''Fast Times At Ridgemont High''

Now after watching the breakfast club i decided to continue in a similar vein and watch this film i am about to review now. I first heard about this through an album i bought 'Fast Times at Barrington High' by The Academy Is... This was a spin off of the title 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' and because i liked the album so much i decided to watch the film. The film is very similar to the breakfast club in the sense that it involves american teenagers in a high school each with different hopes and dreams as well as likes dislikes and worries like sex, school and earning money. However it is very different because it follows the full lives of these teenagers and not just in the detention hall. We again follow the lives of several teenagers and their exploits during the full school year. Unlike the breakfast club we are not as connected with these characters as the film more concerns itself with the passing of time and how events change people and create friendships/relationships as well as ending them as well. I'll start with Jeff Spicoli played fantastically well by Sean Penn who perfectly captures the classic surfer stoner dude. Long blonde hair and drives a VW camper van. He is the embodiment of the hippie generation in this film. Even though he is featured on the cover he doesn't play a lead role, but that is the beauty of this film; nobody does.

''That dudes been stoned since 3rd grade''

''Was that the bell ?''

Just like in the breakfast club the kids attitude towards school is just the same, no one cares. This isnt helped by the teacher of the history class Mr Hand, who is for lack of a better word a tool. He is constantly on Spicoli's back for not turning up to history, which is understandable, but his attitude and teaching style make anyone want to give up on history. We also follow the life of a girl called Stacy, he main problem that she faces is boys. She hooks up with some random 26 year old guy and loses her virginity to him. He then bails and doesn't call which understandably puts her into a bad way. The majority of the film in which we see her she is worried about guys or pursuing them and over the course of the film we see her grow as a person and a woman as she decides what she wants isn't just sex

''I don't want sex, anyone can get sex, i want love and romance''

 - Stacy Hamilton

Wasted Youth

I think this is a pretty powerful image which can be applied to pretty much every character in the film. The fun they have and the times with their friends are all well and good but ultimately will do them no good in the future. However it could mean kids getting wasted, wasted youth, either way the message is there and the shot shows Stacy being picked up by the 26 year old she met in the diner. This was a waste as she lied about her age and deceived this guy into thinking she was 19 and not 15. This was a waste of her youth as she could be considered to young for this sort of thing and needed someone her own age. 

         Stacy's exploits end up leading her into a love triangle situation with Mark and his best-friend Mike Demono. Mark is your nervous around girls guy who is helped by the very suave and charming Mike. Mike teachers Mark about girls and how to talk to them properly

'' You don't just talk with your mouth, you talk with your whole body''

- Mike Demona

Mark ends up asking Stacy out and they go on a date, they end up going back to hers but as he's nervous he leaves and stacy is left feeling a little stupid. Stacy then starts to fancy Mike as he's confident and well spoken which then causes those two to have sex and gets Stacy pregnant. Mikes image is then totally changed as he is hated for it by stacy's best friend Linda. 

We also follow the life of Stacey's brother Brad who starts the film as a very successful popular guy with a gorgeous girlfriend, good job, nice car and being the popular kid. This unfortunately takes a turn for the worse when he gets dumped, sacked and doesn't get the car. Now as we aren't as focused on the characters lives as in the breakfast club, we don't see this happen one after another. In between these events we see other characters lives and the return to Brad's life makes us wonder 'Wonder what Brad is up to, these days?' or 'Hows Brad getting along?'. We sympathise with brad as nothing seems to be going right for him. As he gets fired from his previous job he gets hired at a pirate themed restaurant and is forced to dress up as a pirate and has to go out into the real world wearing the ridiculous costume he is made to wear. 

however right near the end of the film Brad disarms a burglar who is pointing a gun at Spicoli and is
then made manager of the new place he works

The above image is how the film comes to its close and i think it was a fantastic way to do so. As you haven't been following the characters as closely you are told the endings of these stories in a small summary.  I know i haven't mentioned some of these characters in a lot of detail and this was because i decided to focus on the characters that stood out to me. Due to their being no main characters in this film you may decide that some of the ones I've been talking about are not as important as others, but as i said before thats the beauty of this film.

