Latest news with #90sNostalgia
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Totally 'Clueless': Director Amy Heckerling and star Elisa Donovan dish about making the 1995 coming-of-age classic
"As If!" we'd let the movie's 30th anniversary pass. The director and one of the film's stars join us for a '90s nostalgia trip back. When Clueless hit theaters on July 19, 1995, the female-led coming-of-age comedy became the ultimate whatever to everything else happening in the world. Director and writer Amy Heckerling introduced us to a new wave of young Hollywood stars — Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy, Donald Faison, Stacey Dash, Elisa Donovan and Breckin Meyer — who (mostly) played indulgent, image-conscious, label-loving Beverly Hills teens. Dressed in trendsetting fashions, spitting soon-to-be iconic slang and set to a killer soundtrack, Clueless quickly became a pop culture touchstone. Heckerling, who was already known for comedy hits Fast Times at Ridgemont High, National Lampoon's European Vacation and Look Who's Talking, crafted a satirical take on the high school superficiality in the famed 90210 ZIP code. Loosely based on Jane Austen's classic Emma, it captured teen angst of the '90s variety. At its center were best friends Cher (Silverstone) and Dionne (Dash), 'named after great singers of the past who now do infomercials,' and their family, friends, crushes and teachers. Heckerling expertly observed and preserved pop culture references from that time, name-checking stars like Marky Mark, Pauly Shore and Luke Perry, and infusing things like Mentos and Noxema commercials, fluffy pens, Beamers and berets into the script. For Clueless's 30th anniversary, Yahoo takes a trip back with Heckerling, 71, who gave the film its unmistakable female voice, perspective and humor, and Donovan, 54, who played Cher's fabulous frenemy Amber: the redhead with a budget-blowing wardrobe, plastic surgeon on speed dial and some of the film's best one-liners for exclusive conversation about their Bronson Alcott High School days. Crafting the perfect script, from Caboodles to catchphrases To tap into the headspace of a Beverly Hills teen, the NYC moviemaker, then in her 30s, observed high school students, absorbing the culture. Heckerling: I went to different schools, but a [teacher] they let me hang out a lot with was Herb Hall, who was in charge of the drama department and taught a debate class [at Beverly Hills High School]. He's in the film as the principal. He was wonderful because he had a sense of humor, but was trying his hardest to get through to [the students]. ... You're seeing them [in class] with Caboodles [makeup kits]. I would be like: I can't believe they're doing their grooming the whole period… My teachers would have come by with a ruler, banging on your desk: 'Put that away." The film provided a dictionary's worth of new slang that came from Heckerling's world. Heckerling: Some of my lesbian friends would say 'as if' all the time, and then it got shortened to 'ziff.' They also said 'whatever' — and then if two people put their arms up together, making a big 'W,' that was a big whatever. So I owe that to a few friends. Also, one day there was a Barbra Streisand special and I had HBO and they didn't. They said, 'Can we come over and watch it [and] invite some friends?' I said, 'Yeah.' So I'm upstairs writing, and they're having a party in the living room and kitchen, and they start to play this game, 'Suck and Blow.' I was never a cool kid … and you go: What are they doing? The original studio pushed back on Heckerling's female-driven story, but a new home embraced it and brought the film to life. Heckerling: Once we were at Paramount, and had [CEO] Sherry Lansing and [producer] Scott Rudin, it was cool people making the film. I was in the clear. When I was at the other studio … they didn't want to make a movie about female protagonists. … They wanted to make sure the boy characters were bigger than the girls. … Fortunately, we wound up somewhere else. Building a dream cast of Betties and Baldwins Queen bee Cher was cast after 16-year-old Silverstone appeared in the first of three Aerosmith music videos. Heckerling: When I saw [1993's] 'Cryin',' I went: That's her. I had this image that she would be what Americans consider perfect — certain body type, hair color and this idol we all have in our brain. Well, not all of us. I felt people would love her, but there's something so vulnerable and sweet about her. So I wrote the script and by the time I finished, there was the [music] video 'Crazy' [with Silverstone and Liv Tyler]. So I videotaped it, handed in the script and the videotape, and the studio … said: [Steven Tyler's] daughter? I was like: 'No, the other one.' So [Liv] got Empire Records, and we got [Alicia] for Cher. The ensemble was built out slowly. Donovan: It was a very long process. I first went in for [casting director] Marcia Ross in her office. I went back, again at Marcia's office, for her and [coexecutive producer] Twink Caplan [who played Miss Geist]. Then I went to Paramount — and that's the one I remember the most. It was in Scott Rudin's office and I was petrified. It was the first time I'd been on the Paramount lot. ... [I was] trying to find his office and worried I was going to be late. The whole thing was overwhelming. It was Amy, Twink and Scott. Amy and Twink were just so warm and disarmingly like normal