The Big Chill (1983)

Yes? And?

Op Unless you have uncovered the lost scenes of Kevin Costner as Alex, just fuck right off.

Are we just posting the log lines for old movies now?

Porky's (1981)

In 1954, a group of Florida high-school guys try to help their buddy lose his virginity, which leads them to seek revenge on a sleazy nightclub owner and his redneck sheriff brother for harassing them. It was directed by Bob Clark, starring an ensemble cast of Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson, Cyril O'Reilly, and Tony Ganios as Anthony "Meat" Tuperello.

Loved Porky's. My parents thought it was a riot too. Movies were a bigger deal back then. They're weren't as many of them.

R3 yes, we have a thread output quota to meet

The Man with Two Brains (1983)

A brain surgeon marries a femme fatale, causing his life to turn upside down. Things go more awry when he falls in love with a talking brain. It was directed by Carl Reiner, starring Steve Martin, Kathleen Turner, David Warner, Sissy Spacek as the voice of Anne Uumellmahaye, and Merv Griffin as himself.

Imagine a time when Michiganders with a bacherlor's degree were privileged. That movie was recording a world that was already gone when it came out.

Was G nominated for Porky's too?

It's only interesting as a boomer time capsule. I HATE the soundtrack.

R9 the soundtrack has the most basic songs on it

The frontal nudity was sad.

Saw it in the theater my senior year of high school, didn't really appreciate it until I saw it again 20 years later and could relate more to the characters.

I was insufferable back then, so though I enjoyed it, I always had to point out that John Sayles did it first and better (Return of the Seacaucus 7).

Whenever Jeff Goldblum makes an appearance in his current hot daddy iteration, I always remember him being the geeky People magazine reporter in the Big Chill.

Jeff Goldblum was always hot, for those of us into nerds.

R13 And had the best lines.

Is it true that Kasdan used his Empire Strikes Back money to make this?

In other news,.my household calls breaking down in tears naked in the shower "Glenn Close-ing".

Great movie soundtrack...

R17 Best thing about the film....by far. And I agree with R13 that Return of the Seacaucus 7 is far superior.

Into the mud, scum queen!! R6

You must be joking, r17. Every song was a major hit and had nothing to do with what was happening on screen. Imagine a 90s version of this movie that had Hit Me Baby One More Time, Smooth and Mambo No. 5

R20, they were songs that were part of the cast's youth in a film centred around nostalgia amongst a friend group. Your knowledge fell short here. Please beat your thoughts up a bit and make sure they survive the beating before wasting our time again.

I find this movie insufferable now. Every character completely full of themself - except Chloe and the William Hurt character.

I understand the concept of nostalgia, r21. Those songs were the most mainstream, overplayed pieces of shit they could have chosen. Most of those songs have probably been used to sell ED pills and credit cards. You're telling me the entire music collection of the late 60s consisted of eight hit songs? I'm sorry you have horrendous taste in both movies and music. Sneering, cunty condescension does not an argument make.

But that was the culture then, R23. There was nowhere near the universe of alternatives we have no, and these were mainstream, middle class, mainstream, educated people in a film that very much validated them and those who aspired to be like them. It was edgy enough in the 60's for white people to like music made by black performers, believe it or not. Sure, they could have gone more down the Bob Dylan/Laurel Canyon route — which was just as mainstream, if a bit edgier, but that's about as edgy as it got back then.

Getting "edgy" in music and interesting didn't really hit the mainstream white middle class scene until college radio in the 80's, when conspicuous consumption of arcane music became a form of display of status. It want just about the record collection at that point, it was about affording it.

And you started with the sneery, cunty condescension about music in the first place. You got back what you gave.

[quote]Sneering, cunty condescension does not an argument make.

Agree!

[quote]I'm sorry you have horrendous taste in both movies and music.

Well this is awkward, R23.

“The Big Chill” is one of the most misunderstood movies ever.

