St. Elmo's Fire

^ Not really. Frat brats coming of age, big deal. I liked the "Breakfast Club" much better. I do like the movie score, though

Rob never did improve all that much, did he?

^ Either did Demi

I loved it. I went to school and lived in DC, and was a few years older than these characters. I rolled my eyes at their using suburban AF University of Maryland for supposed outdoor scenes at Georgetown.

A pilot asked me while I was a flight attendant if I’d seen it, he meant red moving lightning over the plane’s windshield

I only liked the instrumental love theme. The movie always came off as weird. I found the cast was largely unbelievable as good friends.

@r5, That must be one of those airline inside jokes. I always thought St. Elmo was a volcano

While the story was about a bunch of Georgetown grads, the university read the script and declined the production's request to shoot on campus. But the nearby University of Maryland stepped in and said yes. Still, the St. Elmo’s Bar is known to be based on The Tombs, a popular bar for Georgetown students, still in operation today.

Ona side note, The Tombs, still has awesome wings!

Thanks, r6, I have a really good stereo connected to my desktop and that sounded really good :)

It’s one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.

And I see a lot of movies.

I thought it was really contrived and didn’t seem likely these people would’ve been close friends with each other. Plus movies set in DC never get it right.

Lowe was hot and the Andrew McCarthy character was so strange. McCarthy has written about how he was left out by the other male cast members. Overall the movie isn’t that good.

I was obsessed with this movie as a young teen when it came out. I remember going to see the sneak preview a week or two before it opened and feeling like I'd just seen the most amazing movie. I went back to see it two more times in the theater and I rented it so much on VHS my parents wanted to kill me.

Cut to 16 years later, when it made its debut on DVD. I bought it, not having seen it since maybe 1987. I could barely get through it and hated it. I've never watched it again and I can't believe I had such bad taste as a child.

I bought the love theme 45, which was a two-sided hit. Time moves on, people touch and then they’re gone. The movie was marketed as “the Little Chill”. It spoke for my generation like a ventriloquist ensemble on the knees of a soulless marketing machine. Still, no CGI…

Behold!

^ That's nice, whatever it means

R15, that thread is 12 years old and closed.

@r13, I could see that being younger then the characters would make them impressive to you, but being just a few years out of school they looked childish and self-absorbed to me

I was a big fan of The Breakfast Club. This movie promised to be the next great Gen X movie. I went to see it in the theater with college friends. Don't be fooled, in spite of all the Brat Pack talent on screen, this movie was dull and the characters were not well developed.

There was only one moment where the audience laughed, when Rob Lowe was meeting his uptight girlfriend's family.

Oh, I totally get it, R18. It's a terrible movie.

@r17, Leave r15 alone, searching for dead threads is how he gets off

That thread is a classic, you ungrateful cunts.

If you took the time to read it, you’d see why I linked it.

I think that the studio and producers were hoping to cash in on the whole Brat Pack phenomenon while they could, with little regard to making a good film, and it showed.

All of the characters are unbearable and behave like idiots, but their behavior is supposedly understandable because they're "young" and "coming of age." I don't remember a great deal about this movie except that Billy is a drinking, drugging asshole and Kirby is a stalker and so to a certain extent is Kevin with his creepy obsession with Leslie. And oh yeah, I remember Jules tries to kill herself by keeping all the windows open and freezing to death. I think this movie appealed to a certain type of audience, that is, young idiots who "identified" with the awful characters. I think they envied the lives of the cliquish, well off, totally full of themselves young dipshits. They wished they could BE them. How pitiful.

never understood how Demi's character was the only one who could find a real fucking job

Wasn't Demi the only one without a trust fund?

As a young teen I remember liking this movie. Then having watched it 10 years later I hated it. I haven’t bothered to watch this dreck since. Although Rob Lowe looks beautiful in this movie!

I was also totally in love with Andrew McCarthy, a crush that started when I saw Class as an 11 year old, and continued for a few more years. And getting to see him in a film where for the first half it was looking like his character was going to be gay, that just made me love him more. Of course he then fucks Ally Sheedy and blows it.

I had recently become aware of (and enamored of) Montgomery Clift in the summer of 1987 when I started renting classic films and saw A Place in the Sun. I read everything I could find about him. I also remembered McCarthy mentioning he was a fan of Clift's. I went to see Less Than Zero and McCarthy plays with red dice throughout the movie, which was something Clift did in real life, and I felt like it was a little gay secret between us.

