When my awesome FTS crewmate Jess told me about this awesome blog-a-thon cooked up by Andy at Fandango Groovers Movie Blog, I had to join in.
Here’s the premise behind the blogathon:
Mixtapes are most relevant when shared, to give someone a collection of songs, some they will know, others they don’t but will come to love is a true gift. The best mixes are of songs that are completely unconnected but fit together perfectly. So how does this translate to movies? The idea behind Mixtape Movies is to compile a list of movies that fit together. There are no hard and fast rules but here are my guidelines:
A selection of movies with no direct connection (star, director, source material) but that fit together or compliment each other.
Around six movies, five plus one wildcard (a movie that doesn’t quite fit but still belongs).
Honestly, who doesn’t love a good mixtape? If you’re a follower of the site, then you’ll know my undying love of films that take place in high school. High school is a great place to tell stories. With a variety of character types and possible conflict, high school is a goldmine for any great writer and/or director. Of all the character archetypes presented in movies about high school, the particular one I want to focus on in this mix tape is ‘The Bitch’. She’s devious, cunning, and doesn’t have a problem stepping on anyone in her way to get what she wants, and in some cases, she isn’t above murder. She ruled the school with an iron fist (or pom-pom in certain cases) and we all love to hate them. The title of this mixtape came from the song by Jet with the same title.
Mixtape Runtime: 582 minutes/ 9 hours & 42 minutes
Heathers – As I said in my 5 Favorite Things: Heathers post, Heathers is the mother of all High school dark comedies and has forever left its mark on pop culture. Heather Chandler, the lead Heather, was the quintessential Bitch; she struck fear in the hearts of the other popular kids and tormented the unpopular ones for shits and giggles (poor Martha Dumptruck). Heather Chandler was so good at being a bitch I think everyone smiles when she goes through her glass table, I like to imagine a small round of applause.
Jawbreaker – In this film, the popular girls of Reagan High kidnapped their best friend as a part of a birthday prank and accidentally kill her huge piece of hard candy. On a slight side note, where in the HELL do friends kidnap each other for pranks? When a nerdy classmate finds out what the popular kids have done, the Queen B, Courtney Shane played by the wickedly fun Rose McGowan, reinvents her to take the place of the popular girl who was just killed.
Mean Girls – I couldn’t imagine this mixtape without Mean Girls. Although Regina George (played by Rachel McAdams) may be pretty tame in comparison to the other Bitches on this list, she holds her own. Mean Girls, written by the awesome Tina Fey, features Cady, a home-schooled new girl who falls into the most popular group at school. Things run foul when Cady sets her sights on the love interest of the Alpha female Regina. What results is one hilarious movie with a ton of rewatch value.
Jennifer’s Body – In high school, it can sometimes feel as if the head Bitch in school wants to eat your entrails for dinner, in Jennifer’s Body she actually does. The Head Cheerleader somehow becomes possessed by a demon and is now feasting on her fellow male classmates, it’s up to her geeky gal pal to put an end to her tyranny.
Cruel Intentions – Based on the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos, Cruel Intentions features Kathryn (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar), a jaded debutant who puts a horrible scheme into motion after she is dumped by her boyfriend for a more virtuous girl. Alongside Kathryn is her equally manipulative step-brother, Sebastian who falls in love with a girl he means to seduce.
Teaching Mrs. Tingle – So far, all the movies on my list have featured students as the lead antagonist inflicting pain on others, but for my wildcard I wanted to switch it up and have a teacher in the role. It’s pretty easy to avoid a fellow student who hates you, but having a teacher out to get you is something different all together. Starring Helen Mirren in the title role, Teaching Mrs. Tingle is about a horrible English teacher who has a personal grudge against one of the smartest girls in school and drops her GPA purposely. The girl along with two of her friends goes to the teacher’s home to argue her case and things spiral wildly out of control and become a hostage situation.
Hope you liked my mixtape! What would you add?
Check out the other participant’s movie mixtapes here.