REAL GENIUS

Starring: Val Kilmer, Gabe Jarret, William Atherton, John Gries, Michelle Meyrink

Mitch Taylor (Gabe Jarret) is a new student on the campus of Pacific Tech (the movie version of Caltech). Mitch is a super serious 15 year old science prodigy recruited by Professor Jerry Hathaway (William Atherton, the classic ‘80’s movie a-hole from Ghostbusters and Die Hard) to work on a revolutionary laser project. Mitch is assigned a dorm room with Chris Knight (the great Val Kilmer), a genius senior who is supposed to be working on the laser project but prefers to party and goof off. Chris sees much of his younger self in Mitch, as he also arrived, scared and all business, but after burning out, and seeing his friends crash due to pressure, Chris finally decided that there is more to life than just work (cliché alert!). Eventually, Chris teaches Mitch how to balance his stressful studies with the requisite '80s movie college-fun scenes.

 

The film also features an interesting motley crew: Jordan (Michelle Meyrink), a super hyper, very cute, extremely quirky student that becomes Mitch's love interest; Lazlo Hollyfeld (the excellent John Gries, Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite!), who appears and disappears via Chris' closet, and teaches the students a real lesson about patience and perseverance; and Kent, Professor Hathaway’s butt-kissing assistant, who plots against Mitch and Chris at every turn. Unbeknownst to the students, they are tricked into developing the ultimate assassination machine for Professor Hathaway, and when they discover the monstrosity that they have created, the revenge they exact is clever, and unique, and makes a great mid-80’s statement about the Cold War and our obsession with the Military-Industrial Complex. Top-notch direction from Martha Coolidge and a script full of memorable one-liners adds to the film’s brilliance.

The film's soundtrack was a great mix of cool songs by really good, but lesser known bands ("The Pleasure Seekers" by The System and “The Walls Come Down” by The Call), and big '80s' hits ("Summertime Girls" by Y&T, “One Night Love Affair" by Bryan Adams, "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" by Don Henley, and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears).

Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." - John 4:10

CAN'T BUY ME LOVE

Ronald "The Lawn Boy" Miller (Patrick Dempsey) is the typical '80s movie high school nerd. He mows lawns all summer long in his Tucson neighborhood to save up the 1000 bucks to get a telescope, and while looking through it before buying it at the mall, he spies Cindy Mancini (Amanda Peterson), "the hottest girl in school" (of course!). Cindy is freaking out after spilling wine on her mom's best outfit and finding out it will cost $1000 to get it clean (again, of course!). The original title of the script was Boy Rents Girl, and that's basically what Ronald proposes: Cindy is to be his entry into the "cool crowd" by pretending to be his girlfriend for a month., in hopes that it will make him popular.

 As the plot must move forward, Cindy reluctantly agrees (partly because she is in a long-distance relationship with Bobby, the star football player who's struggling at college), and after undergoing the requisite 1980's throw-your-credit-cards-down, clothes-and-haircut makeover, overseen by Cindy, Ronald slowly starts neglecting his loyal geek squad, and morphs into one of the shallow, self-absorbed popular students. Because they must be seen together, Ronald and Cindy start sharing the same space and actually start getting to know and appreciate each other for their respective traits. While Ronald is squarely focused on becoming popular, Cindy starts to develop feelings for him, but her hopes are dashed as the month ends and she and Ronald have a dramatic "break up" in front of the whole school. Cindy in genuinely hurt, and Ronald is genuinely an ass.

Ronald further alienates his real friends by hanging out with the jocks (who are always portrayed are jerks) and dating the hot chicks (who are always portrayed as sluts), and then, the ultimate insult: in one of the most emotionally overwrought scenes in the film, Ronald inadvertently goes in with the jocks, on the flaming dog crap prank on his best friend on Halloween. Later at a New Year's Eve party, Bobby pays his old high school buddies a surprise visit and discovers Cindy's "infidelity" with Ronald. Bobby's anger causes him to break up with  Cindy, which in turn, hurts and angers Cindy enough for her to divulge the secret agreement she made with Ronald to all the party guests. As his classmates learn just how truly pathetic Ronald is, he is ostracized by not only the Cool Crowd, but the Nerd Herd as well.