Of course I grew out of it, but I still went to see every Andrew McCarthy film until Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. He was so terrible in that and I could no longer pretend there was anything to like about him.

I just found them all to be annoying or unbelievable. The casting was like a high school play or musical where only five kids have enough talent to play lead roles, even though none of them really fit the characters. They obviously wanted to shoehorn as mami of The Brat Pack and contemporaries into this movie.

@r27, So was Rob's ass in that porn flick he made.

There was no brat pack before St. Elmo's Fire was released, so how could they have wanted to shove as many of them in the movie as possible?

@r22, The next time I'm out of needles to stick in my eyes I'll be sure to read it

WTF was up with making Emilio Estevez character totally psycho? Andie MacDowell's character went on one date with him several years before and now he won't leave her alone

I got short shrift.

I remember cringing, even as a young teen, at the swishy stereotype who came flouncing out of his apartment into the hallway, caftan flowing and carrying a foofy cocktail when Jules wanted to set Kevin up with her neighbor because she thought he was gay.

@r34, I got short sheeted

i too, as a young teenager thought this movie was what young adults were all like and i found it very glamorous. I never could figure out the Kirby character and why he was so obsessed with Andie MacDowell either, to me he was the only one that seemed like a huge dork. I figured they all had been friends for a long time so that's why they still were friends with him. I also was curious how Rob Lowe's character graduated college and looked like he worked at a gas station

[quote]There was no brat pack before St. Elmo's Fire was released,

Oh, yes there WAS

I remember Andrew Mccarthy's character constantlybeing accused of being gay, even by Jules who wanted to set him up with his neighbor....and I still think it was kinda true, despite the whole big shabamb love scene with Ally Sheedy.

I loved this movie. I always get sad at the end after Rob Lowe leaves and they walk past the bar and see slightly younger versions of themselves at their table. Their era was over. They makes plans for brunch the next day but it seemed like they were heading their separate ways and wouldn't be hanging out with each other every weekend anymore.

I appreciate it, r15

I actually thought Kirby was the only real, fun, believable character of the bunch. No attempt at real depth or made up angst, just a fun infatuated college guy not trying to act more grown up than he was

Also, Mare Winningham's character...her being a virgin at that point post college in 1985 is still a stretch but I can forgive it. But no one would have dressed like that unless they were 100% amish or from some other weird Christian sect.

I feel this filmed appeared more to high schoolers that wanted to see their high school idols as "grown ups doing their thing" but it did not come off as believable.

I don't think Andrew McCarthy and Mare of Easton's characters ever interacted with each other. Same for Ally Sheedy and Rob Lowe.

^ oops, Mare Winningham. I've had too much wine tonight.

[quote] Oh, yes there WAS

Sweetie, you pulled out a magazine cover written for when the film was released. And that article was the birth of the Brat Pack. So how could they have wanted to stuff the cast of St. Elmo's Fire with Brat Packers when there was no such thing before the movie came out?

I was 18 when this came out and still haven’t seen it 37 years later. The characters all looked like douchebags to me so I had no desire to watch it. If I come across it streaming free I might give it a try now that I’m old, if only to enjoy the 80s scenery.

I never got why they put the Mare Winningham with Rob Lowe.

@r41, you're very kind to make r15 feel like he was really contributing something special to this thread

I loved the movie when it first came out. I was 20 at the time and had a close group of friends like the one in the movie, although I hope we were less self-involved. But we probably weren't. I must have seen it a dozen times or so that summer and I bought the VHS tape when Columbia House Video Club finally added it to its roster. (Those were the days!) Over the years, I've come to realize that the characters were insufferable and the situations they got into were preposterous. I still have a soft spot in my heart for it all these years later, however, and still watch it at least once a year. I know it's far from a great movie, but it reminds me of my carefree youth.

what was unbelievable was Mare Winningham playing a virgin when IRL she already had 3 kids

Mare Winningham may have been playing a virgin, but she was noticeably pregnant during the filming of the movie.

@r49, I think I'm going cry

I don’t consider fall having truly arrived each year until I watch clips of them driving around Georgetown in Juke’s Jeep.

Seconding R1. Didn’t like the characters much; privileged elite, not relatable. Breakfast Club was far superior. Better soundtrack too.

Who aged best?

^^^ the obvious answer is Rob Lowe, but I'll go with Andrew McCarthy

I think everyone has aged well except for Demi, who ruined herself with bad plastic surgery.