One can complain, rightfully, that its characters are insufferable, privileged, whiners but, inherent in that observation seems to the belief that Kasdan swung and missed by them being so; that he wants us to like them.

But that they are insufferable, privileged whiners IS the joke and the punchline is that they come realize they wouldn’t have it any other way.

That’s the whole point of the screenplay’s moments where each character, in shallow, false fashion, and using the dead Alex to do it, lament losing their college idealism when, in reality, now, they would hang on to their privilege like a dog with a bone.

Then, as if from grave, Alex doesn’t allow them to do that. How?

Chloe: “He thought maybe he should have accepted that Rutledge fellowship”

Boom.

Exactly, R26. It's one of the most white middle class Boomer films there is.

Kevin Costner's best role

lol, r28

I must be a movie snob.

I thought Porky’s was the most childish thing I’ve ever seen.

Some friends took me to see it on my 17th birthday. It was all I could do not to get up and walk out.

There is nothing wrong with and no need to apologize for being white middle class. Some of your are insufferable.

In 1983 Michigan had 25% unemployment

I’ve always loved this movie. Good casting.

Wretched movie

I really hated this movie. My mother loved it. I watched it when her way back when but I know I was too young to understand it. I watched it again a few years ago and realized - it still stunk. And yes, I "get it" I just don't like it.

I can remember my friends in college thought "The Big Chill" was the coolest movie.

It's a great soundtrack, but the characters are insufferable, pretentious, whining, self-congratulatory pricks...the lot of them!

All reliving their college days!

Ove on and grow up!

All of these p eople would have been homophobic pricks back then.

All the men were hot in their own ways.

It's called an anus.

It's an indictment on hippie culture, but at the same time even though the characters seem self aware they're still horrible. But I do like the movie.

If I were Alex, I’d probably kill myself too. Who’d want to live if your group of friends are a bunch of insufferable Boomers?

I agree the movie was misunderstood by the boomers when it came out. They loved it because it was about them and their values. Which were obviously awesome!! Hellooo! Duh! Now we can appreciate it with the intended irony. Well acted but I have seen it enough.

The minister would never have ranted about suicide. Alex's death would have been presented as a mystery. Southerners don't air the dirty laundry at a funeral.

R31, nobody was apologizing, just stating the demographic as a frame of reference for the experience with no political comment whatsoever. Perhaps you need to do work on that projecting, guilt, or whatever it is that has you make shit up.

I preferred The Bi Chill (1984)

Were they chilled because they were elderly and it was 75 degrees?

Meg Tilly saved this movie and Hurt in my opinion, the rest of them were so boring it defied imagination. Goldblum's crazy eyes give me whiplash.

Return of the Secaucus 7

full restored print on youtube

Sometimes I'm so glad I was born Gen X, since we had zero values to betray into adulthood.

“The man in the hat did something bad.”

It was so sweet when Close asked her husband Kline to pity fuck her friend.

So sweet!!!

William Hurt was a horrible actor (and person). Glad he’s dead.

I hated this movie then and now.

It’s really corny.

It’d be a great Saturday afternoon background movie except the loud ass soundtrack

My parents, my mom in particular was obsessed with this movie. They and their friends would do "Big Chill" weekends. Never liking or having a close relationship with my family, I have tried to watch this a couple of times as an adult now and I don't get the appeal. I was hoping it would provide some window of understanding into my mom and dad, but I'm not seeing. It's very boring.

Weren't these characters upper middle class? Didn't they all congregate on on a big water front home driving BMW's and talking about designer sneakers?

Pretty much, R55. Hurt's character had a Porsche. Goldblum's worked for People Magazine. It seemed like they all went to a first or second tier east coast university.

On yeah, And Tom Berenger's character was a TV actor.

Also, I can't believe the first one to mention Mary Kay Place. She was basically playing herself, but I enjoyed her personality in the movie even if her pregnancy storyline was stupid.

