Tag: 80s

Romcom Redemption

Jordan Brown Leave a comment

Since the late 1980’s romantic comedies (romcoms) have been a staple genre.  It was popular all the way until the late 2000’s when the genre feel out of popularity.  Now Netflix is bringing it back.

There seems to be a gigantic list of romantic comedies that came and are now classics from the 80’s.  There is “When Harry Met Sally”, “16 Candles”, “Pretty In Pink”and “Can’t buy Me Love”. These romcoms are now classics and must watches for all romcom lovers.  The 80’s also had several romcom stars. The most notable being Molly Ringwald who starred in “Pretty In Pink” and “16 Candles”. The theme of female romcom stars continued all the way to the present.

The 90’s was the arguably the golden age of the romcom.  Movies from “Notting Hill” to “10 Things I Hate About You” were somewhat popular while some of the biggest hits that every person still knows are “Sleepless In Seattle” and “Clueless”.  “Clueless” was the “Mean Girls” of the 90’s and became a quotable icon very quickly. “Sleepless In Seattle” is one of the most iconic romcoms that everyone knows and loves. It is one of the most must see romcoms and movies in general.  Some of the stars from the 90’s romcoms are Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Not only were the two popular romcom stars but they also starred opposite of each other in two of the biggest romcoms of the 90s (“Sleepless In Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail”).

The 2000’s were the downhill slope of the romcom.  The theater and tv were getting so saturated that not that many stood out to the general public.  Some of the big romcoms were “27 Dresses”, “Bridget Jones Diary”, “The Proposal”, and “13 Going On 30”.  The 2000s split romcoms into several categories because there were so many movies. Romcoms were split into teen movie romcoms, made for tv romcoms and then hit romcoms.  Some of the teen romcoms were “She’s The Man”, “What A Girl Wants” and “A Cinderalla Story”. The star of the teen romcom category was Amanda Bynes who starred in over 5 romcom movies.  There were many stars of the popular romcoms, One of the stars of the popular romcoms was Sandra Bullock who starred in “Two Weeks Notice”, and “The Proposal”. Two others were Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lopez.

After the early 2000s were over saturated with romcoms the genre died down for a little bit.  There was only made for tv romcoms, with most of them coming out of the Hallmark Channel. Over the past year Netflix has tried to redeem the genre and have been creating a large amount.  There most recent movies have gotten a lot of attention and they are bringing new romcom stars. The most popular Netflix romcoms are “The Kissing Booth”, “Set It Up”, and “To All The Boys I Loved Before”.  With these movies the biggest star that has risen is Noah Centineo who starred in “To All The Boys I Loved Before”. With all of these new Netflix romcoms the genre is coming back into the lime light and is being revived.

The John Hughes Perspective

Jeannie Marie Leave a comment

If you’re like me, you live your life constantly thinking you live in an 80s movie. You walk around waiting for Patrick Swayze to show up swinging his hips, and your best friend is named Duckie because of his shoes.

But most people are not me, and they don’t live like that. So I try and spread my wealth of knowledge about 80s movies, and I am constantly surprised at the number of people that aren’t aware of this particular brand of awesomeness.

I could go on; I could talk about my personal favorite 80s movies, and ones I have yet to seen. But I’d like to set that aside, and talk about what makes 80s movies so great…and yet why they haven’t stayed in the “great movies” cannon.

I mean, a few have. But rather than just great movies, they’re labeled “great 80s movies,” as if we have to put the entire 80s in a box and only pull out the good things. And for some reason, they’re only pulled out when convenient; to make a reference in Pitch Perfect, or to provide framework in Easy A.

I’d like to put forth my own hypothesis, though, about 80s movies. Because yes, they were made for the masses of neon-wearing, Journey-singing teens that were abundantly overflowing and controlling the 80s. But these movies are more than just your average Twilight phase. They aren’t just some love story for the sake of a love story.

Take Pretty in Pink for example. So I might be a little bit biased because that’s my favorite 80s movie ever, but hear me out. The protagonist Andie (played by the still stunning Molly Ringwald) is asked out by Blaine, the kitchen appliance, or rather rich kid from the “right side” of the tracks. As Andie is from the “wrong side” of the tracks, a.k.a. poor side, this creates a huge controversy not only with Blaine’s snobby friends, but with Andie’s best friend Duckie who’s been in love with her since they met.

Okay, yes, the main story is about young love. But it’s not about absolute, true, you’re-the-one love. It’s about negotiating relationships for what they are; relationships that are messy and unpredictable and imperfect. And even more so than that, it provides smart commentary about the very real concerns of socioeconomic inequality. Blaine isn’t snobby, but he comes from friends who are; and yet Andie’s friends act the same way towards Blaine, because he can’t truly understand what it’s like to not have money. This isn’t silly teen angst, this is the kind of thing that happens every day. And like I said, Blaine and Andie don’t pledge to be 2gether5ever, they realize that being together is rough, and that it’s just a high school romance. The honesty that this movie brings to the screen is unlike anything I’ve seen before or have seen since.

In real life, the right guy doesn’t always get the girl, and in real life people break up and get back together. In real life you make friends in detention and you don’t stay friends with them – but you hold a special memory. In real life you do things you wouldn’t normally do – and then face the consequences for those actions. Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Dirty Dancing. Sound familiar?

What separates John Hughes movies, and more generally teen movies from the 80s, is the truthfulness that’s shown on screen. You can watch and relate, even if you don’t have red hair or you’re not a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal. These movies just get what it means to be a teenager without limiting or mocking that experience.

And the sad thing is, that doesn’t happen anymore. Adults dismiss teens as being angsty, hormonal, irrational, unable to make decisions or think critically. So yes, John Hughes movies may be teen movies, and yes, they may be made for teens and with teens in them. But I don’t think that’s a reason to shove them in the 80s movie box with your mom’s green legwarmers. Now more than ever teens need to know that their voices are being heard, and that they’re important.

So yeah. 80s movies.

*cue slow motion fist pump*

Trend-Setters or Trend-Stoppers?

Erika Bell Leave a comment

I love high fashion. Ever since I was a pre-teen my obsession with foreign designers and unique style icons emerged, and I can’t seem to shake it. With high fashion comes trends that are transferred from the runway to the people around us (studs, color-blocking, ombre, etc.). Trends are great, they keep the youth of this generation flowing with creative ideas like decades of the past (70’s hippie, the 80’s, 90’s grunge, etc.). However, with the waves of trends and styles that drift in and out of our generation, I feel that we may never reach the heights that the 70’s or 80’s have reached.

The 80’s was a decade in fashion known for vibrant contrasting colors, excessive makeup, wild hair, and leggings (ah, where they were born). Since the beginning of the 21st Century, the trends that runways have produced and brought to the masses have yet to create a long-lasting stamp on the people of this time. We do have waves of trends that stay with us for a few months, but then something new sweeps the scene  and the trends that we’ve loved so much are forgotten and regretted.

Photo Credit: ohmydior.org

I suppose that’s a part of fashion, but I fear that there will never be such an iconic time again where a trend makes a mark on the world for a decade or more, and we all embrace expression through style.

We do have the hipster” trend that has kept its standing for a good year (oversize shirts, leggings/skinny jeans, loafers, glasses that you don’t need, etc.), but I’m not sure if it’s strong enough to make a statement for those who will look on this time in the future and think of style and its evolution.

Photo Credit: sexysocialmedia.com