So!
You remember my nice little wedding that’s happening in March? The guest list is over 200 people. I didn’t know i knew 200 people. Or ever 100 people.
Aug 152009
Shannon loves 80s films, and John Hughes’ passing is a great reason to revisit some of my favourites.
Say Anything
Not a John Hughes film, but the first movie made by Cameron Crowe, starring a very young John Cusack as Lloyd and Ione Skye as Diane. it’s got everything a teen flick should:
- John Cusack
- a great party
- a class issue (Lloyd is from the other side of the tracks, Diane is wealthy)
- parents that just don’t understand
- pure charm and hormones winning out over logic
- the boom-box scene
- Lloyd Dobler is probably the most sincere of the 80s love interests.
Sixteen Candles
Molly Ringwald’s in love with the most popular boy in school, and the nerdiest one loves her. What makes it a classic?
- Long Duk Dong.
- A kick ass party and a school dance
- a class issue (Samantha Baker’s decidedly lower class, Jake Ryan’s a rich boy)
- Anthony Michael Hall as Farmer Ted
- John Cusack (he’s one of the nerds)
- blatant racism
- a terrible wedding
- family that just doesn’t understand
- the birthday cake scene
Heathers
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater kill all the people who piss them off and then make it look like suicide. What’s not to love?
- a bay boy with a troubled past
- disinterested parents who just don’t understand
- ‘what’s your damage, heather?’
- that crazy pep rally after death number two
- class issues
Heathers is really a bit of an anomaly on this list, but it must stay. An honorable mention goes to Pump Up The Volume, also starring Christian Slater as a teen whose parents just don’t understand.
The Breakfast Club
Where would teen angst be with the Brat Pack? Arguably the apex of teen comedies, this one has it all.
- Judd Nelson as the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks
- Molly Ringwald as the princess
- Ally Sheedy as the basket case
- Anthony Michael Hall as the nerd… again
- Emilio Estevez as the jock
- despite the fact that it’s detention, there’s a dance scene
- Emilio trying to cry, making me laugh
- Judd Nelson
- five people coming together for a day only to be ripped apart by cruel fate
- the jock gets a girl, the bad boy gets a girl, the nerd gets to write the paper. How cruel is that?
- so much teen angst it barely fits on the screen
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Ferris Bueller is the man.
- Ferris Bueller is more clever than all adults combined
- Rich kids running around the big city being rude to poor people
- Everyone at the parade breaks into dance
- Charlie Sheen as the criminal at the police station
- Matthew Broderick never ages
Weird Science
I’m not sure what the plot is in this movie, but it’s great. Here come the bullets:
- Anthony Michael Hall as the nerd
- Robert Downey Jr as the rich asshole
- Wyatt and the nerd make a supermodel in their computer who comes to life
- a biker gang crashes the house party
- a nuclear bomb shows up in the middle of the house
- the hot chicks inexplicably fall for the nerds
That’s it for the list. Here’s a piece of 80s blasphemy: I hate Duckie. He’s not charming. I tried watching Pretty In Pink last night and I had to stop it because I wanted to punch him in the face. John Hughes and the 80s film were certainly a cornerstone in my teenage years; they don’t make movies like these any more.
Maybe that’s a good thing.
Aug 072009
Vimy - Pierre Berton
People who know of my love for Pierre Berton’s writing may be shocked that it took me this long to get to Vimy, which is widely regarded as one of Pierre Berton’s best books. This book gives a detailed account of the planning and execution of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which occurred in April 1917.
For historians across the world, the battle doesn’t really exist in a standalone fashion, it is seen as part of the Battle of Arras, and only mentioned in passing in history books. In Canada, it is seen as the moment a fledgling nation, a mere British vassal state, stood up on its own two feet and became a nation. It’s taught with pride in our schools as Canada’s shining moment of WWI. There were very few shining moments in that war, one that is seen as completely unnecessary, and we cling to this victory and the ‘nationhood’ that we gained from it as a way of justifying the terrible losses that Canada and the rest of the world suffered.
Berton’s book goes into detail about the planning stages of this battle, about the new artillery techniques the Canadians used to pummel the German guns into submission, but the pieces of the book that I found the most fascinating were the insights into the soldiers. He gave short biographies of a lot of soldier’s whose memoirs were used at primary sources, and it made the human impact of the battle that much more tragic.
This book is really well written, and I think it’s one of my favourites by Pierre Berton. If you are interested in history, particularly Canadian history, I would suggest you pick up some Pierre Berton. He engages with primary sources in a way that makes the story come alive. I would highly recommend his books on the Klondike gold rush, the Dionne Quintuplets, the War of 1812, and the building of the railways. I would not recommend The Arctic Grail.
I would recommend you thank a veteran the next time you meet one. They did some unimaginable things.
The Canadian Vimy Ridge Memorial in France
