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The Breakfast Club

When "The Breakfast Club" came out, it was considered edgy, and supposedly reflective of teenagers at that time. But it really doesn't hold up today, and I think Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy are the weakest, least believable characters.

Did you see "The Breakfast Club" when it was in theaters, and what do you think of it now?

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by Anonymousreply 283February 24, 2018 5:01 AM

I did. I loved it. I saw it a couple of times when I was still its demographic. After that I never watched it. I wouldn't consider watching it as an adult. .

by Anonymousreply 1March 19, 2017 6:00 AM

I'd fuck Anthony Michael Hall. Is that what you're asking?

by Anonymousreply 2March 19, 2017 6:01 AM

You're out of your mind. It's a great movie.

by Anonymousreply 3March 19, 2017 6:01 AM

I always thought it was dumb when the glass door shatters as Emilio Estevez yells with his fists raised.

by Anonymousreply 4March 19, 2017 6:03 AM

The glass shattering was fucking brilliant!

by Anonymousreply 5March 19, 2017 6:05 AM

Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and Emilio Estevez were adults and in their mid-20s during filming.

by Anonymousreply 6March 19, 2017 6:06 AM

I loved it and I loved the song associated with it.

But I liked Sixteen Candles just a tad more(because of Michael Schoefflin.)

by Anonymousreply 7March 19, 2017 6:07 AM

John Hughes said his biggest regret about this film was using the breaking glass effect during the marijuana scene

by Anonymousreply 8March 19, 2017 6:10 AM

It wasn't "supposedly" reflective of teenagers and high school at the time - it was pretty literal. My older brothers went to glenbrook north a few years after it was filmed. That's our main claim to fame (and Ferris Bueller where students were cast as extras in some scenes). That was almost a reality show of life in that school. We had Saturday detentions - even by the time I got there we still did. When I got to college & people didn't know where I was from or had no clue about the Chicago suburbs, I would always say "I went to the breakfast club school" and they'd think that was over the top or "nobody would have Saturday detentions" or whatever. It was pretty accurate.

by Anonymousreply 9March 19, 2017 6:10 AM

[quote]reflective of teenagers at that time. But it really doesn't hold up today, and I think Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy are the weakest, least believable characters.

The nerd and the weird girl? Every school has them. The jock, the Joe Cool, the spoiled princess..... the characters are quite realistic and the casting excellent.

You're way off the mark OP.

by Anonymousreply 10March 19, 2017 6:13 AM

I just saw noticed recently that John Hughes is the driver who picks up Anthony Michael Hall at the end of the movie

by Anonymousreply 11March 19, 2017 6:17 AM

I wonder if everyone praising this movie has watched it recently

by Anonymousreply 12March 19, 2017 6:19 AM

[quote]I wonder if everyone praising this movie has watched it recently

I watched it again last year, hadn't seen it in years. Still pretty damn good. Any other questions?

by Anonymousreply 13March 19, 2017 6:23 AM

A classic. Love watching this every couple of years.

by Anonymousreply 14March 19, 2017 6:25 AM

R13. That wasn't a question

by Anonymousreply 15March 19, 2017 6:25 AM

Dear Mr. Vernon:

We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain... ...and an athlete... ...and a basket case... ...a princess... ...and a criminal.

Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Clu

by Anonymousreply 16March 19, 2017 6:29 AM

As usual, like he did with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Roger always puts a unique spin on it. If Roger thinks it has cultural merit, well, it does.

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by Anonymousreply 17March 19, 2017 6:32 AM

Pretty sure post refers to the acting of Ally Sheedy and Anthony Michael Hall, not the character types

by Anonymousreply 18March 19, 2017 6:33 AM

I didn't reflect my school, but I always liked it. It holds OK, but it's not as good as when I was a kid. It's not THAT great. I'm surprised DLers defend it so much.

by Anonymousreply 19March 19, 2017 6:39 AM

Leave *sob* Ally *sob* Sheedy *sob* ALOOOOOOOOOONE! *waaaaah*

by Anonymousreply 20March 19, 2017 6:41 AM

We used to call her Ally Needy because she always plays an emotional vampire in search of approval and a salve for her wounded heart. No matter what the character calls for.

by Anonymousreply 21March 19, 2017 6:42 AM

I'm surprised there's not some 80s nostalgia hipster joint based on 80s movies that serves Ally Sheedy's character's Cap'n Crunch and pixie sticks on white bread sandwich --- and craft beer.

by Anonymousreply 22March 19, 2017 6:45 AM

There were a lot of magazine articles about the Breakfast Club when it came out. It was a non-action event movie that everyone talked about. It doesn't seem all that progressive or exciting now.

by Anonymousreply 23March 19, 2017 6:47 AM

Parmesan cheese was used as Ally's dandruff

by Anonymousreply 24March 19, 2017 6:48 AM

They should have done a Breakfast Club/Less than Zero crossover where rich girl Claire goes to see her rich second-cousin Blair in LA and is exposed to a whole new level of "rich" and a decadence she never knew existed.

by Anonymousreply 25March 19, 2017 6:51 AM

I was the age of the characters in the movie - both then and now it seemed like teen stereotypes written by old people and played by old people. It's like watching some sad 30-something use my generation to work through his pathetic regrets.

by Anonymousreply 26March 19, 2017 6:53 AM

I loved it as a teenager, but even at the time I knew it wasn't "realistic." Sure, they were five broad types that had rough analogues in real life, but there was something very pat (and very 80s) about the notion that you could put them in Saturday detention and they'd all break down and come out with a greater understanding of one another. Seemed like more of a wish fulfillment thing.

I remember the R rating being a little controversial - it was basically just for some rough language and pot smoking (certainly nothing beyond what most teenagers were exposed to) but it meant a lot of the target audience couldn't see it.

by Anonymousreply 27March 19, 2017 6:53 AM

When you grow up your heart dies

by Anonymousreply 28March 19, 2017 6:55 AM

Your ankles too.

by Anonymousreply 29March 19, 2017 6:56 AM

Despite what most believe, teens weren't the target audience. What 16yo is nostalgic about their detention last week? Iit was geared to older 20 & 30 somethings.

by Anonymousreply 30March 19, 2017 6:58 AM

It's sort of depressing to watch on a frequent basis

by Anonymousreply 31March 19, 2017 7:01 AM

R26, R27 and R30 hit the mark. And no, I do not find it all that interesting at all..

by Anonymousreply 32March 19, 2017 7:03 AM

If it were made today, it would star 2 Americans, 2 Brits, and 1 Australian. Also, there would be some sort of racial diversity (one or two Latino/a, black or Asian characters, and possibly a gay character (I'm guessing Kirby because his Dad's constant pressure to "win" could be tied in with his Dad's obsession with sports and masculinity, thus Kirby is a tortured closeted athlete).

by Anonymousreply 33March 19, 2017 7:03 AM

Possibly R30, but I also remember John Hughes movies being pretty broadly popular with teenagers. Our class song when I graduated was "Don't You (Forget About Me)"

by Anonymousreply 34March 19, 2017 7:04 AM

Who the fiuck is Kirby?

by Anonymousreply 35March 19, 2017 7:05 AM

I was in diapers when the movie was released, so I will not speak to its authenticity. That said, it shows its age in a bland, milk toast, stereotypical way, The stereotypes did not hold up to my period of high school misery at all. Kill or be killed was more the mantra. "Heathers" is far more apropos and certainly more entertaining.

by Anonymousreply 36March 19, 2017 7:11 AM

Milk toast? I hope that's a DLism like wall-ah

by Anonymousreply 37March 19, 2017 7:14 AM

This is pre internet, too, so you have to put its popularity into context. Yes, it was broad, but there wasn't a lot out there that even attempted teen life realism. Most movies featuring teens were horror movies, and cable shows (let alone entire networks) geared to teens didn't exist. White, middle class kids of a certain time and place would've been drawn to it because there was nothing else close to their lives.

by Anonymousreply 38March 19, 2017 7:15 AM

"Who the fiuck is Kirby? "

Sorry, I got was thinking of Estevez's character's name in St. Elmo's Fire. I meant Andrew, the wrestler.

by Anonymousreply 39March 19, 2017 7:16 AM

Footloose was more realistic.

by Anonymousreply 40March 19, 2017 7:17 AM

Footloose WAS my high school, down to the dancing in grain elevators and the gymnastics.

by Anonymousreply 41March 19, 2017 7:18 AM

And people sometimes forget how anodyne mainstream culture was in the 80s. It didn't take a whole lot to be edgy.

by Anonymousreply 42March 19, 2017 7:20 AM

Molly Ringwald is more likable as the excluded, offbeat girl in Sixteen Candles and Prety in Pink, than she is as the bitchy, popular girl, which is probably closer to who she is in real life.

by Anonymousreply 43March 19, 2017 7:24 AM

I thought Judd Nelson was beautiful.

by Anonymousreply 44March 19, 2017 7:24 AM

It is neither a bad movie, nor a good movie. Basically, I it s a RX for insomnia. Many Gen Xers that I went to college with waxed poetic about it (they saw it in late elementary school) and it had some magnetic effect on them in some way. Perhaps what they aspired to be in high school in one way or another. It is not that it missed the mark really - just that it was a stale, boring movie about stereotypical characters who interact in a very unnatural way. The dynamics were odd and not particularly believable. And yes - Judd Nelson was beautiful.