Overall i thought this film was pretty damn good and there were two reasons for this: the first was the way the film was set out and how it played out. It wasn't just about one person or a few people it was about the life and times at a school where the characters went. Which is very different to a lot of other films, like the breakfast club. The second reason is Jeff Spicoli and the photo of him above just underlines this point more for me. Legend. I'd have to give this a:

9/10

great film. well worth a watch.

''The Breakfast Club''

Right i know this isn't exactly a new film, but my sister has recently told me to watch a couple of classics recently. The first was ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off''', which i had seen, but in small parts, never the whole thing. But this isn't about that, this is about The Breakfast Club which was similarly recommended.

The Breakfast club is the story of 5 teenage kids who have been given saturday detention for a series of punishable misgivings.
    We are introduced to these people one by one as they arrive at school with their parents. Now as we are introduced to these kids each of their parents pulls up in front of the school and we get several over the shoulder shots to show the conversation they are having. What they say in these brief few words gives you an insight into these kids lives. We have the posh rich girl who's daddy loves her and is his princess the poor rebellious kid, the weird girl, the nerd and the Jock. Filling a pretty classic string of stereotypes who have all been thrown into a room having been, essentially, living on different planets for their entire lives. The majority of the film is shot in their detention room where they sit and have to write an essay as punishment, because of this a lot of the scenes are very dialog based and often use close ups on faces, from the shoulders up.

Allison Reynolds

John Bender

Claire Standish

Brian Johnson

Andrew Clark

The close ups of the characters make us study their faces and expressions more closely which gets us to know them better as the film progresses. Identifying with kids as well as sympathising with them is also another benefit as the closeness of the shot puts full focus on the emotion being displayed, and because of this we are affected more by said emotion.

             The film focuses heavily on the backgrounds of these kids as well, as their backgrounds have clearly affected which social group they have been put into. Claire Standish has always had everything and gets what she wants, Bender has had the opposite treatment entirely and we see how both ends of the spectrum can still make people bitter, with a good or bad upbringing. It also helps put into perspective what good and bad upbringings are and perspective is very important on judging it. A rich environment might be all well and good but if theres no love or compassion from their parents then they will obviously be unhappy and the same works visa versa. The different homes they come from make them all smart in different ways, Brian's good at Physics, Andrew at sport, where as Bender is street smart he has good common sense and self awareness and has the ability to pick out an insecurity and manipulate it. Bender's talent would never be appreciated at that school because there is no place for his talent, despite being able to read and judge peoples faces and body language is a valuable skill to have. But as it has no place there Bender is rendered an outcast because he doesn't fit the norms.

The film is a very good representation of 'Never Judge A Book By Its Cover' all of the kids are very different on the surface, but its only after spending time and talking with (people who they would never usually associate with) teaches them all valuable lessons in life. 

        They eventually pour their hearts out to each other each telling their story and all the hardships that each of them face are actually really similar, such as: Parents. All teenagers have beef with their parents and because of these stereotypes they also have the same kind of parents, disappointed fathers in one way or another, whether it be being bad at sport or being bad with girls. Embarrassing mothers, no more needs to be said about that really, that will never change.

John Bender

The above shot I put in because i think its the best shot in the film and possibly one of my favourite shots in film. The pure simplicity of punching the air in victory just shows that its not all bad and there are always things to smile about. This also signifies Bender's 'change' as a person during his time in 'The Breakfast Club'. Even though this shot doesn't directly show his growth and change i think it represents it. 

Right this is supposed to be a review so here goes. I think the film is shot fantastically well with the shots capturing the mood really well everytime. Its also written really well shown by how a normal calm conversation in the breakfast club can get heated and angry really quickly. Showing the volatile personalities of the teenagers. Its the characters are also very acted and created. The clash of stereotypes brings out the main traits of each stereotype and accentuates them to demonstrate how nurture has affected both good and bad. All round a fantastic film and I'd give it a solid:

7/10

I say 7 because it would have been nice to see more of their backgrounds so we can see why they are the way they are.