I hate-watch it every chance I get, and of course the Mare was a post-collegiate virgin — she was fat. I thought it was a casting choice.

I have been re-watching a lot of 80’s shows lately bc I was too young to really understand them at the time. and I love The Breakfast Club. St. Elmo’s had some good points, but didn’t finish it. Speaking if Demi Moore….

I’m currently watching 1982 General Hospital and I have to say Demi Moore and John Stamos, both at age 19 are absolutely stunning. It’s crazy to see Demi playing an older character and pulling it off flawlessly,, but Stamos playing a character around his actual age and he’s horrible. Talk about overacting . Yikes!

I remember when i first saw it the only one among them who I thought could genuinely act (despite her terrible role) was Mare Winningham, and then she had the least spectacular career of all of them.

R60 Well once you’ve starred as Maria opposite Kevin Spacey’s Captain Von Trapp and then shared valedictorian of your graduating class with him in high school, it’s all down hill from there.

If it was made today, black and trans would complain about the lack of representation in the cast Because they have nothing better to do.

^ And there's the whiny MAGAt just in time to crap all over this thread with unrelated horse shit

R7 he showed me the phenomena…it was super cool but I almost missed it thinking he meant the film

^ I'll bet it was quite a phenomena. Did he let you touch it?

I preferred "Singles" and "Reality Bites" -- the movies and the soundtracks (especially the soundtracks).

[quote] Although Rob Lowe looks beautiful in this movie!

In some scenes he looked like he was GLOWING. I suppose it was the way he was lit. And sometimes he was so heavily made up it seemed like he was wearing lipstick and eye shadow. Emilio Estevez looked like that too, in some scene in the movie. Was it one where he was gazing moonily at Andie MacDowell? She too looked as though she were lit from within; unreal, heavily made up.

I thought the relationship between pretty Billy and the homely, frumpy Wendy was cringeworthy. He finally takes her virginity...yech. One critic called it a "pity fuck."

I was 13 when it came out and loved the theme and love theme, but didn't see it in the theatre, I think because it was rated R and I couldn't (or didn't know how to) sneak into the theatre. So a year or so later when it premiered on HBO I was so excited!

It was a huge disappointment. I just remember hating all the characters. Every single one. Found them all totally repellent and couldn't care about any of their trumped-up problems.

[quote] I remember when i first saw it the only one among them who I thought could genuinely act (despite her terrible role) was Mare Winningham, and then she had the least spectacular career of all of them.

She's an Emmy winner, was the only one who went on to an Oscar nomination, and she's worked steadily for over 40 years in good, high profile projects. If you want to talk least spectacular, have a look at Judd Nelson's list of credits some time.

[quote]I remember cringing, even as a young teen, at the swishy stereotype who came flouncing out of his apartment into the hallway, caftan flowing and carrying a foofy cocktail when Jules wanted to set Kevin up with her neighbor because she thought he was gay.[/quote]

I have a name bitch, and it's RON.

I didn't really care for it. I didn't relate to the characters. They seemed very entitled and unsympathetic.

However, I have to say that I really like About Last Night which came out a year later and featured Lowe and Moore together again. I thought Demi was fantastic in it, and yes, I think she was worthy of an Oscar nomination.

R66, man I loved "Singles". Have to admit, part of it was that I saw Campbell Scott on screen and was quickly smitten with him. I haven't the movie in years, it's probably not as good as I remember, but that's fine.

Years later, I met Campbell - very briefly, quick conversation and hand shake in the wing of a small theatre in Massachusetts. Silly to say, but when I first saw him, I thought, "It's Campbell Scott!" and then, "Jesus, calm down, don't make a fool of yourself - it's only Campbell Scott." Thankfully I didn't make a fool of myself.

It sucked ass and that song sucked ass too.

I hated the Breakfast Club but loved this stupid movie. It’s bad but captured the immediate post college years in a way that resonated with many of us.

It’s fun, stupid, entertaining nostalgia.

I loved the instrumental too and am happy to see so many of you mention it!

R59, I still remember 1982 GH as the best year for GH due to the physical beauty alone (maybe the Laura kidnap story too…). John Stamos’ first appearance on screen literally took my teenaged breath away. Demi and Janine Turner were gorgeous.

R66 they were more from my time. I loved Singles but found Ethan Hawke and Wynona Ryder detestable in RB.

@76 Yes she was gorgeous. Then you throw in Emma Samms and Rick Springfield. Wow.

