Movie Club for May 11th: The Breakfast Club

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It was beauty killed the beast.
Welcome to the Movie Club discussion for our May 11th selection. This week's film, selected by verbalpenguin, is The Breakfast Club.



The next selection will be made by Kong. Kong will pick the film within a day or two and post his choice in both this thread and the official Movie Club thread (linked at the top).

Please debate safely, and considerately.



It was beauty killed the beast.
Kong hadn't seen The Breakfast Club in many years, and forgotten almost everything except the premise. The film actually turned out to be more than Kong expected, and made for a very enjoyable hour and a half.

The film is about five walking teen cliches who have to spend a Saturday alone together in the school's library for detention. During the first hour they mostly live up to the expectancies of their cliches (the jock, the nerd, etc.) While it's slightly annoying that the characters seem unoriginal, the comedy aspect is still enough to carry the film. The big conversation near the end of the film (and the few minutes leading up to it) almost knock you on your back. The cliches are ripped apart in a moving and honest (mostly) discussion between the characters about their unseen lives. This discussion is, without a doubt, the highlight of the film, and it's unfortunate that the very end of the film is unable to live up to it.

Kong was very dissappointed with the direction the film took after the big discussion. The film ends too pat and prim. The characters we have grown to like for finally recognizing, and trying to break the conventions of their lives are existing in a film whose ending rigidly conforms to Hollywood standards, and this left Kong a bit unsatisfied. Take for instance Ally Sheedy's character Allison. Allison is the strange girl who sits in the back, quiet throughout much of the film, until she finally opens up to the jock and then the rest of the club. Kong found Allison to be very alluring in both her look and personality, and there was definitely a spark between her and Andrew. But, why did that spark only come to fruition after her makeover from being an unusual and interesting woman on the inside and out into a woman whose new appearance is simply the standard fashion of the day devoid of any hint of the unique individual dwelling within?

Still, it's a funny, and well made teen comedy with one very amazing scene. *** of ****



YoUr FrIeNd &TrUsTeD aDvIsOr
this has always been a favorite of mine. as a child I would watch it with my older brother and his friends. it had a big impact on me and I would recite lines in school for many years to caome I even dressed like John Bender for a while in sixth grade. after about a year of watching it every day. I chose to recreate it in my school. so we did. I had long scince written the script out as they would say it on screan. we finally made it and showed it at my grade six graduation. I'm not a freak though it sounds as though I was obsessed with john hughes film. now when I watch it it is still good and all but I don't see why I loved it so much. at such a young age. I mean I would tell my teachers in grade two and three to eat my shorts and constinly saying..."so dad what about you?" "#$%@& *^&&" and so on. in closing I did love that movie and I am sure I can acount it as the cause for my love of film. it spawned me to watch all hughes films and every teen movie of the eighties. witch I think was one of the greatest eras for film....well kinda.

oh have you ever noticed the simularities between the posters for The Breakfast Club and Texas Chainsaw massacre...2 (I think)



Originally posted by drexal parks
oh have you ever noticed the simularities between the posters for The Breakfast Club and Texas Chainsaw massacre...2 (I think)
I know! I love that Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 poster. Unfortunately, the jerks at MGM released a HORRIBLE DVD of it with a crappy picture of just Dennis Hopper as the coverart. Shame on MGM!

Fortunately, there are other cute spoofs out there.....
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YoUr FrIeNd &TrUsTeD aDvIsOr
good enough broshack gooooood enough.

I was sooo obsessed with the breakfast club I was contimplateing whether or not to get the TBC tattooed on my inner lip.... luckly they don't do tats when you are drunk......and in grade seven.



