"You don't throw away a yearbook! You're supposed to cherish it forever!!"

Today is the 15th anniversary of the movie Can't Hardly Wait.

This movie means so much to me because I went to see it two days after my high school graduation.  It IS my generation.  I went to school with these characters.  They are my Brat Pack.  I can quote the entire movie, and I specialize in Seth Green's lines.  My parlor trick for years was breaking into his opening monologue:

Yo I GOTTA have sex tonight.  I mean peep this, it says here 92 percent of UCLA women have had sex.  92 percent of honeys at UCLA walkin' around goin' 'Class or sex? What shall I do?'  92 percent, yo!  But you know what that means.  It means I gots a 92 percent chance of embarrassin' myself.  I roll up on that shorty like, 'What's up yo,' and she be like, 'You don't know 20 different ways to make me call you Big Poppa,' cause I don't, yo.

Yes.  Kenny Fisher and his pants that could fit a family of five was my love for many years.

Looks like someone's auditioning for Soul Train!

Yo Jana...*dances*...you wanna dance....
I'm allergic.
Allergic??  To dancing?!  
Yeah....

That is a Fragrance of Love scented candle, bitch!  DAMN!

If you haven't seen the movie, do me a favor and watch it just for Special K alone.

Everyone does an amazing job, even Jennifer Love Hewitt and her flowing hair.  She was Amanda Beckett, the wholesomely cute popular girl who was on the arm of the head jock Mike Dexter (Peter Facinelli) all throughout high school.  She doesn't do much besides react to the chaos going on around her, but she does it well.  And their cathartic encounter towards the end of the party makes me laugh every time.

(drunkenly) Oh yeah, well you're the one, A-man-DAAAAA.

I giggle just like the jock sycophants, one of whom is the always awesome Freddy Rodriguez.

But her parents, they've got mirrors over the bed.  I'm gonna be like, Ahhhahahahah!  Ahhahhhaha! 

My best friend and I were just discussing that this movie had a pre-Six Feet Under get-together!  Rodriguez, the amazing Lauren Ambrose, Eric Balfour, and Facinelli.  The role of Denise Fleming was Ambrose's breakout, and she was the perfect snarky introverted girl who would rather be anywhere than that party.

I told her you were a dendraphiliac....it's someone who has sex with trees.

Ethan Embry was an adorable delight as the earnest and arty Preston Meyers who just wanted to share his letter and his Pop Tart with Amanda.  The character was John Cusack-esque, but Embry gave him a sweet hangdog charm.  I just read a recent interesting interview with him about the movie 15 years later.  Some of it surprised me, but I like that he doesn't hold back.

[the song Mandy] It's not about a dog.  It's about a woman named Amanda.  Who the hell names their dog Amanda?!

And of course, there's Charlie Korsmo as William Lichter, the nerd who had his comeuppance in so many ways!  I grew up watching him in movies, and nothing made me happier than to see become a rock star and a legend all for one night.

Now, now, ladies, both of you can hold my laser pointer any time!

I love William and Mike's piano scene.  Every time I hear "I'll Make Love To You," I always think of that, and then my brain segues into Denise and Kenny singing "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" in the bathroom.  Every. last. time.

There were so very many other actors that continued to high profile careers or just kind of stumbled around into the early 2000s:  Jason Segel, Selma Blair, Jerry O'Connell, Breckin Meyer, Donald Faison, Melissa Joan Hart, Amber Benson, Jaime Pressly, Clea Duvall, Jenna Elfman, Sara Rue, Erik Palladino, Alexander Martin, Channon Roe, Sean Patrick Thomas, Paige Moss,  Nicole Bilderback, and Chris Owen.  If you're a nerd like me, you notice that seven of these actors appeared either on Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Cruel Intentions.  We could do a Six Degrees of Sarah Michelle Gellar!

The writers and directors Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan went on to do Josie and the Pussycats, which is a really underrated gem.  Seth Green, Breckin Meyer, Donald Faison, and Alexander Martin appeared as the sublime boy band Du Jour.  Back door lover, baby.