Man in Motion was a song about some wheelchair bound athlete crossing the length of Canada, I never understood how that worked into the plot?

^ Here...

Rob Lowe was only 19 in the movie despite playing a 23 year old (I guess. 22 or 23, probably). Maybe that why he glowed. I remember seeing this movie every night that it played in the movie theater across the street from where I lived at the time - it was only $1.00 - not a first run theater. I definitely had a crush on Rob but I also always liked Emilio as well. I also identified with those two characters the most. I thought it was very beautifully photographed by Stephen H. Burum, who also did The Outsiders, and Rumble Fish, as well as The Untouchables, all very good-looking films.

I was aware of all the film's faults but somehow I liked it in spite of them. By the way, the guy who's gay, who likes Kevin, later played David Silver's dad on BH 90210. And I thought Joyce Van Patten and Martin Balsam were great in small parts as Mare's parents. Wendy being a virgin at that age was not that unusual - the same situation happened to be with a female friend after college where she said she wanted to lose her virginity with me.

*It only played for about 5 days

Oh yea R30? I’ll see your sex tape naked ass and raise you Rob Lowe’s Youngblood naked ass!

Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards got married.

[Quote] By the way, the guy who's gay, who likes Kevin, later played David Silver's dad on BH 90210.

I thought he looked familiar 😆

R72, thank you for your Campbell Scott story -- I am a jealous bitch.

Did Andrew McCarthy ever come out as gay? I know he was supposed to be straight IRL but I was never totally convinced.

I love it but not in the way it was intended. It’s one of the most unintentionally hilarious movies ever made.

I remember hearing rumors back in NYC in the early 90s that McCarthy used to go to the LGBT specific AA meetings in the East Village. I know he's an alcoholic and it's possible he needed a meeting and that was the soonest one available. I don't think he's gay.

R87 His son turned out to be an actor. He’s really cute!

R90 He is?

My cousin had a small bit in that and a close up. He’s in the school group that Rob Lowe approaches and I think his line is something like, “Who will we get drugs from?” He was a college theater major and actually headlined some national tours but not the A tours. He married and had a family and he’s been a high school drama teacher for 30 years.

I love that line r92 and how crestfallen it makes Billy.

OHHHHH I am dying, that thread is indeed classic. I. NEED. Air.

I can feel St Elmo’s Fire burning in me

For some reason I remember this review from Siskel & Ebert. (5:30)

No criticism of the gay stereotype, yet Siskel mentioned all the others! Says a lot about the times.

Awesome review.

R97 I think you're probably right about that being a sign of the times, but I also think Gene was saying the only minority characters in the picture were a prostitute and a gangster. I actually remember thinking this at the time. And I'm not one to think every cast needs to be diverse. I also remember thinking Ferris Bueller had a joke about someone's car being in an auto shop and the guys who work there take it for a joyride as soon as the owner leaves. Except the two guys were terrible Hispanic stereotypes and they were the only real minorities depicted in the movie (other than extras in the parade} as far as I remember. Not unusual for John Hughes.

(cont.) I didn't (and don't, particularly) object to John Hughes showing high-income suburban Chicago life as white, because it was. He was correctly depicting it, and forcing minorities into it would not have been accurate. But I object to the "when they get your car in the shop, they take it for a ride" trope, against low income people - and then depicting both of them as Hispanic/Latino.

Doesn’t David Silver’s father have a twin?

[quote]All of the characters are unbearable and behave like idiots, but their behavior is supposedly understandable because they're "young" and "coming of age."

Which perfectly describes Gen X and who has not yet come of age.

All this time I was afraid you’d find out I wasn’t fabulous!

The flaming gay stereotype, Ermilio Estevez stalking an older woman he barely knew, Rob Lowe acting like a jerk to everyone, Ally Sheedy playing every moment like it's the most dramatic thing in the world (including writing a check) and Judd Nelson treating her like shit for two hours, and we're supposed to envy these people. But Jules trying to commit suicide by opening her dramatically curtained windows and freezing to death was the moment I rolled my eyes and gave up.

And that insipid friend chant made me cringe every time.

Yeah, it's not good. It was an idea with potential, a sort of Big Chill for the college grads of early Gen X. The acting talent of the cast is unevenly distributed, but that was survivable; it's the script and direction that sink it. It plays like a pilot for a prime-time soap that the networks passed on, and then they tacked on a character leaving town to give it an ending. Joel Schumacher, RIP, massacred promising ideas in multiple genres.