by Anonymousreply 45March 19, 2017 7:28 AM

I was only five or six when it came out. But I loved it. I agree that Heathers is much better, but The Breakfast Club is so relatable and comfortable.

by Anonymousreply 46March 19, 2017 7:30 AM

Yeah R21 I suppose I can admit you're right. I still think she's wonderful though

by Anonymousreply 47March 19, 2017 7:30 AM

It was an Afterschool Special masquerading as a feature (and with plenty of filler to get it there).

by Anonymousreply 48March 19, 2017 7:31 AM

This was Judd Nelson's shining moment, and he is still the most complex and realistic.

by Anonymousreply 49March 19, 2017 7:31 AM

Yeah, we should be discussing Heathers as it was a far more entertaining movie overall.

by Anonymousreply 50March 19, 2017 7:33 AM

It was very accurate to my high school experience in the suburbs in the 80s but I can understand that wasn't everyone's experience. Ally Sheedy's Basket Case character was probably the least relatable to me - I didn't really know anyone like that at my school. I suppose the closest we had were the new wave kids who dyed their hair black, wore dark eyeliner and lipstick and worshipped Joy Division and The Cure. But they didn't exhibit any of Sheedy's neurotic (bipolar?) behavior.

by Anonymousreply 51March 19, 2017 7:35 AM

I was expecting a laugh out loud comedy when I rented the video at Blockbuster. I wasn't expecting a social allegory and preachy melodrama. But it drew me in, and made me reflect. So, well done John Hughes.

The Breakfast Club is thought provoking and one of the iconic movies of the 80's. I preferred 16 Candles. I was stoned and laughed my ass off throughout.

by Anonymousreply 52March 19, 2017 7:38 AM

This just aired on cable tonight (which, I suspect, is why the OP created this thread). I watched it and found myself reciting every line of dialogue with the actors. I've seen this movie dozens of times and have loved it since I was a kid growing up in the '80s.

by Anonymousreply 53March 19, 2017 7:41 AM

R43 -" Pretty in Pink" was Molly's best role. The movie is amazing, poignant pertaining to high school existence and holds up in every way. She was far better suited to this role. I watch this movie all the time - well, when it plays on TV. It reminds me of the real high school dynamics and accurately tugs the heart strings. I love it. "Breakfast Club" is tedious.....And it sucks.

by Anonymousreply 54March 19, 2017 7:49 AM

r54 I hated Pretty in Pink because it was completely unrealistic bullshit, not least because I thought Ducky was gay and they straightened him out.

by Anonymousreply 55March 19, 2017 7:56 AM

R55 - your points are valid and according to Molly, she also thought that making Ducky straight and the love interest at the end was a bad move. Poor Andrew McCarthy had to return to the set in a really bad wig just to finish the new ending to the movie. That said, the social class issue and the utter hate that was shown in the movie was more REAL than any second in that lame breakfast thing..

by Anonymousreply 56March 19, 2017 8:04 AM

I hated Breakfast Club when it opened when I was 14 years old.

When I see it now, it's just painfully nostalgic. That's exactly what high school was like in 1984. And it will never happen to me again.

Someone should make a late 80s college flick. Those first few weeks of freedom in a strange city (Boston for me), the soundtrack was REMs Green, falling for your str8 roommate, meeting people who were like you for the first time but everyone still being closeted for the time being, because it was 1988.

Wow I just got melancholy writing that.

by Anonymousreply 57March 19, 2017 8:10 AM

"Molly Ringwald was originally asked to play Allison even though she wanted to play Claire. She eventually convinced John Hughes and the studio and was given the part."

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by Anonymousreply 58March 19, 2017 8:12 AM

The Breakfast Club does not suck.

I remember being fascinated by the way Molly's hairstyle changed between shots. One minute her bangs are well-coiffed and the next they're a bit messy.

Some trivia: the movie was shot in scene-for-scene order and the library was a set that was built in the gym of the abandoned Maine North High School. Also, John Cusack auditioned for the Bender role and was pissed at John Hughes when Judd Nelson was chosen. Judd stayed in character during filming, even going so far as to bullying Molly Ringwald offscreen which almost led to his firing. There's also abandoned footage of the kids daydreaming that they're an astronaut, a witch, a Viking, etc.

by Anonymousreply 59March 19, 2017 8:15 AM

Emilio Estevez is the only cast member who never does any interviews or press about the film these days. He didn't even turn up at the John Hughes Oscar tribute several years ago.

by Anonymousreply 60March 19, 2017 8:17 AM

[quote]They should have done a Breakfast Club/Less than Zero crossover where rich girl Claire goes to see her rich second-cousin Blair in LA and is exposed to a whole new level of "rich" and a decadence she never knew existed.

How cool, since Jami Gertz was also in Sixteen Candles with Molly. In fact, all of those '80s Brat Pack movies are filled with actors who'd worked in multiple films together.

by Anonymousreply 61March 19, 2017 8:19 AM

I was fascinated by Emilio's thick thighs. Still am.

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by Anonymousreply 62March 19, 2017 8:23 AM

Yes to the hair R59! I refer to it as her shape-shifting hair.

by Anonymousreply 63March 19, 2017 8:25 AM

I think it's the best of the Hughes lot (only counting ones he wrote and directed, otherwise Vacation would win easily). It suffers a bit when it gets too earnest, but in general I think it strikes a good balance between earnestness and humor. And Judd Nelson has all the best lines (and he really wasn't afraid to be unlikeable, was he?)

I wanted Molly Ringwald's haircut so badly after that movie, but I was 8 and my mother forbade it. One of the few times she was right about something.

The conversations about sex and virginity, and popularity and cliques - much of it is quite spot on. I actually realize that more now.

And a great theme song, of course.

Was Judd arguably the star of the movie because he gets the closing shot? Always wondered others thoughts on that.

by Anonymousreply 64March 19, 2017 8:26 AM

Gertz was also on fActs of Life, albeit at a different time from Molly.

Showbiz is a small often incestuous (figuratively) world.

by Anonymousreply 65March 19, 2017 8:27 AM

You know you're an iconic film when your Annie Liebovitz-shot poster gets parodied by schlocky horror movie sequels...

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by Anonymousreply 66March 19, 2017 8:28 AM

I remember when an episode of Dawson's Creek had Dawson and Co. spending a Saturday in detention in a homage to TBC.

by Anonymousreply 67March 19, 2017 8:29 AM

Despite being the antihero, I thought Judd's character was the least believable esp. since he was supposedly going to the same school as Molly Ringwald's character. Second least believable for me was Emilio's because he was too short to be the jock that knew Claire socially. Real jocks were never wrestlers; they were football or basketball.

In hindsight I think it was great how Judd's character foreshadowed grunge.

It was ok, but I loved Ferris Bueller far more as a kid.

by Anonymousreply 68March 19, 2017 8:30 AM

[quote]Gertz was also on fActs of Life, albeit at a different time from Molly.

Yep.

And of course, Ally, Emilio and Judd would go on to work together on St. Elmo's Fire, Ally and Judd later starred together in Blue City, Ally played Molly's sister in Betsy's Wedding, Paul Gleason and Anthony Michael Hall starred together in Johnny Be Good, Molly and Anthony were both in Sixteen Candles... you could do a six degrees of separation with all of the Hughes films, The Outsiders, Risky Business, Young Guns, The Lost Boys and so in. It's fun.

by Anonymousreply 69March 19, 2017 8:35 AM

I like Ferris Bueller more.

by Anonymousreply 70March 19, 2017 8:39 AM

I always wondered why John Bender willingly went to detention. A badass like him would just skip it.

by Anonymousreply 71March 19, 2017 8:47 AM

R71 because I think that would be too passive for him. He lived for confrontation and ruffling other people's feathers - especially those he felt had a better life than he. He wasn't just a rebel; he enjoyed saying hurtful things to others - at least in the moment.

by Anonymousreply 72March 19, 2017 8:49 AM

I saw it once when it was first released. It was all right even if it seemed kind of contrived. . I never saw 16 Candles or Ferris Bueller. TBC was just The Big Chill for kids.

by Anonymousreply 73March 19, 2017 8:52 AM

[quote]I never saw 16 Candles or Ferris Bueller.

Turn in your movie-watching card at the door.

by Anonymousreply 74March 19, 2017 8:54 AM

This movie, 16 Candles, and Ferris Bueller are all snoozefests.

And I love almost all 80s movies.

by Anonymousreply 75March 19, 2017 8:55 AM

I forgot to add that shiteous Pretty in Pink to my list above.

by Anonymousreply 76March 19, 2017 8:59 AM

^No.

by Anonymousreply 77March 19, 2017 8:59 AM

Your taste is shit. Let me guess, you adore Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

by Anonymousreply 78March 19, 2017 9:00 AM

Footloose sucked also.

by Anonymousreply 79March 19, 2017 9:01 AM

Give me The Big Chill or The Seacaucus 7.

Also Withnail & I and Metropolitain.

I even liked St. Elmo's Fire.

