oh_deanna: (mine // the world between your hands)
oh deanna ([personal profile] oh_deanna) wrote2012-05-08 03:30 pm

5. Now and Then

Before I say anything, I would just like to thank my Mamie for sitting me down when I was 11/12 and making me watch this movie. I truly believe that it is essential viewing for any young girl entering puberty. I am eternally grateful that she introduced me to this movie. Now and Then is such a fanastic coming-of-age film - truly the female companion to Stand By Me.




#5. Now and Then (1995)

"Things will happen in your life that you can't stop. But that's no reason to shut out the world."

SYNOPSIS: Four women look back at the girls they used to be in this warm comedy-drama. Author Samantha Albertson, actress Tina Tercell, gynecologist Roberta Martin, and housewife Christina DeWitt are friends from childhood who get together for the first time in years when Christina is about to have a baby. Seeing the old gang sends Samantha down memory lane, as she recalls the summer of 1970, when the girls were 12-years-old and edging into womanhood. Samantha  is struggling with the collapse of her parent's marriage, Roberta must deal with the death of her mother, Tina is upset over her folks' apparent disinterest in her, and Christina is trying to overcome her mother's disinformation campaign about sex. Together, they discuss boys and first kisses, compare notes on the physical and emotional changes they're going through, and have seances where they try to communicate with a boy who died tragically 30 years earlier.

WHY IS IT ON THE LIST: This is by far one of my favourite movies of all time. If I hadn't put this list into a randomiser and gone with whatever came out, I would have put Now and Then in the top five, maybe the top three favourite movies of mine. I just. I can't even put into words how much I love it, and how much it means to me. Like I said at the beginning of this post, my Mamie sat me down one afternoon and said "I'd like you to watch this movie with me". (That was also the year she made me read "Go Ask Alice", another very influential moment in my life). I was in awe of these young girls. They cussed and fought and talked about all the oogly stuff that I was starting to ask questions about myself. My Mamie did me a great service in getting me to watch this, because it opened my mind and got me talking about things that were bothering me - my parents divorce and my own concerns about my changing body. This movie is almost like a security blanket to me - warm and fuzzy and safe-feeling. If you haven't seen it, you have to. Now. No matter how old you are, this movie will still be wonderful. At least, it is to me.

[identity profile] the-angry-pixie.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 08:37 am (UTC)(link)
i've seen this movie before. I dont remember being as fond of it as I was of Stand By Me though (which is unfair to even compare really because that is my favourite movie of all time)..... but i may have to give it a re-watch after your glowing review. ;)

[identity profile] inferiarecoming.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 08:49 am (UTC)(link)
I think the main reason why I love it so much is that I have such fond memories of watching it with my mother, and I also associate it with my own coming of age :)

[identity profile] the-angry-pixie.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 09:01 am (UTC)(link)
oh yes, i always always always make exceptions for films that obviously mean something to people in their childhoods. we can't help loving what we love in our youth. if it means something to you, then it doesn't matter one bit what i think. ;)

in fact i really quite like it when people recommend stuff to me that they loved from their childhoods and I watch it with adult eyes and find it to be lacking. it allows me to sit down and wonder what it was that drew them to it so much in the first place.

btw this isnt me saying Now and Then is lacking as a film. I honestly can't remember much about it, just that everyone said I should watch it because i loved SBM so much.

[identity profile] inferiarecoming.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 09:50 am (UTC)(link)
This is weird, because personally for me, Stand By Me.. I never really 'got' it. Well, I got it, I guess I just never really appreciated it the way I do Now and Then. I think I'm going to watch it now.. haven't watched Stand by Me since I was in primary school!

And I totally get it. Even if you watch it again and realise you're still not that fond of it, that's cool. To each their own, right? :)

[identity profile] the-angry-pixie.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 11:25 am (UTC)(link)
I honestly don't know why i love SBM so much either. You wouldn't think a grown woman (and I was pretty old when I first saw it too - like i was late teens, so it had nothing to do with "being part of my childhood" or anything) would really find something to relate to in a story that is purely about these pre-pubescent boys. I think I just love the purity of the storytelling. it doesn't have a huge, complicated fancy-pants plot. It is about nothing but its characters, and they are some really unique, charming and authentic characters (plus the book is pretty darn good too).

am gonna watch Now and Then this weekend when i get time. :)

[identity profile] snarkysweetness.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 08:43 am (UTC)(link)
Why are we not in the same room to watch movies together? Seriously.