Some people might be fond of it because it has pretty people in it and they like revisiting the '80s fashions and clothes.

I knew I had reached a certain age when I started seeing "classic" applied to things from earlier in my own life that everyone thought were junk even at the time. You see it with some of the pop music of that decade too. (It would be more truthful to say I knew I had reached a certain age when I was peering over the top of my glasses to read restaurant menus, but grant me rhetorical license.)

“And that insipid friend chant made me cringe every time.“

That seemed so bizarre. Did people realize do that?

^really

I've seen it several times and realize it's fairly ridiculous and not a good movie. Yet, I always enjoy it. Well, all the arcs except Emilio Estevez's Kirby and his career and stalking. The main theme - getting your life together, becoming an adult and leaving youth behind (even though their months out of college), facing hard situations and choices - isn't bad. It's the fumbled specifics.

We've done multiple St. Elmos threads over the years.

Leslie: I didn't run out on anything, you ran out! Alex: You fucked Kevin! Leslie: You fucked MANY! Alex: Nameless, faceless many.

That entire scene, and Wendy's peanut butter sandwich monologue, are unintentional comedy gold. So many nuggets sprinkled throughout the whole movie they should consider a midnight showing, like Rocky Horror, with footballs, record albums, bread, car keys, and checkbooks to throw at the screen.

I cannot really get over how they dressed Wendy. There was nothing else in the wardrobe department? Even my grandmother never wore shit like that.

R111 Mare was very pregnant at the time, they needed a way to hide it. It’s not like she could carry around a clothes basket the whole time!

R110 To this day whenever I rent a new apartment the first food I make is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and reflect on how exciting it is to be in a new apartment all my own. And it’s the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich ever.

"I cannot really get over how they dressed Wendy. There was nothing else in the wardrobe department? Even my grandmother never wore shit like that. "

Someone remarked on a St. Elmos thread that the character's clothes drive home "sledgehammer style" the archetype they represent. Wendy is conservative and prudish. It's hilarious since, as we all know, this often isn't the case. Someone like Wendy could be prudish as fuck but still dress like a just out of college young woman. Jules is "wild" so she dresses "wild" - furs, red, scarves, leather, wild hair, lots of big jewelry.

A guilty pleasure movie. Love Lowe the best. As far as characters, Estevez and his obsession with McDowell

"Do you believe in premartial sax?"

Hasn’t aged well at all. I do love the David Foster theme song.

"Prison"

Why WOULD it age well? It’s meant to be a time capsule. It’s almost as if they knew they were making a time capsule movie.

I would have cast James Spader as Alec and RDJ a Kevin. Totally different movie.

Even watching this as a kid I found the scene where they are dining out at the soup kitchen offensive and bizarre in so many ways. First of all Nobody who doesn’t have to eat there would and then Jules obnoxious comment about being a bag lady with alligator bags in front of a homeless woman. And before they sit downTo eat the cook proclaims “we don’t have enough food” and we’re supposed to buy Wendy as this caring social worker?

If St. Elmo's Fire were made today, it would have a multi-ethnic, multi-gender cast and there would be lots of lecturing.

Demi was breathtakingly beautiful in this film but not believeable as a Georgetown student.

"Even watching this as a kid I found the scene where they are dining out at the soup kitchen offensive and bizarre in so many ways. First of all Nobody who doesn’t have to eat there would and then Jules obnoxious comment about being a bag lady with alligator bags in front of a homeless woman. And before they sit downTo eat the cook proclaims “we don’t have enough food” and we’re supposed to buy Wendy as this caring social worker?"

You might be WAY overthinking it, R120. I guess as a kid you were ahead of your time, ready to be offended at everything, even trivial throw away scenes in St. Elmos Fire.

Rob Lowe was so gorgeous in the 80s

This movie made me think Georgetown must have a “special” program like some high schools.

“ Welfare recipients are getting better-looking these days.”

And the welfare recipient wasn't even good looking. Lol.

The unsung character is Naomi the prostitute. "Delaware is as far as I've ever been."

Nah I agree with R120, that scene was bullshit, poor woman is just sitting there and they're making shit comments, then Jules stands up and is like, "I didn't want this food". Like, seriously, go shove some caviar up your ass.

The only thing I remember from this movie (and maybe I didn’t see the whole thing?) was Mare Winnegham - whom I previously knew as Helen Keller in a sweet little sequel to The Miracle Worker - flashing her nips.

