In most cases when books are turned into movies, the results are less than stellar. There are exceptions, but most people will agree no matter how great the director is, it is usually hard to capture the same intensity on the big screen. There are tons of movies that evolved from books, but one major one for teens in the 80’s was The Outsiders. Based on S.E. Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders tells the story of the greasers and socs. A classic tale of the rivalry of kids from the wrong side of the tracks and the kids who want to make sure they never forget their place. Although the book was written 1967 and the movie came later when it was made by Francis Ford Coppola in 1983. Since then, many people have not only read the book or saw the movie The Outsiders, they also may have gone on to read the sequels That Was Then, This Is Now and Rumble Fish. Although neither of the sequels, in my opinion, were as good as the first, both of them were also turned into feature films starring some of the same actors from first film. The Outsiders had what could be described as a young all-star line up. C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillion, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez and Ralph Macchio made up the infamous greaser group. Even with a great cast, director, and script, a film based on a book has great obstacles to overcome. Although a great movie its still hard to hold a candle next to such a great book. Stay gold Ponyboy.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

High School. Defined by Urbandictionary.com as "a failed experiment in preparing young people for the adult world." The definition may sound a little far fetched in today' society, but after watching Amy Heckerling's, Fast Times at Ridegemont High, it seems more on point than I first thought. These teens are doomed. Let's start off by first talking about Stacy Hamilton: the virgin who gets pregnant. Let's set the scene: The film starts off at the mall pizza parlor where Stacy works. She sees a sexy older man so she goes up and takes his order. He asks for a meatball sub, a coke, and her digits- what else would a 26 year old want from a younger chick (she's 15 by the way). Anyways, he takes her virginity thinking she's 19, and they never speak again. All of a sudden little Stacy is hooking up with her new crush's best friend- Mike Damone. Mike gets her pregnant but all's well since she gets a quick abortion for the cost of 150 dollars.

Another example of failing youth is our stoner character Jeff Spicoli. Spicoli is a prime specimen for what teachers hate in highschool kids. He shows up late to class, and that's when he does show up, he orders pizza to class, he's always high, he never knows the answers, and he mouths off to the teacher on the first day. Spicoli is clearly going nowhere fast.

The funny thing about this film is that no matter how much each of these kids messes up, it all seems to work out for them in the end. Stacy is able to get her abortion and her parents never find out. Spicoli is able to pass class without even trying, and he still gets to go to the senior dance.

I've heard over and over how great this movie is and what a classic it is, but I can honestly say I didn't like it at all. The whole time spent watching this seemed life a lifetime. There is no specific plot, the movie just goes on. I found absolutely no point to the movie but maybe that's irony since there seems to be absolutely no point to high school...

Blade Runner (1982)

Tagline: A chilling, bold, mesmerizing, futuristic detective thriller.

(The original cut of the futuristic adventure.)

What you need to know: Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) prowls the steel-and-microchip jungle of 21^st-century Los Angeles [in the year 2019]. He’s a “blade runner” stalking genetically made criminal replicants. His assignment: kill them. Their crime: wanting to be human.

I can’t relate to you how confusing this film was. We are brought into this dark, hazy, rainy vision of 2019 where cars fly and Chinatown has taken over the entire city of Los Angeles. (As a result, Deckard can’t get anything but Asian food to eat). It looks more like the post-apocalyptic world in The Terminator than anything else.

We get this story of four replicants who hijacked a space ship and have returned to earth seeking their creator. Well, Deckard hunts them down one by one, even though the job brings him out of retirement. It’s in the little details that the story starts to deviate and get a bit confusing. For example, it is unclear who the four replicants are, especially since they seem to be scattered in different locations in Los Angeles. The first female replicant to die is a stripper with a pension for fake snakes (and by fake, I mean, the snake looks real, only in 2019, real snakes are too expensive, so an Egyptian manufactures fake snakes). Odd? Yes.

There is this whole other issue with Deckard coercing another replicant to have sex? After Deckard tells Rachael she’s a replicant and that all her memories are implanted, she of course, has an emotional breakdown. This breakdown, I’m assuming, is what sparks Deckard’s interest in her. When she visits him in his apartment (for lack of a better word) he refuses to let her leave until she agrees to have sex. The very end of the film has us wondering if Rachael will live, since all replicants are illegal on earth.