I saw The Breakfast Club in the theater when I was sixteen or seventeen and I, like totally, related to Judd Nelson's character. For me, he is the heart and soul of this film. It is perhaps the only time in his career where that could be said. Too bad, because he showed so much promise.
Anyway, I remember that when I saw it I had moved back in with my Mother (R.I.P.) for a little while and for the first time since a very young age, we got along really well. It didn't last long, and soon I was back on the streets. I remember playing the song Don't You Forget About Me over and over again in my mind, and getting so home sick, I wished for death. Another part of the movie that fit so well with me was the scene when Judd yells out, "F*** YOU!!!" with the accompaniment of the guitar. At that time, that's all I ever felt like doing, screaming it to everyone in my life.
So needless to say, this movie has a special part of my heart where it will always reside. I agree with you quite a bit with this one Kong, the third act of the movie was, by far, the most superior of all three acts. John Hughes was able to capture what was on the mind of the kids of the day, when they finally allowed themselves to become real.
I think what the five students really signified was an American teen as a whole. There was a bit of each of the stereotypes in all of us back then, I don't know if it still applies today, because it's been seventeen years since I've been a teen. Yet I know that I felt like a freak, was a totally cool stoner, liked the geeky D&D, and wanted the notoriety that beauty and/or athleticism often provides.
As for the movie's other qualities...The cast was perfectly chosen and well acted as a whole, including the teacher and janitor. John Hughes was excellent at capturing teen angst and obsession in many of his films, and will always be one of my favorites of the teen film genre. Plus, Molly's panty shot will forever be burned into my brain. (I was 17!)
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I See You When You're Sleeping
I think I can safetly say that this would be one of the films which moulded me when growing up. I'm sorry but I can't give objective comments for this film. I've watched it far too many times for that.

The film is about coming of age and social awareness. This is shown through each of the teenagers and also the principle. At the beginning we quickly relate to their stereotypes in which are challenged by human compassion for one another that they never thought they had. Amongst this reason and maturity bring the group together and force them to look inside each other for their own inner voice. We see each character let down their defences to come together as a group. This idea that people can come together despite their differences taught me a hell of alot more than school 'idealistics' classes did. This is a film that doesn't just reform the characters, it reforms the viewer.

So which are you? The geek, the weirdo, the sporty type (i'm not saying 'sporto' ) the queen or the thug? I'd have to go with geek, but you still love me!

Oh and if anyone is caught trying to copy emilio's dance, you deserve to be shot.



Originally posted by MinionTV
So which are you? the thug?
Don't call me a thug minionTV.

I always saw him as the stoner actually, and that's what I was. I used to have hair that reached the small of my back, black leather, torn concert t-shirt, and lots of studs and spikes.



I See You When You're Sleeping
I think you're right though LS, there is a bit of each of the characters in all of us. I can remember waking up on the floor totally stoned and climbing into a bed my friends had laid traps in. I was about 17 (about 5 years ago ) and that lasted a year. So that was my stoner period.



Get Low, Get Low, Get Low
The film is about coming of age and social awareness. This is shown through each of the teenagers and also the principle.
That is the same feeling i got when i watched this movie. They all had their ways too.
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I am having a nervous breakdance
Originally posted by MinionTV
I think you're right though LS, there is a bit of each of the characters in all of us.
And I think that's kind of the essence of the film! That it shows that even if kids are different on the surface, they have a lot in common. This theme is so old and has been used so many times before, but "Breakfast Club" is one of the films that pulls it off with the best result. I love this film. When I saw it again about half an hour ago I sometimes thought that it was simplyfied - but now I realize that it is its simplicity that makes it so good. The kids are all stereotypes, but put together they are ME! And it's very rare to see such good casting in a teen movie. The actors are all great. I think Michael Anthony Hall is the most overlooked actor in the ensemble. His portrait of a geek is right on target without ridicule or pity.

Sure, you can have opinions about the film's ending, that it's wrapping everything up too neetly, and other pretty silly scenes too (someone mentioned the dancing scene ). But we have to remember what kind of film it is and where it's coming from - a 90 mins teen movie made in 80's Hollywood. The five kids are put in a situation where they discover things about themselves and the others and then they are taken out of the situation and the film is over. I mean, if we can accept Bergman's dream sequence in "Wild Strawberries" then I think we can live with that. It's kind of symbolic.

I think this was the fith time I saw the film or something, and I liked it more than any of the other times.

