Day 118: Chicken Little

After becoming the laughing stock of the town because nobody believed him when he said the sky was falling, Chicken Little (Zach Braff) tries to fit in and make his Dad (Garry Marshall) proud of him. But when the sky starts falling again, he needs his Dad’s support but he just doesn’t believe in him.

When it was obvious that the ‘sky’ that was falling was actually a panel that can take on the properties of its surroundings I thought the film was going to go all Truman Show. That would’ve been better, I think. Don’t get me wrong, I do love some aliens and these ones were cute but I’d have preferred it the other way. Imagine if the whole town was a set and everyone in it had no idea they were being watched, I just love that idea. But I suppose that’s probably not what a Disney film about a tiny chicken would really be about.  I did like the storyline about Chicken Little and his Dad. It’s not enough to love someone, you’ve got to believe in them too.

5/10

Day 93: Grosse Pointe Blank

A professional assassin goes back to his home town and tries to rekindle the relationship with his high school girlfriend.

Martin (John Cusack) ditched Debi (Minnie Driver) on prom night and then took off for 10 years with no word. He then waltzed back in to her life and tried to start up the relationship as if he hadn’t just run off for a decade. And she seems remarkably alright about the whole thing. Then she stumbles across him just having killed someone and has a little freak out. That doesn’t last too long though and she accepts that that’s just what he does. Their relationship seemed a little bit too far-fetched for me, I just don’t believe she’d have taken him back so easily and then when she saw that he killed someone that didn’t seem to bother her all that much. I understand they were in love 10 years before but he ran out on her and she thought all that time that she’d done something to make him take off. It all just seemed a bit too easy and quick.

I’ve always thought I could be an assassin. Not because I have any thoughts about killing people, I just think that if the money was right and the target was a bastard then I’d not have a problem with it.

8/10

Day 78: Sixteen Candles

In typical teenage fashion, Sam (Molly Ringwald) fancies one of the most popular guys in school and she thinks he doesn’t know she exists. But Jake (Michael Schoeffling) definitely does know she exists and he spends the whole film trying to talk to her.

During class, Sam is filling in a ‘sex test’ she got from a friend that asks her various questions, one of them being ‘Have you ever done it?’ and she answers with ‘I don’t think so’. Right, what? How can that not be something you are sure of? She probably just didn’t want to put ‘no’ but still, I have heard people say they didn’t know if they’d had sex or not before. I don't mean in a 'I was so drunk, I don't know if we did' way, they were aware of what was happening. Odd. Another question asks who she’d want to have sex with if she could and she puts down Jake’s name, and goes to hand the note over to her friend. But obviously the note ends up with Jake. I immediately thought this was going to result in her being laughed at by all the popular people but it turns out he actually likes her too, so that was completely unexpected. He’s talking to his friend about maybe wanting to be with her and his friend goes “She’s too young to party serious.” Man, I love how people talked in the ‘80s. Think I was born in the wrong time, I can see me talking like that.

Ted (Anthony Michael Hall) originally likes Sam but she keeps knocking him back. She tells him she likes Jake and that she doesn’t know what to do, so Ted tells her to just go for it. Despite him repeatedly being a total creep, I really liked that he did that. He ends up with Jake’s girlfriend, Caroline (Haviland Morris) anyway, in some strange turn of events. Caroline and Jake aren’t getting along at the dance because he can’t stop thinking about Sam so she says to him “Just remember one thing. I can name 20 guys who would kill to love me.” That’s quite impressive. Must be so hectic knowing that all these people like you, how does she get anything done, I don’t know.

I was really expecting to love this film but it was kind of disappointing. Definitely wasn’t as good as some other John Hughes films but it was alright.

6/10