people. They didn't make me feel uncomfortable. They were sweet: 'You're doing great.' Murphy, who died in 2009, appeared in her breakthrough role playing Cher's protégé Tai. The character was not modeled after Heckerling. Heckerling: No, everybody thinks that because she's got the New York accent … but that's just one part of things. The idea of who that Tai character is and what she's going through really comes from the Jane Austen Emma book, and Frankenstein, who creates something and it takes over. So, no, I would never tell somebody, 'You're a virgin who can't drive.' Whenever I see that scene, I get goosebumps with the way [Brittany] did it. That was like Invasion of the Body Snatchers … and certain Twilight Zones that were like suddenly — bang — they've taken over the soul and it's very frightening. Rudd recently said that he almost blew landing Josh — Cher's intellectual, college-age ex-stepbrother — because he buzzed his shoulder-length hair after his audition. Heckerling: I really, really wanted [Paul]. We had a lot of people to go through, so I was still in the middle of casting. I'm not allowed to tell them: Oh, we want you. You're my first choice. You're supposed to shut up because they have to make a deal for the agents. I learned that the hard way in my first film. So when I saw him [after his haircut], it was like: Ah! What did you do? I mean: I love you. I want you. [But] your haircut was perfect. It was like the cool kid. The outsider nerd. The smart boy. Filming the future classic While there were good vibes making the film, neither predicted Clueless's lasting impact. Donovan: I felt like: Wow, this is amazing. This is how movies work. Women direct them. Women are in the power position. They hire all of the right people. They're kind, generous and amazing at their job. I didn't understand how unusual all those things are. And I was so nervous about doing a good job. I was 22. It was my first movie and I didn't want to mess it up, so I was thinking about that rather than whether or not it was going to be a success. At the same time, you understand when something is working. It certainly felt like that. There was great chemistry and energy. I loved what I was doing. I loved my character. Heckerling: I'm always like: Was that OK? Is it funny? Do they look good? Is it telling the story? You want to get all those things in, all your ideas, and still make your day, because if you need more [shoot] days, especially [if a] female [director] needs more days, it's like, What — did you get your period and you weren't working as fast?! All those pressures are on me. But with Clueless, I would walk onto the set and see where I was going to be shooting, and it was just beautiful. It was the colors that I wanted, the people wearing the things I wanted [under costume designer Mona May]. We had a genius cinematographer, Bill Pope. I told [set designer] Steve Jordan I wanted it to look like a fake imitation of Europe — fancy, but not quite real, like Hollywood's version of it — and he got it. It had that sense of humor, but prettiness. Then, seeing all my wonderful, beautiful actors, and I was like, Yay! It all trickled down from an incredible script. Donovan: Amy is a genius. She is. That script was the basis for everything. If you have a script like that, where it's on the page, it's just a joy, because it just informs everything, and then you get to put all of this depth into everyone. For Amber, I related to her in the sense that I definitely have my own sense of style that is unique, and sometimes it really works and sometimes it doesn't, but it's always my own sort of thing. But I didn't have the finances that Amber had. I was not flying to Paris runways and then bringing it to English class, which is what we would imagine she was doing. I based her on the not-so-nice girls I went to junior high and high school with, which also helped me to humanize them. I realized: These people just were feeling insecure. They just wanted to be liked. … I allowed [Amber] to be a little vulnerable, but that's where the meanness was coming from: She really wanted to be Cher's best friend, and Cher was not interested in that. Even if some lines in the script went over the actors' heads. Donovan: The line I get most often today is 'balls fly at my nose.' Truth be told, I didn't really get what that meant when I read it and there was a moment in the middle of shooting the movie where I went: Ohhhh, that's why everyone is laughing. I think it's great that Amber didn't know because she just really wants to be loved — and, you know, be a little bit better than Cher at everything. The premiere — and the paycheck The premiere was in Malibu, Calif., in July 1995. Donovan: I was working on Beverly Hills, 90210 and shooting that day, so [the studio] sent a limo for me. This is actually funny — I was the new guy on 90210. That day, they were rushing to get me out, and I remember the cast being like: Why is she getting picked up in a limousine? Where is she going? Who is this person? I was whisked off to Malibu, which was a very long drive from where 90210 was shot and I remember being in the limo by myself. I also didn't know if I'd make it. I was late. The movie was almost over. I missed all the fun at the beginning and the photos, but I got to see pretty much everybody. Clueless was Donovan's first big gig after playing Joey Lawrence's love interest on Blossom — and she put