SOMEBODY ELSE'S MEMORIES SCENE --> RACHAEL

The last two replicants to die are Pris (Darryl Hannah, whom you may recognize from Wall Street as Darien) and Roy (Rutger Hauer). Replicants are supposed to be nearly identical to humans, but with a lifespan of about four years, so I was a little taken aback when Darryl Hannah emerges with this burned-mop-looking wig for hair and raccoon-like makeup THEN attacks Harrison Ford like a cat out of hell!

Roy is another story. He somehow STRIPS out of his clothes and starts fighting against Deckard in nothing but his undies. It appears that he is close to dying (his four years are up) and he’s gone off the deep end, because he starts howling like a wolf and running around like a banshee as well. After Roy breaks TWO of Deckard’s fingers, Deckard SCALES A BUILDING! Roy dies (of old age) after saving Deckard’s life. There is this massive question of WHERE Roy acquired a white dove that flies out of his grasp when he dies… maybe it was in between taking off a sock and Harrison Ford hitting him with a metal pipe.

Lastly, there is this gnawing question of whether Deckard himself is a replicant. If you ever watch this movie, do let me know.

Beat Street (1984)

Dance battles, not war! Beat Street is a fun and funky journey into New York’s budding hip hop scene. Graffiti, breakdancing, and hip hop music flourish with the South Bronx youth, a great alternative to drugs and gang culture I’d say. Beat Street focuses on the specific talents of four friends: Kenny Kirkland (Guy Davis), an aspiring DJ, his little brother Lee (Robert Taylor), a b-boy of the Beat Street Breakers (played by the actual breakdance group the New York City Breakers), Ramo (Jon Chardiet), a graffiti artist, and Chollie (Leon W. Grant), a suave and sufficient entertainment promoter.

What gang fights used to look like. Both are actual crews in New York!

I found myself asking, “Where did all the good hip hop go?” Beat Street takes you back to a time where good rap didn’t have to include mentioning the amount of girls you get with, what kind of jewelry you wear, or your really big butt. It reminded me a lot of Step Up, with its long dance off sequences and musical performances. Stan Lathan made sure to bring in as many popular early 80’s hip hop notables as possible: Trecherous Three, Afrika Bambaataa, and Doug E. Fresh just to name a few. He brought in so many, there had to be three soundtracks made for this one film.

Some of the conflict in the film didn’t seem substantial enough to get upset over, such as when Kenny gets upset at his love interest, Tracy (Rae Dawn Chong) for being affectionate with Robert (Duane Jones). The guy is like 50 years older than her! How do you assume their flirting? Apparently this is rational enough for him to storm out of the studio. Despite this, Beat Street does have its deeper moments. The sub-story with Ramo and his baby momma is actually quite heart wrenching. He finally finds an apartment where they can be away from her oppressive mother and gets a job at a hardware store. His love for art leads him to the “white train”, which he has been longing to graffiti. However, “Spit”, the mystery rival that has been defacing Ramo’s work, attacks his piece. Both of them struggle on the train tracks until together they fall on an electric train rail and die instantly.

Ramo’s death inspires Kenny to use his make-or-break DJing performance into a performance art tribute to his friend. The final scenes of movie are filled with mixed media projections, dancers, and music of all styles.

If you’re a hip hop fan and want to get a taste of the original sounds that inspired artists like Notorious B.I.G and 50 Cent, this isn’t the movie to miss. And even if you aren’t, there’s enough fun and funky-ness to go around. Join the hip hop culture! You might find some beats you’d never thought you’d like.

Flashdance (1983)

Tagline: Every day, she works in a man's world. Every night, she dances through the universe that is her dream.

Picture an 18-year-old girl living on her own in Pittsburgh: metal welder by day and exotic dancer by night. But! She has big dreams of getting into a prestigious ballet school. Oh, and she lives in an old warehouse and has a pit-bull. Well, then you’ve just pictured Flashdance.

I have to say, for so much hype surrounding this film, I was utterly surprised to find that it was ridiculously bad. Sure, I was pleasantly surprised to find a pretty girl, Alex Owens, working in a man’s blue-collar world, but then it just took a huge turn. Alex goes and dances her little heart out (she, you know, strips her clothes off while she’s at it) and catches the eye of Nick Hurley, her daytime job boss.