R58, they all went to the University of Michigan. That’s how they knew each other.

Mary Kay Place was always a great actress.

Yes. I am a boomer and loved every thing about The Big Chill. Perfectly cast. Well written. Appropriate soundtrack for the era. An amazingly entertaining movie. Even the naysayers on here are entertained by their quest to find fault in this movie.

I mentioned above that I love the movie. I’ve seen it multiple times. I’ve always been puzzled by the backlash to it (ditto to the La La Land backlash). The only criticism I’ve read that has made sense to me is that these former left wing activists would not in real life have been excited to watch a football game. But I think that can be explained that, along with other aspects of their lives, they’ve entered the American mainstream (and, of course, they are cheering on their own alma mater).

Porkys was horrible I’m retrospect. I saw it not too long ago for the first time since the 80s and it’s mean-spirited, misogynistic and just not funny.

The Big Chill was set in coastal South Carolina. I’m not sure why the dead friend’s funeral was held there, which happened to be near that big house that Glen Close owned. Maybe it was just a coincidence and the guy was from there and went to Michigan. It might be explained n the film but it’s a long time since I saw it.

As for the soundtrack those songs are overly familiar now but they might not have been as 15 year old songs I. 1983. It takes a while for nostalgia to kick in. I remember not hearing 70s disco anywhere until the mid-90s, when after 15 years people were open to listening to it again. The Big Chill had an impact in dusting off those old Motown records again and they began being used in commercials and such.

It’s one of those movies I think - like The Graduate - it had so much more resonance if you were in that age group. My parents were born in 1944 and 1946, respectively , and this film was everything to them and their group.

To me, the soundtrack makes the movie though, Idc what people upthread say. I watched this for the first time fully (in a while) on a transatlantic flight this summer and enjoyed it immensely. Glenn Close’s nom was totally wtf though, as were all her pre Fatal Attraction noms (so she’s not quite as snubbed as one would think)

[quote] As for the soundtrack those songs are overly familiar now but they might not have been as 15 year old songs I. 1983. It takes a while for nostalgia to kick in. I remember not hearing 70s disco anywhere until the mid-90s, when after 15 years people were open to listening to it again

Something else I meant to say and you say it better than I probably would

R64: The funeral was there because Alex was living in an outbuilding on Close & Kline's property with his girlfriend, who later goes for the William Hurt character. The casting wasn't that great, although the flat direction and the weak dialogue don't help. The one character that was true and that I liked was William Hurt's. I don't think it was much of a stretch for him, but it was the only person who seemed "real". Close and Kline lacked chemistry as a couple and the group lacked as friends who once might have been close.

The film drew mixed reviews from actual boomers when it was released. The one dimensional characters and the notion that people radical people were sellouts were among the controversies. I knew quite a few people who had been radicals of one sort or another--Black Panthers, SDS. One even burned down the ROTC building at U of M. They may have gone on into rather conventional lives, but they had not lost their politics or values like Kasdan's characters. The people in "Return of the Secaucus Seven" were more true to what happened to boomers. Kasdan, I'm sure was a big sellout and except for "Body Heat" which benefited from Hurt and Turner, he's movies tend to be flat and lacking in depth.

Boomers - lend me the insight into why this movie was so significant to you so I can best understand my parents love of it (1949/1950). Is it the tongue in cheek acknowledgment that you were once hippies which is now in contrast for the money and status driven lives you ended up with in the 1980s? Is it a smugness that you did far better than your parents at a far younger age? Is it the notion that the world felt like your oyster at that time and anything was possible. Or is it like any other generation where it's simply nostalgia piece like "Clueless" with a goos soundtrack and pop culture references that only your generation would understand?

You're wrong R37 I just watched it for the first based on this thread &

the woman that wanted to get pregnant said the usual line "Men are either married or gay".

No mention of f*gs or q*eers like most 80s films called us.

