The Outsiders

This 1983 film is based on the book of the same title "The Outsiders" written by SE Hinton. It is a book that many of us had to read at some point high school. A group of high school students got together and sent the book to director Francis Ford Coppola and told him that he was the director that they would most like to see direct this in a movie version. He read the book and was so touched by the story that he decided to make a movie out of it.

This movie was EVERY teenage girl's dream as every known and soon to be known teen heartthrob/brat packer was in this movie. Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevaz, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Ralph Macchio, and C Thomas Howell were all in the movie as Greasers and Diane Lane and Leif Garrett rounded out the Soc's.

This movie shows how the two groups of boys fought one another because of social class. One fight gets out of hand and a Soc ends up killed. C Thomas Howell and Ralph Macchio take it on the run to avoid the law, with the help of Matt Dillon. They ultimately redeem themselves by saving a church full of burning children.

**Spoiler alert**Ralph Macchio ends up severely burned from the church fire and dies as a result. This causes Matt Dillon to go over the edge and commit a robbery he is killed by the police for. C Thomas Howell realizes he needs to go back and mend fences with his brothers, Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze and does. There is a final fight between the two groups and the Greasers win but there is a moment after losing Ralph Macchio and Matt Dillon that they realize that they did not really win.

The first scene are various outtakes from the movie set to the song "Fields of Gold" sung by Eva Cassidy



The second scene is C Thomas Howell reciting Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost...
Stay Golden PonyBoy!!

About Last Night

This movie was released in 1986 and stars Rob Lowe and Demi Moore. The two stars meet, fall in love, move in together, and don't know what to do with themselves after all these major life decisions. Because they have never experienced love or living with someone else, they don't make it and ultimately break up with one another. It does not help that their two best friends, Jim Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins are doing everything in their power to break them up as well.

As the tag line says "Making love was easy...being in love was difficult." They ultimately work through their problems and the movie ends with it looking like they are on their way getting back together.

This is a really enjoyable movie. The scenes of Chicago are great and the scenes involving Jim Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins almost steal the show.

The first clip show the lovers in the beginning of their relationship. They are dealing with friends and co-workers who are not liking being pushed aside for new love. The song playing is from the soundtrack and is called "So far, so good" and it is by Sheena Easton



The second clip is set to a song on the soundtrack "Living inside my heart" by Bob Seger. It contains some racy scenes so view at your own risk.



The last clip shows the couple headed down the road toward getting back together. The friends step side and let the two become a couple. The song that is hears as they are riding/jogging off together is called "If everyone had a heart" by John Waite and is found on the sound track.

Pretty in Pink

This is a 1986 romance starring a love triangle consisting of Molly Ringwald as Andy, Andrew McCarthy as Blane and Jon Cryer as Duckie. Andy and Duckie are poor and from the wrong side of town. Blane is the rich boy who never wants for anything...except Andy. This movie is Molly Ringwald's favorite movie that she did.

The triangle consists of Blane loving Andy, Andy loving Blane, and Duckie loving Andy. Unfortunately for Duckie, Andy has and will always love him as a friend only. Her true love is Blane. There is also a sub-plot involving Andy and her father dealing with her mother having walked out on them. The father daughter scenes really get to me as I am a Daddy's girl!!

In the original ending and book, Andy and Duckie end up together but after testing audiences, the ending changed so that Andy and Blaine ended up together. I am still not sure how I feel about this one...I wonder if I would have preferred the romance being Andy and Duckie. What are your thoughts?

The Breakfast Club

This movie came out in 1985 and is about five high school students who have to go to a day of detention on a Saturday. They start the day feeling that they have nothing in common, however, they end it with a better understanding of themselves and each other. They were five strangers with nothing in common but each other (tag line).

This movie contains the actors known as the Brat Pack (see earlier post for further information). That made this movie a must see in the 80's. This was the first time my parents actually forbid me from seeing a movie because they had heard that there was drug use and they didn't want to see their little girl led down the wrong path. They made a point of singling this movie out because they knew, because of the Brat Pack, I would want to see it. To make a long story short, of course I did go see it at the first chance possible (although I confessed as soon as I got home).

This movie has been seen by a lot of people and everyone still remembers and loves to repeat what is one of the greatest cinematic lines in all history:

Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to do a whole Saturday of detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're are crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us...in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain... an athlete... and a basket case...and a princess...and a criminal...Does that answer your question?...Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club.

Here is a movie clip played to the hit song from the soundtrack Don't you forget about by Simple Minds

St. Elmo's Fire

This 1985 movie is about seven friends who have just graduated from college and are struggling with issues that they are trying to overcome to become happy, successful adults.The tag line to the movie is "They thought they would be friends forever but forever couldn't last." They face love, heartbreak, obsessions, finding/losing employment, discovering the meaning of life, living on the edge, betrayal, and the ultimate test of friendship and love.

This movie stars the young group of actors that became known as the Brat Pack. The Brat Pack is a group of actors that starred in numerous combinations of 80's movies. The Brat Pack includes Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy, and Molly Ringwald (although she was not in this movie). Mare Winningham is the seventh star in this movie but she was never really associated with the Brat Pack.

The following is a movie clip containing The Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire



**For fun, click on the IMDB page and type in St. Elmo's Fire and read all the quotes from the movie-"It ain't a party until something gets broken"

JAKE RYAN

This goes out to all you Sixteen Candle fans. This movie came out in 1984 but is still a classic today.

I remember having all my girlfriends at my house and we would watch this movie over and over. Needless to say Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling) was my and a lot of the other girls first crush. One of my favorite lines comes during the father/daughter talk when she is crying over her crush. He says to her "That's why they call them crushes. If they were easy, they would call them something else."

We were so in love with Jake that we tried to take his picture on the TV so we could hang the picture in our lockers (unfortunately, the flash prevented this). We all dreamed that the ending would happen to all of us or at the very least one of us.

Happy Birthday Samantha. Make a wish,

Well, it already came true.

Enjoy Jake and Sixteen Candles