Richard Vernon: The Breakfast Club

3. Why The Breakfast Club will always be a classic.

DON’T YOU….FORGET ABOUT ME!!.. Sorry, every time I think of The Breakfast Club that song pops right into my head. I figured I’d start off with examining the soundtrack of the movie this week.   Don’t You Forget About Me is of course the “theme song” of The Breakfast Club, but the movie really has a pretty awesome soundtrack on a whole.  The songs include “Waiting” by Elizabeth Daily, “Didn’t I Tell You” by Joyce Kennedy, “Fire in the Twilight” by Wang Chung, “Heart too Hot to Hold” by Jesse Johnson, and of course “We are Not Alone” by Karla Devito which was the song they all danced to in the famous library rock out scene.  These songs are just the perfect 80s songs.  They also tie in perfectly to the themes of the movie.  Give them a listen sometime, they actually have music in them and lyrics that don’t only pertain to genitalia, sex, and drugs.

You ever watch a movie and love the script, the music, the effects and just about everything, but you just can’t stand the characters?  To me, The Breakfast Club is not one of those movies.  I love every character in this film, even Principle Vernon and he’s a jerk.  There aren’t a lot of characters in this movie at all.  It focuses mainly on Andrew (the athlete), Brian (the brain), Bender (the criminal), Claire (the princess), and Allison (the basket case).   Because there are so few characters, and so much attention is put on breaking down walls and getting to really know each other, character development was key in making this.  The acting is so well done that even though you think Bender is just an annoying, troublemaking idiot, you still feel really bad for him when he sheds light on his abusive father.  You get uncomfortable when Andrew reveals the amount of pressure he is under to be an excellent athlete and be a cool kid.  You laugh out loud when you find out that Allison is not all that scary or mysterious, she’s just bored, and of course you cheer when the group accepts Brian as more than just a nerd.  It really is a feel good movie because you are rooting for everyone in the group to not fall by the wayside.  You find a way to identify with every character and recognize that every person is struggling with their own issues that are out of their power and control a lot of the time.

Finally, my favorite part of The Breakfast Club is that it’s absolutely timeless.  Think about it,  ever since the first high school, everyone has had to go in for some stupid reason, it didn’t even have to be detention.  We have all been put into groups where we don’t know how to interact with the people around us.  We have all been misunderstood at some point or another.  We have all tried to break the rules, even a little bit at some point.  We have all tried to undermine the authority, even if it’s just with whistling or coughing and causing a ruckus.  We have all gotten our chops busted over something we were eating.   We also have all been bored out of our minds and forced to make some sort of connection with the person next to us just to kill time.  Above all this though is the message of The Breakfast Club.  The message is of course to never judge a book by it’s cover, and to just lighten up a bit.  Every person in the library in that movie was holding up some sort of wall and trying to keep an image, because that’s what they thought everyone else wanted them to do.  When everyone was done sharing their story though, they had one thing in common: the reactions they received were all “well why don’t you just chill out and stop putting so much pressure on yourself to keep that image?” (I’m paraphrasing).  The Breakfast Club teaches you to be yourself and to accept everyone else.  This message, and this movie are absolutely Transcendent.

 

 

 

2.Why did some people hate Les Miserables, but were fine with other musicals?

In 2012, Universal Pictures presented us with the musical motion picture, Les Miserables.  I remember when it was released, and how snarky everyone that had seen the show on Broadway was that they could pronounce it correctly (lay miser-ob) while everyone else was saying “that movie, umm lessmiserable..sss?”.  Anyway, the movie was widely famous, and everyone was walking around singing the songs all the time, and of course everyone was talking about the cast, made up of Hugh Jakman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, and Eddie Redmayne, just to name a few.  So many people were shocked how some of these actors sounded great, and how some didn’t, and that’s where the issue comes from.

                                 Les Miserables received some very mixed reviews.  Some people loved the idea of a musical movie, as well as the costumes, and actors, but a lot of people were furious. First of all, a lot of theater peple wouldn’t quiet down about how Anne Hataway wasn’t the perfect Fanzine (even though she won an Oscar) and others couldn’t get over how, even though Russel Crowe was on key and held his own in the singing, Javert sounded so awkward.  Among the whole population though, was the issue of the constant singing.  I can’t count how many times I heard “Dude! They sang the WHOLE time! Every word!”.  Audiences did not receive the non-stop singing well at all.  Why though?  Les Miserables is not the first musical movie we’ve had.  In fact, we’ve adored musical films in the past, so what gives? …. Well I’ll try and flesh it all out myself.

