Short Film Ratings

Short Film Ratings

In this edition of Short Film Ratings I have been watching some coming-of-age comedy films mainly from the 1980s, the list includes St. Elmo’s Fire, Sixteen Candle’s, Everybody Wants Some, Pretty in Pink and Porky’s.

St. Elmo’s Fire | 3.5 / 5

(A film that features a lot of The Brat Pack)
IMDb Rating: 6.3
Released: 1985
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Andre McCarthy, Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore, Mare Winningham, Andie MacDowell
Director: Joel Schumacher

Seven friends have graduated from Georgetown University and are starting out on their careers. This coming-of-age film containing several members of ‘The Brat Pack’ are having to adjust to the realisation that working life is vastly different to college life. They are having to take responsibility for decisions and issues that comes with adult life. Some are coping better than others and some aren’t coping at all.

Coming-of-age films are probably one of my favourite film genres, and given that The Breakfast Club is one of my all-time favourite films, I am now scouring the genre for films of a similar ilk. That was when I found a Wikipedia page titled The Brat Pack. Now I am going to make my way through the films on the list deemed decent enough to watch. St. Elmo’s Fire is the film on the list that has the biggest collection of Brat Pack actors in one film.

Despite the film failing to get anywhere near the heights of Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire did deliver in developing each of the seven main characters enough for me to care about. However, some of the characters’ problems and actions are snobbish and unrelatable enough for them and their story-line to come across as unworthy of attention. The camaraderie between the seven, in the various combinations, was good to watch and the banter between them was amusing at times.

Sixteen Candle’s | 3.5 / 5

(Another film from The Brat Pack genre. Ringwals and Hall both won Young Artist Awards for their performances)
IMDb Rating: 7.2
Released: 1984
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, Anthony Michael Hall
Director: John Hughes

Turning 16 is meant to be a special moment in a girl’s life. But for Samantha, it is a day to forget. Her sister is getting married and with her family’s attention focused on her, poor Samantha’s birthday is completely forgotten. She has a crush on one of the most popular boys in school, and one of the geekiest boys in school has a crush on her. And to add to the madness of situation there are a pair of embarrassing grandparents, a foreign exchange student named Long Duk Dong, and we have the makings of a hilarious journey into young womanhood.

A nice film following Samantha, a girl who experiences things and people that she doesn’t like, and the things and people she likes don’t look like coming to her any time soon. I felt that Ringwald and Hall had great chemistry during every scene together, with plenty of jokes from the pair aimed at one another. Schoeffling’s character is not developed enough for the eventual pairing to have the intended impact that John Hughes would have liked, but at least his character’s split with his then-girlfriend made it possible for some hilarious scenes between her and Hall’s character and a camera!

Everybody Wants Some! | 4 / 5

(The ‘spiritual sequel’ to Dazed and Confused)
IMDb Rating: 7.0
Released: 2016
Starring: Blake Jenner, Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, Wyatt Russell
Director: Richard Linklater

Taking place in 1980, Everybody Wants Some tracks the lives of a group of college baseball players in the three days before their classes start. These baseball players are the top dogs on campus and we get to follow their shenanigans that take place in their shared house which is home to their crazy parties, philosophizing about life and fierce competition with one another. 

Having watched and loved Dazed and Confused, I was a little skeptical about something billed as the ‘spiritual sequel’ to it. However, I was completely taken aback by how brilliantly funny and well developed the characters and the action was. All of the characters have their own identifiable style and character, and the parties they hold and others where they attend were full of hi-jinks that had me laughing out loud. The romance between Jenner and Deutch’s characters seemed believable and the scene on the water was a nice element to have.

Pretty in Pink | 3 / 5

(The third Brat Pack film on this list. The film’s soundtrack is rated as one of the best in modern cinema)
IMDb Rating: 6.7
Released: 1986
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, Jon Cryer, James Spader, Annie Potts Harry Dean Stanton
Director: John Hughes

The tale of a poor and an outsider teenage girl who falls for a rich and popular guy. Andie is considered one of the unpopular girls at high school, and she hangs out with her devoted but unique friend Duckie and colleague and friend Iona. However, when she falls for Blane, two different worlds collide, rich and poor, popular and unpopular. Can love survive? Will their friends be supportive? 

Out of the films I have watched recently in the coming-of-age/ Brat Pack genres, Pretty in Pink was the one I enjoyed the least. All three characters pictured below had faults when they were first introduced, and none of them grew from experience which was a little disappointing.

Porky’s | 3.5 / 5

(Porky’s is highest grossing Canadian film on the domestic box office front)
IMDb Rating: 6.2
Released: 1981
Starring: Wyatt Knight, Mark Herrier, Dan Monaham, Roger Wilson, Tony Ganios, Cyril O’Reilly, Scott Colomby, Nancy Parsons
Director: Bob Clark

The high school kids of Angel Beach are followed through their sexual and juvenile exploits, in particularly their actions concerning the sleaziest dive imaginable, Porky’s. The lads are led to believe that they will be able to get served and get laid despite being underage, however the owner and his chumps throw them out in humiliating style. This sets the tone for the film that is full of smut, innuendo and famous traits of the sex-comedy genre that features in many films since. Full of prankish behaviour and hilarity, Porky’s stands the test of time and is still a hoot! 

The antics that the boys of Angel Beach High School are just outrageous, from prank calls to a female friend of theirs, to drilling holes in the girl’s showers and sticking their … through! Porky’s is a film with plenty of laughs that makes for enjoyable viewing as the boys try to get revenge on Porky, and not to mention the hilarious things that occur on the school grounds, including a scene in the headmaster’s office where there is a meeting between the gym staff concerning the hole in the girl’s showers.