13 Going on 30

13 Going on 30 (known as Suddenly 30 in Australia and some countries) is a 2004 American romantic comedy fantasy film (hybrid film)  written by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, and directed by Gary Winick. Starring Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Andy Serkis and Kathy Baker, the film was produced by Revolution Studios for Columbia Pictures and it was released on April 23, 2004. It follows a 13-year-old girl who dreams of being popular. During her birthday party, she engages in the party game Seven Minutes in Heaven. The game turns out to be a humiliating experience for her, and she refuses to come out of the closet. She even blames it on her best friend Matt (Matty) and doesn't talk to him anymore afterwards.  When she eventually does emerge, she finds herself five days shy of her 30th birthday, uncertain to how she got there.

The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with most praising Garner's performance and its nostalgic environment. It was also praised for its humorous plot and self-empowerment message. The movie was also a commercial success, earning $22 million in its first week, and grossing over $96 million, becoming one of the year's biggest DVD rentals and sellers. The movie's soundtrack features songs spanning the 80's to the 2000s, with a range of hits from famous recording artists such as Billy Joel, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Pat Benatar and Whitney Houston. Additionally, the soundtrack charted inside the top-fifty on the Billboard 200 chart. Jennifer Garner's acting earned her nominations from both MTV Movie Awards and Teen Choice Awards, and the movie was also re-released in DVD in 2006 with a special packaging titled "Fun and Flirty Edition", and on Blu-Ray in 2009.

A girl who's sick of the social strictures of junior high is transformed into a grownup overnight because of a wish she made to be thirty, flirty, and thriving. In this feel-good fairy tale, teenager Jenna (Christa B. Allen) wants a boyfriend, and when she's unable to find one, she fantasizes about being a well-adjusted adult. She has always wanted to be popular, accepted, to be and look like the other girls, and all in all just grow up already! Suddenly, her secret desire becomes a reality, and she is transformed into a 30-year-old (Jennifer Garner). But adulthood, with its own set of male-female challenges, isn't as easy as it looks.  She works as a magazine head at the company, Poise, who has been getting sabotaged by the magazine, Sparkle, for a long time.  She finds that she is in love with Matty, makes a new face for the magazine, and has a wonderful time.  It all crashes when Lucy stabs her in the back and sells her prints to the rival magazine, Sparkle. In the end, she is transformed back to her 13 year old self, and happily marries Matty when they get older.

This is such a feel good, fun movie to watch!  It could be considered a chick-flick, but I think that it's a nice movie to watch if you want a laugh.  It teaches you to enjoy life and don't try to rush it!

The First TIme

The First Time is a perfect, cliché teenage love story for when you're bored on a Friday night. The story follows Dave (Dylan O'Brien) is an incurable romantic in love with the hottest girl in school, Jane (Victoria Justice). Unfortunately, she only thinks of him as a friend - without benefits. Through a chance encounter, Dave meets Aubrey (Britt Robertson), an alluring girl from a nearby school, at a party, which sparks a flame that soon becomes a red-hot romance filled with all the angst, missteps and awkwardness of a first time love.

The thing that draws me to this particular film, rather than just any other teen romance movie, is its streak of honesty. Though it does take place in the time span of a weekend, it's not just another Romeo and Juliet love story. The characters never declare their love for each other, they don't treat it as they've known each other for more than a short time, and they're not starry-eyed lovers like other films. 

The films honestly portrays the idea of falling quickly for someone, and it wraps up with a monologue about how they know they're not perfect for each other, but if they're both willing to try, that they can figure it out from there. Yes, they end up together, but instead of being the usual, mushy "I love you, we can do this" ending, it is portrayed more like a realistic relationship. That if they're both willing to put in the effort to make it work, then they'll take the rest as it comes. The film also adds a good dose of sass to its humor, which is a personal favorite of mine. This is definitely a guilty-favorite of mine, and I would absolutely recommend it.