I was rather obsessed with the soundtrack and used to listen to it in my first car all the time.  Those tracks are just a sampling from what was used in the movie...one day, I should make sure to get every song on a playlist.  Click for the full listing on IMDB.

My two favorites:

Third Eye Blind-  Graduate

Eve 6-  Open Road Song

Oh hell, I can't leave this out, it's like a trailer for the movie!!

Can't Get Enough of You Baby- Smash Mouth

And what post would be complete without some pic spam!

“Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps."

We saw The Great Gatsby this weekend, and I ended up getting distracted, as I saw the big screen trailer for Much Ado About Nothing for the first time.  I may have squealed, clapped, and grasped my husband's shoulder.

I'm not going to pretend to know anything about the play.  I read Shakespeare in high school and took a course in college.  I saw the movie version of Much Ado with Kenneth Branagh and Robert Sean Leonard in 11th or 12th grade and can't remember anything except that it was a comedy.  Shakespeare's concepts, themes and characters are fantastic, but sometimes the plays can be hard for me to follow.  Modern interpretations are greatly helpful, especially with actors who have a great awareness and understanding of the material and language.

Therefore, this version of Much Ado is going to be perfect.  The ad campaign has even enchanted me!  Stylish charcoal and fuschia highlighting Alexis Denisof as the star of a Joss Whedon film with a jazzy score? Dreamy sigh alert!

                                     
Alexis Denisof might be most well known to the general public for being Alyson Hannigan's husband, which is a damn shame because he is a ridiculously talented character actor with leading man looks.  He did lots of theatre before getting the role of Wesley Wyndham-Pryce in Buffy the Vampire Slayer which led to co-starring in Angel.  Now, he tends to slip under the radar and does interesting TV projects while appearing in adorable paparazzi pictures with Aly and their two lovely little girls.

He is ridiculously funny under that serious demeanor and is a downright hoot when he appears on How I Met Your Mother.  I have been in love with him since the 4th season of Angel when he became all brooding and scruffy and having forbidden sex with Lilah.  I may have been a little stupid over how I couldn't stand his bumbling ponce ass on Buffy and how much I resented him taking over for Doyle on Angel (rest in peace, Glenn Quinn), to the point that I stopped watching Angel until Faith did the crossover episodes in season 4.

(Then I may have fallen so hardcore in lust that his name became Wes Sexypants and he was the example of how pants should perfectly hang and despite my dislike of guns it suddenly became super hot to watch him impossibly shoot two at once while slow-mo whooshing in the air and becoming an action hero who had a cut throat and really hot sex while his temporary prisoner in the closet was forced to listen and dear god that is not what I really like but for some reason when he does it it's so crazy hot...)

Ahem.  Let's continue.

Hi Amy Acker!  It's a Wes and Fred reunion!  And I didn't even ship the Fresley that much on Angel!  However, I have no problem shipping them here.

I can't choose from this wonderful tumblr post, so I'll just post the whole thing.  They really have wonderful chemistry as actors and friends.

I almost feel bad for loving this picture so much.  Sorry Alyson and James Carpinello...

It's like Joss is apologizing for their final Angel plots.  Except he apologizes by giving them starring roles in a highly acclaimed movie that was a blast to shoot at his house for two weeks and will get them plenty of acclaim.  Can't we all have bosses like that?

Nathan Fillion and Tom Lenk appear and are supposed to be hilarious.  This doesn't surprise me at all.  I love them both, and I can eventually forgive Fillion for having to cancel Philly Comic Con this year...that's just how awesome and delightful he is.  I still regret not seeing Lenk in Rock of Ages on Broadway.

I'm enjoying the vast height difference and pornstache. 

  

There are many other Whedonverse actors in the film like Sean Maher, Fran Kranz, Reed Diamond, and Clark Gregg.  Apparently, once you work with Whedon and read Shakespeare at his house for funsies, you're in for life!  

I truly am looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds and how this wonderful director and group of actors will bring it to life in modern California.  It's not just for the pretty.  Ok, maybe a little.  I really hope this brings great opportunities for Denisof and Acker as they are both excellent actors who should be seen a lot more on the small and big screens.