Hey did you guys like the American Pie flicks?  I was never into them, but I did see the first one before, in the theater actually.  I never saw the second one, but recently I caught the 3rd one, American Wedding on cable.  I decided what the heck.  I kinda liked this film, despite people saying it's the weakest of the series.  I got a real kick out of the dance off Stifler had with the big gay guy in the gay bar.  Set to up tempo 80s dance music and everything. 

Something occured to me, this franchise of films isn't really that old, the last one came out in 2003, but doesn't it sorta feel like they are older films then they are?  The characters of Jim, Stifler, Michelle, Nadia and the rest just feel so classic, like they've been around a lot longer they have.  The first one came out back in 1999, which is 7 years ago, and that certainly is a while back.  But it kinda feels like it came out in the mid 90s or something.  I dunno, the last AP movie was only a few years ago in '03, but it feels worlds apart from a more current teen flick that would star Hilary Duff or Linsday Lohan (I have never seen any of their movies, but I'm just going by the vibe I pick up). 

This is a recent franchise, but it just doesn't to seem jive with the current teen movies and stars.  Maybey I'm thinking this because some of the AP actors are actually around my age, I'm not sure.  I mean Alyson Hannigan and Shannon Elizabeth are both older then me, and the dude that plays Stifler is nearly exactly my age, and I think so is the Jason Biggs character..  The characters are around 5-6 years younger then me, I couldn't really relate to them in the 1st film when they were in high school and I was in my early 20s, but I could easily relate to all of them in American Wedding when they were playing more young adult characters.  It's like these films were one last youth oriented hoorah for second half of Gen X actors.

Do I make sense when I say that this franchise just feels older/different from something that would be a bit more current?  Despite the last one coming out in 2003.

Hey did you guys like the American Pie flicks?  I was never into them, but I did see the first one before, in the theater actually.  I never saw the second one, but recently I caught the 3rd one, American Wedding on cable.  I decided what the heck.  I kinda liked this film, despite people saying it's the weakest of the series.  I got a real kick out of the dance off Stifler had with the big gay guy in the gay bar.  Set to up tempo 80s dance music and everything. 

Something occured to me, this franchise of films isn't really that old, the last one came out in 2003, but doesn't it sorta feel like they are older films then they are?  The characters of Jim, Stifler, Michelle, Nadia and the rest just feel so classic, like they've been around a lot longer they have.  The first one came out back in 1999, which is 7 years ago, and that certainly is a while back.  But it kinda feels like it came out in the mid 90s or something.  I dunno, the last AP movie was only a few years ago in '03, but it feels worlds apart from a more current teen flick that would star Hilary Duff or Linsday Lohan (I have never seen any of their movies, but I'm just going by the vibe I pick up). 

This is a recent franchise, but it just doesn't to seem jive with the current teen movies and stars.  Maybey I'm thinking this because some of the AP actors are actually around my age, I'm not sure.  I mean Alyson Hannigan and Shannon Elizabeth are both older then me, and the dude that plays Stifler is nearly exactly my age, and I think so is the Jason Biggs character..  The characters are around 5-6 years younger then me, I couldn't really relate to them in the 1st film when they were in high school and I was in my early 20s, but I could easily relate to all of them in American Wedding when they were playing more young adult characters.  It's like these films were one last youth oriented hoorah for second half of Gen X actors.

Do I make sense when I say that this franchise just feels older/different from something that would be a bit more current?  Despite the last one coming out in 2003.


I suppose you do. It was part of the last wave of teen movies in the late '90s (10 Things I Hate About You, She's All That, Drives Me Crazy) before the Lohan/Duff invasion. Though I think the vulgarity in it predicted the vulgarity of '00s teen flicks.

I didn't bother with the American Pie movies.  I'll tell you one movie that was genius with the date ambiguity: Napoleon Dynamite.  Then again, the testimony I've heard from people who live out in the middle of Idaho confirms that life moves at a slower pace, and the eras don't move in lockstep like they do out on the coasts.  You got some '00s, some '90s, some '80s, and some '70s all sort of co-existing in dislodged time continuum!  I think that's what they were getting at in ND when the uncle had a time machine set for 1982, his football glory days!
;D

I actually get the opposite sort of feeling. To me, the American Pie moves seem more recent than 1999 - I often forget the first one (the only one worth watching) was a 90s movie. But yeah, there is also a 'classicness' about them.

The way the third one was filmed, it'll probably look really dated in a few years. It has a very retro, darkish look to it, for some reason. Also, Alyson Hannigan has to be one of the youngest looking 30 somethings in history. In the original, she was like 24, but could pass for 14, for much of the movie.

I get the opposite feelings about the movies. Even the first one. Sure there are some gen X elements to them, but this is much more up the alley of generation Y and if anything, helped usher in the Lohan-sque era of teen comedy. NO 30something I know in real lilfe uses the word 'milf' in real life. Sorry, it just doesn't work that way..yet in AOL chatrooms many early-mid  20s guys who like older women use it frequently to this day.

The first three were good, the fourth one was unneccesary.

The first three were good, the fourth one was unneccesary.


Well yeah, in the world of showbiz that tends to be the case with all successful franchises. Just look at 'Scream', 'Scary Movie'.etc.

