This Ends at Prom

"Man, he's like tripendicular, ya know?" Ohmigod like, gag us with a spoon! VALLEY GIRL is turning 40?! We're going back in time to celebrate one of the teen girl movies that completely changed an entire culture, permanently altered the way people speak, and gave us a heartthrob leading man out of Nicolas Cage. We're totally dying over this movie and hope you enjoy this celebration of a classic re...

"You may have my body, breasts, and boyfriend, but you are not me." We're turning on the Disney Channel and talking about another body swap film, the beloved and yet somehow still underrated, WISH UPON A STAR. The Wives talk about the edgy story elements that keep this film off of the Disney+ platform, how the sisterhood of the characters fundamentally changes the body swap story elements often se...

"I mean, you're a freak and everything, but I like you." There's so much more to the teen girl movie genre than high school stories, and Joe Wright's HANNA is a perfect example of it. The Wives Colangelo are discussing the different ways a parent can define love, Cate Blanchett's questionable accent, whether or not Hanna is neurodivergent, and why Sophie is such a fantastic best friend character....

"I always tell the girls, never take it seriously, if ya never take it seriously, ya never get hurt, ya never get hurt, ya always have fun, and if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends." The Wives Colangelo are joined by the wise and wonderful Jaclyn Moore to talk about the glory of ALMOST FAMOUS. We're talking about "egg behavior" trans themes, good tunes, groupi...

"You're out here collecting tickets instead of being inside at the dance. You spend your weekends doing extra credit algebra, you play way too much Monopoly with your parents, and you've never eaten anywhere near the fountain. And in 4 years I will be YOU unless I get into that dance!" We're heading back to 2004 to talk about the teen hijinks comedy SLEEPOVER. This week The Wives Colangelo are joi...

"Now boys, if either of you give me any grief I swear to God I'll kill you. Dead, murdered, stabbed." ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING is an undeniable classic of the teen girl movie canon, but the fish-out-of-water story of a group of kids from the suburbs thrust into Chicago has aged ... poorly. We have a lovingly frank discussion about an absolute blast of a movie, that tried very hard to be different...

"She's gone! Oh my God, she used me. I was used. I was used! Cool!" We're kicking off 2023 by examining the real reason that teen girl cinema went into hibernation after 1999, with the sex comedy that completely changed the genre. That's right, strap in for a discussion on AMERICAN PIE. As This Ends at Prom expands the scope of the films we cover, it's important to look at the game-changers that i...

"Listen, I know I can be hard to be around sometimes. I totally understand if you don't want to hang anymore." For the third year in a row, we're ending the calendar with a Michael Cera movie that completely changed the way women were presented in teen cinema moving forward. This time, we're rocking out, playing games, dying our hair, and unpacking our baggage with SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD. We'...

"Christmas is fast becoming my least favorite 'C' word." We're combining a coming-of-age story, a musical, a zombie-comedy, and a Christmas story all in one, ridiculously fun package with ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE. The Wives Colangelo are joined by prolific film journalist, Matt Donato, who is quite possibly this film's biggest fan on the planet. We talk about seeing ourselves on screen, the appreci...

"No, Clare, it's the Mormon Tabernacle Choir making their annual obscene phone call." After three years, we've finally made our way through all three versions of BLACK CHRISTMAS. This week, we're talking about the one that started it all, Bob Clark's classic from 1974. We discuss the importance of BLACK CHRISTMAS in the slasher canon, how the oldest version of the film is somehow the most progress...

"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." You've been asking for it since the very beginning, but The Wives Colangelo are finally talking about the Hilary Duff not-Disney film, A CINDERELLA STORY. Let's talk about the brilliance of Jennifer Coolidge, the weird Lindsay Lohan/Hilary Duff drama that helped this film at the box office, and why this is the most paint-by-numbe...

"The only things I care about in this goddamn life are me and my drums and you." It's the 35th anniversary of John Hughes' final teen film, SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL, and The Wives Colangelo has plenty to say. We talk about why this film is the better version of PRETTY IN PINK, pay our respects to a forever crush in Watts, and even give a mini-lesson on the history of Skinheads. All of this and more...

We're celebrating Brooklyn, the baby Brat Pack, and Boys' Catholic school with the criminally underseen HEAVEN HELP US. The Wives Colangelo are joined by podcaster, writer, and pop culture maven, Margo Donohue, who just released the book FILMED IN BROOKLYN all about movies set in her stomping grounds. We read a bit from Mike McPadden's TEEN MOVIE HELL, have the chance to examine how teen boys func...

