We’re all stuck in the house, right? There’s never been a better time to dig into those retro movies that you’ve always wanted to watch, but never had the time for. Personally, I’m a bit of a retrophile and tend to watch more older flicks than newer ones. On Fangirlish, you can now look forward to a retro review from me each Wednesday in this column. I’ll be highlighting one throwback movie a week, offering a spoiler-free review of the film, any throwback thoughts from my childhood, and where you can watch the movie yourself. Sit back, relax, and enjoy #WayBackWednesday.
10 Things I Hate About You is a film that I’ll happily watch any time. I didn’t catch it until I was in college, about 5 years after its release, but I’d always had lots of good intentions about watching it, largely because of Heath Ledger. I ended up watching it with some friends for a Galentine’s Day celebration, long before Galentine’s Day was even a thing. That was a fun night and I always associate the film with good times with great friends. For this week’s #WayBackWednesday, I want to change up the format a little bit. Rather than giving you a few paragraphs about why I enjoy 10 Things I Hate About You, I thought I’d give you 10 things that I LOVE about 10 Things I Hate About You. Check out the trailer for 10 Things I Hate About You and we’ll get started with #WayBackWednesday.
10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About You in no Particular Order
1. Heath Ledger–totally charming, crazy handsome, and that rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”? SWOON.
2. Speaking of music, Letters to Cleo is a fantastic time capsule choice for this film. The band is late 90s musical gold. I’ve already extrapolated my love for Kay Hanley’s voice in my previous #WayBackWednesday review of Josie and the Pussycats, so listening to her perform one of the best love songs of all time for 10 Things I Hate About You is a real treat.
3. And for a little more about music, as a former band nerd, I’m a sucker for anything with a marching band. The marching band scene is probably my favorite in the entire film.
4. Actors that you’ve seen somewhere else before comprise the cast list for 10 Things I Hate About You. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julia Stiles, Larissa Oleynik (The Secret World of Alex Mack, anyone?), David Krumholtz, Allison Janney, Gabrielle Union, and more are a veritable 90s/2000s who’s who of film and television.
5. Speaking of the cast, the chemistry between the cast members really makes this film work and still hold up 22 years later.
6. As the owner of two lit degrees, I’ve always found Shakespeare twists to be fascinating and a lot of fun. 10 Things I Hate About You is based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.
7. Allison Janney writing steamy romance novels in her spare time while at work does not cease to make me cackle every time.
8. Julia Stiles table dancing is fantastic. Fun fact–that scene landed her the starring role in Save the Last Dance.
9. The entire film was shot in real locations–no sets!
10. The film has near-universal appeal. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t like this movie. This makes it a safe suggestion for a movie night!
Agree or disagree? Do you have 10 things you love about 10 Things I Hate About You or 10 things you hate? Leave me a comment and we’ll chat.
10 Things I Hate About You is streaming now on Disney+.