Or..... Every movie after Meatballs.  ;D

Hey did you guys like the American Pie flicks?  I was never into them, but I did see the first one before, in the theater actually.  I never saw the second one, but recently I caught the 3rd one, American Wedding on cable.  I decided what the heck.  I kinda liked this film, despite people saying it's the weakest of the series.  I got a real kick out of the dance off Stifler had with the big gay guy in the gay bar.  Set to up tempo 80s dance music and everything. 

Something occured to me, this franchise of films isn't really that old, the last one came out in 2003, but doesn't it sorta feel like they are older films then they are?  The characters of Jim, Stifler, Michelle, Nadia and the rest just feel so classic, like they've been around a lot longer they have.  The first one came out back in 1999, which is 7 years ago, and that certainly is a while back.  But it kinda feels like it came out in the mid 90s or something.  I dunno, the last AP movie was only a few years ago in '03, but it feels worlds apart from a more current teen flick that would star Hilary Duff or Linsday Lohan (I have never seen any of their movies, but I'm just going by the vibe I pick up). 

This is a recent franchise, but it just doesn't to seem jive with the current teen movies and stars.  Maybey I'm thinking this because some of the AP actors are actually around my age, I'm not sure.  I mean Alyson Hannigan and Shannon Elizabeth are both older then me, and the dude that plays Stifler is nearly exactly my age, and I think so is the Jason Biggs character..  The characters are around 5-6 years younger then me, I couldn't really relate to them in the 1st film when they were in high school and I was in my early 20s, but I could easily relate to all of them in American Wedding when they were playing more young adult characters.  It's like these films were one last youth oriented hoorah for second half of Gen X actors.

Do I make sense when I say that this franchise just feels older/different from something that would be a bit more current?  Despite the last one coming out in 2003.

Hmmm, good points, I never really thought about it too much before. I only saw the first one, so I can't say for sure on the others. While that doesn't seem particularly Gen Xish to me, yeah I'd probably put it closer to, say Idle Hands, 10 Things I Hate About You or even some of the earlier '90s flicks in that style than to a 2004ish teen comedy like Mean Girls.

In a mild sense, I think it used some of its vulgarity to make it appealing/shocking/cool, which strikes me as a "90s" thing (judging by the title of the spinoff 4th one, they're certainly milking the Band Camp joke from the original for all it's worth). ;D

P.S. I'll also say 1999 seems dated, although in a very "recent dated"/around the corner way. In my mind, it seems more like 4 or 5 years ago, instead of 7.

I actually have to disagree and say all that showy vulgarity is more of a 00s, or late 90s thing. And while 99 is dated, I think my generation probably relates to it more than GenXers, as some of us were teens back in 1999. We were probably the first generation in history to grow up with chat rooms, web-cams.etc, like the characters in the show.

I actually have to disagree and say all that showy vulgarity is more of a 00s, or late 90s thing. And while 99 is dated, I think my generation probably relates to it more than GenXers, as some of us were teens back in 1999. We were probably the first generation in history to grow up with chat rooms, web-cams.etc, like the characters in the show.



1999 seems a bit dated, but it still seem pretty close to now. Mainstream music is mostly the same although not exactly, and technology has gotten a bit more advance since then, but all in all things haven't changed that much. And yeah I agree that '99 belongs more to Gen Y than Gen X. I mean alot of early Xers were in there 30s by then.

1999 seems a bit dated, but it still seem pretty close to now. Mainstream music is mostly the same although not exactly, and technology has gotten a bit more advance since then, but all in all things haven't changed that much. And yeah I agree that '99 belongs more to Gen Y than Gen X. I mean alot of early Xers were in there 30s by then.


A 17 year old in 1999 would have been born in about 1982 - which is early to early-mid Gen Y by most definitions (few would seriously label them as GenX). So in terms of teen-culture, the late 90s really marked the start of Gen Y teen culture, with American Pie (or arguably 10 Things I Hate About You) being the first compellingly 'Gen Y' cinema statement. the 'Scream' series, and later cult flicks like the 'Blair Witch Project' and 'The Ring' could also qualify as the 'Friday the 13th' or 'Halloween' of our generation.

A 17 year old in 1999 would have been born in about 1982 - which is early to early-mid Gen Y by most definitions (few would seriously label them as GenX). So in terms of teen-culture, the late 90s really marked the start of Gen Y teen culture, with American Pie (or arguably 10 Things I Hate About You) being the first compellingly 'Gen Y' cinema statement. the 'Scream' series, and later cult flicks like the 'Blair Witch Project' and 'The Ring' could also qualify as the 'Friday the 13th' or 'Halloween' of our generation.



I agree. 1997 was the first year IMO that sort of 'belonged' more to Gen Y than Gen X. The mid-'90s still felt more X overall but the late-'90s were actually quite Y.

1999 seems a bit dated, but it still seem pretty close to now. Mainstream music is mostly the same although not exactly, and technology has gotten a bit more advance since then, but all in all things haven't changed that much. And yeah I agree that '99 belongs more to Gen Y than Gen X. I mean alot of early Xers were in there 30s by then.


2006 is, from the surface, just a less cheesy. drawn out 1999 (just in terms of general musical trends, even if most 1999 artists themselves are now way past their prime).