Flirting, an Australian film was worth watching. Nicole Kidman has a part in it, long before she came to America and met Tom Cruise.
I must admit, I have a sentimental spot for those 80s teen movies, like Some Kind of Wonderful and Sixteen Candles, also liked Gleaming the Cube which was later. That Mary Stuart Masterson was adorable in ...Wonderful.
Have to mention another sleeper here that is a don't-miss in this category, and that is Running on Empty, with River Phoenix, Martha Plimpton, Christine Lahti, and Judd Hirsch. Much better than the light fare above, its a very good movie.
Larry: Running on Empty is a favorite of mine (superior performances).
Msolga: I hope you get a chance to see it. (some beautiful piano music, too.)
On a lighter note, My Bodyguard, with Chris Makepeace, Ruth Gordon, Adam Baldwin, Martin Mull, & others to add up to a great supporting cast. A high school boy who is being bullied hires a classmate to protect him, unaware that his protector has a serious problem of his own.
Another one I thought of after Larry BS mentioned Christine Lahti is Desert Bloom.
And, Smooth Talk, a really great film based on a Joyce Carol Oates story starring a teen Laura Dern and Treat Williams.
Breaking Away a great movie about four recent highs chool graduates.
Link to Braking Away Plot
Breaking Away and My Bodyguard...had forgotten about those, thanks guys!
This is certainly an education! There are more unknown titles than known ones ... To me, anyway. But it's been a very interesting read, so many thanks for all your suggestions, comments & links ..
One thing I'm wondering about: Why the 1980s experienced a boom in teen movies? Are there any particular reasons for this, do you think?
Gala
You mentioned loving My Life as A Dog & hating What's Eating Gilbert Grape ... I love both of those films & have seen them a number of times. Tell me, why didn't "Gilbert .." appeal? Just curious as to what you (& others, too, if you're interested ..) thought of it & why. I found it a very moving & thoughtful film with lots to respond to & think about ...
My Life As A Dog I loved that movie.
On Inside The Actor's Studio Johnny Depp said that Eating Gilbert Grape was his favorite movie.
Another good teen movie with Johnny Depp is Benny and Joon.
Joanne
It doesn't surprise me that Johnny Depp favoured What's Eating Gilbert Grape ... The role of Gilbert, for a start, was a pretty demanding one ... Often he appeared impassive, yet there was so much going on under the surface. It was such a sad thing, Gilbert taking on all those heavy responsibilities, "filling in" for his absent father with his family (especially in regard to his mother & Arnie) ... In fact, taking responsibility for most of the people he knew, who all seemed sad for different reasons. (From Mrs Carver to the small grocery store owner he worked for.) I thought some of his best scenes were those where he tried to avoid the responsibilities & find some freedom for himself.
Of course there were humorous moments, too. It wasn't ALL sadness & angst. And I loved the the atmosphere & the details of everyday life in Edora, too.
http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1994/03/907874.html
.. I haven't seen Benny & Joon. Is it good?
Interesting Msolga thanks for the link.
msolga,
Let's see, it's been a while since I saw Gilbert Grape.
First, I'll explain why I love My Life as a Dog and try to watch it every year and a half or so, just enough time to have forgotten details of the movie and just enough time to get me crying as I did the first time I saw the film.
I thought Ingemar (sp?) was just adorable. I loved his fantasy life and how he coped with his mothers illness. I am just amazed by the a reoccuring scene in the film in which it shows Ingemar doing silly backflips on the beach in front of his healthy and appreciative mother. There seemed to be no detail of this film that missed the essential reality of the difficulies Ingemar was having, all the while he was able to experience his life to the fullest, even through all the loss. The film, to me, was the epitome of hope.
As for Gilbert Grape, well, I went in with similar expectations of being charmed by its characters. I was not. And I had trouble following the plot. Both Johnny Depp and Juliette Lewis got on my nerves. Depp was too cool too much of an icon for the role. Lewis was just uninteresting and a bit on the whiny side. I couldn't get the image out of my mind that the two of them were acting and as soon as it was a wrap they would be flying off to some night-club to hang out with their friends.
I also saw the use of the obese woman as a prop, and a cynical commentary on life in America. Although Leonardo Dicaprio was quite good in his part, I couldn't get past the act.
In My Life as a Dog, the characters fit for me. It seemed realistic that the mother in her advancing illness would shut out her children, become easily annoyed and want to read all day. Or, that in Ingemar's desperation he would want to buy her the most beautiful toaster as a gift. Or, that when Ingemar reads the lingerie magazine to the sickly relative, all of it had an air of believability.
Msolga, I would recommend you see Clueless. It is hilarious.
Clueless is very cute, but my favorite is Sixteen Candles.
Meatballs was also alot of fun,..jeez, I haven't seen that since I was a kid,..must put it on the list!
'Meatballs'? Ohmygoodnessgraciousme!
Many of my favorites have already been listed, Grease, Meatballs, My Bodyguard, The Outsiders, Better Off Dead & Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The John Hughes movies: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful (sort of the male version of Pretty in Pink) & Ferris Bueller's Day Off & Say Anything.
I'll add: Adventures in Babysitting, Mystic Pizza, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, One Crazy Summer & Summer School. Oh and Stand and Deliver.
More recently I loved Clueless as well. Amy Heckerling the director of Fast Times's re-working of Austen's Emma. I also loved the modernized versions of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew into "Ten Things I hate about you" and the modernizing My Fair Lady/based on Shaw's novel into "She's all that."
I found What's eating Gilbert Grape and Welcome to the Dollhouse to be compelling as well. Recently I saw "Loser" by Heckerling about a college freshman at NYU, very endearing.
Good morning campers!!!
snicker...I just love saying that...and I forgot Meatballs...thanks Jerry!
Shes all that and 10 things are good ones for recent times, I agree.
There was quite a boom in the 80's. Perhaps 80's kids were just too off center? Not sure. Interesting though.
I think that the 80s was the beginning of Hollywood's catering to younger and younger audiences. I think it started with the huge, unexpected success of Animal House in 1978 or 79.
"Breakfast Club" is still one of my favorites.
I don't know if "Benny and Joon" was really a "Teen Film" (Great--now I have '500 Miles' stuck in my head)
But it seems to me that many "Teen Films" today are almost insults to that audience.