Well, that just about did it for me. I figured Alex and Nick would get together and her dance aspirations would come to fruition. I thought Alex and Nick’s relationship killed her independence. She was doing just fine before Nick entered the picture, yet after a little persuading, they start dating and having sex. I believe that their relationship was not truly romantic or based on love and trust, rather it was based on sex, which devalues Alex and the independence she so obviously had at the beginning of the film.

It annoyed me that Nick got her the dance audition she needed; she was never given the chance to land the audition on her own. The audition itself was more comedy than drama, with the drastic change her dancing evokes on the panel of judges. I laughed out loud.

There were a few moments of “Wow, that was atrocious acting” in the film. One was certainly not meant to show how dreadful Jennifer Beals is at showing emotion – she sheds one solitary tear… The dancing was alright, from a 2011 audience member, I have had 28 more years of dance moves to contend with and I saw nothing special in Flashdance.

I rephrase my last statement to include the entire film. I saw nothing special in Flashdance.

WATCH THE BEST

Rambo: First Blood (1982)

"In the field we had a code of honor, you watch my back, I watch yours".

After coming back from the war, Vietnam vet John Rambo nomadically wonders around the U.S in search of his war buddies. When he finds out he died from cancer due to exposure to Agent Orange. John Walked into a small town where the Sheriff takes an immediate disliking to him. John gets arrested and abused by the police department. Rambo experiences flashbacks from the war and the Sheriffs department has something coming to them. Rambo escapes and starts a one-man war against the police department. What follows is chaos and mayhem, Rambo tears this town to pieces.

Rambo doesn't say to much throughout the film but you still get a feel for what is going on in his head from the musical soundtrack. The music keys in at the perfect moments to give us the a sense of whats going on.The movie is quiet there isn't really much dialogue between the characters. The movie is action packed, there is one part where Rambo sets up traps in the forest for the people coming after him. He is an expert in gorilla warfare and seems like he cannot be touched. Rambo rarely speaks and when he does finally opens up at the end to the colonel it becomes a moving moment and sets up perfectly for the sequel.

Taps

In 1981, the movie Tap’s directed by Harold Becker, was released. This film follows a group of students who take over their military academy in order to save it from being closed down. In my mind, Taps is one of those interesting movies that never got the fame and recognition it deserved. Taps helped many young stars get their big break. Two names of stars that debuted in Taps are Tom Cruise and Sean Penn. Cruise plays a hotheaded cadet who is willing to go to extreme lengths to ensure everyone holds down the academy while under siege from the National Guard. A young Timothy Hutton plays Cadet Major Brian Moreland. An incident, which ends up with the cadets general being arrested, triggers a cadet take-over of the school, which is in jeopardy of being closed down. Hutton and his fellow cadets seize all the weapons removed from the armory. Armed, the cadet’s state their terms to the dean of students, demanding the school stay open. The movie shows the extremes a few cadets are willing to go to in order to save their school and the trauma they experience fighting for what they believe is right. They do all this with a militaristic mind set and not one of teenage boys. The film accurately shows Hutton’s character rise from a cadet in training to the young man with the mentality of a general. It portrays young boys turning into men over night and I believe foreshadows what can happen to a soldier’s mind in the midst of war. The film also shows how the military breeds young men to think as if everyone is the enemy and never to let anything of importance get taken from you. To always stand up for what you believe and never turn your back on a fellow soldier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob2DIURBXts&feature=related

Weekend at Bernies (1989)

"What kind of a host invites you to his house for the weekend and dies on you"

-Larry

Larry and Richard are two young workers trying to make their way up in the insurance agency. The two friends are a typical film duo, with Richard as the workaholic while the free-spirited Larry is always looking for an excuse to have fun.They uncover a $2 million fraud and report it to their boss named Bernie. They get all hyped up because they think they are heros and this is going to get them promotions. Unfortunately for them, Bernie is the one behind the fraud, and he invites them to his island beach house for the weekend, where he intends to have them killed by his mobsters.

