MOFO 80's Teen Movie Hall of Fame

Better Off Dead and Crossroads are now under wraps. I'll write up something a little more formal when I'm at a PC but wanted to post to show that I'm not dead. Yet. Until then, I'm just going to go that way, really really fast. If anything gets in my way, I'll turn.

Better Off Dead (1985)

A fun distraction for a Saturday night evening...it went well with the pizza that I made. The pizza didn't turn out great and was only OK but it was filling and that's how I found the movie. Better Off Dead is well made with a personable cast, My favorite was the French exchange student, she paired well with a crusty and sometimes saucy John Cusack.

The film's broad style of comedy is what is refereed to as sight gags, It's jokes reminded me of the beloved comedy, Airplane. The problem is I'm one of the few people on the planet who hated Airplane...I just don't like broad comedy sight gags. I prefer my comedy to come from the situation or the character's personality. So Better Off Dead didn't really work for me, even though I can see it would be to many people's liking. I did laugh a few times and all the characters were interesting and I have no real complaints. I dug the snow and skiing scenes which were actually shot on a mountain and so that was great to see.

Grease 2 is not an easy movie to critique. If we view it as a film on it's own merits I suppose it's a good enough musical. The film has great production values, an extremely deep cast and Michelle Pfieffer gives a star making performance in it. But even viewing it on it's own it still has issues, I saw this film yesterday and I couldn't name three songs from it. The best parts of the film are the side characters (I would have loved to have seen a Sid Caesar High School Coach film, or a guy trying to get laid while the bombs fall film) this movie just had an incredibly bland lead.


What makes Grease 2 a horrible film is it's needless, Grease is perfect this was just a rehash that could never live up to the original. This film lacked so many elements that made the first so good (Travolta's dancing, Sandy's character arc, memorable songs) this film just left me with a sense of what was missing rather than what I saw.

and with that, the mystery is solved!

THANK YOU!!

__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

cannot, for the life of me, decide WHICH film to go to next or if I need to knock out another B-Film today.
Looks like it'll happen as it happens. . .

Ya know if ya had two TVs....just sayin

funny thing is, at work, I have three computer screens ha ha

Heck I'd give that a try some time, just saying, it could be a time saver.

Probably you can't watch movies at work though

Elfman has said that he would record his voice into a micro recorder on a plane when an idea hit, and then flesh out the details later in the studio. I am still trying to figure out what he plays proficiently for instruments. Like, does he literally pad everything out and have Bartek transcribe all his brass and strings to the orchestra? I'm going to assume that is close to the process. Elfman seems like he isn't a master class musician, but is still able to dream up all the necessary sections and counterpoints of a piece of music.

In some ways, that could be like gardening. The cheerleader drops a seed into the soil and struts away while the gardener labors for hours tilling and nurturing the growth and realization of the bloom.

...and 48h per day

Ha I know what you mean. I always have a lot of things to get done in a day and I end up doing only half of them. Probably because I'm always looking at MoFo

Hahaha. Welcome to my world!

I've seen 3 movies from all nominated:
1. Stand by me.
It surprised me by tension atmosphere. Kiefer Sutherland was quite heavy Even the goal of their trip is a little bit creepy, as they set up to find their friend body! I would say it is movie rather for boys, as there isn't any feminine character in their team, but I watch it with pleasure. It remainds me Mark Twain's stories. And need to say, that boys were then good actors and grew up for even better.
2. Grease 2.
I've made mistake, I watched Grease 2 few days after Grease, so the first one didn't have a chance. I had the feeling that second part was incapable attempt of imitation the first part. Maxwell Caulfield never was my favourite actor, but even Michelle Pfeiffer couldn't blunt bad taste in my mouth.
3. Teenwolf.
I had a little crush on Michael J. Fox as a teenager. I loved all movies with him. Teenwolf was of them. I really enjoyed it and I watched it few times.

