It’s all about the ’90s as we offer a beat-by-beat commentary for Clueless. (Though it’s not necessary to enjoy the ‘cast, feel free to grab your DVD and follow along!) And we run down the week in geek, including Scott Pilgrim’s disappointing box office performance and possible alternate DVD ending, Timothy Dalton’s upcoming role in the new season of Chuck, and some truly entertaining Trek TNG casting could’ve-beens.
My favorite part of this cast is when Audra is all like, “Aw yeah” and Sean goes, “No way” and Chuck is all, “What?”
<---- My avatar is armed and ready for Clueless
Then…
and now
OMC SHE’S HOT!!
(ahem)…I mean , my goodness she’s quite pretty
From what I’ve heard, they were actually going to have Q make an in joke referring to Tim Russ being in the running for Geordi, but decided it was too much of an in joke.
Speaking of Tim Russ, I just got to the Dalish Elf Camp in Dragon Age. 
“I’m keepin’ it real. I’m keepin’ it real!”
It’s frightening how many movies I have bought or just watched off the back of a podcast feature but Clueless won’t be one of them, off to put #234 onto disk for listening on the drive to work tomorrow:)
I love how changing the setting of a story can totally change the way people look at it. There’s a lot of backlash for Clueless’s particular setting; It’s hard not to be a little put off by watching rich kids who (even though it’s obvious over-the-top satire in some ways) want for nothing material.
But it makes a perfect setting for exploring relationships of this type. They have nothing but time on their hands. Some waste it. Cher doesn’t. She learns some pretty important lessons.
I suspect most people just assume that the movie’s title describes the rich kids’ lack of real-world smarts. (“Why learn to park? They just have valet everywhere!”) But if you pay attention to the few (and carefully-chosen, I think) spots in the movie where they actually say the word clueless, you discover that they’re really talking about understanding one’s feelings.
At the beginning, Cher was clueless as to what she wanted in relationships and how to get it. At the end, she wasn’t. I’d say that by that point she was far ahead of me (and most people I knew) in college.
I really encourage everyone to check the blind hate for rich kids and “chick flicks” at the door on this one. It’s a fun movie. Sure, you can have some fun fashion-spotting – we certainly do, as you can hear in the 'cast – but there’s some real value here, too. Why not be different? Ditch the yeah-haha-it-sux me-too crowd and get something from the movie. It’s worth it!
That’s one thing I always liked about Clueless (my fav movie in this arc): It defies the usual routine of a teen movie where the rich, blonde, popular girl is the “villain”. Cher in a standard movie would probably be the “villain” but in Clueless she’s a treated as a person with feelings and hurdles to overcome.
Legally Blonde is another movie that takes a similar bold stance. Just because a girl dresses in a certain way doesn’t mean she not a person.
High School Musical does a similar thing (I know HSM gets a lot of hate, but they’re good stuff (1st one at least). Zack Efron’s character is the popular captain of the basketball team, and normally he’d be a the antagonist in a typical teen movie, but in HSM mixes up that tired old convention and makes him the protagonist.
Let me reiterate this by putting it another way: You know the reaction you get when you try to encourage a friend to watch, say, Battlestar Galactica and the revulse at the very genre blindly without knowing anything about it? You know in your heart that it is something of quality, deeply dramatic and incredibly well executed…but all your friend hears is, “Science fiction”
The shoe is on the other foot here. Three people you know and trust are saying, “try this, we know you may have pre-judged it but there is something really valuable here.” The shoe is now on the other foot my friends, how can you ever hope to convince others to try something new if you yourself are guilty of the same sin?
Do eeet. Do eeeet now!
I for one, would love to hear from those that went to high school in the 90s and/or those that grew up in the Southern California vicinity.
My 90s were consumed by the rigid structure of the military, military school, and early failed family life. By the time I came up for air it was already 2000 (August 2000 to be precise). Also, I grew up in the upper mid-west and never travelled to LA until 2000. Because of this, I find this movie extremely difficult to relate to. I never saw Clueless in the theaters. In fact, I don’t think I ever saw it until it was on TV sometime in the 2000s. I was never a fan of 90210 or Melrose place. I don’t understand the whole Hollywood scene and would prefer to be working in the wood shop with my Dad or out on the lake fishing. So getting past the crazy 90’s LA scene is very difficult for me.
That is why I’d love to hear from those out there that experienced a similar high school situation in the 90s and/or LA area. Please write a response here on the forum or call it in for the crew to play on the next cast. Otherwise Cher’s message of getting past the ridiculous lifestyle to deal with people on a human level really is difficult for me to relate to.
Also, I really dig that Hansel and Gretel Ginger Bread hosue too Sean. I don’t think I’d care for the roof maintenance on that puppy, but it sure looks neat.
I loved the running commetary guys! That was an unexpected treat! The family and I intend to sit down later this week and listen to it.
And for those that don’t own a copy of Clueless or have Netflix Instant Watch, Clueless is currently running on Cinemax On Demand this week.
Until Next Time…
~Shooter Out
Unfortunately Clueless isn’t on Netflix Instant Watch.
Hmmm…that seems very shortsighted, or dare I say, clueless of the Netflix powers that be.
I find it rather sad and dissappointing that Chuck, Audra and Sean have to defend their choice of topic for their podcast. Especially when it’s other GWCers gryping (that’s my job…back off!). 
You can get something out of any movie, but only if you open your mind and allow yourself to discover something new or different than your usual genres of choice.
Free your mind…the rest will follow!
If Clueless seems like the kind of movie you’d usually skip on general principle, it’s totally worth checking out anyway.
As a child of the eighties and nineties, Clueless was a huge deal for me and my friends, but I never read much into it… probably due to the fact that I was in middle school when it came out. But as at the time I was living in an urban area of the south where many of my classmates were either fabulously rich or not-fabulously poor (not many of us in the middle, sadly), I always got a kick out of the concerns of the rich kids in the movie.
I haven’t listened to the 'cast yet, but I’d just like to echo - give stuff a chance! Many before me have made excellent arguments as to why you should, and I’ll just say - they are right.
Besides which, even though “chick flicks” or whatever aren’t my favorite genre (hello, science fiction and fantasy!), there are a lot of excellent ones out there. Plus, they’re one of the genres where women have more traditionally been able to succeed in screenwriting and directing (quick, name five women film directors off the top of your head…). perhaps the only one, since I’m not thinking of another one that has allowed women to take the reins as consistently in filmmaking.
What do you guys think of Mean Girls, by the way? For whatever reason, remember Clueless made me think of it… Even though it follows a more typical narrative with the outsider who becomes cool and takes down the super preppy blonde girl, I think it has a lot of interesting commentary on teen culture, particularly on the culture of teen girls. Love it. (yes… I have it on DVD and have watched it a gazillion times… what’s it to you?)
Mean Girls is an amazing movie
Also
Sofia Coppola, Katherine Bigelow, the chick from Green Street Hooligans/Punisher Warzone, uh…yeah that’s all I got for women directors.
edit: Looked it up, Green Street Hooligans is Lexi Alexander
Mean Girls was great.
Also, did anyone else like Heathers? Great, dark Christian Slater High School flick.
What, did anybody not like Heathers?
I loved the comments on Ty’s accent. I went to University of Maryland in the 90’s and it was dubbed, at the time, “Long Island South”. Every one sounded like Linda Richmond, from Coffee Talk. Started having college flashbacks while listening to the cast.