But Breakfast Club and its ilk are just schlocky and terrible. There's no bite or artistry.

by Anonymousreply 80March 19, 2017 9:04 AM

I loved Adventires in Babysitting and 🚫 🗣🙎🏻the👶🏻sitter's😵.

by Anonymousreply 81March 19, 2017 9:07 AM

R80 and St Elmo's is not schlocky? It's very entertaining but you've gotta be kidding. And Judd Nelson and his flared nostrils gave one of the worst performances in any Hughes movie a which says a lot.

by Anonymousreply 82March 19, 2017 9:16 AM

Watch Heaven Help Us for both a hilarious but still touching look at teenage AND Catholic angst. Perfect and truthful still, and far less mean-spirited than most John Hughes movies (although I will admit that he finally got his nastiness under control with Ferris Bueller).

by Anonymousreply 83March 19, 2017 9:19 AM

R80 It's not even fair to compare it to Withnail & I.

by Anonymousreply 84March 19, 2017 9:21 AM

St. Elmo's Fire fucking sucked...big time. Sooo depressing.

Footloose rather sucked somewhat as well. I hated the soundtrack as well. I couldn't escape from those horrid tunes for years.

Flashdance was a classic. Cynthia Rhodes as Tina Tec killed it in her dance number. The best female dancing performance I've ever seen on screen.

Ferris Bueller was a classic. Original, witty and downright hilarious. It wasn't dumbed down and treated the viewers as if we wouldn't "get it"

by Anonymousreply 85March 19, 2017 9:24 AM

Matthew Broderick stinks up any production he's in.

The man CANNOT ACT.

by Anonymousreply 86March 19, 2017 9:29 AM

I've always crushed on Andrew McCarthy. Those blue, sad doe eyes of his melted my heart. He was always playing the sensitive boy next door. This has major appeal for those of us who aren't attracted to the most popular, flashy, showy type guys.

Brainy, shy and sensitive have their own huge attractiveness and sexy appeal. Especially when they look like Andrew. Sighhh..

by Anonymousreply 87March 19, 2017 9:43 AM

Again, I hated Ferris Bueller as a 16 year old in 1986. Looking back, I was a real fucking tightass and movie snob. I love it now, and it makes me cry to watch it. In college, I got the nickname "Cameron" because my roommate was Ferris to my Cameron.

It's so funny- I was an 80s teen who bought into Nancy Reagan's Just Say No schtick. I didn't have a beer until sophomore year of college. But I still swore, up and down, and forever that I would never touch any drugs at all ever,. I can even remember at 12 being with my grandma, who was reading some article in the paper about it. She said "promise me, Michael, that you will never get involved in dope." I promised her, and I knew I would never.

Flash forward to 1993. I've just moved to LA, and met up with a well known choreographer on the 976-DICK line. We were going at it, when he suddenly stopped and took out a small envelope and a tiny spoon. I was absolutely shocked and dismayed. He snorted. And offered me some. I declined. About 15 minutes later he did it again and this time I asked to try it. How in the world I ever brought myself to sniff with that stuff (coke, not meth) under my nose I will never know. But I did, and that was the start of some wild times.

Sorry to get all bloggy and stream of consciousness, but discussing John Hughes movies have that effect on me. Sorry grandma, I still love you.

by Anonymousreply 88March 19, 2017 9:59 AM

Nice story R88. Thanks for sharing.

He likes it...sniff sniff -- Hey Mikey! :-)

by Anonymousreply 89March 19, 2017 10:06 AM

I was 7 when the movie came out in 1985, so don't remember it at the time. However the music and fashions take me back to my childhood. Watching it now it's very dated, as most teen movies of the 80s now are. They're very much of that period, and I don't actually think they are great movies.

by Anonymousreply 90March 19, 2017 10:29 AM

R89 haha perfect! It WAS like that.

by Anonymousreply 91March 19, 2017 10:32 AM

Really loved TBC at the time. I desperately wanted to play Judd Nelson's role(or roll, since this is DL). Rather than finding him beautiful, I was fascinated by his enormous nostrils which appeared to be large enough in which to comfortably park a Peterbilt. Still love the movie.

by Anonymousreply 92March 19, 2017 10:41 AM

Judd Nelson stuffing the weed into Anthony Michael Hall's tighty whites was the funniest scene.

by Anonymousreply 93March 19, 2017 10:53 AM

I love this movie. Great casting, great screenplay, and you could tell that a lot time, effort, and heart went into the script, acting, and film overall. It was funny and heartfelt.

I think it's wonderful and a classic, but--whatever its supposed drawbacks--"The Breakfast Club" is *still* better than 99% of the crap mainstream Hollywood releases today...

by Anonymousreply 94March 19, 2017 11:09 AM

TBC was the first movie Boomer Hollywood made about their kids, and would be followed by many, many more.

John Hughes wanted to fuck all his kids.

by Anonymousreply 95March 19, 2017 11:25 AM

Edgy- LMFAO

by Anonymousreply 96March 19, 2017 11:36 AM

People love breakfast club because of its nostalgia. It is the happier times of some people lives, they were teens and can relate to how society was simpler then in comparison to now. I love it for the same reason even though i was a little girl when it was released in theaters. It is very much a remember or imagine how teens use to be movie.

by Anonymousreply 97March 19, 2017 1:37 PM

It was a caricature of certain high school types, but I thought it was fairly realistic.

I was the right age for it and saw it when it came out. Bender and Claire were the most real for me, but the others worked.

Reality Bites is another of the real/yet a cheesy sellout movies.

by Anonymousreply 98March 19, 2017 2:02 PM

I was 16 when this came out, and then and now, I hate Judd Nelson as Bender. I will still watch parts of it on tv, but it sort of makes me cringe.

SIXTEEN CANDLES is almost perfect--too much screen time for Farmer Ted toward the end--but the best high school movie is HEATHERS.

by Anonymousreply 99March 19, 2017 2:11 PM

OP's school was depicted in "Taps"

by Anonymousreply 100March 19, 2017 2:26 PM

[Quote] Reality Bites is another of the real/yet a cheesy sellout movies.

Winona's character annoyed the shit out of me in that movie.

by Anonymousreply 101March 19, 2017 2:29 PM

It took John Hughes less than a week to write the screenplay.

by Anonymousreply 102March 19, 2017 2:30 PM

I love the dance sequence to WE ARE NOT ALONE.

by Anonymousreply 103March 19, 2017 2:31 PM

[quote]Watch Heaven Help Us for both a hilarious but still touching look at teenage AND Catholic angst

Another film I watched religiously (no pun intended) as a kid.

by Anonymousreply 104March 19, 2017 2:32 PM

OP's Mom was depicted in "Class"

by Anonymousreply 105March 19, 2017 2:35 PM

OP where was the Breakfast Club considered edgy and by whom? In Minnesota by Pauline Phillips? (AKA Ask Abby?)

by Anonymousreply 106March 19, 2017 2:52 PM

I thought he had BDF. I wonder....

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by Anonymousreply 107March 19, 2017 2:57 PM

Ally Sheedy's looks and mannerisms remind me so much of Jennifer Jason Leigh in this film. She was one of my favorite characters, though it's disappointing when she gets the beauty queen makeover at the end. Sheedy actually went on to give some good performances in indie films like High Art, Life During Wartime and last year's Little Sister.

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by Anonymousreply 108March 19, 2017 3:15 PM

I was a mix of Sheedy and Ringwald's characters. Still am.

by Anonymousreply 109March 19, 2017 3:18 PM

I still have such a soft spot for Molly Ringwald and her John Hughes trinity of films. I thought she was perfect in all of them and I can watch her and her curled upper lip for days. With that said, watching her in anything non-Hughes is a very odd thing, including Facts of Life. She is not an extra of much depth and zero range, so playing a white teenage girl from the Chicago area is pretty much the beginning and end of where she can go as an actor. Still, I think of her as I would imagine people from previous generations thought of Shirley Temple and her films. A very concrete and nostalgic marker of what youth was like at a very particular time. That's not a bad legacy.

by Anonymousreply 110March 19, 2017 3:30 PM

R110 here, that should read 'actor' and not 'extra', though I think that might be where Molly's career might be at the moment.

by Anonymousreply 111March 19, 2017 3:31 PM

I thought is was so edgy the first time I saw it, when I was maybe 12. The next time I saw it, maybe in college, I thought it was silly. Seeing it since then, I've come to regard it as an OK movie with a handful of insightful moments. The makeover at the end pisses me off and Molly/Judd's kiss and her giving him her earring was 100% Hollywood bullshit.

by Anonymousreply 112March 19, 2017 4:27 PM

I liked Porky's

by Anonymousreply 113March 19, 2017 4:35 PM

I love Porky's. The sequels weren't as good, but the original is a classic sex comedy. Only the first American Pie has come close to matching it.

by Anonymousreply 114March 19, 2017 4:38 PM

I spent an a LOT of time alone when I was in high school (closeted teen, absent parents, no friends, etc) and I remember immediately connecting to this movie when it was on TV some random Saturday afternoon. I think it holds a lot of nostalgic power in my head because of that. Movies like TBC, Scream, and Clueless were so special to me because they were an insight into what it must've been like to have friends, because I had ZERO. That's not supposed to be as depressing as it seems, but it's true

by Anonymousreply 115March 19, 2017 4:50 PM

I could've done without hearing Kim Cattrall whaling like a banshee.

by Anonymousreply 116March 19, 2017 4:54 PM

[quote](AKA Ask Abby?)

