I have something super cool for you today! Filmmaker Chris Blundell is making an animated comedy about a washed up 80′s band trying to get one more hit. The movie uses pixel art as the basis of everything in the movie, it will be the first movie in the world to do this.
One of the many things I love about the ‘Net is that indie film makers like Chris are able to get their rad, rad, rad projects funded with the help of every day film lovers like you and me! By going to this link you can contribute to the film and get cool things in return – like a part in the film! Check out the video below to see how cool the film looks – this is going to be awesome when it comes out!
If you’ve noticed that this blog was quiet for a couple of weeks, that’s because I was off trekking in Nepal for a while! It was an amazing experience, but there were a couple of things I missed out on while I was gone – and one of those, unfortunately, was the announcement of a Prince tour in Australia, and the ticket sale! Of course the tickets went like hot cakes and I’m not going to be able to go to the show, so instead I’m playing two of my fave Prince songs today!
First up, from 1985, the very funky Raspberry Beret:
Second, the video for Cream. This is from the ’90s – in the ’80s it seemed Prince couldn’t get any sexier… then he released this!
Was there anyone cooler than Ferris Bueller was in 1986? Since this writer was only a year old (let’s face it – babies can only do so much), I’m gonna have to say no. Who else could convince a whole town that he was deathly ill so he could take a couple of friends on the joyride of a lifetime? What’s even better is that twenty-six years after its release (what a number), it’s still a teen classic that everyone can quote and every teenager wants to emulate. Let’s take out the 1961 Ferrari GT250 and see where some of our favorite cast members are now!
Matthew Broderick -
Obviously, as the star of the film, Matthew stole the show and out of the main characters of the film he’s done the best career-wise. Since being in FBDO, he has worked consistently starring in films such as Glory (1989), The Cable Guy (1996) and Godzilla (1998). He’s also done a lot of voice over work for cartoons, most notably the Disney classic The Lion King (1995). But perhaps what he is best known for these days is being Sarah Jessica Parker’s husband. No, no, no – it’s his Broadway work! He’s reinvented himself from a slick, teenage heartthrob to a well-respected stage actor in award-winning shows like The Producers and The Odd Couple. If you’re really interested in seeing him now, he’s starring in the musical Nice Work if You Can Get It starting its run at the end of April over at The Schubert (yeah, I’m a New Yorker. I can call it The Schubert).
Alan Ruck -
Personally, I can easily say Cameron was my favorite character. There was something about those blue eyes and completely neurotic personality that completely did it for me. Since starring in FBDO, he has worked consistently in television starring in shows like Mad About You, Spin City and Greek. He’s also done TONS of guest spots on shows like Scrubs, CSI, Medium and The Ghost Whisperer and starred in a couple of big budget films like Cheaper By The Dozen (2003) and I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009). See? Cameron did alright for himself. Isn’t that good to know?
Jennifer Grey -
At the time FBDO came out, Jennifer Grey was arguably the most famous person on this cast thanks to her role in the classic 1984 film Red Dawn. A year after making FBDO she starred the role she is still probably best known for today: Dirty Dancing‘s Frances “Baby” Houseman (1987). Nobody puts baby in a corner…until she got a nose job and effectively derailed her burgeoning career completely. Unlike her on-screen brother, Jennifer hasn’t done as well, starring in a string of forgettable TV pilots and straight-to-video movies, while seizing small guest spots on shows like Friends and The New Adventures of Old Christine. What is Jennifer best known for these days? Her mirror-ball win on the 2010 season of the ABC competition show Dancing With The Stars.
Mia Sara -
I would like to start this off by saying something nice about Miss Sara, because as Sloane she was adorable. She played Ferris’ girlfriend fantastically and fit into the dynamic of Ferris and Cameron perfectly, making the trio wonderfully complete. I wanted to start this off glowingly because, unfortunately, Mia’s career has not done too well since then. While she has worked consistently, the only other notable thing I can find worth mentioning is the 1994 Jean-Claude Van Damme stinker Timecop. Oh! And a guest spot on CSI: New York! I’m trying to find the positives here, people.
Jeffery Jones -
Jeffery Jones is probably one of the best character actors of my generation. Don’t you dare scoff at that line right there. Don’t. You. Dare. Along with FBDO, I can think of TONS of other movies he’s been in: Sleepy Hollow (1999), Amadeus (1984), The Crucible (1996), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), Beetlejuice (1988), Ed Wood (1994)…I could go on and on. Literally. I could fill this entire article with the films Jeffery Jones has been in. ALSO, he had a starring role on the fantastic-yet-cancelled HBO drama Deadwood. Unfortunately for Mr. Jones (and for those of us who picture this mentally), he was arrested in 2003 for taking sexually explicit pictures of fourteen-year-old boys. Hrmm, yeah. Not a good time.
Edie McClurg -
After that…unpleasantness…let’s end this on a good note, right? Who doesn’t love Edie McClurg? I mean, really. She was the cooled-out ying to Mr. Rooney’s fried-out yang. She was funny without trying to be and was a gem in that movie. She’s another great character-actress who has pretty much been in everything! She’s done so much voice-over work for shows like Rocket Power, Clifford The Big Red Dog, Tiny Toons, and The Life and Times of Tim among so many others. She’s been in tons of films and on pretty much been on every TV show ever (including a guest spot on one of my favorite shows, Portlandia). She was also on an episode of a show called Homeboys In Outer-Space and she did voice work for a video game called Escape From Monkey Island. I’ve never had the luck to experience either of these things, but I can only imagine how epic they are.