her paycheck toward much-needed new wheels. Donovan: I got a car that functioned. I was driving a used Volkswagen Cabriolet that was so old. Sometimes the brakes would go out as I'm driving down Beverly [Boulevard]. I remember being like: Oh my god, oh my god. So I leased a new car [that] I was not in constant fear I might die in it. I got an Acura [Integra]. Heckerling didn't make any big purchases. So, no Clueless closet? Heckerling: Oh, no. If anything, I considered the way they were living a satire. I actually knew somebody who had that closet in the early '80s. A very rich person. When I saw it, I was like: I gotta use this someday. This is just too weird. What they took from the set — and the plot point fans won't let go of Heckerling: I have Brittany's silver Doc Martens that she wore to the dance. They're in my closet. Donovan: I didn't get to keep anything. We just had an event at the [Academy Museum of Motion Pictures], and Alicia said she was allowed to keep a lot of [Cher's outfits] but doesn't know where they are. We were all laughing. I said, 'I didn't get to keep anything, and you kept yours, and now you don't know what happened to them?!' I imagine people getting them at Goodwill or something. Heckerling is aware that the film's ending, in which Cher and Josh got together, got side-eyes. Heckerling: People give me a lot of grief about stepsister, stepbrother, but it was Beverly Hills. People get married to a few people. At one point, [Cher's dad Mel] was married to [Josh's mom] and it was very short-lived. … But I like that [Mel] said, 'You divorce wives, not children.' [Josh] has some of the love of [Cher's] father, who she's very protective of, because that's her job and that gives her [importance]. Somebody is busting in on the affection, and that pisses her off, and he looks down at more frivolous behavior sometimes. So I thought: Well, that makes sense. Also, my grandparents were stepbrother and stepsister. In the ghetto in Europe, it was not uncommon. You didn't have the whole world, and you didn't go on swiping on your phone. It was a small community. Forever — and that's OK They know the film will always be a prominent part of their résumés. Heckerling: It's awesome to see the cast. We don't all live in the same place, but we're always in communication with texting. I [brought Clueless The Musical to London's West End this year, writing the book] and had to do a lot of publicity for that … so we've been talking. Then they started with the 30th anniversary and the academy had a special screening. So I haven't shut up about [Clueless] for half a year. It's just amazing. I'm certainly talking more about it for now than I did at the time. Being tied to Amber forever is an association Donovan has grown to love. Donovan: I've always felt very grateful because these are things that don't happen to everyone. I really look at it like a gift. That said, it's a lot easier for me to say that now than 10, 15 years ago when you're trying to do other things and move on. It's hard because no matter what you do, people … want to talk about [Clueless]. But something happened this year … where I realized: Wow, this film really has made an impact on people, and that feels very special, like a responsibility to have been a part of that. I feel super fortunate that I've been a part of so many of these things — 90210, Sabrina the Teenage Witch — that people really have strong connections to. From Bronson Alcott to what's next Donovan is adapting her 2021 memoir, Wake Me When You Leave, into a film. Donovan: I've written the screenplay and I'm attached to direct it. The film is in development, which means we have a partial cast, who are phenomenal, but we are trying to raise the financing for it. Independent films are labors of love, and so hard to get made right now. We're really hoping and pushing, and I feel confident we will get there. Heckerling has been busy with Clueless the Musical, which will begin a national tour of the U.K. after it closes in London on Aug. 23. Heckerling: I've always figured out: How do I play the game and stay in, because staying in is hard for men, but really, really hard for women. … Whatever the new art form is, I want to be still in it. Whatever the new version of pictures and storytelling is and writing words for people to say — wherever it is, whatever it's on. I mean doing the show on the West End … and at my age… to do a new thing was really fun. I've done things that are streamed, TV and movies, but whatever's coming up. I don't want to be kicked out of the club. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Totally 'Clueless': Director Amy Heckerling and star Elisa Donovan dish about making the 1995 coming-of-age classic
