I WAS A TEENAGE TEENAGER
Aug. 9th, 2009 11:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrog[Error: unknown template qotd] Well ... this is awkward, because my favorite “teen films” are ones that John Hughes had nothing to do with.
Nothing against Hughes, mind. I’ve actually only seen a few of them (Pretty In Pink, you may like to know, is not one of them), and I liked them at the time I saw them. But I haven’t seen them since, so I can’t say for sure how they hold up to my 43-year-old self. Certainly the whole Long Duk Dong thing in Sixteen Candles is something I might not find funny now (or at least the “comedy foreign name” angle). I do, however, identify with Ted and the quest for panties.
It’s also worth adding that I think Hughes’ funniest overall film is Planes Trains and Automobiles, which isn’t a teen film at all.
Anyway, if I had to pick one of his teen films, I’d go with Weird Science. Partly because no one else has, and partly because it pretty much describes how my mind worked at that age (only without the computers, which hadn’t been invented yet – we still used Babbage engines in my high school, you see). Also, it arguably has the best soundtrack of all the Hughes films.
As for my favorite “teen film”, well, I feel a list coming on. So stand back.
TOP TEN DEF TEEN FILMS NOT DIRECTED BY JOHN HUGHES
1. John Carpenter’s Christine
Cars as empowerment, killing yr shop-class tormenters – the only thing missing is a Black Sabbath soundtrack.
2. Porky’s
People knock it for the sex jokes, but it’s still perhaps the most accurate portrayal of virgin male teen sexuality ever filmed. Plus it has Kim Cattrall in it.
3. Teachers
Underrated comedy of the Fast Times At Ridgemont High variety that’s also a biting critique of America’s underfunded (and undervalued) education system. Plus it has Crispin Hellion Glover in it.
4. Dead Poets Society
Because we’ve all either had or wanted a teacher like Robin Williams to tell us it’s okay to think for yrself. And to use poetry to get laid.
5. Risky Business
Yes, I know, it has That Scene in it, but it’s one of those rare beasts: a teen film with something to say about materialism.
6. Heathers
Because cliques suck, and admit it – secretly you always wanted to blow up yr high school.
7. Three O’Clock High
Good fun for anyone who faced the prospect of getting his ass kicked behind the portables at an appointed time.
8. The Last American Virgin
A teen sex comedy that’s part Porky’s and part Fast Times, which I like in no small part for the unexpectedly depressing ending.
9. The Faculty
Well, it’s got teenagers in it. And it’s Robert Rodriguez’s take on teen films – with aliens. What’s not to love?
10. Any 60s movie with “Bikini” in the title.
Like so.
Not another teen movie,
This is dF
Nothing against Hughes, mind. I’ve actually only seen a few of them (Pretty In Pink, you may like to know, is not one of them), and I liked them at the time I saw them. But I haven’t seen them since, so I can’t say for sure how they hold up to my 43-year-old self. Certainly the whole Long Duk Dong thing in Sixteen Candles is something I might not find funny now (or at least the “comedy foreign name” angle). I do, however, identify with Ted and the quest for panties.
It’s also worth adding that I think Hughes’ funniest overall film is Planes Trains and Automobiles, which isn’t a teen film at all.
Anyway, if I had to pick one of his teen films, I’d go with Weird Science. Partly because no one else has, and partly because it pretty much describes how my mind worked at that age (only without the computers, which hadn’t been invented yet – we still used Babbage engines in my high school, you see). Also, it arguably has the best soundtrack of all the Hughes films.
As for my favorite “teen film”, well, I feel a list coming on. So stand back.
TOP TEN DEF TEEN FILMS NOT DIRECTED BY JOHN HUGHES
1. John Carpenter’s Christine
Cars as empowerment, killing yr shop-class tormenters – the only thing missing is a Black Sabbath soundtrack.
2. Porky’s
People knock it for the sex jokes, but it’s still perhaps the most accurate portrayal of virgin male teen sexuality ever filmed. Plus it has Kim Cattrall in it.
3. Teachers
Underrated comedy of the Fast Times At Ridgemont High variety that’s also a biting critique of America’s underfunded (and undervalued) education system. Plus it has Crispin Hellion Glover in it.
4. Dead Poets Society
Because we’ve all either had or wanted a teacher like Robin Williams to tell us it’s okay to think for yrself. And to use poetry to get laid.
5. Risky Business
Yes, I know, it has That Scene in it, but it’s one of those rare beasts: a teen film with something to say about materialism.
6. Heathers
Because cliques suck, and admit it – secretly you always wanted to blow up yr high school.
7. Three O’Clock High
Good fun for anyone who faced the prospect of getting his ass kicked behind the portables at an appointed time.
8. The Last American Virgin
A teen sex comedy that’s part Porky’s and part Fast Times, which I like in no small part for the unexpectedly depressing ending.
9. The Faculty
Well, it’s got teenagers in it. And it’s Robert Rodriguez’s take on teen films – with aliens. What’s not to love?
10. Any 60s movie with “Bikini” in the title.
Like so.
Not another teen movie,
This is dF