I'd call this film gay friendly based on how the guys pal around & don't appear standoffish in any way.

I hate that stupid kitchen scene where they're all dancing to The Temptations while they clean up after dinner. It just felt so contrived.

The worst kind of boomer movie - made by and about the over privileged navel gazers instead of many genuinely fantastic and radical artists that generation produced.

Now I'm thinking about what the Gen Z version would be--the fervently held and then betrayed values would be the same, but would they have a common soundtrack? More of them would be failures in the future, considering the poor economy relative to what the Boomers were enjoying?

The Big Fart

R23 you pretentious non musical cunt. The films soundtrack was great. The soulful, yet pop tunes of Motown. Die in a grease fire bitch.

[quote] "Imagine a 90s version of this movie that had Hit Me Baby One More Time, Smooth and Mambo No. 5"

I'd fire the music editor. Those three songs were all released in the last two years of the decade.

R58 they went to University of Michigan. It's not ivy league but a great school

Too soon to tell and society isn't as mono as it seemed back then, R72. That said, I am interested to see how Gen Z navigates full-fledged adulthood and all the responsibilities attached. Being socially aware but a bit more pragamatic, realistic, and forgiving could be quite powerful indeed.

I haven't watched it in years but funny how people here like Meg Tilly's character, I thought she was annoying. My parents are Silent Generation and I am Gen X but I still found parts relatable.

R75 only Baby One More was released in the 90s. The pretentious cunt failed miserably at making a point.

[quote]Whenever Jeff Goldblum makes an appearance in his current hot daddy iteration, I always remember him being the geeky People magazine reporter in the Big Chill.

For me, it's the Tricycle Man.

smells like fish

As someone who loves the past but hates nostalgia and sentimentality, this film is insufferable.

Take away the sound track and the flaws of the film--lack of chemistry in the cast, flat direction, and cliche-ridden dialogue--would have been more obvious.

I'm the Return of the Seacaucus 7 snob. I've just watched the first 15 minutes of R48's link and .... it's like watching amateur theater.

I won't attempt a re-watch of Baby, It's You or Brother from Another Planet.

As a late Boomer, I thought this movie epitomized everything insufferable about early ‘80s peak Boomers and the whole Yuppie thing. (Kasdan’s later film Grand Canyon was even more insufferable, if that’s possible.) And agree with others that Secaucus Seven was a better movie.

Grand Canyon is a huge POS

Eh, I liked Grand Canyon. But I saw it at a point when I was trying to figure out my life. At the time, I read the movie as being about searching for some meaning in your life. Other than Danny Glover's and Alfre Woodard's characters, everyone was searching for something. Kevin Klein was searching for a way to assuage his white privilege. Mary McDonnell was looking for a way to fill the hole in her life as her son grew up. Jeremy Sisto was feeling out his independence. Patrick Malone was trying to figure out where he, as a black teen male, fit in the world. Mary-Louise Parker was hoping for love. And Steve Martin was trying to justify his shlocky movies.

R87 the only thing I remember about Grand Canyon was Steve Martin being shot.

Was this the prequel to Cocoon?

Shitty soap opera

R88, that's the event that starts him on his search for the purpose of his filmmaking. Ultimately, he decides there is no higher purpose and he reverts back to making shlock.

Did Kevin Kline have magic sperm or was Glenn lending him out until he hit Mary Kay's jackpot? Because one and done seemed optimistic to me.

I still remember JoBeth's line to Berenger: Whats wrong with you? What's happened to you?

Used that on a few assholes of my own.

Grand Canyon was cliche-ridden and pseudo-profound.

I feel like Grand Canyon is one of those films nobody really talks about anymore or remembers.

I don't remember much about it. It's been over 30 years since I've seen it.

[quote] the only thing I remember about Grand Canyon was Steve Martin being shot.

Spoiler, R88, Jesus! Just because your hole is as big as the movie title doesn't mean you have to be a bitch.

