Can't Hardly Wait (4½ Stars)

I went to bed early last night after spending the day visiting a museum in Karlsruhe. One of the consequences of going to bed early is waking up early. At 2 am I was wide awake and couldn't sleep. My wonderful friend Crystal Berry, who I've known by different names over the years, decided to host a watch party on Facebook. If you don't know what that is, it's simple. She shows a film and her friends can watch it. We have a chat window open, so we can talk about the film while it's running.

She's done this a few times before, but I could never take part because I noticed the film too late. The film starts when Crystal says it does, so if I arrive late I miss the start, and for a serious film fan like me that's out of the question.

I last watched "Can't hardly wait" in 2011. I liked it and wanted to watch it again, but the DVD has sat on my shelf gathering dust ever since. It's a typical film for Crystal. She likes high school films. She likes to live in the past, and why not? They say that school is the happiest time of your life. Maybe it wasn't for me; I preferred my university years, but it's close enough. I was a nerdy outsider in school, but in university I was one of the in crowd. That's a story for another day.

I bought the DVD eight years ago because I'm a fan of Jennifer Love Hewitt. Not just a fan, I have a sort of crush on her. She's gorgeous, and she was especially beautiful in her teenage years. (She was 18 when she made this film). However, the film has so many other things in its favour. It offers a look into the microcosm of high school. School is over, and it's the last time everyone will be able to party together. We see all the types of young people that we know in high school, from the popular football jocks to the rock music freaks and the outsiders. If you watch the film, try to recognise yourself. I easily spotted myself in the crowd.

Maybe the main weakness of watch parties is in the premise itself. We were watching together, in a group, which involved talking to one another. Worse still, we were typing to one another, so we were constantly being distracted from the film. A film like this deserves my full attention, so I'll watch it again soon.

Look who I met in the museum. That look is enough to send chills down my spine.

I didn't realise until I started to write the post that the watch party took place on the 10th anniversary of my first meeting with Crystal. It was 2nd June 2009, not 3rd June, but because of the time difference it was the 2nd for her. I wanted to post an old photo of her from when we first met, but my photos are on a memory stick somewhere in a draw, and it would take too long to find them, so I grabbed one of her new photos from Facebook.

She's as beautiful as she was in 2009, maybe even more beautiful.

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