"As If!" we'd let the movie's 30th anniversary pass. The director and one of the film's stars join us for a '90s nostalgia trip back. When Clueless hit theaters on July 19, 1995, the female-led coming-of-age comedy became the ultimate whatever to everything else happening in the world. Director and writer Amy Heckerling introduced us to a new wave of young Hollywood stars — Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy, Donald Faison, Stacey Dash, Elisa Donovan and Breckin Meyer — who (mostly) played indulgent, image-conscious, label-loving Beverly Hills teens. Dressed in trendsetting fashions, spitting soon-to-be iconic slang and set to a killer soundtrack, Clueless quickly became a pop culture touchstone. Heckerling, who was already known for comedy hits Fast Times at Ridgemont High, National Lampoon's European Vacation and Look Who's Talking, crafted a satirical take on the high school superficiality in the famed 90210 ZIP code. Loosely based on Jane Austen's classic Emma, it captured teen angst of the '90s variety. At its center were best friends Cher (Silverstone) and Dionne (Dash), 'named after great singers of the past who now do infomercials,' and their family, friends, crushes and teachers. Heckerling expertly observed and preserved pop culture references from that time, name-checking stars like Marky Mark, Pauly Shore and Luke Perry, and infusing things like Mentos and Noxema commercials, fluffy pens, Beamers and berets into the script. For Clueless's 30th anniversary, Yahoo takes a trip back with Heckerling, 71, who gave the film its unmistakable female voice, perspective and humor, and Donovan, 54, who played Cher's fabulous frenemy Amber: the redhead with a budget-blowing wardrobe, plastic surgeon on speed dial and some of the film's best one-liners for exclusive conversation about their Bronson Alcott High School days. Crafting the perfect script, from Caboodles to catchphrases To tap into the headspace of a Beverly Hills teen, the NYC moviemaker, then in her 30s, observed high school students, absorbing the culture. Heckerling: I went to different schools, but a [teacher] they let me hang out a lot with was Herb Hall, who was in charge of the drama department and taught a debate class [at Beverly Hills High School]. He's in the film as the principal. He was wonderful because he had a sense of humor, but was trying his hardest to get through to [the students]. ... You're seeing them [in class] with Caboodles [makeup kits]. I would be like: I can't believe they're doing their grooming the whole period… My teachers would have come by with a ruler, banging on your desk: 'Put that away." The film provided a dictionary's worth of new slang that came from Heckerling's world. Heckerling: Some of my lesbian friends would say 'as if' all the time, and then it got shortened to 'ziff.' They also said 'whatever' — and then if two people put their arms up together, making a big 'W,' that was a big whatever. So I owe that to a few friends. Also, one day there was a Barbra Streisand special and I had HBO and they didn't. They said, 'Can we come over and watch it [and] invite some friends?' I said, 'Yeah.' So I'm upstairs writing, and they're having a party in the living room and kitchen, and they start to play this game, 'Suck and Blow.' I was never a cool kid … and you go: What are they doing? The original studio pushed back on Heckerling's female-driven story, but a new home embraced it and brought the film to life. Heckerling: Once we were at Paramount, and had [CEO] Sherry Lansing and [producer] Scott Rudin, it was cool people making the film. I was in the clear. When I was at the other studio … they didn't want to make a movie about female protagonists. … They wanted to make sure the boy characters were bigger than the girls. … Fortunately, we wound up somewhere else. Building a dream cast of Betties and Baldwins Queen bee Cher was cast after 16-year-old Silverstone appeared in the first of three Aerosmith music videos. Heckerling: When I saw [1993's] 'Cryin',' I went: That's her. I had this image that she would be what Americans consider perfect — certain body type, hair color and this idol we all have in our brain. Well, not all of us. I felt people would love her, but there's something so vulnerable and sweet about her. So I wrote the script and by the time I finished, there was the [music] video 'Crazy' [with Silverstone and Liv Tyler]. So I videotaped it, handed in the script and the videotape, and the studio … said: [Steven Tyler's] daughter? I was like: 'No, the other one.' So [Liv] got Empire Records, and we got [Alicia] for Cher. The ensemble was built out slowly. Donovan: It was a very long process. I first went in for [casting director] Marcia Ross in her office. I went back, again at Marcia's office, for her and [coexecutive producer] Twink Caplan [who played Miss Geist]. Then I went to Paramount — and that's the one I remember the most. It was in Scott Rudin's office and I was petrified. It was the first time I'd been on the Paramount lot. ... [I was] trying to find his office and worried I was going to be late. The whole thing was overwhelming. It was Amy, Twink and Scott. Amy and Twink were just so warm and disarmingly like normal people. They didn't make me feel uncomfortable. They were sweet: 'You're doing great.' Murphy, who died in 2009, appeared in her breakthrough role playing Cher's protégé Tai. The character was not modeled after Heckerling. Heckerling: No, everybody thinks that because she's got the New York accent … but that's just one part of things. The idea of who that Tai character is and what she's going through really comes from the Jane Austen Emma book, and Frankenstein, who creates something and it takes over. So, no, I would never tell somebody, 'You're a virgin who can't drive.' Whenever I see that scene, I get goosebumps with the way [Brittany] did it. That was like Invasion of the Body Snatchers … and certain Twilight Zones that were like suddenly — bang — they've taken over the soul and it's very frightening. Rudd recently said that he almost blew landing Josh — Cher's intellectual, college-age