"my plastic surgeon..."

...doesn't want me doing any activities where balls fly at my nose.

- Well, there goes your social life."

Great Moments in Screen Bitchery #184, Clueless

Cher Keeps Gym Class Classy

Back to School Month

Anne Marie here with a question: did anybody actually enjoy gym in high school? I was a varsity athlete, and I still hated it. I hated getting gross and sweaty in the middle of the day, I hated walk-running a mile around the track, and I especially hated my gym wardrobe: either highwater sweatpants or shorts that by rule had to extend past your fingertips. (Catholic school, am I right?)

Fortunately, gym in Clueless was an entirely classier affair.

Clueless was the first high school movie I remember seeing, and I was deeply disappointed when high school did not turn out to be as chic/clever/classy as I had been led to believe.

So, what was your least favorite class in high school?

Curio: For the Love of Paul (Rudd)

Alexa here. Nathaniel's Posterized on Paul Rudd got me thinking about the man and his merits.  As many of the comments suggested, I wish he would spend less time with the Apatow crowd and do a little more challenging work: more uncomfortable dramas like Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things and less sloppy comedies like I Love You Man. In fact, I seem to recall him expressing some sadness in an interview last year that he wasn't offered more serious roles. Here's hoping that more directors see his dramatic merits in the future. Until then, the closest he'll come is in David Gordon Green's upcoming dramedy Prince Avalanche. But I'll admit I'm looking forward to him returning to Anchorman territory, if only for the mustache and the Sex Panther.

To celebrate this puppy-faced dynamo, here is a Rudd coloring book I may or may not own. [more after the jump...]

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Tues Top Ten: Tennis in the Movies

The world's number one ranked male tennis player turns a quarter century today so in honor of Novak Djokovic why not celebrate with a list of best tennis moments in the movies?

Because... uh...

Are there any? When I first thought of doing this list I was like YES -- little known fact: I played tennis daily one summer in high school and still love the game  -- only to hit a brick wall rather than a low net. You may have heard this complaint before from tennis fans but given the abundance of sports movies of every other stripe it's almost like Hollywood hates the game. Those private tennis courts on celebrity acreage are all going to waste.

I've come up with ten things anyway.

BEST TENNIS SOMETHING OR OTHER IN THE MOVIES

You should know upfront that I've never seen the Chad Lowe boy-in-drag masterpiece Nobody's Perfect (1989) -- no decade ever loved cross-dressing comedies like the 80s -- so I shan't include it. 

10 Wimbledon (2004)
Nobody likes this movie but given the abrupt sharp decline in romantic comedy quality over the past ten years, I bet it'd look pretty good if it came out now. At the very least both Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst looked fresh and healthy and sun-kissed as the professional athletes in love.

09 The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
We'll be sure to celebrate this movie's 25th anniversary next month but for now, remember that tennis match? Temperatures are flaring as the three best friends Jane (Susan Sarandon) Sukie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Alex (Cher) all compete for Devil Jack Nicholson's attention. In a game of doubles things get vindicative and then supernatural.

 

Funny girls and dangerous men after the jump...

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