Inexplicable Movie Review: Now and Then

Note: Spoilers follow for Now and Then.

Now and Then is a good, but not great, coming-of-age story about young ladies. I don’t know their exact ages, because I’m not knowledgeable about when girls experience puberty, but it’s basically like a female-focused version of The Sandlot, or Stand By Me, or seemingly dozens of other guy movies. Now and Then is different from the stereotypical 1980s teen dramas (mostly starring Molly Ringwald) because there is way more of a focus on the relationships between the friends, as opposed to Much Strife about a boy.

Surprisingly, the movie sits at 19 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, although 82 percent of the people who watched it liked it. Ebert gave the film two stars, praising the work of the young actresses while pretty much savaging everything else.

Reading his review, I’d say it analyzes Now and Then pretty much on the nose. (It’s like he did it for a living, or something.) The storytelling device of the film – that it’s all a big flashback with some narration by grown-up Demi Moore – is kind of hokey. It only seems to exist to allow for four established actresses – Moore, Melanie Griffith, Rosie O’Donnell and Rita Wilson – to be on the movie’s masthead, since their total screen time is about 15 lackluster minutes.

The real stars of the movie are the young versions of the adults – Christina Ricci (Roberta), Thora Birch (Teeny), Gaby Hoffmann (Samantha) and Ashleigh Aston Moore (Chrissy). Hoffmann and Birch are especially strong, which probably isn’t all that surprising to y’all reading this, given that you know how their future movie careers turned out. Moore is the only one who stayed relatively unknown – According to Wikipedia, she stopped acting in 1997, and unfortunately died in 2007 at the age of 26.

Now and Then is at its best when it’s just showing interactions between the young actresses. The inevitable comparison in this regard is Stand By Me, but unfortunately as Ebert’s review highlights, the chats aren’t as effective in this movie because of the heavy-handed narration, the “flashback” method of the film, and some really hokey plot elements. You know, stuff like the gals stealing the guys’ clothing when they skinny-dipped, and a séance gone wrong, and just stealing plot points from Home Alone, of all things.

If you’re looking for a great, female-focused coming of age story, well, this isn’t it. Gilmore Girls is still the end-all, be-all for that sort of media. Still, I found it entertaining enough for its 90-minute run time. Just focus on the youngsters performances, and laugh at the Dark and Edgy Demi Moore. If you’re feeling nostalgic, Huffington Post has a then-and-now slideshow for Now and Then.

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The Baggage Game - Sunday, August 29, 2010

Note: Video link embed at the bottom of this entry, if you'd like to watch along.

Today's dater is Ashley, who is a cute blonde. She looks kind of like... Well, I can't think of a really good comparison right now. A little chubbier Christina Ricci with blonde hair? Melissa Joan Hart but not as pretty? She's the director of a non-profit from Jacksonville Beach, Florida. I hate her voice, and her shoes are horrible too.

The first dude is Jax, a bartender from Shelby Township, Michigan. He is a beautiful bastard, which you could probably determine once I wrote that he was a bartender. Second up in a security guard from Long Beach, California, Mazi. He looks like Webster all-grown-up. Finally, there is Jason, a personal trainer from Standish, Michigan. (Apparently, Jax and Jason carpooled together or something.) Jason has really stupid hair. He looks like he should be in the Val Kilmer role of Top Gun. Anyway, on to the game!

First Round
Jax: I live in my friend's dining room.
Mazi: I dated a meth dealer.
Jason: I'd rather be at the gym than with a girlfriend.

Holy smokes, Mazi! Well, he does live in Long Beach, and he seems like a decent guy. Jason is quite eager to show off his six-pack after the urging from Jerry, and he notes that he is a personal trainer, so that's where he makes his living. Jax is a beautiful, pretty man, so he could live in a cardboard box, and it wouldn't matter. He's quite non-chalant about the fact that he lives in his friend's dining room, saying they just put a sheet up. Classy, classy guy.

Second Round
Mazi: I was a gigolo for obese women.
Jax: I lost my virginity to a friend's mom.
Jason: I have over 300 Star Wars figurines in my bedroom. (Well, we know this isn't Jax.)

Ashley says she's never even watched a Star Wars movie, and drawls, "I've got better things to do." Please, wtf. She's coming off as a major meh to me. For me, the gigolo thing would be the dealbreaker, and Ashley shows some common sense by agreeing with me.

Surprisingly, somewhat-frumpy Mazi is the one eliminated, since this elimination had "Jason the Personal Trainer" written all over it. Jason defends his Star Wars collection, noting that everyone has a collection of some sort, whether it's shoes with women or baseball cards or what not.

Hot spot time! Jax's guilty pleasure is sex, he loves feet (ew!), he regrets sleeping with a married woman, his last relationship was two years and he would take Ashley to Auckland, New Zealand. Jason's best feature is his abs, he lost his virginity when he was 16, his ex stalked him when they broke up, he gets in the mood when his girlfriend strokes her hand across his chest, and he's most proud of losing more than 100 pounds.

Final Elimination Round
Jax: I've slept with 312 women.
Jason: I talk all my first dates to my astrologer.
Mazi (eliminated): I'm unemployed and live with my mother.

Jax's number is really high, but not surprising to me. He works as a bartender and he's gorgeous. (Bastard.) Meanwhile, Jason's baggage makes Ashley swooooon, as she says she's into spiritual healing and what not. He says he only dates certain signs, one of which is Aries, and which she's into as well. (The writing is on the wall for Jax being eliminated, since Ashley really disliked his baggage.) And although Mazi is eliminated, his baggage is pretty severe as well.

Anyway, Ashley chooses to eliminate... Jason! Shocker! I guess she's really into the bad boys more than she is into guys who are decent human beings. Ashley's baggage is one of these three:

- I have two restraining orders against me.
- My shopping habit put me $50,000 in debt.
- I bit off a man's finger.

My money is on the debt thing, although it seems like the tamest of the three. The restraining order and finger thing... Too violent. And indeed, her baggage is the shopping habit. She said she has EIGHT credit cards, and she likes designer things and likes to shop. (This is hard to tell from her outfit, which isn't that great.) Jax accepts her baggage, because he's shooting for #313.

For Ashley's excess baggage video, click here. For the full episode, look below.

At The Commercials: This girl looks kind of like Christina Ricci.

Just a quickie today, but doesn't the girl in this ad look sort of like Christina Ricci? Straight down to the massive forehead, and large... um, personality. The commercial itself is kind of funny too, which is a bit of a rarity from a generic chain like Lowe's. I especially like the part with the garage door opener.

Lowe's other commercials leave a bit to be desired, although I must say that they are quite good at casting "obtainable hot" chicks in them. They have this one with a tall, bespectacled redhead. She's cute, and the commercial is mildly funny, if a bit annoying toward the end. There is another one with a cute mom and clerk finding the mom's daughter a purple shade to paint her room. This one confuses me a bit though - The mom is freaking out a bit about the daughter wanting to paint her room that color, but it looks like a normal shade of purple to me. Why all the frontin', mom?