ex-stepbrother — because he buzzed his shoulder-length hair after his audition. Heckerling: I really, really wanted [Paul]. We had a lot of people to go through, so I was still in the middle of casting. I'm not allowed to tell them: Oh, we want you. You're my first choice. You're supposed to shut up because they have to make a deal for the agents. I learned that the hard way in my first film. So when I saw him [after his haircut], it was like: Ah! What did you do? I mean: I love you. I want you. [But] your haircut was perfect. It was like the cool kid. The outsider nerd. The smart boy. Filming the future classic While there were good vibes making the film, neither predicted Clueless's lasting impact. Donovan: I felt like: Wow, this is amazing. This is how movies work. Women direct them. Women are in the power position. They hire all of the right people. They're kind, generous and amazing at their job. I didn't understand how unusual all those things are. And I was so nervous about doing a good job. I was 22. It was my first movie and I didn't want to mess it up, so I was thinking about that rather than whether or not it was going to be a success. At the same time, you understand when something is working. It certainly felt like that. There was great chemistry and energy. I loved what I was doing. I loved my character. Heckerling: I'm always like: Was that OK? Is it funny? Do they look good? Is it telling the story? You want to get all those things in, all your ideas, and still make your day, because if you need more [shoot] days, especially [if a] female [director] needs more days, it's like, What — did you get your period and you weren't working as fast?! All those pressures are on me. But with Clueless, I would walk onto the set and see where I was going to be shooting, and it was just beautiful. It was the colors that I wanted, the people wearing the things I wanted [under costume designer Mona May]. We had a genius cinematographer, Bill Pope. I told [set designer] Steve Jordan I wanted it to look like a fake imitation of Europe — fancy, but not quite real, like Hollywood's version of it — and he got it. It had that sense of humor, but prettiness. Then, seeing all my wonderful, beautiful actors, and I was like, Yay! It all trickled down from an incredible script. Donovan: Amy is a genius. She is. That script was the basis for everything. If you have a script like that, where it's on the page, it's just a joy, because it just informs everything, and then you get to put all of this depth into everyone. For Amber, I related to her in the sense that I definitely have my own sense of style that is unique, and sometimes it really works and sometimes it doesn't, but it's always my own sort of thing. But I didn't have the finances that Amber had. I was not flying to Paris runways and then bringing it to English class, which is what we would imagine she was doing. I based her on the not-so-nice girls I went to junior high and high school with, which also helped me to humanize them. I realized: These people just were feeling insecure. They just wanted to be liked. … I allowed [Amber] to be a little vulnerable, but that's where the meanness was coming from: She really wanted to be Cher's best friend, and Cher was not interested in that. Even if some lines in the script went over the actors' heads. Donovan: The line I get most often today is 'balls fly at my nose.' Truth be told, I didn't really get what that meant when I read it and there was a moment in the middle of shooting the movie where I went: Ohhhh, that's why everyone is laughing. I think it's great that Amber didn't know because she just really wants to be loved — and, you know, be a little bit better than Cher at everything. The premiere — and the paycheck The premiere was in Malibu, Calif., in July 1995. Donovan: I was working on Beverly Hills, 90210 and shooting that day, so [the studio] sent a limo for me. This is actually funny — I was the new guy on 90210. That day, they were rushing to get me out, and I remember the cast being like: Why is she getting picked up in a limousine? Where is she going? Who is this person? I was whisked off to Malibu, which was a very long drive from where 90210 was shot and I remember being in the limo by myself. I also didn't know if I'd make it. I was late. The movie was almost over. I missed all the fun at the beginning and the photos, but I got to see pretty much everybody. Clueless was Donovan's first big gig after playing Joey Lawrence's love interest on Blossom — and she put her paycheck toward much-needed new wheels. Donovan: I got a car that functioned. I was driving a used Volkswagen Cabriolet that was so old. Sometimes the brakes would go out as I'm driving down Beverly [Boulevard]. I remember being like: Oh my god, oh my god. So I leased a new car [that] I was not in constant fear I might die in it. I got an Acura [Integra]. Heckerling didn't make any big purchases. So, no Clueless closet? Heckerling: Oh, no. If anything, I considered the way they were living a satire. I actually knew somebody who had that closet in the early '80s. A very rich person. When I saw it, I was like: I gotta use this someday. This is just too weird. What they took from the set — and the plot point fans won't let go of Heckerling: I have Brittany's silver Doc Martens that she wore to the dance. They're in my closet. Donovan: I didn't get to keep anything. We just had an event