Teen Movies and Tupac

Most of the time Netflix thinks I'm a 60 year old gay man with small children. It suggests things like Columbo and Transamerican Love Story and Dora the Explorer. Yes, I realize the suggestions are based on what I watch, so maybe I'm a 60 year old gay man with small children on the inside, but that is totally beside the point.

Anyway, Netflix must have had a flash of genius the other day because I literally gasped with joy when I saw that Drive Me Crazy starring Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier was available for streaming (finally!)

This 1999 gem stars Melissa Joan Hart as a high school socialite and Adrian Grenier as her slacker-with-rebel-tendencies neighbor. They come up with a scam to get their respective love interests back, makeover ensues, and you can probably guess what happens in the end. (Spoiler: K-I-S-S-I-N-G)

I have a soft spot for teen comedies from the late 90's. They remind me of sleepovers and eating Warheads and giggling in somebody's basement. There is nothing quite like a middle school girls' slumber party.

This is actually from my going away party in 8th grade, not a sleepover, but it's what most of our sleepovers looked like too.

Teen movies have very few story lines: makeovers, modern-day Shakespeare remakes, prom, graduation. That about covers it. You know what to expect from teen movies, there are never plot twists.

You think, "Oh, I wonder if those two are going to get together?!" Are they the main characters? Is one a nerd and one in the popular crowd? Is the world trying to keep them apart? Then yes, yes they are. Cue the credits.

Teen movies are the cotton candy of the film world. Soft, airy, and fabulous. Sure, binges on teen movies would probably make you barf but a little never hurt anyone.

Keeping with the 90's theme, this week's hot jam is Changes by Tupac. Released posthumously in 1998, Changes is a Monster Ballad of the hip hop world; a little more radio-friendly, a little more accepted by the masses (and the Catholic church.), and a little less police violence. It address some serious issues and probably would have been used in some sort of Save the World celebrity fundraiser if it was released before Tupac was killed. Normally, I wouldn't consider any Save the World songs hot jams, but this one is by Tupac, and let's be honest, everything he did was a hot jam. Pour one out and turn it up.