"I always knew Alec was a Republican!!!"

“Wasted love!!!”

"No Springsteen is leaving this house!!"

"Kevin is sooo fond of Mahler."

“Love sucks”

This secret is it a big one or a little one?

Never seen this movie but am a fan of Demi Moore. Would anyone recommend it for her role?

Yes she’s a FABULOUS coke whore in it

"What are you, the new Mideast ambassador?"

“So are you still a virgin?”

“You break my heart. Then again you break everyone’s hearts.”

Growin' up, you don't see the writing on the wall Passin' by, movin' straight ahead, you knew it all But maybe sometime if you feel the pain You'll find you're all alone, everything has changed Play the game, you know you can't quit until it's won Soldier on, only you can do what must be done You know in some way you're a lot like me You're just a prisoner and you're tryin' to break free I can see a new horizon underneath the blazin' sky I'll be where the eagle's flying higher and higher Gonna be your man in motion, all I need's this pair of wheels Take me where my future's lyin', St. Elmo's fire (Ooh, oooh, oooh) Burning up, don't know just how far that I can go (Just how far I go) Soon be home, only just a few miles down the road I can make it, I know, I can You broke the boy in me but you won't break the man I can see a new horizon underneath the blazin' sky I'll be where the eagle's flying higher and higher Gonna be your man in motion, all I need's this pair of wheels Take me where my future's lyin', St. Elmo's fire I can climb the highest mountain, cross the wildest sea I can feel St. Elmo's fire burnin' in me, burnin' in me Just once in his life a man has his time And my time is now, I'm coming alive I can hear the music playin', I can see the banners fly Feel like you're back again, and hope ridin' high Gonna be your man in motion, all I need's this pair of wheels Take me where my future's lyin', St. Elmo's fire I can see a new horizon underneath the blazin' sky I'll be where the eagle's flying higher and higher Gonna be your man in motion, all I need's this pair of wheels Take me where my future's lyin', St. Elmo's fire I can climb the highest mountain, cross the wildest sea I can feel St. Elmo's fire burnin' in me Burnin', burnin' in me, I can feel it burnin' St. Elmo's fire, St. Elmo's fire

“Kirby! How are you?”

“I’m obsessed. Thank you very much.”

“She is the only evidence of God I have seen with the exception of the mysterious force that removes one sock from the dryer every time I do my laundry.”

“There are several quintessential moments in a man's life: losing his virginity, getting married, becoming a father, and having the right girl smile at you.”

The group cheer (booga booga booga booga ah ah ah!) wasn't in the script. Rob Lowe said they came up with it while watching the fans who were watching them filming. In other words it was their way of making fun of the fans. Yet another reason to hate this movie.

R144 Rob Lowe always was a douche. Not surprised to hear he hasn't changed.

Such a long time ago. A different world.

What was up with Kirby smelling her pillow? Did it smell bad? That part confused me beyond it being creepy af. I assumed he thought it would smell wonderful.

R144 I always hated that stupid group cheer!

I knew a guy who liked this movie because it reminded him of what he called "The Klan." "The Klan" was the group of people., art students, he hung out with in college. An insufferable bunch of twats, I would imagine. Anyway, he greatly identified with the "Kevin" character, in fact his name WAS Kevin! And he also had a secret obsession with a girl like Kevin had for Leslie. He was into photography and he took hundreds of pictures of the girl (she knew this; she LOVED having her picture taken, being quite full of herself) he was besotted with. But unlike what happened with Kevin and Leslie he and the object of his affection never consummated their friendship. But she knew how he felt and used it to her advantage; anything she wanted or needed he was willing to provide it for her, and she used the hell out of him. I guess the poor Kevin that I knew also identified with Kirby's obsession with Dale. At any rate, he loved "St. Elmo's Fire." He thought it was so "real."

Why the hell would any group call themselves “the klan”? Was Kevin the grand wizard?

The way Mare Winningham was dressed in the movie was not unusual in the 80s. And yeah, in those days, people dressed like the type they were. I mean I went to college around that time and the "nice girls" usually wore that preppy-ish wholesome look and it was very popular. Not unlike Nancy in Starnger Things in the first season. The 80s had a return to rather mature or matronly clothes for girls, with calf-legth skirts, sweaters, etc. At the same time there was new wave and punk co-existing though.