at the [Academy Museum of Motion Pictures], and Alicia said she was allowed to keep a lot of [Cher's outfits] but doesn't know where they are. We were all laughing. I said, 'I didn't get to keep anything, and you kept yours, and now you don't know what happened to them?!' I imagine people getting them at Goodwill or something. Heckerling is aware that the film's ending, in which Cher and Josh got together, got side-eyes. Heckerling: People give me a lot of grief about stepsister, stepbrother, but it was Beverly Hills. People get married to a few people. At one point, [Cher's dad Mel] was married to [Josh's mom] and it was very short-lived. … But I like that [Mel] said, 'You divorce wives, not children.' [Josh] has some of the love of [Cher's] father, who she's very protective of, because that's her job and that gives her [importance]. Somebody is busting in on the affection, and that pisses her off, and he looks down at more frivolous behavior sometimes. So I thought: Well, that makes sense. Also, my grandparents were stepbrother and stepsister. In the ghetto in Europe, it was not uncommon. You didn't have the whole world, and you didn't go on swiping on your phone. It was a small community. Forever — and that's OK They know the film will always be a prominent part of their résumés. Heckerling: It's awesome to see the cast. We don't all live in the same place, but we're always in communication with texting. I [brought Clueless The Musical to London's West End this year, writing the book] and had to do a lot of publicity for that … so we've been talking. Then they started with the 30th anniversary and the academy had a special screening. So I haven't shut up about [Clueless] for half a year. It's just amazing. I'm certainly talking more about it for now than I did at the time. Being tied to Amber forever is an association Donovan has grown to love. Donovan: I've always felt very grateful because these are things that don't happen to everyone. I really look at it like a gift. That said, it's a lot easier for me to say that now than 10, 15 years ago when you're trying to do other things and move on. It's hard because no matter what you do, people … want to talk about [Clueless]. But something happened this year … where I realized: Wow, this film really has made an impact on people, and that feels very special, like a responsibility to have been a part of that. I feel super fortunate that I've been a part of so many of these things — 90210, Sabrina the Teenage Witch — that people really have strong connections to. From Bronson Alcott to what's next Donovan is adapting her 2021 memoir, Wake Me When You Leave, into a film. Donovan: I've written the screenplay and I'm attached to direct it. The film is in development, which means we have a partial cast, who are phenomenal, but we are trying to raise the financing for it. Independent films are labors of love, and so hard to get made right now. We're really hoping and pushing, and I feel confident we will get there. Heckerling has been busy with Clueless the Musical, which will begin a national tour of the U.K. after it closes in London on Aug. 23. Heckerling: I've always figured out: How do I play the game and stay in, because staying in is hard for men, but really, really hard for women. … Whatever the new art form is, I want to be still in it. Whatever the new version of pictures and storytelling is and writing words for people to say — wherever it is, whatever it's on. I mean doing the show on the West End … and at my age… to do a new thing was really fun. I've done things that are streamed, TV and movies, but whatever's coming up. I don't want to be kicked out of the club. Solve the daily Crossword
Gizmodo
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
The Simple Joys of Watching a Giant Robot Knee a Giant Monster in the Balls
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie is a movie filled with many absurd excesses. A combination of the intense mania surrounding the '90s phenomenon and a big-picture budget, it is a film that constantly asks the question, 'What if we could possibly be doing the most at all times?' The film also constantly answers that. From the opening skydiving sequence to the Rangers' new 'armored' super suits slapping layers of plasticky padding on top of their now even shinier, faux-leathered Spandex suits, to a climactic CG smackdown that includes perhaps some of the most chromed but worst-aged visual effects of the decade, Power Rangers: The Movie might as well have just been called Power Rangers: More instead. Which is why it remains absurdly funny that that excessive CG showdown that wraps the film up comes down to one simple moment. It's the moment Aisha decides to defeat the big bad of the piece, Ivan Ooze, by kneeing him in the dick. Okay, she's admittedly kneeing him in the dick to punt him in the direction of a passing comet so he can violently explode into, well, ooze. But still, it's a moment of sheer simplicity in a climax that's already about doing the most that remains profoundly funny to this day, even if much of the movie around it struggles to hold up. Let's rewind a little. The battle between Ooze—who becomes giant-sized, as the third act of any Power Rangers story demands, by taking over the body of one of his Zord-esque minions, the Ecto-Morphicons—and the Rangers' brand-new Ninja Megazord begins on Earth, a brief but titanic battle that is now best