February 2nd - February 8th 2026

A light jaunt this week! I was on a work trip and typically don’t do much media consumption while I am out of the state! But, thought I would highlight a couple of movies I watched on the plane.

Movies

• Clueless | Amy Heckerling | 1995 - Wow, I hate this movie. It’s somehow in the canon of 90s/00s coming-of-age, aesthetically-defining films of the era for girls. In the same conversation as Legally Blonde, Pretty in Pink, Mean Girls, etc. To be honest, the story and setup are fine. Fairly generic with acting that is neither good, nor interesting, but it serves its purpose. I never got attached to Ty’s storyline, though I’m happy with how her story ends. Honestly, who cares? The opening outfit is iconic and there is nothing else from this film that is worth thinking about or viewing. WHAT I CAN’T UNDERSTAND IS HOW WE AREN’T TALKING ABOUT THE INCEST AND PEDOFILE THEMES. THAT MAN IS IN COLLEGE, SHE’S LIKE 16 AND THEY ARE RELATED (not by blood but still). FUCK. It also makes no narrative sense that they end up together, and somehow gets even creepier that the dad supports this behavior!! I hated this film.
• Smoke Signals | Chris Eyre | 1998 - The amount of memes and reels I have seen about this movie may compete with its run time, even if it’s mostly the opening “It’s a good day to be Indigenous” line. I do dream for an era of film where you put on something Native and it won’t be wholly or in-part trauma driven or trauma consuming. However, for 1998 I get it and this was a good film. There some really novel directing moves that are made (playing with time and how scenes transition to signal time shifts) that I found genuinely compelling and interesting. The overarching story relatable and well-told, if not like digging into an old wound. There are good moments and redemption. There is a lot of laughter! It’s really worth a watch.