Say what you will about their cinematic quality, but teen movies have always had elite soundtracks. Let's recapture that nostalgia with some new music.
I’m GenX, and of course, the John Hughes films had good soundtracks, but I will throw no shade because the 90s teen movie soundtracks were so much better, and soundtracks in general were amped up and paid more attention to in the 90s than in the 80s. 95% of my favorite movie soundtracks are solidly in the 90s.
i appreciate that vote of confidence!! i think there was something special about the 90s soundtrack, although the early '90s non-teen movies geared towards gen x (reality bites and its ilk) were absolutely killing it with their soundtracks as well
As a Boomer on the cusp of Gen X (born in 1964), The Craft just blew me away. New girl in town with untapped magical power in a Catholic high school? Check.
Three "misfit" students who have formed a coven, led by a murder hornet, whose black lipstick and patent leather jacket are part of her shield, as a girl living in a trailer park, with a drunk mom and a lecherous stepfather? Check. The school's only African American student, tormented for her Blackness by a blonde girl who gets off on sabotaging her at the diving board? Check. The last "misfit," a girl covered in burn scars, who catches the new girl levitating a pencil? Check.
Honestly, every time I rewatch this movie, there's always something, a missing detail, that knocks me for a loop. It's as much about female friendships, and their fault lines, as it is about magick. Power moves, spells gone awry, slut-shaming, the pressure to fit in, knowing you never will, the way in which your best friends become your worst enemies, envy, revenge, and the realization that the only reason that Nancy, Bonnie, and Rochelle acquired powers had to do with tapping into Sarah's natural power, and her dedication to honing it. In the end, she's the only one whose powers remained, so much so that she could summon wind and lightning, lopping off a tree branch that (just) misses Bonnie and Rochelle.
As for Nancy's fate...the final scenes show her strapped to a hospital bed, alone, in a psychiatric hospital..
I will always have a soft spot for Heathers, but The Craft never fails to reel me back in. (Fun fact: Rachel True, who played Rochelle, was 30, though you'd never guess that to be the case.)
Often, I wonder, who am I really rooting for: Nancy or Sarah? Why does one seem to be the mirror image of the other? So many questions.
Now, if you'll excuse me, time to get off the soapbox. Thanks for your patience, and for coming this far.
This was such a great idea for a post. I worked in a record store when I was in high school in the 90s and I loved every new teen movie soundtrack because of all the new music I would discover. Even the ones where there was one good song and the rest was the film score.
I just went to an acoustic performance by a traveling musician on Sunday and he had an entire song about My-Called Life characters.......sweet bliss! I told him afterward he must record it for the next record. I found out new music from that show too like when Jordan Catalano covers The Ramones.
Like you mentioned, soundtracks helped me discover new music. Romeo and Juliet was played REPEATEDLY.
we need the b-roll high school footage exposition intro montage song, a la "Kids in america" in clueless or Kajagoogoo in Sixteen Candles (I had to look that one up, TBH, but the scene is burned into my mind)
I had to go with 10 Things because Atomic Dog.
I’m GenX, and of course, the John Hughes films had good soundtracks, but I will throw no shade because the 90s teen movie soundtracks were so much better, and soundtracks in general were amped up and paid more attention to in the 90s than in the 80s. 95% of my favorite movie soundtracks are solidly in the 90s.
i appreciate that vote of confidence!! i think there was something special about the 90s soundtrack, although the early '90s non-teen movies geared towards gen x (reality bites and its ilk) were absolutely killing it with their soundtracks as well
With those twelve films, you could easily make an astrology chart.
I’m a Clueless Sun, 10 Things Rising, and a Never Been Kissed Moon, btw.
i need an astrology girly to do this for me
That poll! My brain is breaking! They are all so good! (But it's Cruel Intentions ftw)
haha yeah the poll was meant to give you anxiety
mission accomplished
As a Boomer on the cusp of Gen X (born in 1964), The Craft just blew me away. New girl in town with untapped magical power in a Catholic high school? Check.
Three "misfit" students who have formed a coven, led by a murder hornet, whose black lipstick and patent leather jacket are part of her shield, as a girl living in a trailer park, with a drunk mom and a lecherous stepfather? Check. The school's only African American student, tormented for her Blackness by a blonde girl who gets off on sabotaging her at the diving board? Check. The last "misfit," a girl covered in burn scars, who catches the new girl levitating a pencil? Check.
Honestly, every time I rewatch this movie, there's always something, a missing detail, that knocks me for a loop. It's as much about female friendships, and their fault lines, as it is about magick. Power moves, spells gone awry, slut-shaming, the pressure to fit in, knowing you never will, the way in which your best friends become your worst enemies, envy, revenge, and the realization that the only reason that Nancy, Bonnie, and Rochelle acquired powers had to do with tapping into Sarah's natural power, and her dedication to honing it. In the end, she's the only one whose powers remained, so much so that she could summon wind and lightning, lopping off a tree branch that (just) misses Bonnie and Rochelle.
As for Nancy's fate...the final scenes show her strapped to a hospital bed, alone, in a psychiatric hospital..
I will always have a soft spot for Heathers, but The Craft never fails to reel me back in. (Fun fact: Rachel True, who played Rochelle, was 30, though you'd never guess that to be the case.)
Often, I wonder, who am I really rooting for: Nancy or Sarah? Why does one seem to be the mirror image of the other? So many questions.
Now, if you'll excuse me, time to get off the soapbox. Thanks for your patience, and for coming this far.
This was such a great idea for a post. I worked in a record store when I was in high school in the 90s and I loved every new teen movie soundtrack because of all the new music I would discover. Even the ones where there was one good song and the rest was the film score.
I just went to an acoustic performance by a traveling musician on Sunday and he had an entire song about My-Called Life characters.......sweet bliss! I told him afterward he must record it for the next record. I found out new music from that show too like when Jordan Catalano covers The Ramones.
Like you mentioned, soundtracks helped me discover new music. Romeo and Juliet was played REPEATEDLY.
Now and Then is also a good "teen" soundtrack.
I had to go with Jawbreaker because that Ednaswap cover of Next To You got so under my skin..i just love that song anyway. Plus, The Donnas!
we need the b-roll high school footage exposition intro montage song, a la "Kids in america" in clueless or Kajagoogoo in Sixteen Candles (I had to look that one up, TBH, but the scene is burned into my mind)