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UPI
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
Movie review: 'Clueless' re-release proves film retro but timeless
1 of 5 | Alicia Silverstone stars in "Clueless," returning to theaters Sunday. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures LOS ANGELES, June 27 (UPI) -- Clueless is returning to theaters Sunday for its 30th anniversary, but it's never really left the culture at large. While there have been many teen comedies since, the film's lingo and fashion remain evergreen and some of the details prove surprisingly prescient. Alicia Silverstone stars as Cher Horowitz, a teenager attending Beverly Hills' fictional Bronson Alcott High School, wearing designer fashion and carrying a cell phone. Cher plays matchmaker for her teachers, and new student Tai (Brittany Murphy), similar to Jane Austen's heroine Emma. In the '90s, words like "whatever" and "as if" were common, following the Bill & Ted and Wayne's World popularization of "no way" and "yeah, right." Clueless made "I'm Audi" synonymous with "I'm out of here" (as in Audi/outtie), with an emphatic "Audi 5000." Those terms may have been usurped by TikTok lingo like "delulu" and "cheugy" but the sentiments haven't changed. Delulu means delusional and "as if" is essentially telling someone they are delusional, "as if" they think that's going to happen. The plaid skirts and knee-high socks were sort of retro at the time of the film's release, but they'd still work now. The music includes a '90s cover of "Kids in America," the satirical "Supermodel," and No Doubt's first hit single, "Just a Girl." Coolio's "Rollin' with my Homies" is pivotal to Tai's heartbreak, just before his "Gangster's Paradise" led the film Dangerous Minds and Mighty Mighty Bosstones appear in the film. Back then, cell phones were only for rich kids, and they were only for talking, not for staring at and scrolling for hours. The brief seconds Cher and Dionne (Stacey Dash) continue their conversation on their phones in the hall before putting them away was a joke. Cher would probably be aghast everyone has a phone now and that they type instead of talking to each other. She was all about making connections and hanging out in person at parties and the mall. The aspects of Clueless that proved most timeless were probably the least expected. Cher debates Haitian refugees in debate class, and later collects donations for victims of a natural disaster at Pismo Beach. In 1995, these probably seemed like generic events that could serve the plot. Cher had to get a middling grade in debate class that she could negotiate to an A, and demonstrate she was learning to think about others. Today, false claims about Haitian immigrants were real talking points of the 2024 presidential campaign. Regardless of their country of origin, immigration has been a major political platform and source of division. Cher's pro-immigration conclusion, "It does not say RSVP on the Statue of Liberty," is humorously simplistic. Yet her welcoming position would be adopted now by pro-immigration proponents. She was also very accepting when she learns her classmate Christian (Justin Walker) is gay. Coming out in the '90s was a plot point of many TV sitcoms and movies, and Christian wasn't necessarily out when Cher found out. She accepted him, so tolerance wasn't even an issue. Natural disasters have sadly only ramped up since 1995, from Hurricane Katrina to the recent Los Angeles wildfires. Fortunately, those situations have shown people to be supportive of their fellow humans in need. People aren't flocking back to theaters to see Clueless again for its politics, however. The film is still selling tickets because it's funny, charming and makes people feel good. One need not be as wealthy as Cher to enjoy her carefree lifestyle. In fact, Tai is not rich and she proves to enjoy life even more fully without the trappings Cher provides. People with stepsiblings have objected to Cher's romance with ex-stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd) since 1995, saying even if they are not blood related and their parents have since divorced, they could never see a stepsibling romantically. That may be, but upon reflection it seems well-supported by the movie. Cher's father Mel (Dan Hedaya) says, "You divorce wives, not children." This is a wonderfully inclusive way to show he has no ill will towards his ex-wife's son, and that Josh can always have a place in the Horowitz family. Does that wipe away the stepbrother-ness? Maybe not, but Mel also seems to see there was always a connection between Cher and Josh, which probably existed before the marriage, when he encourages Josh to check on Cher at the party. To revisit Clueless is to enjoy a time capsule of '90s culture. And yet, much of the classic teen comedy proves prescient and evergreen. Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Clueless (1995) review — it's difficult to overstate the impact of this film
It's difficult to overstate the reach of this Amy Heckerling teen standard. It's a loose revamp of Jane Austen's Emma that buzzes with the kind of emphatic 'Valspeak' (Valley Girl parlance) that eventually spread beyond the cinema and helped transform the very rhythm of spoken English. And so, while Alicia Silverstone as Cher (the Emma Woodhouse to Paul Rudd's Mr Knightley) conspires to matchmake teachers and new high-school students alike, we learn that she is consistently 'like, totally' disappointed with failure. She greets an unwanted male arm around her shoulder with a wince and a baffled 'as if!' And her dyspeptic classmate Amber (Elisa Donovan) demonstrates her studied boredom with thumbs and fingers posed in the shape of a 'W' accompanied by a long-drawn-out 'what-ever!' Some of the Clueless words and phrases that didn't make it, alas? Calling an attractive woman 'a Betty'. And, infamously, describing menstruation as 'I was surfing the crimson wave'.★★★★☆12A, 97minIn cinemas from Jun 27 Times+ members can enjoy two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman each Wednesday. Visit to find out more Follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
Sunday World
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Trailer released of new US crime drama Irish Blood starring Alicia Silverstone
The series is set to premiere in August The trailer for the brand new US crime drama Irish Blood has been released ahead of its premiere on Acorn TV on August 11. Irish Blood is a six-part murder mystery and will follow divorce lawyer Fiona Sharpe, played by Clueless star Alicia Silverstone, as she receives a message from her estranged father, sending her on a journey to Ireland where she uncovers the truth about his dark past. The trailer shows glimpses of filming locations in Wicklow such as the Sugarloaf Mountain, Bray Seafront and Enniskerry Village. Silverstone, who is also an executive producer, stars alongside Jason O'Mara, Wendy Crewson, Dearbhla Molloy, Simone Kirby, Ruth Codd and Leonardo Taiwo. 'Irish Blood' is the story of a woman discovering herself and confronting her past after traveling abroad unexpectedly,' Silverstone said of the project. 'I love how unpredictable the storytelling feels and the combination of drama, humor and suspense my character experiences.' Produced by Shaftesbury and Deadpan Pictures in association with AMC studios, the show will air in the U.S and Canada with new episodes on Mondays.
