Man, the 90s did teen movies well. I have no idea how many times I've seen this film. My gang at school loved it, so it came out at every sleepover. I did once insist that my high school boyfriend watch it, and he didn't enjoy it quite as much as I do. But what does he know, eh? It's entertaining, and it pretty much borders on being a parody some of the time (case in point, the introduction of the different cliques in the school. Cowboys??)
We all know it's a reimagining of The Taming Of The Shrew, as it's from that time in the 90s when Hollywood was looking to Shakespeare for its inspiration. For me, I much prefer them pinching ideas from Shakespeare over the current trend of "And another sequel! And a remake! And a prequel!" If you can't be original, at least be inspired by material that is rich, moving, timeless and complex. Don't make movies based on board games. Just because someone happened to get lucky with a movie based on an amusement park ride (which will also be coming up later), doesn't mean that such an inane concept will ever work again.
The serenade in 10 Things I Hate About You is still one of my favourite moments in a teen movie. Heath Ledger gained a lot of attention for Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight (which will be coming up later), but I think that even in this movie he showed flashes of subtlety that hinted at how great an actor he could be. Then there's Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt... And Andrew Keegan. Where did he go? This was the only movie I ever saw him in I think, but he was all over the teen magazines when I was a kid and I never really knew why. Was he famous in America?
Final thought: The Stratfords have an amazing house. I want that porch.
Up Next: 12 Angry Men
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