Title: The Breakfast Club (1985)
Directed By: John Hughes (he practically directed the 80’s as we know it now)
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez (the brother you didn’t know Charlie Sheen had), Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy
Thus commences a story which was really not about breakfast at all…
Much to my surprise and delight, I got Safkhet to watch one of my favorite movies … and I didn’t even have to ask! And by ‘ask’ I mean ‘harass about via text for a minimum of 5 months’.
This week’s pick was The Breakfast Club, the 80’s classic that’s influenced every high school, teen, or clique movie in the past 30 years, along with the tropes that go with them.
In lieu of my usual spiel about who directed it and who was in it, etc. I’m just going to skip straight to the freaking review, because a) I’ve already seen this movie and b) I find it enjoyable in an extremely creepy way and nothing anyone else can say will dissuade me. However if you must know it was directed by Christian Alvart (known for literally nothing else that I’ve ever heard of) and it stars Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster (one of the bad guys in 3:10 to Yuma amongst a few other such roles), Cam Giganet (a pretty face that was also in Easy A), and Antje Traue (Faora in Man of Steel).
Spoilers below as per usual.
The bad news is that literally the only people of color are a)a black guy who is only interested in cannibalizing the ship’s survivor’s and b) someone who we are led to believe is probably Asian and of course knows how to drop some sick martial arts type moves to save all the white people from the bad guys and of course gets killed before the finale. Also the obligatory part where he did it because he went crazy.
The good news is that Antje Traue is a bad ass and is fully instrumental in saving the ship and while there was a suggestion of romance it wasn’t something they stopped to capitalize on.
For a B-Movie it’s pretty good in that it has a lot of dark creepy effects and a good air of mystery. The twist I think is an interesting take especially for a space movie which makes it’s standard horror movie approach a little more bearable. There is of course the questioning of human nature and what happens when we leave the safety of earth behind and so on and so forth. All of the actors give fairly good performances though it’s hard to unsee Ben Foster as a bad guy since he seems to do a lot of those types of roles now. While it doesn’t age particularly gracefully and is a definite B-movie it has it’s own B-movie charm with enough cool little things to make it worth a watch.
out of 10! Standard B-Movie fare with a worthwhile twist and lots of good creepy moments.
Long time, no watch! Well, actually, we did do some watching. We just go super lazy about posting.
This week’s pick was by Safkhet since we realized in the car on the way over that we basically had no idea what to watch. The process went a little like this:
S: Have you seen Pandorum?
L: No…? What’s it about?
S: Creepy space stuff.
L: Oh Safkhet no. You just said my two least favorite words together.
||MISERY (1990)|| Rated R
Directed By: Rob Reiner (Stand By Me 1986,The Princess Bride 1987, When Harry Met Sally 1989, A Few Good Men 1992)
Starring: James Caan (The Godfather 1972, Elf 2003), Kathy Bates (Fried Green Tomatoes 1991, Titanic 1997, American Horror Story 2013-2016), Richard Farnsworth (Anne of Green Gables 1985 TV mini-series)
IMDB (Rating: 7.8/10) || (A) Few days after being rescued and sheltered from a car crash caused by a blizzard by a nurse who claims to be his number one fan, a well-known author begins suspecting the mental health of his savior.
Rotten Tomatoes (TomatoMeter: 89% CERTIFIED FRESH) || Based on the Stephen King novel, Misery casts James Caan as romance writer Paul Sheldon. After a car accident, Sheldon is trapped in his vehicle in the middle of a blizzard; on the brink of death, he is rescued by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a former nurse who carries the writer to her home to recover. It turns out that Annie is a huge fan of Sheldon’s work, which consists of a series of romance novels about a character named Misery Chastain; Paul, wanting to explore more serious work, has decided to kill Misery in order to write a raw, autobiographical book about life on the streets. Annie, who has lived almost vicariously through the Misery Chastain books for years, is livid over the harsh language of Paul’s book, but becomes almost crazed upon discovering Misery’s fate. To teach the bedridden man a lesson, she forces him to burn the autobiographical manuscript and resurrect Misery; after learning of Annie’s murderous past, he knows that Misery’s return to life will mark the end of his own.
Awards: Kathy Bates won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role (1991) as well as the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role (1991). Received various other nominations and awards.
||THE QUICK HIT||
Love It, Like It, Gotta Leave It.
Hashtags: #kathybatesno! #omgnooooooo #can’tlook #wetoldyoutofixthatfuckingpenguinstatue #sheknewallalong #NOTTHESHERIFF #NOOOOO #thereisalotofmetanalaysistobehadregardingthecurrentauthorfanrelationshipsrightnow #she’sgonnakillthatpig #holyshitIcan’tbelieveshedidn’tkillthepigandhavethemeatit
Does this movie pass the Bechdel Test? No
Does this movie pass the Mako Mori Test? No (I would argue with Anni as the antagonist this story is all about Paul Sheldon’s dilemma)
Contains ‘Other’ Pro-Feminist Leanings? Yes, while Annie Wilkes is hardly a feminist hero the sheriff’s wife provides a surprising feminist characterization that provides a bit of humor in between the dark parts of this film.