Oh, DEAR Abby!

by Anonymousreply 117March 19, 2017 5:00 PM

[quote] If it were made today, it would star 2 Americans, 2 Brits, and 1 Australian.

And a Nigerian playing an African American.

by Anonymousreply 118March 19, 2017 5:04 PM

Toddler Bridges once recounted how he wanted to be a part of this movie and was even offered an audition but ultimately got turned down because Hughes movies were mostly lilly white.

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by Anonymousreply 119March 19, 2017 5:08 PM

R68-in suburban Chicago- wrestlers were the real jocks --especially when your high school are state champions a few years running. Wrestling was huge in the 80's there. It was also the start of mixing upper and lower class communities in the same schools. At our school you would have the kids driving Mercedes and Porsches to school along with the kids from subsidized housing.

by Anonymousreply 120March 19, 2017 5:08 PM

Todd, not toddler lol. Damned spellcheck.

by Anonymousreply 121March 19, 2017 5:08 PM

LOL R118. Cultural appropriation.

by Anonymousreply 122March 19, 2017 5:09 PM

We all know that the film as shot at Glenbrook North and the closed Maine North high school in suburban Chicago. But, was "Shermer High School" supposed to be suburban Chicago?

by Anonymousreply 123March 19, 2017 5:11 PM

Re R119... I also remember stories about Lisa Bonet auditioning for a Hughes film (Some Kind of Wonderful, I think) and being turned down. Then she did Angel Heart and the rest is history.

by Anonymousreply 124March 19, 2017 5:12 PM

In those years, students all had parents who worked very hard to afford places where there were no Todds in school. Especially around Chicago and other Catholic towns

by Anonymousreply 125March 19, 2017 5:13 PM

Today, there would be an SJW movement about underrepresentation of minorities in Hughes' films. Plenty of high schools looked like "Shermer High School." Not mine, but many

by Anonymousreply 126March 19, 2017 5:17 PM

The Long Duk Dong character from Sixteen Candles would never work today--every anti-defamatory group known to man would pounce on the film.

by Anonymousreply 127March 19, 2017 5:19 PM

John Hughes wrote about high school like it was when he was there, which was the mid 60s. So when the movies came out in the 80s, although they updated the fashion and some of language and concerns, it still seemed archaic even at the time, like teens from a bygone era. Which it was.

by Anonymousreply 128March 19, 2017 5:23 PM

"Heeeey seexxxy girlfriend."

by Anonymousreply 129March 19, 2017 5:24 PM

The rapey aspect from 16 Candles also wouldn't fly today.

by Anonymousreply 130March 19, 2017 5:26 PM

I grew up in a small southern town which wasn't big enough for black and white kids to be going to different schools, so the lily white aspect wasn't true to my experience...but I realize a lot of suburbs are like that.

by Anonymousreply 131March 19, 2017 5:29 PM

Oh yeah, I forgot. Didn't Jake allow Anthony Michael Hall to rape his incapacitated 30-year-old girlfriend? I forgot about that. Of course back then, if you couldn't say no, you didn't say no.

by Anonymousreply 132March 19, 2017 5:29 PM

^ Yes, and the whole scene was played for laughs. Of course, I thought nothing of it as a kid at the time.

by Anonymousreply 133March 19, 2017 5:30 PM

Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois 60062.

by Anonymousreply 134March 19, 2017 5:31 PM

McCarthy was so not hot.

by Anonymousreply 135March 19, 2017 5:32 PM

[Quote] Oh yeah, I forgot. Didn't Jake allow Anthony Michael Hall to rape his incapacitated 30-year-old girlfriend? I forgot about that. Of course back then, if you couldn't say no, you didn't say no.

Also Jake being a creep talking about how he could take advantage of Caroline if he wanted to.

by Anonymousreply 136March 19, 2017 5:36 PM

The only thing this thread really does is remind you of what a great fucking song Don't You Forget About Me is. Is it the best one hit wonder? Unless Simple Minds had another song I don't know about.

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by Anonymousreply 137March 19, 2017 5:36 PM

^^ r137 is too stupid to live.

by Anonymousreply 138March 19, 2017 5:39 PM

R128 nails it.

by Anonymousreply 139March 19, 2017 5:39 PM

I loved Chris Meloni-lookalike and John Hughes staple John Kapelos. He was in Sixteen Candles, TBC and Weird Science.

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by Anonymousreply 140March 19, 2017 5:39 PM

Ah yes, Rudy...the "oily variety Bohunk." Man, Hughes really was pre-PC.

by Anonymousreply 141March 19, 2017 5:42 PM

Molly made a cameo appearance in the Wang Chung video for Fire In The Twilight, the song from the hallway-running scene (the 2:20 mark)

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by Anonymousreply 142March 19, 2017 5:45 PM

They should do a sequel called The Supper Club.

by Anonymousreply 143March 19, 2017 5:46 PM

Seriously, R137? Simple Minds had a bunch of great songs, and hit singles. "Sanctify Yourself," "Promised You a Miracle," "Alive and Kicking," etc. They were huge in the 80s.

by Anonymousreply 144March 19, 2017 6:09 PM

This is one of my favorite Simple Minds songs. Jim Kerr has a beautiful voice.

Bonus points: the vid has a kid who grew up to have a part in a couple of Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

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by Anonymousreply 145March 19, 2017 6:17 PM

Don't You Forget About Me #1

Alive and Kicking #3

Sanctify Yourself #14

All the Things She Said #28

See the Lights #40

Never to crack the top 40 again.

by Anonymousreply 146March 19, 2017 6:20 PM

My favorite scene is when they all sat on the floor for confessions and confrontations. Judd and Molly going at it. "Don't you ever, EVER compare yourself to me, okay? You got everything and I got SHIT. Fuckin' Rapunzel, right? School would probably fuckin' SHUT DOWN if you didn't show up..." All five actors had great moments in this movie.

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by Anonymousreply 147March 19, 2017 6:23 PM

[quote] . Especially around Chicago and other Catholic towns

Yes, because Protestant and Jewish towns were so integrated. Like East New York, which went from being 90% Jewish to being 0% Jewish after blacks moved in. And every Protestant town that opened 3 private Christian schools after being forced to integrate their public schools.

by Anonymousreply 148March 19, 2017 6:26 PM

Judd Nelson was fucking Michael J. Fox. True story.

by Anonymousreply 149March 19, 2017 6:28 PM

That confessione scene was reportedly improvised. It's a really great scene. If Andrew had never hooked up with Allison at the end, I would've sworn he was a closeted athlete jock.

by Anonymousreply 150March 19, 2017 6:28 PM

I guess I get what you're saying, R97, but a lot of us were old enough to know that we weren't living in simpler times. I was 13 when it was released but 16 when I finally rented it (parents rented one of those big-ass suitcase VCRs and got two movies for the weekend for my big birthday party, what a time it was to be alive).

There were hijackings and I think 1985 was the year that Russian leader mysteriously died after ruling for about 8 minutes, plus there was the beginning of the AIDS crisis and Reagan as POTUS for a second term. The sentimentality seemed so false, like these kids already knew this was the best time they'd ever have and these were all the life lessons they'd ever need. Even I knew that was ridiculous.

by Anonymousreply 151March 19, 2017 6:31 PM

Allie Sheedy is a terrible actress, cringe-makingly self-conscious in both moody and cutesy modes. Her technique hits rock bottom in Oxford Blues, although you might not notice it because that's an overall cringe-making movie, despite its exiling the mandatory 80s wardrobe montage to the final credits.

by Anonymousreply 152March 19, 2017 6:53 PM

Oxford Blues is one of the biggest pieces of shit you'll ever love.

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by Anonymousreply 153March 19, 2017 7:02 PM

Ally Sheedy looked and acted best in Wargames and Bad Boys

by Anonymousreply 154March 19, 2017 8:21 PM

Fuck off, R154

by Anonymousreply 155March 19, 2017 8:27 PM

Sheedy was mesmeric in High Art.

by Anonymousreply 156March 19, 2017 8:31 PM

The homophobic words in John Hughes movies always stung since they were such mainstream, "acceptable" movies.

by Anonymousreply 157March 19, 2017 8:32 PM

It's a seminal movie, but has been copied so much at this point that a lot of scenes are pretentious and dated.

by Anonymousreply 158March 19, 2017 8:43 PM

Ally Sheedy was unconvincing in St. Elmo's Fire

by Anonymousreply 159March 19, 2017 8:44 PM

I was intrigued by Claire's coiffure at the time it came out (I was in 5th grade when the film was released) - and still am. It just doesn't seem like an authentic '80s teen-do. Even for someone who was a "princess"-type. The Claire character would have looked more like the girls in Whit Stillman's "Metropolitan."

I also got kind of an incest vibe in the opening scene in which Claire is dropped off at detention by her father. An edgier film would have explored this theme further through Claire's neurotic hyper-sophistication.

