Tag Archives: Anthony Michael Hall

February Blind Spot Review: Sixteen Candles (1984)

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“That’s why they call them crushes. If they were easy, they’d call ’em something else.”
– Jim Baker

SYNOPSIS: A girl’s “sweet” sixteenth birthday becomes anything but special, as she suffers from every embarrassment possible. – via IMDB

Alright, so we know that John Hughes is like super popular and all these things, and I have watched some but not all of his movies. I love The Breakfast Club while I completely loathe Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, so I was figured I should check out another one of his movies that I have heard so much about but never actually watched. Now I have. And, well… okay.

I wasn’t a fan of this. I didn’t hate it, and it had moments, and let me tell you, having your family forget your sixteenth seriously blows (true story, I actually know this feeling). Hughes captured the complete teenage-ness of Samantha and her life, and I think Molly Ringwald was totally the right choice to play sullen, sulky Samantha.

I have always heard a lot of bitching about a rapey angle of this between Jake and the Geek and Caroline, and let me tell you, now that I have watched it, I get it. That arc was so not cool. Basically like giving the girl away like she was a commodity, not caring what happened, all that. I don’t want to get into it too much, but just know that the whole situation was just not cool man. ICK.

John Cusack is adorable, as always, and I could totally have done with more of him. In fact, the most entertainment for me came from the interactions between Bryce, Cliff, and the Geek, even if at times they were a touch inappropriate. Then there was the silly but fun story line of Long Duk Dong. What an unexpectedly crazy character to make his way into this.

Anyway, I thought that Sixteen Candles to be an alright watch, maybe not the best of all time, but it wasn’t bad. There were aspects that I liked and aspects that I didn’t, and while it won’t be something I will be checking out again (probably), I don’t regret having ticked it off my watch list.

May Blind Spot Review: The Breakfast Club (1985)

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“We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all.”
– Andrew

SYNOPSIS: Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they though – via IMDB

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GRADE 8So, I am not as well versed in John Hughes’s work as most, I will freely admit it. I didn’t like National Lampoon’s Vacation and I (the heathen) really didn’t care for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I put this movie on my Blind Spot list because I haven’t seen it, and like the aforementioned, it is really popular, and I am trying to catch up with these and see if there is something I missed.

I didn’t actually think I would like this. Really, I didn’t, but I did. From the first few minutes, I was entertained. There was such a mix and match of characters, just waiting to see how they would interact was enough for me. Bender is a character that I specifically enjoyed, with a disgusting, prickly exterior to push people away and shield himself, he is also hidden under tons of cockiness and sarcasm, and I enjoyed him. The other characters take some more time to get into, to peel away the layers of their stereotypes and get to the gooey bits underneath. I liked this because it wasn’t the perfect bunch of teens thrown together, with a whole bunch of scenes to make money, pass time, make us laugh, but never to make us think. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty humour to be found in The Breakfast Club, but there is also a lot of serious things to get you wondering, to hit you in the feels, and there are other things right up there to irritate you and annoy you.

Another thing that was great was watching how the relationships/friendships formed between the kids – Bender spent the first half of the movie wrecking social conventions and then they got into it, into the whole concept. The whole movie essentially takes place in a library, over the longest detention I have ever seen, but the cast makes this come alive, and they run with it.

The Breakfast Club is actually quite a smart movie, and I liked it far more than I was expecting to. In fact, I feel that this may very well be a film that I will revisit in future. I know that it is immensely successful with a lot of people, and it especially resonates with people from that era, and I think it’s a pretty damn good outing. I might not be a raving fan, but this one was worth it. So glad I actually got off my butt and watched this.