remembered for its absolutely wild CGI. Ooze and the Megazord themselves are rendered in the chromiest chrome to ever grace a chrome-silver screen, and while rudimentary to modern standards, you can still see the spirit of what the creative team was trying to capture here. This was a chance to do more than what could usually be done with Power Rangers' TV budget and people-in-suits mecha/monster action. It's clunky, sure, but not clunky in that live-action, model work, and rubber suit way, and brief because there's no doubt that, for as laughably off as it looks to us now, at the time this looked expensive. There are rolls, there's a smoothness to the Zord's and Ooze's action; there is even a great, quick cut to a practical model when Ivan tosses the Megazord through a building—it's just that you can barely see it because it's not illuminating the screen with the sheen of polished chrome that the VFX Zord model has. The fight takes to the skies and into space (because again, if you were asking 'more,' where else would you take it?) as the shiny CG models of Ooze and the Megazord hurtle around each other, locked in supposedly dire combat. Sparks start flying in the cockpit; things look bad for the Rangers as they try to free themselves in time to enact their last-ditch plan of using the passing comet to destroy Ooze. And it's only then that Aisha decides enough is enough. 'Desperate times call for desperate measures,' she says, flicking a series of switches at her console before cracking open a comically huge red button labeled 'FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY.' Slamming it with all the might she can muster—heralded by the equally comical blaring of a horn that sounds more like a clown car than the weapons system of a giant robot—what happens is not some massive beam attack or some otherwise unholy flashing of visual effects. The Megazord just… knees Ivan in the dick. Sure, it looks like it hurts; the Ninja Megazord has a spiked piece of knee armor that no one would be comfortable getting hit in the junk with. But this is the attack that saves the day, that sends Ooze spinning off into the path of the comet so he can explode in that typically Power Rangers flourish of pyrotechnics. There's something charming that in a movie about giving in to excess, this simple move—one that feels ripped right out of Power Rangers and its Japanese sibling Super Sentai's practical stunts work, of people just grappling and punching at each other in oversized rubber suits—is what seals the deal. And 30 years later, it's still an utter delight to watch unfold. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
45 Photos Of Random '90s Things That Millennials Will Instantly Recognize At First Glance
oh-so-groovy '90s-meets-psychedelic graphic design on Fruitopia vending machines: nose full of slimy boogers on Double Dare that low-key grossed you out: Trace & Color coloring books that somehow made anything you traced look sloppy and like you did it with your foot: Slates, which your parents would usually get you for long car trips: the Forrest Gump: The Soundtrack, which your parents would play over and over in the car on those long car trips: the "Snapple Lady," who appeared in all of the company's commercials: parents having stacks of processing envelopes full of photos they got developed and never put in photo albums: having a kids' photo album that you filled with your favorite photos (aka whatever pics your parents gave you, usually if they had doubles): a ton of blank VHS tapes with covers that looked like this: all the extra labels that came with blank VHS tapes that no one would ever use: 11.E!'s Talk Soup hosted by John Henson, which was the old-school way to watch viral videos: school square pizza, which you always looked forward to having on Fridays, along with a chocolate milk: coarse sugar-coated orange candies (that you ONLY ever saw and ate at your grandma's): Jerry Springer Too Hot for TV! VHS tape that they would show commercials for late at night, and made you wonder what exactly was on it: Wendy's commercials that featured its founder, Dave Thomas: Lay's Wow chips that were made with Olestra and gave people diarrhea: Clearing House magazine stamps that came in the mail, and you would use to order magazines that you then would never pay for: instant coupon machines you would play with at the supermarket: Disney bubble bath bottles that doubled as toys: 2000 soap, which every mom loved to buy in bulk: and how your breath wasn't minty fresh until it felt like you had burned a hole in your mouth with it: giant 3D cutout displays stores would have just to announce the release of an upcoming album or movie: McDonald's cooler they would have at school functions filled with orange drink: the McDonald's drive-thru menus that were brown and beige and had crappy speaker systems: big Nature Sounds music displays inside Targets: gumball machines that Blockbuster Video would have near the exit of the store: the Blockbuster Video-branded popcorn that was next to the candy at the checkout counter: tickets you need to get from the video game section at Toys "R" Us and take to the cashier in order to buy the game: Toys "R" Us Geoffrey Bucks that you would get for your birthday or holidays, and made you feel "rich": touchscreen monitors inside of the Warner Bros. Studio Store that allowed you to paint Looney Tunes characters: and Ebert reviewing movies and