So many closeups of John Bender's nostrils in the film, too. They deserve their own thread. Judd was pretty hot in "Breakfast Club" but, once I hit middle school, I preferred him in the TV movie "Billionaire Boys' Club" a few years later.

by Anonymousreply 160March 19, 2017 8:49 PM

He called it Shermer High school because Shermer Road is the name of the street that Glenbrook North is on. 60062 is the same zip code. It's in the "History" section of the page on wikipedia.

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by Anonymousreply 161March 19, 2017 8:50 PM

R146: the United States is not the world. Simple Minds achieved six No. 1 albums in their native UK as well as hitting the top spot in countless other countries.

by Anonymousreply 162March 19, 2017 8:53 PM

I was 12 when it came out and loved it.

by Anonymousreply 163March 19, 2017 8:53 PM

I ADORE! Oxford Blues, and will stand for no criticism of it. As r153 said it's the biggest piece of shit you'll ever love. And i was obsessed with Bruce Payne as the leader of the Oriole Blues. Plus Julian Sands! Carey Elwes! And an actually believable Amanda Pays as the Lady Di-inspired student with a hinge on her legs.

Love it!!!

by Anonymousreply 164March 19, 2017 8:56 PM

Well R162 I'm from the United States talking about a song that was in a movie from the United States. So shut the fuck up. They were not huge here. Bonnie Tyler was a bigger act here.

by Anonymousreply 165March 19, 2017 8:59 PM

R161- Another nearby wealthy Chicago suburb was originally called Shermerville, now called Northbrook.

by Anonymousreply 166March 19, 2017 8:59 PM

[quote]So shut the fuck up.

Simply for pointing out that a band was successful in many countries around the world? You're taking "US-centric" to a whole new level.

by Anonymousreply 167March 19, 2017 9:02 PM

"Don't You Forget About Me" could be the theme song for the entire cast.

by Anonymousreply 168March 19, 2017 9:02 PM

I was 19 years old and in college when it came out, and I saw it in the theater with friends. We loved it and talked about it at length afterwards. The question was: Which character did you relate to? I related to the nerd Anthony Michael Hall, because he was smart and he didn't hook up with a girl.

The movie is entertaining, but it's not great art. It was totally implausible that these kids would have such open conversations and become friends by the end of the day.

In the 21st century version of this movie, the filmmakers would have more to say about real diversity (race, religion, ethnicity, sexual preference, sexual identity, etc.). In retrospect, these five kids have more things in common (as suburban white folks) than what they have differences.

by Anonymousreply 169March 19, 2017 9:04 PM

Shut the fuck up. You want to talk about a band that had hits in the UK start a thread about Shirley Valentine and its soundtrack.

by Anonymousreply 170March 19, 2017 9:05 PM

Simple Minds were big in the United States. I'm sorry if you don't believe this, but they were.

by Anonymousreply 171March 19, 2017 9:07 PM

Elders will remember that Don McNeill and I starred on radio's "Breakfast Club.".

by Anonymousreply 172March 19, 2017 9:10 PM

I saw it and loved it. I was in my 20's and felt that it was pretty much a fair depiction of how shitty high school truly was. I totally identified with Ally Sheedy's character.

by Anonymousreply 173March 19, 2017 9:11 PM

I never understood the meaning of the title.

by Anonymousreply 174March 19, 2017 9:13 PM

R174 - I think it was due to the fact that they had to report to Saturday detention in the AM.

by Anonymousreply 175March 19, 2017 9:14 PM

R171: R170 is also R137. She's just mad that someone called her "too stupid for words" for thinking Simple Minds were a one-hit wonder. Now she has to convince herself that only US chart success counts. Lacking even the most basic grasp of logic, she thinks that since the song appeared in an American movie and this is an American board, the band's success elsewhere should not be discussed on this thread. This used to be a somewhat cosmopolitan board--no more, I guess.

by Anonymousreply 176March 19, 2017 9:17 PM

Even as a kid, I was always thrown off by Estevez. He was certainly hot in that gym bunny, gay bottom sort of way, but I never bought his character as some sort of ultimate high school jock. Compared to Nelson (who had the look) - he looked silly. The scenes where Emilio man-handles Judd were ridiculous. It always looked as if Nelson could have thumped him in the butt like a paper "football" (remember those??) and sent him flying across the room. Don't get me wrong, I did want to fuck Estevez in the ass and he was cute - just not convincing in the role. And as an above poster mentioned, his hooking up with Sheedy at the end was laughable. Hughes would have done much better to delete that scene.

by Anonymousreply 177March 19, 2017 9:20 PM

[quote]I wanted Molly Ringwald's haircut so badly after that movie

I still do if I'm being honest.

by Anonymousreply 178March 19, 2017 9:46 PM

R160, Claire's hair isn't trendy, but very stylish in the wealthy social circles her family would inhabit. She likely goes to an upscale hairdresser who gives her classic chic looks like the Jackie O. Same with her clothes and jewelry. Even her sushi lunch.

by Anonymousreply 179March 19, 2017 10:38 PM

What would you call Claire's hairdo? I was obsessed by the shape shifting bangs.

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by Anonymousreply 180March 20, 2017 12:29 AM

One minute they're coifed...

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by Anonymousreply 181March 20, 2017 12:30 AM

...and the next minute they're mussed...

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by Anonymousreply 182March 20, 2017 12:31 AM

It's before my time so but I think it's a warm movie. Not urgent or relevant but warm :)

by Anonymousreply 183March 20, 2017 12:40 AM

I grew up in rural Ohio yet immediately remembered 3 Simple Minds son- they may not have had 6 big-selling albums in the U.S., but they were hardly one-hit wonders.

by Anonymousreply 184March 20, 2017 1:08 AM

They wanted Lucy to play Claire but Gary talked her out of it. He thought her public would be too disillusioned if Lucy got a detention.

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by Anonymousreply 185March 20, 2017 1:08 AM

R172 Wasn't that show based out of Chicago? I assume that was the reference that Chicago-based Hughes was going for with the title of the movie.

by Anonymousreply 186March 20, 2017 1:10 AM

Ally Sheedy was Allison Williams 1.0

by Anonymousreply 187March 20, 2017 1:18 AM

"God did not put me on this earth to be awakened in the middle of the night with filthy suggestion from a foul-mouthed houligan like you . . . Grannie, Sixteen Candles

by Anonymousreply 188March 20, 2017 1:52 AM

"Hey birth defect!!!" - the obnoxious kid brother, Sixteen Candles

by Anonymousreply 189March 20, 2017 1:58 AM

[quote]n the 21st century version of this movie, the filmmakers would have more to say about real diversity (race, religion, ethnicity, sexual preference, sexual identity, etc.).

*This* would be the 21st century version of The Breakfast Club. Although nobody would actually see this, because they'd be too busy emulating the characters in the movie.

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by Anonymousreply 190March 20, 2017 2:05 AM

Smoke up Tony! They're grrrreat!

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by Anonymousreply 191March 20, 2017 2:11 AM

This movie is closer to my mother's generation than mine, but I watched it in my grade 12 society and culture class (in 2014). I could not relate to the movie whatsoever, and neither could any of my classmates. It's very dated. Maybe it's because I'm Australian and not American, and maybe because I grew up in a moderate sized town, but my school never had cliques. Everyone was basically friends with everyone, except for one neurotic girl who made an enemy out of the entire grade. My teacher got angry at us because we all burst out loud laughing at the "emotional" scenes - particularly with Bender. It just seems so melodramatic. Nobody really cares anymore about anything, at least not enough to yell and cry. Basically all of my friends had divorced parents and no one cared, it didn't mean anything. I never got along with my father because I am gay, and my mother always put a lot of pressure on me to get perfect grades in high school - but I never cried or broke down over it.

I think us millennials are just too apathetic. It's embarrassing to be emotional about something.

by Anonymousreply 192March 20, 2017 6:34 AM

R192 - I don't care where you are from: what country, what size town/city, or what size school - everyone is NEVER friends with everybody. Human nature leads to popular and not popular, cliques and divisions, friends and enemies. Either you are lying or you are so socially inept that you haven't a clue to what goes on around you. Never in the history of the world has there been a perfect utopia of humans all loving and nurturing one another. Not even Millennials can claim such an absurd thing. I am happy to hear that you had such a wonderful high school experience, but you are in the very minute minority there. Popular or not, we all had a different childhood. That I can guarantee. Also, I agree with you - the movie is archaic, but for different reasons.

by Anonymousreply 193March 20, 2017 6:50 AM

R193 - Well we didn't all sit together as one big circle braiding each other's hair. But there weren't any cliques. People changed friendship groups all the time. I sat with one group of girls at lunch, but hung out with a different group of girls during hockey practice, hung out with a different group of girls on the bus ride home, and had a friend in every class - not always the same person either. No one ever said anything like "ew, you're a jock? You can't sit with us because we're goths". There was no defining characteristic of a friendship group that would dictate who could enter and who was refused. If you got along, you got along. Nobody cared.

by Anonymousreply 194March 20, 2017 7:14 AM

"Nobody really cares anymore about anything, at least not enough to yell and cry."

I see someone is trying to do a lesbian version of the PMBT.