Think about every musical movie you’ve seen.  Try and think of live action movies, not animated movies. Singing in the Rain, Music Man, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, White Christmas, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Wizard of Oz,  Annie Get Your Gun, The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Annie, the list goes on and on.   How come these movies are celebrated by people young and old, and Les Mis is just..eh?  Well let’s begin with something you probably overlooked about these films, mot of them can be viewed by the young and old.  Most of the songs in these movies are also light hearted and chipper, so you love singing along to them.  There may be one or two sad or scary songs in these films, but they are nowhere near the amount of sad songs in Les Miserables.  I know that the theme of sad songs kind of goes along with the title of the play and the subject matter, but gosh other than the final song, when they all die, the happiest song is sung by a conniving landlord.  It just doesn’t appeal to audiences.

Let me go back to a point I raised earlier, that being the point of way too much singing in general.  Look back on the list I gave of other musicals.  In not one of those films is the dialogue exclusively singing.  The songs are broken up by regular speaking and natural plot development.  The only time they sing is when theres a big event, a moment of great emotion, a revelation, or perhaps a character introduction.  Take Annie for example, as it’s one of my favorites, and a more recent film as it came out in 1982.  Annie has some iconic songs, but they’re for exposition, character development, and big events.  “Hard Knock Life” explains to the audience that these orphans are not well tken care of.  “I think ]I’m Gonna Like it Here” introduces the audience to Mr. Warbucks’ house and Annie’s new way of life, and “Little Girls” displays some character development for the cruel Ms. Hannigan. The only songs that aren’t exactly prompted  are songs like “Tomorrow” or “Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile”  but Annie sings “Tomorrow” when she’s upset, but hopeful about the future, and the orphans sing “Without a Smile” to joke around with giddiness after hearing about Annie on the radio, and to display to audiences that the girls make their own fun.    The singing is not “hello monsieur, what’s new with you?” which is an actual line sang by Eponine to Marius in Les Miserables.  Though it’s not the worst thing that could happen in a film, the singing really exhausts itself when you’ve reached the second act and people are still singing to just say “hello” or “could you do me a favor buddy?” or “Hey, come in the house real fast”.  Some people even argue that although the singing does evoke passion and ceremony, some dramatic moments would do better with just shouting or intimate conversational whispers.

Part of me feels bad for writing this post, because I really did enjoy Les Miserables.  I thought Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman were an interesting match up, and I believe that Anne Hathaway truly deserved the Oscar she earned in that movie.  I like everyone else get frustrated with the film at times, but as a whole I think Les Miserables had great actors, great costume, nice sets, and a great soundtrack.  Hopefully I helped explain the disgust some people feel toward Les Miserables, and hopefully you guys keep coming back to read more.  Have a great week.

 

 

 : Gene Kelly, Singing in the Rain.  I figured it fits today’s weather

1. Why am I Afraid of Jaws, When I know he’s a robot?

“Don’t go in the water”  was Jaws’ tagline, and you know what?  After watching it, not a lot of people wanted to.  Everyone knows the movie was crazy successful and made 3o times more than its budget.  Oh yes it’s all very impressive, but why? 

Do you remember the first time you saw Jaws?  You have seen it right?  If you haven’t, put everything down and go see it, because there is nothing more important, no matter more pressing, than you seeing this iconic film.  For those of you who have seen it, you know what I mean when I say that that shark is clearly a robot.   I first saw Jaws when I was about 8.  When the whole shark first popped out, I said what everyone else said, “wow, fake”.  That doesn’t take away from the fact that every time I go into the ocean, I’m still looking around for fins, and like everyone else, if something rubs against my foot..Im out!

The fear of the ocean that Jaws has instilled inside us doesn’t just come from the toy shark, it comes from the work as a whole.  The acting, the camera shots, and of course that theme song.  So let’s look at all of these elements beginning with the acting.