*Stranger Things

“I never thought I’d be so tired at 22”

Girl please. Best worst line ever. LOL

[quote] Why the hell would any group call themselves “the klan”? Was Kevin the grand wizard?

I wondered that myself. I told him it sounded like the title of a horror movie, not to mention that it's also the name of a legendary racist hate group. But they were art students; I guess they thought that calling themselves that was rebellious and "cool."

In Kirby’s speech about where he first saw Dale at the fountain, it doesn’t exist on Georgetown’s campus, but is in the arts and cultural community of Chautauqua, where part of the script was written. He did fudge which four names the fountain has on each side.

R8, Hoya Saxa

“I’m not sure, because I don't understand very much Arabic; but, I'm sure I think I heard the words for 'gang bang'. “

[quote] But Jules trying to commit suicide by opening her dramatically curtained windows and freezing to death was the moment I rolled my eyes and gave up.

I was only nine or ten when this came out but even I remember thinking this part was so stupid.

I always look at this as a comedy-drama, or a light drama. I didn't really think I was supposed to take much of it seriously. I don't think everything is supposed to be realism. It wasn't a De Sica film. I can't explain it but I enjoyed it on a shallow level, it's a shallow film and was never meant to be anything else.

"So we ended up doing it standing up in the dressing room in front of a three-way mirror."

"So there were six of you."

"Fluff and fold, buddy. Fluff...and...fold."

Joyce Van Patten was brilliant in her cameo (or just, tiny part) as Wendy's mom.

"Betty's daughter moved into the new neighborhood. Only six Jewish families. [stage whisper]: But very wealthy."

[quote]Hoya Saxa

r156 r8 I lived in DC for a long time, and took two classes at Georgetown, so I knew "Hoya" was Georgetown's sportsball teams' name, but I never heard the "Saxa" part until Princey shared it above. It's Greek and Latin, I now know, for "what rocks," as in "what rocks our players are."

As for the Tombs, I ran into John-John in the men's room in 1981 or so. I was stunned, and he could see it, so he said hello, finished drying his hands, and left.

Georgetown seems like a fun place to go to school, or no?

Actually, Maryland, where the college scenes were filmed, does too.

Mare wasn’t actually Jewish at the time she made this movie, but she is now. Is this the movie that convinced her?

A decade later, Bradley Cooper would be flaming it up at Georgetown

"Am I part of your props?'

R164, nice story. And the men's room at The Tombs is rather small.

BTW, the movie is awful. No matter where you went to college, there's a camaraderie that remains with you and your friends that the actors in the movie never achieve. To me, they're a bunch of entitled, navel-gazing assholes. There is one thing great about the movie, however. That's Mare Winningham's character whispering...

"Cancer"

I think Billy finally finally relieving Wendy of her virginity was supposed to be this swooningly romantic moment, but I thought it was cringeworthy. He fucks the homely girl (he's about 100 times prettier than she is) in order to make her first time making love a memorable, ecstatic experience, but it just seemed grotesque to me. A reviewer aptly called their mating "a pity fuck."

"Have I abused our relationship too much...or could I be so bold as to ask you for a going-away present?

Cringeworthy? I don't think I've ever seen such a beautiful sex/love scene. As she told her Dad, "I love Billy." My god DL can be so cynical. I still cry when I see that.

R171 to me it came off as too corny, like something from a telenovela, the frumpy fat virgin that dresses like a nun and does social work finally gets her cherry popped by the handsome "bad boy"...it could have worked if the stereotypes weren't SO blatant.

Oh, I was totally joking, R172. It's a beyond stupid plot twist.

"Is this your scuba suit"? Too bad Wendy was too polite to punch his dick.

[Quote] “Wasted love!!!”

God, i just wish i could get it back.

[quote]He fucks the homely girl (he's about 100 times prettier than she is)

Reminds me. Has anyone here read the short book John Irving wrote about the films made from his novels? When he's dealing with the movie of The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), he's entertaining on the casting. He generally liked the actors they picked and the performances they gave, but he had a problem with the looks of John and Franny. He says Jodie Foster is a fine actress who grew up to be an attractive woman, but she was NOT a pretty young girl (as, apparently, the character was described on the page), while Rob Lowe was a gorgeous boy...prettier than most girls. So, for him, the consuming crush the Lowe character is supposed to feel for the Foster character just didn't work. It would have been easier to believe her being desperately in love with HIM.

I did not read that, but I do remember A Prayer for Owen Meany and HOW IT AFFECTED ME.