Anyway, this movie may have been marketed as "edgy" and perhaps the R-rating convinced underage teens that it was. It never was.

I enjoyed this movie when it came out, but I preferred other John Hughes' movies at the time. I've lost all affection for anything John Hughes related over the years.

by Anonymousreply 195March 20, 2017 7:39 AM

Proof that it "doesn't hold up today?"

You can't just say that. What do the majority of young people think and when did you conduct this scientific survey of over 4,000 people who saw the film?

by Anonymousreply 196March 20, 2017 7:41 AM

The R rating wasn't just the language - what about the scenes with Bender underneath Claire's desk? As a kid I was pretty grossed out by that, actually.

The R was definitely well earned.

by Anonymousreply 197March 20, 2017 8:31 AM

Why do you have fake I.d?

Brian, disbelieving, scoffing: So I can vote.

Or something like that. It was, by far, the funniest part to mewhen I re-watched it as an adult.

by Anonymousreply 198March 20, 2017 9:10 AM

[R147], I love your post! Great take on the film and cool pic of Judd and Molly promoting the film that I've never seen before.

I've only seen this movie for the first time in the past 10 years and I think it's warm and funny and a good movie overall.

Yes, it's more "mainstream" than indie, but it's still a great movie that's entertaining to watch and gets you attached to/invested in all the characters in it.

by Anonymousreply 199March 20, 2017 10:40 AM

I think that a lot of the humor in the movie is timeless, [R198], (and agree that that scene with AMH is one of the funniest scenes in there) and that's one of the reasons why the film is still so watchable today.

It's not like the movie made *endless* Reagan and Culture Club jokes 🙄

by Anonymousreply 200March 20, 2017 10:44 AM

Thank God this wasn't made today!

It wouldn't be about class or popularity differences or the inner emotional (or at home) struggles of the kids at all.

It would just be the group of teens talking (see: lecturing the audience) about various social justice issues that "trigger" them personally, and Bender would be changed to a MTF *or* FTM trans who is angry about trans issues and ends up with the pretty, popular girl Claire romantically at the end so that the filmmakers can "send a message" about tolerance

by Anonymousreply 201March 20, 2017 10:51 AM

Breakfast club sandwich.

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by Anonymousreply 202March 20, 2017 3:57 PM

Bender was the least realistic. I was the same age as their characters were supposed to be when this came out and went to a high school outside of Chicago. Most of the burnout kids I knew were actually just as wealthy as the preppy kids - they just liked heavy metal and partying. I thought AMH nailed it as the nerd.

by Anonymousreply 203March 20, 2017 4:13 PM

Nerds today are a lot more arrogant.

by Anonymousreply 204March 20, 2017 4:47 PM

That's because sometime in the last twenty years Geeks became cool. They were not in the 1980s

by Anonymousreply 205March 20, 2017 4:56 PM

It was an old formula--put a bunch of different types together in a situation that was semi-realistic and see what happens. John Hughes was a master of that and recreating it around high school. High school was rarely the subject of movies outside of the occasional social problem drama or Mamie Van Doren exploitation film. Detention was relatable even if you'd never had to do one. Estevez is the least believable. Sheedy never seemed able to do anything other than being a couple anxiety attacks away from a straight jacket.

by Anonymousreply 206March 20, 2017 5:15 PM

R171 the Simple Minds were "moderately successful" in the US with ONE bonafide smash single #1

They weren't huge because they never made the cover of Rolling Stone. From the 60s until about the early 2000s, making the civer of Rolling Stone was an indicator of who's huge or not in the music world.

by Anonymousreply 207March 20, 2017 5:34 PM

Shoo all you simpletons with your simple minded talk

by Anonymousreply 208March 20, 2017 5:47 PM

Does't age well at all. And Emilio estevez is nepotism casting of the highest order. HE's the high school's biggest jock?

All in all, its phony, contrived, and nothing at like high school.

by Anonymousreply 209March 20, 2017 5:53 PM

The problem with high school movies is that all the students are so well spoken. They're able to put into words exactly how they are feeling. They're able to confront their bullies perfectly. There's no shyness or awkwardness or confusion.

In my high school, none of these kids would have bonded. It wasn't done. Hell, 35 years later, people are posting on Facebook that they're not coming to the reunion because they feel excluded. And our Senior High President keeps telling people that everything has changed and all are welcome. Then someone will post how they came to the 10th year reunion and nobody spoke to them.

by Anonymousreply 210March 20, 2017 5:59 PM

R206 has never heard of "Grease"? or "American Graffiti?"

by Anonymousreply 211March 20, 2017 6:05 PM

If this movie were made today, all of them would have spent the period texting their parents about the mean things that were said to them, and the parents would be coming by to intimidate the teacher or calling the police. Today's kids don't do personal confrontation. They make the grownups fight all their battles.

by Anonymousreply 212March 20, 2017 6:10 PM

I've heard that American High School is much more brutal in a clique way.

R192: "Nobody really cares about anything at least not enough to cry" - Remember - there were no psych meds then or very few and they didn't work well.

I suppose it was inevitable, but that's actually a bit sad in some ways that millennials are so unfamiliar with familial stability that divorce is no big thing. You have to realize that back then there wasn't an entire industry built on smoothing out the rough patches with therapy, meds, and support groups.

Many of the mothers only had secondary jobs and couldn't support themselves. They weren't sophisticated as far as legal game playing and so the fathers tended to eat them for lunch, which affected the kids. The dads also commonly ignored the kids after divorce as their second family became their only family. Courts came to favor the mother/kids because of this initial asymmetry.

There was quite a bit of divorce among my peer groups parents, but we were probably part of the first or second bunch where that was common and the emotional and economic infrastructure wasn't in place.

by Anonymousreply 213March 20, 2017 6:11 PM

I don't see why people question the wrestling jock angle of Esteves. Wresting was HUGE in the midwest - absolutely HUGE. I know this because I managed my High School Wrestling team and went to school in a North Suburban Chicago area High School. The character and his ability to man handle Judd struck me as realistic. But then I dated a 5'4 State Champion that could tie a lot of bigger guys up in knots. There is a saying, "You never box a boxer, and you never Wrestle a Wrestler" - once a fight goes close quarters the Wrestler (These days its "mixed martial arts") will have the upper hand. Wrestling was a big deal, and even the little guys if they were "go down State" at the end of season - where viewed as serious jocks. I understand that people outside of the Midwest might not get this - but in States like IOWA, Wis, Il, Neb, MN - Wrestling is the Farm boy dominated sport that rules pretty large. Its cheap, accessible for guys from small to large and the season does not interfere with Farming.

by Anonymousreply 214March 20, 2017 6:50 PM

r207 – – you are still too stupid to live. Go away and get bit.

by Anonymousreply 215March 20, 2017 7:14 PM

R214 I didn't know that. On West Coast it was def not a top tier sport.

by Anonymousreply 216March 20, 2017 8:20 PM

R214 is exaggerating...

Even I need farm country, the champion wrestler take the back seat to the quarterbacks & 7 footers playing hoops

by Anonymousreply 217March 20, 2017 8:25 PM

^^even in farm country

by Anonymousreply 218March 20, 2017 8:26 PM

Five people would never talk to each other for hours nowadays, They would ignore each other pretending to be interested in something on their phone.

by Anonymousreply 219March 20, 2017 8:42 PM

So true r212 and r 219

by Anonymousreply 220March 20, 2017 9:03 PM

It's not like the teens of the Breakfast Club (now grown adults) are any better at keeping their faces out of their iPhones these days...

by Anonymousreply 221March 20, 2017 9:15 PM

Most of the actors in the breakfast club were a product of their time career wise. The only main actor from the movie that steadily have found work as an adult is anthony Michael hall. Who would have thought. What happened to Judd nelson career and nostril, probably nothing much.

by Anonymousreply 222March 20, 2017 9:24 PM

DLers loved the Breakfast Club? I thought there was a John Hughes backlash here years ago? Anyway, it's an entirely average movie Entertaining enough, but sort of ridiculous.

by Anonymousreply 223March 20, 2017 9:29 PM

"Nerds today are a lot more arrogant. "

As the should be with the shift in the economy to services and technology. They're the ones who get a lot of the good jobs. And, now we sort of have a general "nerd" culture where games, comic books, etc. are celebrated and where having obsessive enthusiasm and knowledge about something (music, pop culture generally, craft beer, video gaming, or anything) is lauded.

by Anonymousreply 224March 20, 2017 9:34 PM

R217 Sometimes the Quarterbacks/Running Backs, etc. were ALSO Wrestlers - The guys ranged in size from 98 lbs - up to Heavyweights - Its a brutal sport. In the 80s Wrestling in the Olympics was a big deal - Dan Gable the Head Coach at Iowa and a freaking LEGEND of a man also coached the US team. The Midlands is an Open Tournament held at Northwestern where most people involved in the sport gathered on pre Olympic years to get a peak at the guys that were probably going to represent this Country. It is a big deal despite your views in those Suburban High Schools and as someone who was heavily involved and graduated a year before this movie came out I can assure you that the role played by Esteves was quite accurate - and his ability to toss Judd around is not as unrealistic as you might think. I think I'll go watch Vision Quest now.

by Anonymousreply 225March 20, 2017 10:12 PM

Yum - Jake from 16 Candles was also in this movie.