The Guardian
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Clueless review – Alicia Silverstone and Brittany Murphy are class acts in 90s Jane Austen parallel
Thirty years ago, the world was swooning over Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in the BBC's Pride and Prejudice adaptation … but all the time, the actual Jane Austen screen sensation that year was happening elsewhere in plain sight. Amy Heckerling's high school romcoming-of-age masterpiece, inspired by Austen's Emma, is now on re-release for its 30th anniversary and more than ever it feels like a complete joy, a deliciously movie-literate (and literate-literate) classic, with references to Stanley Kubrick, Oscar Wilde and William Burroughs to go with the Austen parallel. Clueless is something to compare with Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story – and Alicia Silverstone's final, tearful scene matches, and even outclasses, Julia Roberts' speech in Notting Hill about being just a girl standing in front of a boy. Like Withnail and I, it's a film which is composed entirely of quotable funny lines and for each rewatch fans could lip-sync along with the entire film. Maybe some of the material wouldn't fly now – Cher's body-image jokes ('I feel like such a heifer!') are … of their time … but what contemporary movie has this level of sustained wit and fun? Silverstone gives a lovely performance as the spoilt, yet innocent and sweet-natured not-quite-16-year-old Cher (like her friend Dionne, played by Stacey Dash, she is named after a star of the past who does infomercials). She is the daughter of a widowed, wealthy lawyer in Beverly Hills, played by the formidable Dan Hedaya, who had terrified audiences in the Coen brothers' debut Blood Simple. Cher's conceit is gently mocked, and yet we're always laughing with, not at her. Silverstone is amazingly innocent and charming and her sublimely weightless screen presence has a kind of serenity and maturity that belongs to an instinctive comedy performer. Super-popular Cher, having already played matchmaker to her two teachers Mr Hall (Wallace Shawn) and Miss Geist (Twink Caplan), decides in her high-handed and meddling way to take a new student under her wing: maladroit suburban kid Tai (Brittany Murphy). But the endlessly considerate Cher, always thinking of others in her narcissistic way, finds it poignantly difficult to find a soulmate herself, having conceived a tendresse for the beautifully dressed Christian (Justin Walker) who seems to be more interested in hanging out with other guys. The awful truth is that Cher may have feelings for her goofy, annoyingly progressive stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd). Watched again 30 years on, it's impossible not to marvel at the fact that eerily youthful Paul Rudd really doesn't look much different now (really, it should be Rudd, not Sarah Snook, doing a stage version of The Picture of Dorian Gray). There is also, sadly, a tone of melancholy in savouring Murphy's terrific performance; she died in 2009 of drug-related issues aged just 32 and like Silverstone, she was a natural comedy player and, also like Silverstone perhaps, she never got a role as good as the one in Clueless. There is great stuff also from Breckin Meyer as stoner skater-boy Travis, with whom Tai is really in love, Donald Faison as Dionne's boyfriend Murray, Jeremy Sisto as the caddish Elton, and also Walker as the sleek gay exquisite Christian. Never was a title more misleading. This is sophisticated pleasure. Clueless is in UK cinemas from 27 June.
Sydney Morning Herald
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
This modern homage to Jane Austen is genuinely charming, but it's no Clueless
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life ★★1/2 M, 98 minutes From a 21st-century vantage point, it's all too easy to pigeonhole the novels of Jane Austen as the ultimate in prim and proper Englishness – although their plots still hold up, as Clueless in the 1990s showed brilliantly. Imagine how the French must see her. Or rather, you don't have to imagine it, because you can get an idea from Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, a first feature from the French writer-director Laura Piani. The bilingual Camille Rutherford stars as the heroine Agathe, a constant reader whose taste for Austen is portrayed as highly unusual by Parisian standards, even among admirers of the classics. Agathe is a misfit in other ways, the kind who laments she was born in the wrong century. Long-limbed and charmingly awkward, she works at the famous English-language bookstore Shakespeare & Company (as Piani did too), writes unpublished romances in her spare time, and derides dating apps as 'Uber sex'. If she's holding out for her own version of Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, she could be waiting a while, nor is there much sign of her literary career getting off the ground. So her friend and co worker Felix (Pablo Pauly) decides to give her a hand, signing her up for the Jane Austen Residency, a writer's retreat held at an English country house (the locations were all in France, not that it matters). Here she meets Oliver (Charlie Anson) a buttoned-up literature professor who also happens to be a distant connection of the Austen clan. While he's no great admirer of his ancestor's work, there's something oddly familiar about his standoffish manner, which puts him at odds with Agathe from the moment they meet. Could it be that she's met her match at last? Or has she been led astray by over-exposure to 19th century novels, with her real chance at happiness lying closer to home?
