Movies, Memories and Childhood: Part III, Teen Years

Teens.  Mean girls.  High school.  Eugh.  These films are not necessarily favourites, but they are great films from my teen years.  Looking back, in my last couple of years at school, I looked a little bit like Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice…..black hat, plum-coloured hair, black leggings, tartan mini skirt, black tunic, dark purple lipstick, black eyeliner……

Heathers (1988)

Heathers

Deliciously, darkly funny.  Heathers stars Winona Ryder and Christian Slater at their best.  A tale of two outcasts, JD and Veronica.  Veronica is desperate to fit in with the popular girls, who are actually bullies and secretly despised, but she hooks up with JD who has another plan for the girls, all three girls are called Heather.  This is Mean Girls Goes Dark, except this came out before Mean Girls so I think the latter may have been inspired by Heathers.  A film for anyone that hated high school.

Veronica (to one of the Heathers):  If everyone jumped off a cliff would you?

Heather: Probably.

 

The Lost Boys (1987)

The Lost Boys

Two brothers, Sam and Michael (Corey Haim and Jason Patric), are uprooted to Santa Carla by their newly divorced mother (played by Diane Weiss) to go and live with their grandfather.  One night at the fairground, they come across a group of outsiders with a fondness for motorcycles…..and blood.  Led by David (Kiefer Sutherland), the group turn Michael into one of them.  Corey Feldman plays one of the vampire-hunting Frog brothers.  Both the Corey’s are 80’s brilliant in this film.  I never got the fuss over Jason Patric.  Julia Roberts, I mean you!  Why would you run off with Jason Patric when your fiance was Kiefer?  If you like being frightened with some laughs thrown in too, you will like this film.  Think ‘Scream’ for the 80’s. Great soundtrack as well.

Trivia: The Lost Boys is a reference to the companions of Peter Pan who remained young.

 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Cocky, clever, funny and popular kid, Ferris, decides to skip school with his girlfriend and best friend…..in a ferrari, in Chicago.  Meanwhile, Ed Rooney (the headmaster) and Ferris’s sister (played brilliantly by Jennifer Grey) are trying to catch him out.  I love this film.  I was nearly eleven when this film came out so I didn’t watch it until my teens.  This is, in my opinion, John Hughes best movie.  That and Planes, Trains & Automobiles.  Great as Matthew Broderick is as Ferris, my favourite character is Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck) who, funny as he is, is quite obviously unhappy.

Grace (school secretary): Oh he’s very popular Ed.  The sportos, motorheads, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads – they all adore him.  They think he’s a righteous dude.

 

Batman Returns (1992)

Batman Returns

I love Tim Burton’s movies, although I really don’t like the first Batman film.  I think The Joker was too…jokey and then there was Vicki Vale screaming a lot.  To me, it felt like Burton was being restrained and not being true to himself.  However, Batman Returns screams Tim Burton.  It is wonderfully demented and I love it!  Gotham City never looked more gothic.  Michelle Pfeiffer steals the film as Selena Kyle/Catwoman.

Trivia: During one scene, Michelle Pfeiffer had to put a live bird in her mouth.

 

What is your favourite movie from your teens?

Images: IMDb