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by Anonymousreply 226March 20, 2017 10:16 PM

R225:

I have known multiple wrestlers and I have zero doubt about the ability to shove bender around.

The part I question is that if the wrestler as the king of the jocks and 'big man on campus'

Those honors go to folks such as Mr Doug Simpson

by Anonymousreply 227March 20, 2017 10:39 PM

Are American schools really that scary and cliquey? I've always assumed American movies and shows exaggerate that aspect A LOT. European, not Australian, but my experience is similar to R192's. School was a breeze, especially high school. All those highly dramatic depictions of high school are entertaining, but I'm pretty surprised that so many would find them relatable.

R193, I think "friendly" would be more accurate than "friends". Everyone definitely wasn't "loving and nurturing" to everyone else, but nobody made other peoples' lives difficult. Sure, there were more popular kids and less popular ones, but everyone was on good terms and there wasn't really any tension. Would make for a terrible movie.

The Breakfast Club... I saw it a few years ago and thought it was terrible. It just felt kind of... basic. I'm sure that would've been different if I'd seen it in 1985. But the bigger problem was that the characters were so damn unlikable. And Sheedy's character and her "arc" were absurd.

by Anonymousreply 228March 21, 2017 12:08 AM

R17 & r227, at my school, wrestling season and football seasin did not occur at the same time, and usually guys who played football also wrestled.

by Anonymousreply 229March 21, 2017 1:37 AM

Schools in the 80s were completely tribal.

by Anonymousreply 230March 21, 2017 1:48 AM

Most of these High School movies star people that are older than college age. Such Bullshit. Hell in Grease, Stockard.Channing was going through menopause.

by Anonymousreply 231March 21, 2017 1:49 AM

At the end I'm always left wondering "what about the kid who's actually screwed up and from an abusive famly??"

by Anonymousreply 232March 21, 2017 1:51 AM

R228: it's been awhile, but I'd say junior high was actually the scary clique place. Everyone calmed down by high school esp. after we could drive. Closer to Mean Girls, but Mean Girls was actually based on a book about Junior High (11-14), not high school (14-18).

by Anonymousreply 233March 21, 2017 2:25 AM

Bullying in high school is only really common about the lower middle and working classes.

by Anonymousreply 234March 21, 2017 2:34 AM

^^among*

by Anonymousreply 235March 21, 2017 2:34 AM

R227 - there were quite a few tiny jocks at my school who were very fuckable, but they were never considered the hottest guy in any group. The hottest were big, tall, muscular, 6'2", strapping quarterbacks or whatnot. It is what it is. Wrestlers are the hottest bottoms - I agree. As a lucky top, I had quite a bit of experience with them in my later college and grad school years. As sexy as they were - no way would any of them have been considered one of the hottest jocks in their high schools....EVER... Remember that girls have a huge say in making that choice. When I was in college, a lot of the prettiest sorority girls had a six foot rule. If you were less than that - they never gave you the time of day no matter how gorgeous you may have been. Emilio was miscast period.

by Anonymousreply 236March 21, 2017 2:38 AM

For me "Welcome to the Dollhouse" described the viciousness of the US junior high/middle school experience perfectly. High school was marginally better. By that point you start to learn not to give a shit.

by Anonymousreply 237March 21, 2017 4:30 AM

My entire school experience up to graduating high school was cut throat. It was a private, coed, religious school grades 1 through 12. My graduating class was less than 80. The school was expensive and many of the kids were very rich. After transferring in the 7th grade I learned very quickly that the unstylish clothing that my unstylish mother bought me were not going to make the cut. I also learned by around the 8th grade that being one of the smartest students in class was not a very cool thing. I maintained my grades, but was always sure to keep them private if possible. I started shopping for my own clothes and would buy a couple nice things rather than tons of frumpy shirts and pants. I cared more about my haircut and gelled it appropriately. I joined sports teams that I was good at - whether I enjoyed playing or not. The kids were BRUTAL and I learned to play the game - to avoid being a part of the dreaded outcasts who were demeaned daily by others (not me BTW). By the time I graduated, I was best friends with the homecoming queen and king and went to the best parties. I was one of a small group who won "best this" and "best that" in the popularity contests senior year that were part of the ceremonies and yearbook. I hated every day and generally disliked the people that I was "friends" with. When I went to college, I had the time of my life. I joined a top fraternity and had hundreds of friends - from all parts of the spectrum and hot, ugly, fat, thin, white and every background in between. I absolutely never looked back and never kept in touch with anyone from high school. To this day, I rarely do. I had my own issues being a closeted bisexual (at the time, now gay) - but it was such an improvement from high school that I was in heaven.

by Anonymousreply 238March 21, 2017 4:48 AM

In Illinois in the '80s, wrestling was a 'winter' season sport and football was an 'autumn' sport, so you could do both.

by Anonymousreply 239March 21, 2017 12:22 PM

I have to agree with the others. Football was an autumn sport, wrestling was a winter sport. However, the football guys where very large guys, whereas our wrestlers were short and squatty. Football guys also played baseball in spring, but wrestlers usually only wrestled, or one or two were on the track team in the spring.

by Anonymousreply 240March 21, 2017 12:30 PM

I didn't even recognise AMH in Edward Scissorhands.

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by Anonymousreply 241March 21, 2017 1:52 PM

The good football players and hoops players were blocked from doing other sports such as wrestling in my experience.

Their coaches and fathers didn't want them to be injured in another sport.

Perhaps a bench guy, but definitely not the popular and successful skill position players who ruled the campus.

by Anonymousreply 242March 21, 2017 3:34 PM

I'd say the movie has held up, since current teenagers who see it really like it. Yes, the details are dated, but the message speaks to them. On the other hand, teens can't get through Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which I love. I find Breakfast Club too sappy. We would never have talked about our feelings and cried when I was a teenager, back in the dark ages.

by Anonymousreply 243March 21, 2017 3:50 PM

I like Fast Times, hate Breakfast Club.

by Anonymousreply 244March 21, 2017 3:55 PM

[Quote] . On the other hand, teens can't get through Fast Times at Ridgemont High,

That's nuts! I love both but Fast Times was alot darker.

by Anonymousreply 245March 21, 2017 3:57 PM

How realistic was AMH as the nerdy boy?

by Anonymousreply 246March 21, 2017 4:00 PM

Fast Times is actually the more realistic film. It still has a bit of 70s edginess to it, and it's kind of a downer in a way that John Hughes films aren't.

by Anonymousreply 247March 21, 2017 4:02 PM

I agree R247.

by Anonymousreply 248March 21, 2017 4:32 PM

Despite being released in 1982, fast times is a 70s film because it followed the Cameron Crowe book that based on Clairemont High in the late 70s

by Anonymousreply 249March 21, 2017 4:40 PM

Fast Times did have a 70s vibe.

by Anonymousreply 250March 21, 2017 5:05 PM

Fast Times is such a superior movie - the two are not even in the same stratosphere.

by Anonymousreply 251March 21, 2017 5:13 PM

Molly Ringwald's obnoxious top lip and her single facial expression with her mouth hanging open render her unwatchable for me.

by Anonymousreply 252March 21, 2017 5:16 PM

The 80s as we know them didn't really break until late 1982 or so.

By late 1983 "the 80s look" had taken over in full force

Look at the early Friday the 13th films from the early 80s, the first 3 have a 70s vibe, it's not until the fourth F13 film released in 1984 that if finally feels 80s

Tv shows like The Facts of Life and Knots Landing and Dallas, which all began in the late 70s, feel 70s until the 1982-1983 season, when the 80s feel creeps in

I was just looking at cast pictures of Knots Landing one from the season 3 (1981) and the other from season 7( 1985) and in those 4 years difference it's like day and night, especially how glitzex up and shoulder padded and big haired everyone was styled in the 1985 cast picture

by Anonymousreply 253March 21, 2017 5:17 PM

They're both teen movies. That's about it lol

by Anonymousreply 254March 21, 2017 5:17 PM

That's true of a lot of decades, R253. Look at TV shows and music videos from 90-92ish. There's still a lot of 80s big hair and matchy-matchy bright colors.

"Beverly Hills 90210" is a good gauge (as awful as it was) because the show started I think in 1990. Compare the style/feel from the first couple years vs. the rest. Even the early themes were very 80s--lots of "very special episodes."

by Anonymousreply 255March 21, 2017 5:32 PM

[Quote] "Beverly Hills 90210" is a good gauge (as awful as it was) because the show started I think in 1990. Compare the style/feel from the first couple years vs. the rest. Even the early themes were very 80s--lots of "very special episodes."

Aww it wasn't that bad. I did notice the pilot/earlier episodes were more 80s than 90s. The entire first season was an after school special lol.

by Anonymousreply 256March 21, 2017 5:38 PM

R256 yup and then when 90210 came into the 90s, they changed the format and made it a "teen nighttime soap opera", you needex a scorecard to keep up with who was sleeping or cheating on whom by season 5

by Anonymousreply 257March 21, 2017 5:45 PM

[Quote] you needex a scorecard to keep up with who was sleeping or cheating on whom by season 5

Lol that's for sure. One of the character's even says how their group is so incestuous.

by Anonymousreply 258March 21, 2017 5:50 PM

Fast Times and Dazed and Confused capture the vibe of an era that is very rare.

