creative [kree-ey-tiv]: adjective. Synonyms: clever, cool, innovative, inspired, prolific, stimulating.

criticism [krit-uh-siz-uhm]: noun. The act of passing judgment as to the merits of anything.

31 Jul 2010

Mean Girls - That 2004 movie.

The first time I saw this movie (sometime in 2004/2005, probably), I didn't appreciate it very much. This time around, though, I think I fell in love. It's just so amazinglygoodandentertaining-andenjoyableandOHMYthisisthe-bestteenmovieI'veeverseeninmylife!
Seriously, the screenplay writers have done a great job - the many gags and jokes and snide side comments are what makes this movie great (apart from the excellent acting and the, you know, actual character growth that goes on). And look at that - Tina Fey wrote the screenplay. AND she was great as the math teacher (look, a secondary character that shows... well, character!). It's decided - I like Tina Fey! Not the least because of this gem:
You've got to stop calling each other sluts and whores - it just makes it okay for guys to call you sluts and whores.
I must admit, Lindsay Lohan did a very good job of her role, too. There was one scene, though, that I found very funny of unintended reasons: the "drunk at the party and pukes on love interest's lap" scene. That was not "drunk". "Drunk" involves slurred words. (This particular kind of not-good acting amuses me) In any case, props to the people in charge of the visual aspects of her character for the correlation between the level of styling of her hair/her attire and her inner emotional turmoil/shallowness/peace with herself.
Well, I could go on and on about Rachel McAdams' amazingness in this movie, but this thing is getting pretty long already. Let me just say that

  1. gotta love how the "BURN BOOK" looks about twenty pages long, and yet "every girl in school except for 3" are in it.
  2. the fact that "sexually active band geeks" counts as a clique amuses me to no end.
Oh, and on a last, math-related note: did I spot a mistake in the Mathletes' Sudden Death Round? They have to find the limit where x -> 0, for ln(1-x)*sin(x)/(1-cos^2(x)). Now, the movie said that "the limit does not exist", BUT if I remember my calculus correctly, it should be
  • lim[x->0] for ln(1-x)*sin(x)/(1-cos^2(x))
  • lim[x->0] for ln(1-x)*sin(x)/sin^2(x)
  • lim[x->0] for ln(1-x)/sin(x)
Using l'Hôpital's rule, we then get
  • lim[x->0] for (1/1-x)/cos(x)
  • lim[x->0] for 1/(1-x)*cos(x)
  • which equals 1/(1-0)*cos(0)
  • = 1/(1)*(1)
  • = 1
Oh well. I only learned that rule in first year of uni - if we're talking about a high school-level math competition, they might not expect the competitors to know that rule. But still.
(Longest post so far? I think so. Wheee!)

1 comment:

  1. Might be a matter of domain? sin(x) has no value at zero, being the denominator, determines no value for limit?
    Wait.. isn't it ln(1-x) minus sin(x)?

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