B Movies Blog

Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping some of my tween favorites into the ol’ VCR. 

Growing up, I had paper cuts on my fingers from flipping through the pages of so many teen magazines. I IDOLIZED the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes, Hilary Duff, and the Olsen Twins. KP would help me recreate looks from movies the best we could, including Padmé’s royal look from Phantom Menace. And no, I won’t be taking any further questions at this time. 

Bratz: Sean McNamara’s Bratz is a film adaptation of, well, the Bratz dolls. It came out in 2007, so my obsession came a little later, but I was only 15, so I’m counting it. I’m a Jade girlie, through and through. TBH, Janel Parrish is basically a human version of the Jade doll, and she’s the only actress who actually sings in the movie. Also, yes, I know this movie is absolutely cuckoo bananas and has a plot so thin you could use it to Saran wrap leftovers, but not every movie has to have a deeper meaning, y’all. Sometimes, you want to watch a movie where grown women provide the singing voices for actual teenagers. 

The Bratz movie is available to stream on Freevee. 

Freaky Friday: Mark Waters’ Freaky Friday should be a gimme. You have OSCAR AWARD WINNING ACTRESS, JAMIE LEE CURTIS. You have Bowling For Soup’s incredible cover of “…Baby One More Time,” as well as an all-around bangin’ soundtrack. Jamie Lee Curtis learned how to play guitar for one scene, for crying out loud. It’s a religion, it’s a lifestyle. 

Freaky Friday is now available to stream on Disney+. 

A Cinderella Story: Mark Rosman’s A Cinderella Story and I go waaaaayyyy back. Back to the beginning, you could say. 🥁I love this movie. My love for this movie runs so deep in fact that I once recited Hilary Duff’s famous “waiting for you” monologue in a breakroom at work and received applause. I turn to this movie when anything bad happens in my love life. 

A Cinderella Story is available to rent on VOD. 

What a Girl Wants: Dennie Gordon’s What a Girl Wants is a true gem. For some reason, we were obsessed with two big things in the early to mid-aughts: witness protection (cc: Our Lips Are Sealed and Get a Clue) and surprise royal lineage (cc: The Princess Diaries and What a Girl Wants). I have no idea why these were such hot plots, but by God, there were several movies made about both topics. 

What a Girl Wants is available to rent on VOD. 

Legally Blonde: Robert Luketic’s Legally Blonde is one of those movies that can pull me out of a funk. The montage where Elle starts studying really hard is *chef’s kiss,* and I’m 100% guilty of putting on “Watch Me Shine” by Joanna Pacitti when I need to get back on my bullshit. Also, Jennifer Coolidge is in two of these five movies, and there’s no way it’s a coincidence. 

Legally Blonde is now streaming on Tubi. 

I do want to give an honorable mention to Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. I’ve already written about it, so I won’t subject you to another round of praise for this movie. I think I was obsessed with these movies for several reasons. I loved their fashion and confidence and quirkiness. These characters were what I wanted to be at the time. 

However, as I’ve grown up, I realize I’ve become bold like Jade, genuine like Jamie Lee Curtis as Anna (I still want to be like her when I grow up), strong like Sam, confident like Daphne, and hardworking like Elle. I hope I’ve made baby Baillee proud. Or, at the very least, I hope she would secretly love me but pretend I embarrassed her in front of her friends.