But little did Bernie know, the mob intends to kill him instead. Richard and Larry, arrive and discover Bernie's body. At first they panic and start to call the police, then they decide to "wait and see" what happeneds.They soon find out that everybody on the island knows Bernie, he has a reputation as the life of the party and being a good host. Richard and Larry also discover that the local residents are so dumb, they don't even notice that Bernie's dead. So their plan is to see if they convince people that Bernie is still alive, so they can have a good time. Is this ethical? They know he's dead, and they decide not to tell anyone because they just want to have fun and get laid at this beach house. Instead they play with him like a doll and talk to him like he's still alive.

Not only do Larry and Richard convince the people of the island that Bernie is still alive, they also convince the mob boss who keeps trying to kill Bernie. Richard and Larry strut around the island with Bernie hanging on their shoulders they ties there so laces to his and walk around with him. These two are absolutely nuts!!!

The Breakfast Club: Who Knew Detention Could Be So Much Fun?

The Brain.  The Basket Case.  The Athlete.  The Princess.  The Thief. 

These are the five main characters in the Breakfast Club.  Each represents a different stereotype in high school and, at the beginning of the movie, none of them want anything to do with each other.  However, John Hughes sets the scene by throwing the five of them in a library on a Saturday for detention.  Amidst quite a few setbacks and clashes with the school principal, the five finally unite over common ground, rebelling against authority.  They learn about each others differences, with the aid of marijuana, and become…could it be…friends?  At least, temporarily.  Insert some mild flirtation and romance here and there and we have an 80s hit. 

The Breakfast Club is witty, entertaining and a whole lot of fun to watch.  John Hughes inserts "teen speak" into the movie to appeal to the 80s teen crowd.  However, he also manages to insert some terminology that he coined himself, for example when Bender calls Brian a "neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie."  The Breakfast Club is full of surprises.  Particularly when the five sit around in a circle and reveal why they are in detention in the first place.  Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to find your personality in one of the characters (my personal favorite is Brian).  It is easily one of my favorite movies from the 80s and I would highly recommend it.

Girls Just Want To Have Fun (1985)

No, not the Cyndi Lauper song. In fact, the filmmakers used a cover instead of the actual song in this movie because of liscensing restrictions. Why Cyndi Lauper didn’t want her song to be the anthem of this combination of Footloose/13 Going On 30 beats me.

Janey Glenn’s army family transfers to Chicago, home to her favorite show of all time DanceTV (an 80’s version of today’s So You Think You Can Dance). Played by a young Sarah Jessica Parker (remember her from Footloose?), she is respectful, naïve, and innocent until she becomes BFFs with Lynn Stone (Helen Hunt), a spunky, style conscious rebel who wears animals in her hair. Lynn convinces Janey to audition for DanceTV against her militaristic father’s wishes.

Why yes, those are dinosaurs in her hair.

Here's a grasshopper too.

This is the typical good-girl-falling-in-love-with-bad-leather-jacket-wearing-boy. His name is Jeff (Lee Montgomery). He is a bad ass, a good dancer, and he is going to change Janey’s life. She teaches him how to flip, he teaches her to wear legwarmers.

The movie follows the coming-of age chick flick format. Good prevails over evil, Janey beats Natalie the sexy, rich dancer in the contest, wins the guy, and stands up to her overbearing father. Also, cheesy back story fact: Janey’s parents used to be dancers. It's pretty obvious SJP doesn't do any of her own dancing, but she's cute and smiley, so it's ok.

Alan Metter chose to focus on the brighter side of the “me” generation. The film doesn't focus so much on dance, but rather Janey's story of rebellion and the embracing of youth. The catchy pop songs along with the colorful fashion statements of the 80’s just made you wanna dance in the street. Not to mention everyday was a bright, beautiful, sunny day in Chicago. My favorite part of the movie had to be when Janey, Lynn, and Maggie (a baby-faced Shannon Doherty), make copies of the evil Natalie’s debutante invitations and pass them out to the edgy, taboo crowd on the streets of Chicago. Hippies, punks, drag queens, and female body builders unite for an epic slamdancing scene at Natalie’s debutante ball.

You know you have time to watch this. The drag queen is my favorite.

Baby Shannen Doherty

Heathers Shannen Doherty

A feel good girl power movie, and with impeccable casting, SJP’s youthful innocence and Helen Hunt’s spirited delivery make for a fun bubblegum flick fit for toenail painting and sleepovers.