R94 Marry me!

R96 Sorry, he doesn't die. Alfre is in it so may rewatch, she si usually excellent.

For sure, R94. But I was about four years out of college when I saw it and was sort of drifting through life trying to figure out myself. So it kind of spoke to me. Plus I love any movie set in LA. And I love listening to James Newton Howard's score. I'm not saying it was a great movie. But at that point in time for me, it said something.

[R70] I hate that scene as well---so cringey!

R96 Get over yourself. The movie is 30+ years old. Fuck your spoilers!

Here's the rest of that shit-burger movie spoiled for you:

1) Kevin Kline cheats on Mary McDonnell with Mary Louise Parker, but breaks it off

2) Mary McDonnell finds a crack baby in the bushes and adopts it - the mother never returns for it

3) Steve Martin makes violent trash movies, gets shot, swears off violence, then goes right back to it in the end

4) Kevin Kline and Danny Glover become interracial friends

5) Danny Glover and Alfre Woodard, fixed up by Kline, become instant lovers

6) Mary McDonnell's midlife crisis of motherhood is soothed by the baby she finds

7) Kline's midlife crisis is soothed by nearly getting killed by gangbangers, making a Black friend, and dreaming about LA

8) Mary Louise Parker cries, and ends up with a hunky cop she can actually be with

9) Jeremy Sisto is in the movie, and he lives

r101 needs to chill out. He needs THE BIG CHILLOUT!!

Here's the plot, as I see it:

College friends (all Caucasian and heterosexual) were idealistic and anti-Establishment during college.

15 years after graduation, Kevin Costner dies, which is the plot device for a "class reunion."

They've all become financially successful (except for Hurt's character) and each express their guilty feelings in a navel-gazing manner. (Abandoned idealism, working for The Man.)

The Kevin Kline character was the most embarrassing, IMO. I would like to see a Part II where he and the others are imprisoned for insider trading. (He tips everybody: Nike is about to purchase his athletic shoe company and they should all buy stock.)

Soundtrack, in retrospect, was kind of basic and boring.

R103 here, reevaluating the soundtrack.

The soundtrack was good, actually. What made it bad was that the characters are actually listening to music (dancing) and reminiscing. What would have been better and more sophisticated was just using the music to set a mood. Also, in addition to the "oldies," they could have used some more current music to contrast "then and now."

R103 Doesn't Hurt drive a Porsche in the film?

R105, I thought Hurt was poor because, IIRC, the Kline character allowed him and Meg Tilly to live in an extra house owned by Kline.

[quote] Did Kevin Kline have magic sperm or was Glenn lending him out until he hit Mary Kay's jackpot? Because one and done seemed optimistic to me.

Mary Kay was in her 6-day window of monthly fertility.

[quote] Imagine a 90s version of this movie that had Hit Me Baby One More Time, Smooth and Mambo No. 5

"Smooth" (1999) was definitely *everywhere*, for a while. It takes me back to that time in my life. That, and "Believe" by Cher (do you believe in life after love), which came out in late 1998.

Late boomer here. Saw the movie when it came out, soundtrack interesting for reintroducing some Motown stalwarts but the characters were insufferable.

Hated it basically. However, many of my friends of similar age ( mid 20s) loved it so go figure.

Later in the decade that horrible TV show about yuppies 30-something triggered flashbacks. Ugggh.

So other than Hurt everyone else is still alive that starred in this film?

Any chance of a sequel with kids who would be close to 40 by now?

I'd like to know if the one woman had a kid from being knocked up by Mr. Generous.

Get a fucking sense of humor R101.

Saw the movie had Motown songs in it, r108? I don't remember that.

R106 He was a drug dealer and Kline was trying to get him out of that line of work.

For a fallen world of gritty boomer disillusionment, "Who'll Stop the Rain?" and "Cutter's Way" are more the stuff.