I hadn't thought of that, but yes! you're right Stand By Me seems like one of Mark Twain's great stories. I've seen it before and I'm looking forward to a rewatch.

Stand by Me seems like a Mark Twain story from the mind of Stephen King. It was a short story.

@Citizen Rules watch Apt Pupil..Also it's based off a King short story.

Ya know what is ironic....Magneto, who was a Holocaust survivor, plays a N*zi.The great Ian Mckellen plays both roles.

spoilers ahead........

Such a great teen movie. I loved this growing up but what girl did not love anything that Micheal J Fox was in.

This movie follows a lot of other teen movies where the outcast wants to fit in with the click. In the case of Scott Howard, he became a Lycan though a birthright passed from his father. They don't give much of a backstory to how the family became werewolves. Scott's mother appears to be out of the picture, presumed dead or MIA. Scott informs his best friend Stiles of his new "transformation". Stiles motivates are to exploit Scott's ability and make money and give Scott popularity. In the background, you see Boof, Scott's close female friend who he has known since very young children and shares secrets with as well. You can tell Boof is in love with Scott but accepts there may be a change, at some point, she can be with Scott. There is a popular girl, Pamela, and her popular boyfriend, Mick, who is afraid that Pamela will leave him for Scott the Wolf. At a dance, Mick approaches Scott and punches him, telling him to stay away from Pamela. Scott uses his "wolfieness" in anger and leaves. Scott no longer wants to be the "Wolf" and decides to quit basketball on the day of the championship. Scott decides to play and informs coach, he will not be the wolf. The team wins the championship, even with Mick making illegal moves that cause Scott to foul. In the end, Scott realizes he doesn't need the wolf and popularity isn't so important. The movie ends with Pamela walking toward Scott and Scott moving past her to be with Boof.

Again, Teen Wolf follows popularity as does Once Bitten, Weird Science and Can't Buy Me Love, the normal theme for most 80's Teen Movies.

gesh I need to proof read sometimes.. LOL

originally goofed and put this in the 17th HoF. Silly silly me.




Stand By Me

An iconic film with quite the cast that would continue onward to other things. And not just the four main kids. Which, there is a bit more grimness, knowing the River Phoenix, who plays Chris Chambers, the best friend who's death inspires the writer to think back on this turbulent adventure about seeing a dead body.
But there is John Cusack as the older brother Denny and one of the gang boys, Charlie, who, would join Keifer in Young Guns playing a character named. . . wait for it. . . . that's right, Charlie.

When this originally came out, Stephen King was in quite the merry-go-round of writing about him and his friends, again and again and again and again, that it bugged me so much that I had a very hard time of enjoying this film for the d@mn good story and emotional vehicle that it truly is.
Dealing with broken homes, distant parents and the emotional weight of this along with simply just being a twelve year old kid with the usual bullies that include an older brother; we take a very harrowing journey down the figurative railroad tracks to witness the result of another boy who died on said railroad tracks. Along with every side adventure and emotional baggage that falls loose from each of the boys as the journey and the adventure continues to its outcome.

Reflective, introverted and self-examining, we get to the heart of our boys before life and adulthood separates them leaving us with the final typed words on Lachance's computer screen. "I have not had friends like I did when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"

Say Anything (1989)

A lot of truth in this movie, at least for me there was. It was spooky how so much of what happened with John Cusack's charater, in one way or another happened to me too. Not all of it of course, and not all at the same time or even with the same girlfriend, but enough similar stuff that this movie was like a trip down memory lane.

Then we get to that screen shot above and I was floored! I drove past that coffee pot building just two days ago! I've seen that building a lot during my life. So was I surprised when John Cusack drives his car past Bob's Java Jive. But weirdly I've never been inside of it. Maybe next time I will, it still looks the same btw and they still have espresso.

I really appreciated the realness and honesty of the film. It felt much more personal than most other teen movies, almost like a documentary, except I didn't go off to England at the end.

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