[identity profile] inferiarecoming.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 08:50 am (UTC)(link)
One day! One day. I'll come and visit and we will have an epic movie marathon thing. Totally work a plane ride over! lol

[identity profile] snarkysweetness.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 09:11 am (UTC)(link)
Hahaha, let's do it!

And tell Dianna to admit she's gay, so I can have Sebastian Stan all to myself.

KTHNXBI.

*Seriously...the most pornographic dreams ever about that man...*

[identity profile] hamimifk.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 09:26 am (UTC)(link)
akldlfhslkslajsk! YES!

THIS. JUST. YES.

I seriously adore this movie to pieces. I actually watched it for the first time around the time I was 10 (which was like the year after it came out - I had it on VHS, and I might be wrong, but I think I still have it somewhere) and it was just so wonderful and fascinating to me. It really helped me go through puberty because nothing was a surprise to me. I remember this movie use to make me giggle like a school girl (well, which I was... lol), especially since I actually understood most of the concepts about sex and how women got pregnant by then so the whole 'watering a flower garden' thing use to send me into giggle spazzes.

xD Suffice it to say, I've always been a bit weird.

Oh god, and yes, this movie is still wonderful. I rewatched it a few weeks ago and squeed all over the funny parts and got scared still when Sam almost drowned and teared up when Crazy Pete talked about his son and... This movie is just beautiful in every way. <3 You rock for this movie making your list. <3

[identity profile] inferiarecoming.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 09:55 am (UTC)(link)
*flails about madly* OH MYGO D YES GJKNSD:KGNH someone else who loves this movie. I have it on VHS too! My mum wanted to chuck it and I was like NO WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???!!

That whole scene when Chrissie sort of just goes "Oh yeah, when the guy waters the girls garden" as if its the most natural thing and the others start laughing at her and she gets all like "oh. shit. that's totally not right, is it?" I love that scene. And they're talking about Teeny''s boobs and Chrissie's like "WHAT FLAVOUR?"

And when Sam starts crying about her mum and breaks the mirror in Sam's grandmother's attic. SO SAD. I cry every time. The bit that always gets me is when Crazy Pete saves Sam and then he's like "Why are you all afraid of me?" I want to cry. Poor guy.

Also you know what else I love? The music! The Now and Then soundtrack was like.. the soundtrack of my childhood. Even before I ever watched the movie, my mum had it and would play it all the time. So awesome.

[identity profile] hamimifk.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 05:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Ack, stupid LJ deleted my comment! D=

Ha! My mom tried to toss out my copy too once or twice and I took to hiding it whenever she would go into cleaning mode. xD

OMFG. YES TO ALL OF THAT! Especially the scene where Chrissy asks about the flavor of Teeny's boobs. xD FOREVER excellent, that scene.

Oh, and when Sam and Teeny go to the treehouse for the first time and talk about how much they're going to miss each other and when they sit on the roof of Teeny's house and watch the old movie.... akkasjfhkj I seriously have always loved everything about their friendship. <33

And yes, the music is so spot on and great! I never owned the soundtrack but I loved singing along to all the songs in movie. From the first time I watched Now and Then, I've had Tony Orlando's "Knock Three Times on the Ceiling" (I don't actually know the title of the song, lol) ingrained in my head. To this day, I catch myself randomly singing it, and sometimes I make it a big spectacle just for fun, especially if I'm feeling down. xD

[identity profile] inferiarecoming.livejournal.com 2012-05-08 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Honestly, I reckon if we sat here for long enough we would just end up listing every single scene in that movie as our favourite. It's so perfect.

KNOCK THREE TIMES OMG. That's one of my favourites, it's so much fun to sing! Confession: when I was younger, I loved that soundtrack so much that I put on a 'performace' for my entire family which basically involved me dancing to EVERY SINGLE SONG on that album. And bless them they sat through the entire thing.

[identity profile] hamimifk.livejournal.com 2012-05-09 07:23 am (UTC)(link)
=D I reckon so because neither one of has even mentioned anything about the Wormwoods yet or Roberta finding out how her mom died or the 'drowning' scene. xD Yes, the whole movie is absolutely perfect. To this day, I love every actress in that movie.

OMG, that must've been adorable. xD Your family is awesome to be so nice about sitting through the whole thing, but I'm sure it was as much fun for them as it was for you. ^-^