Damn, Glenn Close looks ugly and old even at the beginning of her career. Good for her that she actually has some talent.

R105: It was a fairly old Porsche and you would have expected him to have some sort non-middle of the road car. He was a littletoo pretensious in his youth fora Beetle or an ordinary beater.

[quote] a littletoo pretensious in his youth fora

Oh dear

[quote] Damn, Glenn Close looks ugly and old even at the beginning of her career.

In her breakout film, The World According to Garp, 35 year old Close played the mother of 31 year old Robin Williams with hardly any aging makeup.

A few years ago, I read an interview with Kasdan who said the actors in the kitchen scene were wearing earpieces into which "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" was being fed. He said it helped the actors to dance in sync, as opposed to how it's usually done by asking actors to pretend they can hear the music and do whatever before the track is added in the edit.

And I liked the movie. So suck on it.

Who’ll Stop the Rain and Cutter’s Way are great films that’ capture the pessimism of the 70s. I think Who’ll Stop the Rain captures both the insanity of the 60s and then the massive downer ending that brings in the 70s.

R118 I agree, I adore it as well.

[quote] 4) Kevin Kline and Danny Glover become interracial fuckbuddies.

Now wouldn't this have made Grand Canyon WAY more interesting?

[quote] Who’ll Stop the Rain and Cutter’s Way are great films that’ capture the pessimism of the 70s.

Both of those movies are mostly forgotten gems. It's a shame.

R121 And a steady favorite at Lindsey Graham's house!

Kline's character was supposed to be the conscience of the group. Hurt was the depressant (typecasting), and Berenger was the playboy. Close was the earth mother, Place was the career woman, Tilly the lost flower child. Goldblum was the sell-out. Williams' character wasn't really well defined, I guess the society lady who realized her marriage was dull and she'd missed out with Berenger back in the day.

R124 JoBeth's character was the dull Baby Boomer in the audience who watched the film.

Other than fucking Sam at the climax, and bringing along her third-wheel husband for his one scene, she serves no purpose. But this is like real life. In any group of friends, you have stars and you have invisible bit players.

Invisible, R125? I was in fucking Poltergeist. POLTERGEIST! SPIELBERG! I was acting along Beatrice fucking Straight and Zelda Rubinstein! I'm an Oscar-nominee and three-time Emmy nominee! Fuck you, you little shit.

Wonderful dialogue, r93. That's what makes this film memorable for me - the script. So many great lines.

(Hurt): "Sometimes you just have to let art flow over you."

I am an early boomer and I can't relate to the characters. I was fairly radical and I am the same age as the characters and I haven't changed my politics or values that much. All of them are upper middle class. Close is a doctor, Place is a corporate lawyer, Closes's husband has a chain of shoe stores, A writer for People magazine, and an actor with a hit series. I did like the dancing scenes. My friends and I used to dance to that song all the time. Boomers did a lot of dancing when they were young. And I loved the soundtrack.

[quote] I was insufferable back then, so though I enjoyed it, I always had to point out that John Sayles did it first and better (Return of the Seacaucus 7).

There’s nothing insufferable about the truth.

And I forgot to add that I thought the characters seemed fake. They were all one-Rimensional.

r128

Meg Tilly was wonderful.

William Hurt was totally unbelievable as a Vietnam veteran. His face was as fresh and dewy as a baby's.

R132 Also, a stuffy and soft intellectual like that character would never have volunteered for Vietnam. It's not even believable that he'd have been drafted.

William Hurt played guys who fled to Canada to avoid the draft, or worked in mental hospitals as alternative service. William Hurt did not play veterans or soldiers.

I’m fucking cold! Where is my throw!

[quote] William Hurt was totally unbelievable as a Vietnam veteran. His face was as fresh and dewy as a baby's.

I think he was in the same troop as Terry Silver.

Actual Vietnam vets didn't come back grizzled. He had the essential mindfucking manipulation of the character.