. Juliet, Naked
3. Bringing Down the House
4. Midnight in Paris
5. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion
6. Twister
7. The Blues Brothers
Row 9
1. The Edge of Seventeen
2. Her
3. Down with Love
4. Moonstruck
5. 10 Things I Hate About You
6. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
7. In the Mood for Love
Row 10
1. Before Sunrise
2. Amélie
3. To Catch a Thief
4. The French Connection
5. Charade
6. Out of Sight
7. Legally Blonde
Row 11
1. The Fabelmans
2. The Outsiders
3. Trading Places
4. Creem (2019)
5. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
6. Me Don Herztfeldt 2024 (likely a placeholder or unique entry)
7. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Row 12
1. Big Trouble in Little China
2. The Wild Robot
3. Interstellar
4. WarGames
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox
6. High Fidelity
7. The Princess Bride
Row 13
1. Romeo + Juliet
2. Asteroid City
3. Napoleon Dynamite
4. Ford v Ferrari
5. Elvis
6. Ocean’s Twelve
7. Liar Liar
Row 14
1. La La Land
2. Contact
3. Stealing Harvard
4. Far and Away
5. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
6. Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium
7. The Fall Guy
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Thank you for coming here and walking through the garden of my mind. No day is as brilliant in its moment as it is gilded in memory. Embrace your experience and relish gorgeous recollection.
Into every life a little light will shine. Thank you for being my luminance in whatever capacity you may. Shine on, you brilliant souls!
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