“It's actually not my job to give you pervy intel on my best friends but good luck anyway.” Thanks to the franchise boom of the 2010s, there aren't always a lot of teen films to talk about from this time period. We've been saving this title for a rainy day, and it sure is pouring. That's right, The Wives Colangelo are finally diving deep into THE DUFF. Together we discuss the frustration of films...

“Some people say I'm an overachiever, but I think they're just jealous.” It's election day and The Wives Colangelo are celebrating with the greatest American political film ever made, ELECTION. This week's discussions include the reappraisal of Tracy Flick as an archetype, why the guy who played Ferris Bueller thrives as a loser adult, and how weirdly relevant ELECTION has remained after all these...

“Being brave didn’t mean you weren’t scared. Being brave meant you were scared, really scared, badly scared, and you did the right thing, anyway.” This week The Wives Colangelo are going to stop-motion animation school with stop-motion educator, TikTok creator, and ROBOT CHICKEN animator Bona Bones to talk about Henry Selick and Neil Gaiman's spooky classic, CORALINE. There's a lot of geeking out...

"I don't know what you think you heard, but you must be mistaken..." Sometimes the most horrific movies have nothing to do with active threats like demonic possession or masked slashers, but the twisted ways in which women are forced into roles they never asked for, and are convinced that harmful, patriarchal rule is "just the way it's always been." In Jim Mickle's haunting film WE ARE WHAT WE ARE...

"Things get messy when you make a deal with the devil." Spooky season is well underway and this week we're giving praise to McG and Brian Duffield's fun as hell teen horror flick, THE BABYSITTER. The Wives Colangelo are joined by the illustrious host and podcaster Xero Gravity to talk about the brilliance of Samara Weaving, the female gaze, embracing "unelevated horror," and why we need more "f*ck...

"Halloween is when people play tricks on each other. It's all make-believe." We're kicking off spooky season with a long-requested heavy hitter, John Carpenter's iconic slasher film, HALLOWEEN. Together The Wives discuss the impact of suburban horror stories, figure out which character we most closely identify with, and break down why the decision to center a film around a teen girl hero helped th...

"We must find the book, brew the potion and suck the lives out of the children of Salem before sunrise. Otherwise, it’s curtains. We evaporate! We cease to exist! Dost thou comprehend?" With the upcoming sequel just around the corner, we're celebrating the Sanderson sisters with a return to HOCUS POCUS. Is this the last cult film to make a crossover into becoming a classic? Why is this film so con...

“If the O.J. trial taught us anything, it taught us that, in America, you can cut somebody's head off and still be innocent as long as you have enough money.” We've got spirit, yes we do! We've got spirit, how 'bout you? This week The Wives are tackling the darkly comedic cheerleading bank robbery film SUGAR & SPICE, and we're joined by Chelsea Rebecca of the Dead Meat podcast. Together the tr...

“Like if there’s a guy in a rowboat going X miles, and the current is going, like, you know, some other miles, how long does it take him to get to town? It was like, who cares? Who wants to go to town with a guy in a rowboat?” In honor of the anniversary of one of the greatest sisterhood comedies of all time, we're having a little This Ends at Prom reunion of our own, as producer Brennan Klein ret...

“But for now, rest well and dream of large women." 35 years later and THE PRINCESS BRIDE is still as perfect now as it was then. This week The Wives discuss the fantasy romance adventure that solidified Andre the Giant as a screen legend, gave a princess the chance to save herself, delivered an endlessly quotable script, and found a way to turn a film from a genre usually reserved for teen girl au...

“In Ridgemont? We can’t even get cable TV here, Stacy, and you want romance?!" FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH turns 40 this year, and there's no way we were going to pass up the chance to talk about the teen film that changed the subgenre forever. The Wives Colangelo get candid on air and share some of their more odd personal dating anecdotes, we read from Mike McBeardo McPadden's TEEN MOVIE HELL, a...

“Anyone can cook aloo gobi, but who can bend a ball like Beckham?” This week we're talking about the teen girl movie that made all the athletic gals feel validated, all of the budding queer girls question their feelings on Keira Knightley, and gave Indian teen girls a chance to see themselves on screen as never before. We're joined by educator and podcaster Alexia Arani, PhD to break down thi...