Gossip (2000)

It's just so hard to resist those b-list, sultry sex symbols who graced the screens last millennium as angsty adolescents. With a release date of 2000, this one was clearly on the edge. But as I've recently noticed...: the turn of the millennium may seem futuristic in my memory, but movies show me that it was actually a long time ago, and besides, I was still in high school. This is a perfect example. Brown lip liner, chunky heels and grungesque tudes are so last century. We have the murder-mystery, sex-fueled, turtleneck wearing college kids who binge drink at the clubs every night and enroll in journalism classes with techno-centric professors and a roster of 300+. And don't forget the feminist, ie. clearly delineating the boundaries of rape, supertones played out beautifully by the always bra-less Kate Hudson. Joshua Jackson (of Dawson), Lena Headey (Sarah Conner Chronicles) and James Marsden (Cyclops) also all grace the screen with their guilty, hungover portrayal of dirty life in higher education. Luckily, the blame gets cast on characters who have lots of money, so don't worry...you probably won't think they're telling a story about your kind. Oh yeah, and don't forget the Admiral my Admiral, Edward James Olmos (as in, you olmos know who he is), who plays out his pock-faced glory as a wayward Detective. Anyway, adolescent angst aside, there's one true reason I'm posting about this movie. And no, it's not the fact that it completely bombed at the box office (this is watch instantly after all...). It's because a large amount of the tension in the movie actually arose from inability to communicate with someone without actually seeing them and/or finding a payphone. That's right, 2000 or no, these dudes are running all over the place with big secrets and warnings when a simple text could have solved all their problems! Ah, life before technology. And in the rain!

But then again, a sickening T-Mobile commercial confirms your worst fears about the fate of phone-owner interaction or lack thereof....






Yes, that's a sad, sad thing.
But perhaps the backlash is finally arriving? I hate to quote a Lady Gaga song, but the new Telephone thing, regardless of the fact that she openly admits that it was written in all shallowness, might say more than she means. As Beyonce proudly proclaims, "I should have left my phone at home." There just might be hope yet...







Life as we know it.

I deem it: "An always adept reminder of life before cellphones and the murderous intentions of dastardly, drunken college kids"