Misadventures in Movie Going

I had seen the previews for a movie with Carey Mulligan set in a high school, I thought somewhere in Britain. So last weekend I went to see it. Only when the movie started it was set in California, and before long I realized the movie I had gone to see was not the one I thought it was, but a different movie, also set in a high school. that I knew nothing about. The parents of the main character were played by Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci, so I figured if they had agreed to act in it, there had to have some redeeming value. The movie I had gone to see was Easy A. Here is the trailer:



Maybe a more descriptive title would be "Much Ado About Imaginary Sex". I actually ended up liking it a lot. It was very well written with many references to the Teen Movies from the 80's, like The Breakfast Club. While the stories are totally different, the analogy in made between the way Olive, in this movie and Hester Prynne, in The Scarlet Letter, are treated.

The lead character Olive, an anagram for "I Love", is played by Emma Stone. I don't think I have seen her before, but she did a good job. My only only complaint about the film is that most of the high school students seemed more college age to me.

Olive discusses past film versions of The Scarlet Letter. She derides the Demi Moore version, but gushes over the 1926 Lillian Gush silent version. That film was very controversial when it was made. Because of the sexual nature of the film it had been black listed, and was only approved when Gish took responsibility for the content of the film. She was about the only person in Hollywood trusted enough to make a acceptable film adaptation of the book. Here is a clip of Gish's performance in the film.



By the way, the film I thought I was going to see in Never Let Me Go. Maybe I will see that some other time.