Ronald's moment of redemption comes when he defends a nerd from a jock and shames the student body by pointing out they were once all friends, before the scourge of popularity splintered them into cliques. Upon seeing this heartfelt display, Cindy catches a glimmer of the Ronald that she was falling for, all those months ago and the end of the film finds she and Ronald literally riding into the sunset (on his lawn mower), as a certain Beatles' tune plays to fade out.   

He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. - Isaiah 40:11

THE LAST STARFIGHTER

Starring: Lance Guest, Dan O'Herlihy, Catherine Mary Stewart, Norman Snow, Robert Preston, Norman Snow

Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), is a teenager enjoying all the fun and glamour of life in a trailer park with his mother and little brother. Alex is the Dwayne Schneider of the trailer park, and instead of spending his free time with his cute girlfriend, Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart), he spends tons of quarters and hours on Starfighter, an arcade game.

Players of Starfighter, must defend "the Frontier" from "Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada" in a space battle. Soon after Alex becomes the highest scorer ever, he is approached by the game's inventor, Centauri (Robert Preston) who invites him to take a ride. Just as Alex does so, the car turns into a spacecraft, and the alien Centauri spirits him away to far away planet of Rylos. Back on Earth, Centauri has left an Alex replicant (Beta the android) in his place so Alex's family won't notice his absence.

When they reach Rylos, Alex is told and realizes that Rylos is losing a war (against the Ko-Dan Armada) and the plot, territories, images, and all other aspects of the Starfighter game are real and that the game was designed as a test to find those "with the gift." Alex proved himself time and again while playing the game is expected to pilot an actual Starfighter warship, the Gunstar.  Aghast, Alex resists initially, but is reminded that once then Ko-Dan Armada finishes conquering Rylos, it will surely move on to taking over other planets, with earth (of course) being one of them.

A great little film, which was groundbreaking in its use of CGI special effects; it has a nice score, good plot, and a possible SEQUEL!

Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. - Psalms 119:1

THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN

Starring: Helen Slater, Christian Slater, Yeardley Smith, Peter Coyote, Martha Gehman, and Barry Tubb.

Billie Jean Davy (Helen Slater) and her younger brother, Binx (Christian Slater) are teenagers in Corpus Christi, Texas.  High school bullies steal Binx’s scooter, forcing Billie Jean, Binx, and their friends Putter (Yeardley Smith) and Ophelia (Martha Gehman) to report it to the police.  After they talk to Detective Ringwald (Peter Coyote) about it, and are not taken seriously, Binx takes matters into his own hands, and ends up getting severely beaten, and getting his scooter trashed.

As Hubie Pyatt is the bully that damaged the scooter, Billie Jean, Binx, and Ophelia go to his father's shop to get the money to get the scooter fixed. However, Mr. Pyatt tries to sexually assault Billie Jean and Binx accidentally shoots him in the shoulder. The teens take off into the night. Shortly after, Detect. Ringwald is beginning to realize that his lack of action set into pay a chain of events that is spiraling into chaos.

Just like Timmy the paperboy in Better Off Dead who just wanted his two dollars, Billie Jean just wanted the six hundred bucks to fix her brother’s scooter…and an apology from that dirt-bag Pyatt. But she becomes a symbol of the teen angst of the 80’s: not being taken seriously by adults, having to do for yourself when there is no one to help you do it (whatever “it” is/was), and living in an anti-John Hughes trailer park world.

Great film. Killer cast. Excellent soundtrack. The Legend of Billie Jean.


The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. - John 1:4

FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH
Release Year: 1982

A funny, heartfelt, observant, wise-before-its-time script by Cameron Crowe and crisp, thoughtful direction by Amy Hecklering make Fast Times at Ridgemont High the best teen film of the eighties. Period.

Cameron Crowe was 22, but still looked like a teenager when came up with the idea to pose undercover as a high school student and write about his experiences. He had been writing for Rolling Stone magazine as a freelancer for a few years, but now wanted to tackle a book. After Simon & Schuster bit at the idea and awarded him a contract, Crowe moved back in with his parents and enrolled at Clairemont High School in San Diego as Dave Cameron.

The novel Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story came out in 1981, but was optioned for a film even before publication. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the film, was released in 1982, featured no big-name stars, and lacked the backing of its studio. Nevertheless, it became a hit in late summer just due to word of mouth of teenagers that snuck into theatres to see it.