Did it age well (any film pre-2001)? Pretty well, it’s obviously dated because of no cell phones and such but the lack of blood and gore and utilization of the outdoor shots keep this film fairly polished looking.
Mommie Dearest (1981) Rated: R ((Warning: Contains mentions/descriptions of child abuse.))
Directed By: Frank Perry
Starring: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwind, Mara Hobel, and many others (see IMDB/Rotten Tomatoes).
IMDB (Rating 6.6/10) || Mommie Dearest, best selling memoir, turned motion picture, depicts the abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother…screen queen Joan Crawford.
Rotten Tomatoes (Rating: TomatoMeter: 55%) || When her adoptive mother Joan Crawford died in 1977, erstwhile actress/author Christina Crawford and her brother Christopher were left out of Joan Crawford’s will, “for reasons which are well known to them.” Industryites have suggested that it may have been this posthumous act of rejection rather than an alleged lifetime of parental abuse that inspired Christina Crawford to pen her scathing autobiography Mommie Dearest. The 1981 film version of this tome was evidently meant to be taken seriously, but the operatic direction by Frank Perry and the over-the-top portrayal of Joan Crawford by Faye Dunaway (whose makeup is remarkable) has always seemed to inspire loud laughter whenever and where-ever the film is shown. According to the film (and the book that preceded it), Joan Crawford was a licentious, child-beating behemoth, who stalked and postured through life as though it was one of her own pictures-more Strait-jacket than Mildred Pierce. This is the film with the notorious “wire coat hanger” scene, just in case you need a reminder. Surprisingly, one emerges from Mommie Dearest with more sympathy for the monstrous but intensely vulnerable Crawford than for her whining daughter (played as an adult by Diana Scarwid, and as a child by Mara Hobel). Our favorite scene: Joan Crawford dazedly replacing her ailing daughter in the cast of a daytime TV soap opera.
Awards: National Society of Film Critics Awards 2’nd Place to Faye Dunaway in category of best actress. Lot’s of Razzies unfortunately.
||The Quick Hit||
Love It, Like It, Gotta Leave It.
Hashtags: #disturbing #awesomemakeup #awesomecostumes #JoanCrawfordwasapparentlyterrifying #stepfordchildren #Iwillneverlookatametalcoathangerthesamewayagain
Does this movie pass the Bechdel Test? Yes
Does this movie pass the Mako Mori Test? Yes
Contains ‘Other’ Pro-Feminist Leanings? Not Particularly
Did it age well (any film pre-2001)? N/A (period piece)
An impromptu choice, our second Blunt Cinema screening turned out to be 1981’s Mommie Dearest. Armed with ice cream, french fries, and a new pink bong we embarked on this maternal nightmare.
The Witness (1985) Rated R
Directed By: Peter Weir (The Dead Poet’s Society 1989; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003)
Starring: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis (Top Gun, The Accused, The L Word), Lukas Haas (Mars Attacks, 24, Inception), Danny Glover
— — —
IMDB [Rating: 7.5/10]: A young Amish boy is sole witness to a murder; policeman John Book goes into hiding in Amish country to protect him until the trial.
Rotten Tomatoes [TomatoMeter: 91%]: In Peter Weir’s thriller Witness, Samuel (Lukas Haas), a young Amish boy, witnesses a murder in the restroom of a Philadelphia bus station. Harrison Ford stars as John Book, the police detective investigating the murder. When Book discovers that the crime was part of a conspiracy involving several officials in his department, he flees Philadelphia to the Amish community where Samuel lives with his widowed mother, Rachel (Kelly McGillis). Slowly assimilating himself into the Amish community, Book eventually finds himself falling in love with Rachel in the midst of his investigation. Eventually, the corrupt police track Book down, and he is forced to confront them, while also trying to protect Rachel and Samuel.
Awards: 1986 Nominated Best Picture, 1986 Won Best Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) and Won Best Film Editing.
— — —
The Quick Hit
Love It, Like It, Gotta Leave It.
Hashtags: #disappointed #overrated #thiswasanoscarnom? #thestoryinmyheadwasbetter #wastedpotential #awasteofvillainy #DannyGloverwasanicevillainplaceholder
Does this movie pass the Bechdel Test? Yes
Does this movie pass the Mako Mori Test? No
Contains ‘Other’ Pro-Feminist Leanings? Not Particularly
Did it age well (any film pre-2001)? No
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