BEFORE: OK, I've chosen my new path through the February films, I had to shift a couple of things around, but there were so many extra links that I wasn't using that it's really no big deal - except a couple of films are gone from the chain now, one is "The Layover", but that's on Hulu and it links to the romance films that will be left over after I'm done here, so that film could re-surface next year. Also gone is "The Perfect Score", which was always a bit suspect as a romance film - I just dubbed it to DVD and I didn't see anyone making out, so it's not a romance film, it's a high-school/heist film, one that was only in the chain to connect the Chris Evans movies and the Scarlett Johansson movies. It's been tabled for later this year, either for back-to-school time or to link to "Black Widow", possibly both, we'll see.
Added to the chain now, very last-minute, are today's film, which is another high-school film, but one that seems to fit better in the romance chain, and tomorrow's film, which I'll reveal tomorrow. Both aired recently on a good channel (one I can dub from) and have been put on DVD already. And about that, I'm having trouble with my cable DVR again, it keeps rebooting itself - when this happened two years ago I lost the contents of a full DVR, because all the cable company knows to do is to swap out the box, despite the fact that I PAID them for those movies, then I don't get to see them. Why oh why don't they have the ability to just put THAT drive into another DVR, and I can keep what I paid them for? Anyway, I'm hoping that this is a signal problem in my neighborhood and not a DVR problem, or else I'll lose about 60 movies stored on it, 25 of which are not currently running, so I'll have to track them all down again and possibly pay for them. Once again, I'm wishing there was a viable alternative to paying for premium cable, but I'm at their mercy.
Maddie Corman carries over from "Private Life". Hey, if TCM can link back 47 years from "The Player" to when Dean Stockwell was a child actor, then I can link back 31 years from 2018 to 1987, to when she was a child actor, playing the lead character's little sister. I was trying to figure out who she was in yesterday's film by Googling "Maddie Corman Private Life", but what I got instead was background on the actress' husband, who was involved in a scandal a couple years ago, which she then turned into an Off-Broadway one-woman show. Hey, when life gives you lemons... but then an IMDB search told me she was in "Some Kind of Wonderful", a film that I had trouble fitting in to this chain, so I was going to save it for next year. But nope, I'm packing the romance chain tight with films this year, even if that leaves me no linking opportunities next time - I can always do a half Black History Month instead.
Meanwhile, over on Turner Classic Movies, Marshall Thompson links from "The Valley of Decision" to tomorrow's first film, can you fill in the other links? Answers below.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9 on TCM (31 Days of Oscar, Day 9)
6:45 am "Mystery Street" (1950) with _____________ linking to:
8:45 am "Battleground" (1949) with _____________ linking to:
11:00 am "The Harvey Girls" (1946) with _____________ linking to:
1:00 pm "Friendly Persuasion" (1956) with _____________ linking to:
3:30 pm "Gentleman's Agreement" (1947) with _____________ linking to:
5:45 pm "National Velvet" (1944) with _____________ linking to:
8:00 pm "Strike Up the Band" (1940) with _____________ linking to:
10:15 pm "A Star Is Born" (1954) with _____________ linking to:
1:30 am "Julius Caesar" (1953) with _____________ linking to:
3:45 am "On the Waterfront" (1954) with _____________ linking to:
5:45 am "The Sandpiper" (1965)
I've seen another 4 of these: "A Star Is Born", "Julius Caesar", "On the Waterfront" and "The Sandpiper". It occurs to me that TCM will be playing "A Star Is Born" on Oscar night, possibly at the same time they'll be giving out the Best Actress award, and someone happens to be nominated for playing the star of that film. Does this mean TCM thinks Renee Zellweger will win? Another 4 films seen out of 11 brings me to 35 out of 104, or 33.6%.
THE PLOT: When Keith goes out with Amanda, the girl of his dreams, Amanda's ex-boyfriend plans to get back at Keith. Meanwhile, Keith's best friend, tomboy Watts, realizes she has feelings for him.
AFTER: I made it a point a few years ago to see all the John Hughes-directed films that I hadn't seen already, like "She's Having a Baby" and "Sixteen Candles", and I got to them all, except for "Curly Sue". But then there are the films only written by Hughes, and "Some Kind of Wonderful" is one of those. I'm still missing a few others like "Dutch", "Baby's Day Out" and most of the "Beethoven" franchise (which he wrote under the pseudonym of Edmond Dantes, nice) Oh, and "Drillbit Taylor", but you know what, I think I've already dug deep enough into his lesser works.
I'm just not sure that this film from 1987 aged very well, even though it was a more progressive time in the 80's, high-school girls with short hair could still be called lesbians in a derogatory manner. MTV was bringing Boy George, Elton John and Freddie Mercury into America's homes, but apparently at school, attitudes weren't changing quickly enough. I know, Watts isn't really a lesbian in this film, she's attracted to Keith, but she also watches Amanda in her underwear in the locker room. Plus she's a drummer, has a boyish figure, the signs are all there - give her a couple years to figure things out and she'll probably be listening to the Indigo Girls and marching in Pride parades.
But until that day comes, she's happy hanging out at the garage with Keith (mmm hmm, nothing to see here, just a girl who's interested in fixing car engines, move along...). She's Keith's best friend, but wants to upgrade to girlfriend status, which sets up the third leg of the classic love triangle. And believe me, after a week of failed proposals, slacking teens, self-help gurus in need of help and a bunch of in-vitro fertilizations, a love triangle story in a high-school is a refreshing change of pace. (Hey, some actual romance as we kick off Valentine's Week!).