This article was written by Maribeth Curley of T-Shirts.com, a company that sells awesome 80s t shirts.
To top off this week, William Torgerson, author of Love on the Big Screen, has answered a few questions about his feelings about and experiences in the 80s.
William Torgerson
Pop 80s: What interests you about the 80s as an era?
William: I’m a 1989 high school graduate who grew up in a very small and remote town where entertainment options were limited. I went to the movies at least once a week starting when I was in middle school, worked as a life guard at the pool in the summers where the radio was on all day, and I spent a fair amount of time in the evenings “cruising,” which meant that I drove in a car the short distance from one end of town to the other while listening to the radio.
Between the ages of ten and twenty I was completely saturated with the stories of the music and movies of the decade. The John Hughes films were very popular then and most of them were set near Chicago which was about eighty miles to the northwest of where I grew up. My parents provided me with one model of how to live a life, (hard working, respectful, keep your feelings to yourself) and artists such as Prince or Madonna or characters like Lloyd Dobler and Farmer Ted from Sixteen Candles gave me a racier or more thrilling version to consider.
Prince
Pop 80s: What was the idea behind making the character of Zuke obsessed with 80s movies?
William: I teach writing at St. John’s University in Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York City. My students and I do a lot of writing together and when it occurred to me that I wanted to write Love on the Big Screen we were practicing on how to begin a paragraph. I wrote something like this: “Everything Zuke knew about love he got from the movies, most of them late-eighties romantic comedies.” I spend the rest of the book showing readers how that was true for my character and the sorts of problems one might experience in relationships if one thinks their love life will end like in Sixteen Candles.
Many of us are probably lucky enough to have those sorts of moments but then life continues where in the movies the credits roll up and we get a song that sends us out of the theater feeling great. Even though I was already in the middle of a large project, I threw it aside when I had the idea for this novel. Love on the big Screen was a book that really made sense for who I was, what I was interested in, and the person I had become.
Pop 80s: How much of the book was drawn from your personal experience?
William: Love on the Big Screen is packed with actual details from my life, and as autobiography, it’s a total lie. Yes, I was a college basketball player and there was a player on my team we called “Cheese,” but Cheese and I were and still are friends where in the book Zuke and Cheese are mostly rivals. I didn’t attempt to steal Cheese’s girlfriend, and the balcony never collapsed at any basketball game I attended. The book is a concoction of my experiences, things I’ve heard about, my imagination, and my attempt to subvert all the expectations someone might have who has watched a lot of romantic comedies.
Sixteen Candles
Pop 80s: What is your personal favourite 80s movie?
William: Like my protagonist, my favorite movie is Say Anything. I think it was on the DVD “extras” section that I heard the director Cameron Crowe and John Cusack talking about the concept of “optimism as a revolutionary force.” Cusack’s Dobler character believes in himself, and he believes that he can get Diane Court to go out with him and fall in love. He believes this even when his friends think it’s impossible. There’s that line, “I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.” That’s a moment when Dobler begins to doubt the way he sees life.
I see his holding of the boom box as a revolutionary act of optimism within the story. In this particular case of Lloyd and Diane, the boom box is a revolution against life without Diane (as are the millions of phone messages) and the revolution succeeds. Score one for optimism.
Say Anything
Pop 80s: What 80s song would you blare from a boom-box to woo a woman?
William: On some level I was attracted to the idea of being the rejected suitor, and so the first song that pops into my head is The Cutting Crew’s “I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight.” I was of the I’m crushed without you mold, which sought to use persevering devotion as a way of winning a woman over. It’s not actually a strategy that works out or it’s a strategy for love that really takes a long time. I don’t think it produces the sort of love that lasts either. Chicago’s “Will You Still Love Me,” would be another song I’d have to think about if I was whisked back to the eighties and faced with a Juliet up at a balcony window I wanted to woo.
Let’s get right to it – another two live videos from INXS!
First, a slow one – By My Side. This is one of the most beautiful ballads there is, and Mr Hutchence imbued it with so much passion and vulnerability. He really was one in a million – here he is live in Melbourne in 1991 (I know, not quite the 80s, but I love Michael in this performance).
(Originally posted 8/8/2011 during 80s Fashion Month)
The 80s were a decadent decade. There was oodles of dollars being thrown around everywhere, quite unlike the state of the world now. So, it is not surprising that fashion was incredibly luxe in the 80s and nothing was more OTT than high fashion. Hot designers included Calvin Klein, Chanel and Ralph Lauren.
Fittingly, the 80s was also when the Supermodel became famous worldwide. Christie Brinkley, Elle MacPherson, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Carol Alt and Christy Turlington all became household names and changed the way we viewed modelling and the fashion industry itself. They were beautiful and fabulous, dated rock stars and A-list actors, and led lives of non-stop partying and luxury – which is what everyone wanted in the 80s! They also starred in some great 80s music videos, two of which will star in Wednesday’s Double Play.
Jenna Cosgrove's Blog - Everything rad, sad and fab about 80s pop culture - movies, music, TV, celebs, reviews and general bodacious goings on. For 80's-come-latelys and those stricken with nostalgia for the best decade in history!
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Posted on May 18, 2012 
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Jenna Cosgrove's Blog - Everything rad, sad and fab about 80s pop culture - movies, music, TV, celebs, reviews and general bodacious goings on. For 80's-come-latelys and those stricken with nostalgia for the best decade in history!
