I love “The Breakfast Club” and I’m completely unashamed to admit it. So far it’s the closest a movie I’ve seen has come to capturing realistic high school dialogue and cliques without being ultra-realistic (i.e. Van Sant’s “Elephant”).
I mean, obviously not every group is represented (seeing as it was made in the 80’s and each high school seems to have its own specific hierarchy), but Hughes pretty much got the gist of it.
And the fact that movie only follows the kids for one day makes it very cool. It’s like an experiment: What happens if you put one kid from every basic high school group in a room for a day and make them talk to each other?
In my opinion, what Bay was meaning to say is very incorrect and also sickeningly arrogant. I dislike the man and I don’t think he deserves to be regarded as a gifted or particularly important figure in movie history.
But when read literally, the words “shooting an art movie is easy” are true. It is easy to make an art film. What isn’t easy is to make a good art film.
See, art is such a difficult thing to define that nearly anything can be considered art. Honestly, anyone can be an artist. That’s easy. But it’s not easy to create art that is skillful, meaningful, and ultimately worthwhile.
There will always be artists that are pretentious douchebags, and having to deal with them is an unfortunate fact of being involved in any art community, no matter the medium (in this case, it just happens to be movies). But at the same time, there needs to be bad art. If there wasn’t, good art wouldn’t really matter.
Sorry for going off on a bit of a tangent regarding my views on art, but holy fuck, it’s these shitty, misinformed statements that really get my brain cooking. It pissed me off when I first read it, but I wouldn’t let myself comment on it until I’d thought about why exactly it irked me so much. I don’t consider myself an authority on art, nor am I particularly educated in the way of “art films”, but anyone who belittles an entire genre due to their own shortcomings or feelings of bitterness in response to bad feedback really needs to shove their foot down their throat and think a little before they start flapping lips.
Having said that, I think “The Breakfast Club” was better in terms of accessibility. “Fast Times” is more specific in terms of location and culture (i.e. West coast and the surfer culture).
Now I’m certainly no one to debate the authenticity of 1980’s high school speak seeing as I wasn’t alive in the 80’s, but I know that “The Breakfast Club” happens to hold up the best in a modern setting. It’s the only high school movie that the majority of my teenage peers can relate to regardless of the time it was made or its setting. The setting could have been anywhere because it was limited to the halls of a high school. Therefore, it could have been ANY high school, making it accessible to far more high schoolers than just West coast high schoolers, knowutimsayin’?
what did you watch today? almost 3 years ago
“The Professional”.
“The Last House On The Left”.
“Se7en”.
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John Hughes almost 3 years ago
I love “The Breakfast Club” and I’m completely unashamed to admit it. So far it’s the closest a movie I’ve seen has come to capturing realistic high school dialogue and cliques without being ultra-realistic (i.e. Van Sant’s “Elephant”).
I mean, obviously not every group is represented (seeing as it was made in the 80’s and each high school seems to have its own specific hierarchy), but Hughes pretty much got the gist of it.
And the fact that movie only follows the kids for one day makes it very cool. It’s like an experiment: What happens if you put one kid from every basic high school group in a room for a day and make them talk to each other?
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Recent Acquisitions. almost 3 years ago
“The Dreamers”.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”.
“Clerks II”.
“The Lost Boys”.
“Funny Games” (2008 version).
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The Gultiest of Guilty Pleasures. almost 3 years ago
Huh. I’ve never heard of “The Boondock Saints” being widely acknowledged as a bad movie.
Anyway, “Phonebooth”, starring Colin Farrell. It’s just so ridiculous, but I love it.
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Michael Bay says creating an "Art" movie is easy almost 3 years ago
In my opinion, what Bay was meaning to say is very incorrect and also sickeningly arrogant. I dislike the man and I don’t think he deserves to be regarded as a gifted or particularly important figure in movie history.
But when read literally, the words “shooting an art movie is easy” are true. It is easy to make an art film. What isn’t easy is to make a good art film.
See, art is such a difficult thing to define that nearly anything can be considered art. Honestly, anyone can be an artist. That’s easy. But it’s not easy to create art that is skillful, meaningful, and ultimately worthwhile.
There will always be artists that are pretentious douchebags, and having to deal with them is an unfortunate fact of being involved in any art community, no matter the medium (in this case, it just happens to be movies). But at the same time, there needs to be bad art. If there wasn’t, good art wouldn’t really matter.
Sorry for going off on a bit of a tangent regarding my views on art, but holy fuck, it’s these shitty, misinformed statements that really get my brain cooking. It pissed me off when I first read it, but I wouldn’t let myself comment on it until I’d thought about why exactly it irked me so much. I don’t consider myself an authority on art, nor am I particularly educated in the way of “art films”, but anyone who belittles an entire genre due to their own shortcomings or feelings of bitterness in response to bad feedback really needs to shove their foot down their throat and think a little before they start flapping lips.
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John Hughes almost 3 years ago
I love “Fast Times At Ridgemont High”.
Having said that, I think “The Breakfast Club” was better in terms of accessibility. “Fast Times” is more specific in terms of location and culture (i.e. West coast and the surfer culture).
Now I’m certainly no one to debate the authenticity of 1980’s high school speak seeing as I wasn’t alive in the 80’s, but I know that “The Breakfast Club” happens to hold up the best in a modern setting. It’s the only high school movie that the majority of my teenage peers can relate to regardless of the time it was made or its setting. The setting could have been anywhere because it was limited to the halls of a high school. Therefore, it could have been ANY high school, making it accessible to far more high schoolers than just West coast high schoolers, knowutimsayin’?
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Movie's you just don't like. almost 3 years ago
“Life Is Beautiful”.
Made me sick to my stomach. Boring, cotton-candy bullshit.
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The Gultiest of Guilty Pleasures. almost 3 years ago
@Sacredchao – Well, shit. I love it.
I second “The Girl Next Door”. Actually really liked that movie.
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what did you watch today? almost 3 years ago
“Yentl”.
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