So Keith confides in Watts about how he thinks Amanda is attractive - classic rookie mistake, never talk to one girl about your feelings for another. Amanda even proposes a practice kissing session, so Keith will be ready for his date with Amanda. Geez, Keith, do we have to draw you a diagram here, or hit you over the head so you'll notice the girl right in front of you? She's already your best friend, you've already laid the groundwork for a solid relationship, instead of chasing some girl who's WAY out of your league, why not just settle? You can at least have a couple years of hot action with Watts before she figures out that she's really into girls. (Umm, I may be projecting here, sorry.).
Plus Amanda just broke up with Hardy, and her girlfriends all want her to get back together with him, despite the fact that he was also chasing every other girl in school while dating Amanda. He's super rich I guess, and dresses well (with those cool 80's jackets, what is that, Members Only?) but he also treated Amanda like she was his property, which is so gnarly, dude. He even walks right into the girls' locker room to confront Amanda, despite the protests of the female gym teacher, because watching all the girls undress is HER job.
The rest is sort of by-the-numbers, Hardy pretends to be over Amanda but he's not, he invites them both to a party where he's planning to have his whole crew beat Keith up. Thankfully Keith's sister is a mall rat and overhears the plan, cluing Keith in that Amanda's only playing him to get him to the party and his beating. But Keith's got a plan to take down the socs, after all he didn't befriend those skinheads in detention for no reason...
I just have to ask, why is the Grand Funk Railroad song "Some Kind of Wonderful" not anywhere in this film? Was it just too 1970's for a film released in 1987? Why not have some 80's synth band cover it? Could they only afford the rights to the song's title, but not the song itself? It's conspicuous in its absence here. Meanwhile, there are a couple songs by the Psychedelic Furs listed as being on the soundtrack, which is odd because they had a guitarist named John Ashton, with the same name as the actor who played Keith's father (the guy from "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Midnight Run"). Yes, they are two different people with the same name, it's just an odd coincidence that they were involved with the same film in two different capacities.
Speaking of names, the soundtrack also features a Rolling Stones song called "Amanda Jones", which is also the name of Lea Thompson's character. Another coincidence, or was the character just simply named for her parents' favorite Stones album cut? Or were the filmmakers able to clear this song and then re-named the character so it would have a purpose? As a high-school kid, if I had looked at an album from a major band like the Stones and saw a track with my name as the title, that would probably have freaked me out - so why is it no big deal that Keith listens to this song in the shower?
There are a few other things that just felt "off" here - I don't know if a writer and director who were both born in 1950 were the right people to capture the high-school experience of 1987, when they both would have been 37. When I was 37, I couldn't possibly have told you what it was like to attend high-school then, in 2005. This is one reason that Hollywood films often feel just a bit behind the times. John Hughes and director Howard Deutch would have attended high-school from 1964 to 1968 or so, and so that's what they knew. I'm thinking of scenes where a character's car is either broken-down or out of gas, so she has a male student push her car to the gas station, which feels like a 1950's thing. Someone in the 1980's would be more likely to call a tow truck, or bring gas to the car, instead of the other way around.
And a high-school student spending his whole college fund on an extravagant date and a pair of earrings? That doesn't sound very 1980's, either - kids in the 80's all knew how important college was, and probably would have known that business school (or even art school) was a better way to spend that money, by investing in themselves. Is Keith planning to work at the garage for his whole life? Clearly not, because his ambition is to be a painter. How's he going to learn to improve his painting technique if he blows his art school tuition on jewelry? If Keith is smart he'll sell those earrings back and go to art school, because girlfriends come and go, but putting together enough material for a gallery show could take him pretty far. At least that will pay his rent down the line after Watts finally comes out.
Future generations will be looking for reasons why climate change got out of control, and they'll probably look back on the films of the 1980's and point to all the hairspray that was used during the decade as the main cause of all the CFC's in the atmosphere, that's my theory anyway. Stoltz is sporting the Mark Hamill hair from 1977, but the other teens all sport those 1980's big hair poofs.
Also starring Eric Stoltz (last seen in "Kicking and Screaming"), Mary Stuart Masterson (last seen in "The Postman"), Lea Thompson (last seen in "Back in Time"), Craig Sheffer (last seen in "Stand Up Guys"), John Ashton (last seen in "Breaking Away"), Elias Koteas (last seen in "Let Me In"), Molly Hagan (last seen in "Sully"), Jane Elliot, Candace Cameron, Chynna Phillips (last seen in "Bridesmaids"), Scott Coffey (last seen in "Once Upon a Time in America"), Carmine Caridi (last seen in "The Cheap Detective"), Lee Garlington (last seen in "The Angriest Man in Brooklyn"), Kenneth Kimmins, with cameos from Pamela Anderson (last seen in "Baywatch"), Ike Eisenmann (last seen in "Race to Witch Mountain").
RATING: 5 out of 10 college pamphlets
ANSWERS: The missing TCM "360 Degrees of Oscar" links are Ricardo Montalban, John Hodiak, Marjorie Main, Dorothy McGuire, Anne Revere, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, James Mason, Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint.
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