The first time we’re introduced to the terror that is this man eating great white is the very first scene of the film.  A girl goes skinny dipping at night and is eaten.  If she was just floating around and then went under the water, yeah that would be pretty creepy, but no.  That scene ends with her screaming her head off (I don’t know if that actress had a voice the next day) as she’s flung around by an underwater rope apparatus. The same can be said for everyone in the movie eaten by the shark.  They sell it as “oh my gosh! I am actually being eaten by a friggen shark right now! I’m being eaten alive!” and no one does it better than Robert Shaw as Quint (the crazy owner of the Orca).  That performance is haunting, as he falls into the monster’s mouth in Act 3 while the thing eats the boat.  It’s such a slow and detailed death too.  We see Quint get eaten from his shins first, as he looks down in terror (“oh my gosh it’s actually happening!)  then his waist where blood starts coming out of Quint’s mouth, then by the time the shark gets to his torso, Quint’s gone.  These are the extreme action points though.  If you go back and watch the film and just look at the faces of dread on the characters when they see the bite marks on the dead bodies, or the absolute terror when theres a close up on their faces, after they see a fin, it makes your stomach drop.  You don’t even have to have the shark in the film if you just see their reactions, that is honestly scary and convincing enough.

Think back to the film for a minute, or heck go watch it again if you can.  Now think, how often do you actually see the shark?  How often do you even see a fin?  You really don’t see much of Jaws at all.  The “you’re gonna need a bigger boat” scene is the first time you see more than the fin, and you only see its face.      Director Steven Spielberg did that on purpose.  By not seeing the shark, it builds up suspense, and a sense of mystery.  A lot of the shots of the water are quick spanning shots as you’re almost in the POV of Chief Brody as he scans the horizon for a fin.  The shots of the shark are rushed, and spotty.  All of these are done so the audience can take part in the panic and confusion of the whole situation.  This is especially scary because you really don’t know what’s going to happen next.  You are just as confused as the people in the water, and the people watching from the land, wondering if everyone’s going to get back on the beach in one piece.  Probably my favorite shot though, and the one I think of when I think of Jaws, is the underwater shot.  Spielberg took a chance when he made this cinematographic choice.  Basically, the shot is a fast moving, underwater camera.  All the audience can see is the feet, rafts, and kicking legs of the beach goers.  In other words, the audience is seeing what the shark sees.  This is absolutely terrifying when you think about it.  The audience is watching the monster play God.  It swims past so many, and grabs one. Meanwhile the audience is sitting there thinking about how blissfully ignorant the swimmers are to the shark.  This shot is the one I think of when I’m jumping around in the waves, wondering what’s watching my legs rise and fall in the water…

Finally, the most iconic part of Jaws next to the shark itself, is without a doubt the most hair-raising, stomach turning theme song that has every been written.  Everyone knows it…daaa dum….daaaa dum, da dum, da dum, da dum, DA dum, growing faster and louder as the shark closes in on its prey.  This song will have you shifting in your seat and biting your nails while you’re watching it.  Right now, I’m sitting in my dorm room playing the theme song while I write this, and I’m kind of freaking out.  That’s right, a 20 year old is sitting on the 4th story of a concrete and brick building, no where near the ocean, and is scared that a great white might get her because a song is playing.  That’s what this movie did to me! It made me scared of two notes plaid repeatedly!  This song is terrifying, yet so simple.  It is paced perfectly, nice and slow at first: ominous, a warning.  The tempo builds, growing faster, and soon the notes grow sharper and louder.  The song gets so powerful and out of control as the shark moves closer to its prey, giving everyone the feeling that this thing can not be stopped, just as the progression of the song cannot be stopped.  It’s like imminent doom, death knocking at the door, the moment that the audience begins to pray for the characters in the film, and holds their breath.  We can however find something good and funny in this song though.  For instance, if you really want to mess with your friend, while you’re swimming in the ocean, just go up behind them and whisper “daaaaa dum”.

Now I’ve left a whole lot of this post, but come one, how long can I type for?  However, I really hope that you guys read this and learned something about one of the greatest horror movies ever. Please return next week to read my next post (not really sure what it’s going to be on, but it’s gonna be “yuge” as Trump says). Until then, have a good week, and stay out of the water. 🙂