 Fast Times at Ridgemont High launched the careers of some of the previously unknown actors, including Jennifer Jason Leigh, Eric Stoltz, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, and Anthony Edwards. Additionally, its cast boosted three future Oscar-winners: Nicolas Cage (using his birth name, Nicolas Coppola), Forest Whitaker, and Sean Penn (a two-time winner). Crowe himself would go on to be nominated for writing Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous and winner for the latter.

Fast Times is really the story of two freshmen, Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Mark Ratner (Brian Backer) and their struggles to get together, as several obstacles (namely, their friends) get in the way. Stacey’s older friend Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) is sexually experienced and dates college guys, and Rat’s older friend, Damone (Robert Romanus), is a know-it-all wise guy ticket scalper who nearly ruins several lives and their friendship. The film’s subplots involve Stacey’s brother, Brad, “the fast food king,” Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn), the almost always blazin’ surfer, and of course, Mr. Hand (Ray Walston), the history teacher whose time will NOT be wasted. Plus, "Somebody's baby" by Jackson Browne

A little more than a decade later, Amy Hecklering would direct (and write) another teen classic, 1995’s Clueless.

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. - Psalm 37:23

JUST ONE OF THE GUYS

Release Year: 1985

Starring: Joyce Hyser, Clayton Rohner, Billy Jacoby, Toni Hudson, Leigh McCloskey, and William Zabka (The Karate Kid, The Karate Kid II, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Back to School)

"Terri Griffith is about to go where no woman has gone before."

Terry Griffith (Joyce Hyser) is a High School senior and aspiring journalist living in the Arizona suburbs, ticked off because her teachers dismiss her articles because of her good looks. After failing to get her dream job as a newspaper intern, she blames sexism and schemes to go undercover as a boy at the rival high school to prove her point.

Terry's only confidants are her sex-obsessed loudmouth little brother, Buddy (Billy Jacoby) and her best friend Denise (Toni Hudson), check in on her throughout the experiment. At the new school, Terry she meets Rick (Clayton Rohner), a nerd with a heart of gold (cliché alert!) who becomes her pet project. After getting to know Rick, giving him an "eighties-cool-guy" makeover, encouraging him to talk to girls (even scoring a date with the most popular girl in school), Terry starts to fall for him (wouldn't ya know it!).

Director Lisa Gottlieb's film is one of the 80's best teen comedies. The jokes are a cut above and the script is filled with a huge range of pop-culture references: Kurt Vonnegut, J.D. Salinger, Tootsie, Elvis Costello, James Brown, Yentl, Chris Evert-Lloyd, bodybuilding, Cyndi Lauper, Wimbledon, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and so much more. It also has good early performances from Sherilyn Fenn and Arye Gross, and the villain is 80’s teen bad guy extraordinaire, the great William Zabka (“Cobra Kai!”). The soundtrack is filled with a diverse group of artists: Lindsey Buckingham, Midnight Star, Berling, Shalamar, Dwight Tilley, and Paul Shaffer's band, Private Domain.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! - Isaiah 26:3

LABYRINTH

Release Year: 1986

Starring: Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie, Frank Oz, Warwick Davis

15-year-old girl Sarah Williams is shocked to learn that her little brother, Toby, is missing after her anger makes her “wish the goblins would come and take you away. Right now."  Her shock only deepens when an owl flies through the open window and transforms into Jareth, King of Goblins. Jareth tells her that he taken Toby, as she requested, but if she can traverse successfully through his great maze, the Labyrinth, within thirteen hours, she can have Toby back. If not, Toby will be turned into a goblin and Jareth will keep him forever.

The audience is then treated to such Jim Henson/George Lucas inspired wonders as Hoggle, the grumpy dwarf guide, Sir Didymus, a chivalrous, fox-like knight, Ludo, the gentle beast, The Fire Gang, the Bog of Eternal Stench, and Jareth's killer multi-dimensional castle, which looks like something created by M.C. Escher or the production designer from Inception.

A fun, imaginative film with a great, atmospheric score by Trevor Jones and some excellent voice work by Bowie on the songs “Dance Magic” and “As the World Falls Down.”

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  -  1 Corinthians 13:7