either giving them a thumbs up or thumbs down. Then studios promoting their films with "Siskel and Ebert give it two thumbs up!": crossover episodes that made no sense but went hard: paper ghosts you'd make at school with Tootsie Pops, pipe cleaners, Sharpies, and the super rough tissues that the school provided year-round: metal jungle gyms that got super hot in the summer: Disney Store plastic shopping bags that looked like this and that you refused to throw away because they were so magical looking: Disney/ BeyondLeftovers / Via sandykat15 / Via the Mickey Mouse gift boxes the Disney Store used to have: jimsgems2012 / Via VinterestTreasures / Via rulers that didn't really make great stencils: to the Wonder Hostess Bakery Outlet to get Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and other pastries, all while taking in the oh-so-good baked goods scents: Jerry Cleveland / Denver Post via Getty Images, Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images Good Seasons dressing bottle that every family seemed to own. And which made you feel like a gourmet chef if your parents asked you to make the dressing — even if it was just pouring the seasoning packet in with oil and vinegar: this exact wooden salad bowl (with matching salad tongs) that your family would use to serve the salad in for dinner: torchiere floor lamps that got so hot that you knew better than to even get close to touching. Or looking directly at the lightbulb while it was turned on because it had the brightness of 10 suns: PlugIns when they used gel packets that would get all gooey and covered in dust: E. Cheese's colorful ball pits that always smelled like feet and were probably way more gross than you even realize: glow-in-the-dark stars you would put on the ceiling of your bedroom and would give you a mini-heart attack when they would fall on top of you in your sleep: lastly, always sitting very close to the TV because most TVs were relatively small with bad resolution:
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Millennial parents want to give their children a '90s kid summer. What does that mean?
The '90s nostalgia that brought back cargo pants and flip phones is also fueling a parenting trend among Millennials called '90s kid summers. The idea is to recreate the core childhood memories of a typical summer in the 1990s, such as running through sprinklers, drinking from the garden hose and chasing after the ice cream truck. 'That's where you just open up the backyard, give them a garden house, let them go to town,' Kristin Gallant, the parenting expert behind Big Little Feelings, said in an Instagram video. 'Independent play, creativity, ride bikes and do that from sunrise until sunset.' Research shows that unstructured playtime helps build healthy bodies, increases energy and reduces tension and anxiety, according to the American Psychological Association. But it's not always possible to give children the perfect '90s summer in 2025, and parents shouldn't stress out about it, said Claire Vallotton, professor of human development and family studies at Michigan State University. The desire for a '90s kid summer is likely a reaction to a parenting culture that tries to overschedule kids with summer activities to optimize child development, she said. 'They are overscheduled and using technology too much," she said, and not spending time in nature like many of their parents did. 'It's a reaction that makes a lot of sense but trying to solve it all in one summer isn't going to work for either the children or parents.' Many parents who work full-time depend on structured childcare and can't be available for their children throughout the summer to bandage a scraped knee, she said. It's also important to find peers for children to play with outside and many families don't live in safe neighborhoods where other children live nearby. An Instagram user made a similar point in a comment on Gallant's video. 'Give me a '90s economy and '90s real estate prices and I'll see what I can do,' the user said. 'Living room' vs. 'bedroom kids: What it says about your family dynamic But even if there was a parent at home and the family lived in a safe and social neighborhood, Vallotton said the '90s kid summer may not make sense. If children aren't given unstructured freedom throughout the school year, they won't know what to do with it during the summer. 'You can't just have this over-scheduled, technology-saturated life for nine months of the year and then switch into this absolute freedom,' she said. 'We haven't prepared our children for that… It's going to make the children potentially more anxious.' Although a complete switch is ill-advised, Vallotton said there are ways for parents to ease their children into a '90s kid summer by slowly limiting screen time, promoting more outdoor activities and fostering opportunities for peer play with minimal supervision. In case you missed: Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell are embracing free-range parenting. What is that? But that may not work for every family and parents shouldn't feel pressured by a social media trend, she said. 'Social media is a tool for social comparison and self-judgment,' Vallotton said. 'I would challenge parents to take a '90s summer for themselves and pause social media use.' Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Parents want to bring back the '90s kid summer. What does that mean?
