The vitals:
7:00 ~ Doors
7:30 ~ CADET KELLY

As the wheels of nostalgia churn forward, the newest era to be romanticized is the 2000s, for good reason: the decade’s aesthetics provide respite from millennial minimalism, with the futuristic-seeming, brightly colored accessories and technology a reminder of the turn-of-the-century optimism. In retrospect, though, what secrets were hiding in those neon pink cargo pockets?

Hillary Duff, currently reviving her musical career and best known as tween icon Lizzie McGuire, stars as free-spirited Kelly Collins, who is sent to military school and learns to revel in the ecstasy of an expertly-run obstacle course. Premiering almost exactly 6 months after the events of September 11, 2001, Cadet Kelly continues the tradition of films like Top Gun, Green Beret and Full Metal Jacket, romanticizing the military experience on a middle-school scale.

Aside from the propaganda, the film is also celebrated for its unintentional homoeroticism; the tension between Kelly and Cadet Captain Stone (Christy Carlson Romano) is palpable. As the two go from enemies to co-twirlers, respect is built through their mutual love for the one thing that can combat the military’s rigidity: personal expression through dance. Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t miss it!

-Kathryn Bailey

SEE YOU AT THE MOVIES
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