The Breakfast Club captures the 80s, but it's practically 95% drama.

The attempts at comedy date it the most, and there aren't many funny moments.

by Anonymousreply 259March 21, 2017 6:01 PM

I'm a boomer. I saw it on tv and it was cringe-making.

When I was in HS the only clique was the jock/cheerleader clique. They thought they were hot shit but nobody really cared. Funny thing, none of the jocks amounted to much but the cheerleaders all had great lives. Movie producer, pediatrician at a world renowned institution, business owners, CFO.

Shows you how much "pretty" matters. Many smart, plain or ugly girls went nowhere. It was a catholic school, so females were at a disadvantage to start with, as they were viewed as future breeders.

One thing I was grateful for -- since everyone wore a uniform, fashion meant nothing. You could be rich or poor, nobody knew the difference. You had to make yourself known as the person inside of you. Clothes, shoes, coifs were meaningless.

by Anonymousreply 260March 21, 2017 6:23 PM

We had a guy 6'3 who wrestled at 167 - he was a serious jock - played football and was very good. He had to cut almost 40 pounds to make weight - he was always running in the halls in plastics - the bloody nose stuff from malnutrition was real. The guys on the larger end of the weight classes very often played football as well as Wrestled. Our Running Back also cut extreme weight to wrestle at 145. Basketball players were the goofy guys with long arms - the Football/Wrestlers where the guys you didn't want to mess with. I don't think they allow the drastic weight loss anymore. We had many jocks in my North Suburban Chicago High School that were in 3 sports, one for each season. When you got into that elite, elite level athlete that was State Champion or going to get a Major Scholarship ride for his Football - often times yes, they had to stay just one sport. We had some pretty good years, in both Football and Wrestling, we won our County - but we never had a State Champion - sigh to go back to those days - I would have slept with all of them.

by Anonymousreply 261March 21, 2017 9:06 PM

Grew up in NJ and was in high school from 1979 to 1983. I was 5'7" as a senior when I had shoes on. I was average or tall for a wrestler. There was little crossover between football and wrestling. The sports were cross country (fall), wrestling (winter) and track or baseball (spring). Wrestlers are probably the best runners. We used to run laps around the football and basketball team.

Whoever mentioned the farmboys was totally correct. They were the toughest competitors.

by Anonymousreply 262March 21, 2017 10:21 PM

Even toddlers share their toys in Europe and NEVER cry! I can't believe the United States. We're nothing like this.

by Anonymousreply 263March 21, 2017 10:25 PM

I went to public schools in New England. Our schools were actually much better than any of the local private schools, so we had a mix of wealthy along with poor and everything in between students (my family was solidly working class). Wealth didn't have so much to do with popularity--most of the really wealthy kids were popular, but lots of not-at-all-wealthy students were as well. My hometown is a beach town with a lot of mingling between wealthy and not, so that just wasn't as big a deal. Lots of really smart/gifted kids were popular also--we seemed to draw a distinction between smart vs. geeky/nerd. Drinking/pot was also a big equalizer--lots of mingling between different social classes just because of mutual love of weed and who could get it. As in, if you were a geek who could score good weed, that bumped you way up in status. Looks were a really big deal, but not across the board. You could be an ugly jock, but if you were just smart and ugly, you were automatically a geek/nerd/loser.

Sports were also a big deal, but the big sports were football, soccer and basketball for boys (baseball to a lesser extent); track, basketball and soccer for girls. And my schools were just as nasty and cliquish as depicted in The Breakfast Club and Welcome to the Dollhouse, the difference was just in how the lines were drawn. I think junior high and the first couple years of high school were the worst. The last couple years I at least was just focused on getting the fuck out. I was moderately popular and elite college bound, and I was fed up with the bullshit by 9th or 10th grade.

by Anonymousreply 264March 21, 2017 10:47 PM

I never bought Molly Ringwald as the hot popular girl, and it's interesting she pushed to play that role instead of the Ally Sheedy part intended for her.

by Anonymousreply 265March 25, 2017 3:59 AM

I tried to watch "The Breakfast Club" a long time ago. I didn't get all the way through it. I thought: "THIS is what all the big deal is about?" I thought it was fake and stupid.

One critic zeroed in on Ally Sheedy's character, "the basket case." He said she was much more interesting before she had her "makeover", which turns her into a bland, generic teenage girl. He said he wished she had stayed true to her original self, instead of conforming in order to "fit in." I agreed with that and I also thought it was pretty stupid that all that was needed for her personality change was to get a new hairdo and wear a different makeup look. And voila, as soon as she makes those lame changes the jock falls in love with her! "I don't want to be alone anymore." "You don't have to be." GAG.

Anyway, I'm not a fan of TBC. I'm not a fan of any of those ridiculous teen/young adult movies from the eighties: "Sixteen Candles", "Pretty In Pink", "Some Kind of Wonderful", "St. Elmo's Fire", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", etc. They all belong in a time capsule for the eighties. "

by Anonymousreply 266March 25, 2017 4:42 AM
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by Anonymousreply 267March 25, 2017 4:46 AM

Barf - Ally Sheedy was far more appealing pre-makeover minus the dandruff of course. I rarely could connect with her as an actress. She is one of those actors who should forever be thanking her lucky stars for her success. I am perplexed.

by Anonymousreply 268March 25, 2017 4:58 AM

Ally Sheedy would be perfect for any number of shows in the Peak Television era, as just sort of a mediocre actor playing a character in a good but not great show. There's lots of those opportunities now.

by Anonymousreply 269March 25, 2017 5:47 AM

I don't see what was so not beautiful about Molly. She was tall and lean with porcelain skin, stylishly-cut hair and the kind of bee stung lips that Kylie Jenner and many other women pay for. I totally bought her as the princess.

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by Anonymousreply 270March 26, 2017 1:17 PM

I think she's pretty in an unusual way, but doubt that high school boys like Judd Nelson, James Spader and Michael Schoeffling would leave their girlfriends for her, especially the blonde haired, big titted ones.

by Anonymousreply 271March 26, 2017 8:24 PM

R210 I don't know.

I was 14 in 1984. I had to go to summer school to take Spanish. It was a school across town, and I was put at a table with a burn-out and a jock, and a slut-girl. We all actually wound up all bonding that summer. We found each other fascinating. I enjoyed them more than my "regular" friends, though we never saw each other outside of that school.

Breakfast Club was totally plausible in that regard to me.

by Anonymousreply 272March 26, 2017 11:54 PM

I'm 35 and still love this movie.

I think it remains popular because the archetypes presented are relatable to both kids and adults.

It's also hopeful in a way many wish their lives in high school had been.

by Anonymousreply 273March 27, 2017 12:15 AM

The color scheme of Claire's ensemble - the mauve/beige/coral color story she had going on in that film - reminds me of the very first Banana Republic catalogs I ever saw in the late 1980's. Warms my heart.

by Anonymousreply 274April 2, 2017 3:28 PM

I alway found the overall tone of TBC to be a bit dour.

by Anonymousreply 275April 2, 2017 4:07 PM

I wanted Brian to become Claire’s clique-shattering love interest at the end of the movie, rather than Bender. Those two characters had a deeper & subtler chemistry that went beyond pigtail-pulling.

Molly even lobbied for Claire/Brian, as she & A-MH were real-life (albeit tentative) sweethearts at the time of filming. Ringwald might have been a spoiled diva back then as well as a limited actress, but she knew her roles and understood how crucial chemistry is to drama. Her instinct was correct and would have improved the film no end, had Hughes listened to her.

It must have been strange for Molly to have to pick on her boyfriend at work.

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by Anonymousreply 276February 22, 2018 4:30 PM

All of these students would stare at their phones ignoring each other today.

by Anonymousreply 277February 23, 2018 5:44 PM

I think it's still a good movie. A bit dated, of course, but not too much.

To me, Fast Times has aged better. It kinda had a more timeless feel to it. The hairdos and fashions of the 80's had yet to reach the outlandish excesses that they would a few years later.

by Anonymousreply 278February 24, 2018 2:13 AM

Robert downey sucked so much cock on the set, and off, they had to shut down for a few days while his cumwad filled tummy went bak to normal..

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by Anonymousreply 279February 24, 2018 4:28 AM

R279 considering he wasn't even in the movie, what are you talking about?

by Anonymousreply 280February 24, 2018 4:32 AM

R277 Yep and I think that is why so many of the 80s teen movies remain popular because it shows teens actually interacting with each other and not looking down and starring at a phone.

by Anonymousreply 281February 24, 2018 4:40 AM

Ferries Mueller is a great movie and so is Risky Business. There were a lot if teen movies that were great in the 80s.

by Anonymousreply 282February 24, 2018 4:58 AM

I saw it in the theaters when I was a senior in high school and I hated Molly Ringwald in that part back then because I thought she wasn't attractive enough to play the cool/popular girl. She was great in 16 Candles though.

by Anonymousreply 283February 24, 2018 5:01 AM
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