We all feel that we are the only living soul in the whole wide world that feels the way we feel when we are teenagers (and at other times in life as well). This film is about that.
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They had temporarily escaped the factories, the warehouses, the slaughterhouses, the car washes - they'd be back in captivity the next day but
now they were out - they were wild with freedom. They weren't thinking about the slavery of poverty. Or the slavery of welfare and food stamps. The rest of us would be all right until the poor learned how to make atom bombs in their basements.



It was beauty killed the beast.
Originally posted by Piddzilla
But we have to remember what kind of film it is and where it's coming from - a 90 mins teen movie made in 80's Hollywood.
That's exactly Kong's problem; the very end reminds Kong that this is just a Hollywood film, and that breaks its spell.



Ironically, I saw an E! True Hollywood Story today on "Sixteen Candles" that showed a little about this movie.



It was beauty killed the beast.
Kong's selection for next week's Movie Club installment is...

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen


Discussion will begin on Monday, May 19th.

Now back to our regularly scheduled The Breakfast Club discussion.



It was beauty killed the beast.
Originally posted by Sexy Celebrity
I've never heard of that (before).
It's a Terry Gilliam movie, so if you like his other stuff you will probably enjoy this one too.



It was beauty killed the beast.
Originally posted by Sexy Celebrity
Oh, yes, the Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas director.
Yup, but this isn't much like that one. This one is more like Brazil, and Time Bandits; in fact, they are an unofficial trilogy.



I am having a nervous breakdance
Originally posted by Kong


That's exactly Kong's problem; the very end reminds Kong that this is just a Hollywood film, and that breaks its spell.
Hughes works within the Hollywood system, making films with classical Hollywood narrative, and therefore this is how the film turns out with Hollywood ending and all.

However, I agree with you on the makeover matter. That crossed my mind too, that she was suddenly acceptable and beautiful after she put on some make up and that awful clothes. I would have stopped at letting her open up and then I would rahter have the jock turning cool instead of her turning mainstream. I too find her more attractive before than after the makeover. But at the same time, isn't it kind of realistic to think that a jock like the Esteves character would prefer a "nice girl" before a "weird looking girl"? He liked her and was interested in her before the makeover, but after the makeover he really liked her. Looks matters, even in the best of worlds.

But what I meant by accepting the hollywood ending I meant that it was all wrapping up so neetly in the end. In five minutes we got two unlikely couples all of a sudden - but that's what I meant was symbolic rather than realistic.



BTW, I haven't got a clue where I'm going to find that Münchausen movie... But I'll try...



Registered User
i will always be able to watch this movie and feel like a teenager...i loved it when i was 15, and i'll love it when i'm 55

i agree with everthing already said, including the disappointing ending...if only the next day had been included in the film, where they go to school and realise that they like eachother more than their other friends, and they dump them all and hang out together

the movie is defiantely the definative guide to being a teenager in the 80s...those who weren't missed out on the begginings of true individualism...the 80s were the hunting grounds of the people who are now, and will still be for the next decade or two, the influential members of our society - and who were our heros?? a geek, a stoner, a weirdo, a beauty queen and a jock

you gotta love the irony in that

i don't feel that i can add anything "intelligent" to the reviews of this...everything about it makes me feel young again...so i'll just have to say "what a top movie"

i must add here that when i was 15, all i wanted to be was Nelson's (character's) girlfriend...he was the epitome of the perfect guy for me

my favourite scene has to be when Ally's character shakes the dandruff from here hair onto the drawing to make snow

Originally posted by MinionTV
So which are you? The geek, the weirdo, the sporty type (i'm not saying 'sporto' ) the queen or the thug? I'd have to go with geek, but you still love me!
i've been every one of those in different stages of my life....at the moment, i'm definately the WEIRDO

Originally posted by LordSlaytan
I always saw him as the stoner actually, and that's what I was. I used to have hair that reached the small of my back, black leather, torn concert t-shirt, and lots of studs and spikes.
what a man!! just the kind i like
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