#teenmovies

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #171: Reflections on Rewatching Real Genius (1985) 

Episode #171: Reflections on Rewatching Real Genius (1985)

https://archive.org/download/Podcast171_201811/Podcast%20171.mp3

Today, we’re talking about the 1985 film, Real Genius, one of my personal favorites that I could probably watch over and over without getting tired of it. It’s the story of a group of college students at a thinly veiled version of Cal Tech who are working on creating a high powered laser for a sleazy professor (played to a t by William Atherton) who has a secret government contract to create a high altitude assassination laser gun for the Air Force (look for Ed Lauter from The Rocketeer and Louis Giambalvo from Weekend at Bernie’s as officers).  When the students discover his true intentions, they decide to get even in their own unique way.

I first saw the the film when I was a kid, years before I attended college myself. And for years after, it became my internalized representation of what college might be like – plenty of zany characters, dorm room hijinks, intense hours of study, self important professors, and the exhilaration of solving seemingly impossible problems. All those things ended up being true, in a way, though some things were more tolerable in a movie than they were in real life – especially the intense hours of study, the all nighters, the self important professors, the social class differences, the awkward interactions with possible significant others, rivalries with other student groups, stress over grades and struggles to understand classroom material despite putting in hours and hours of work with little to show for it … yeah … sometimes it’s easier to remember the fun parts of schooling minus all the headaches.

Luckily, that’s essentially what this movie is – on one hand an entirety fantastical, fun version of college, and on the other, a surprisingly believable version that, despite its outward appearance as a Revenge of the Nerds clone or just another teen movie, was clearly carefully researched (Valley Girl director Martha Coolidge was at the helm) and aligned with a specific demographic (college students, especially those that went to an academically intense and/or technical/engineering focused school, grad students, and now, 35 years later, folks that lived through the 80s or like aspects of that decade – the music, the zeitgeist of the times, video game arcades, lasers, etc.)

Check out this page for much more info on all the inside jokes and references people have come up with in the film to the real life Cal Tech.  Even if you have no desire to be or have been a student at an intense place like that, it’s interesting to read about all the little details they stuck in the movie (or appeared coincidentally) that could be appreciated by those in the know.  As for myself, though I was never a student at Caltech and was just a kid when this movie came out, I do recall a number of specific things that were definitely still true (some referenced above) when it was my turn to be a college student (e.g. the infamous little blue books used for written final exams, the forays into the steam tunnels, the coin op arcade machines in the dorms – in my case, Tekken 3).  There are a number of other fun facts about the film and its real life inspirations (like the Frito Lay contest) here and here.

Speaking of the Frito Lay contest, one of the more unusual characters in the film is Lazlo Hollyfeld, played by Jon Gries, the burned out former student now living in the steam tunnels (the entrance of which is the closet in Mitch (Gabe Jarret) and Chris’ (Val Kilmer) room.  He was so memorable in his quirky, shy weirdness that my brother and I took to calling the movie “The Guy Who Lives in the Closet” (as in “Do you want to watch The Guy Who Lives in the Closet tonight?”).  We were too young at appreciate the double entendre of a nickname like that, but what can I say, anyone who lives underground, spends his days entering a contest to win prizes and then succeeds instead of working a 9-5 job like the rest of humanity seems pretty good when you’re a kid.

In case you were wondering about the science behind the film – in other words, whether we have laser weapons as powerful as the one they made in the film, well, yes and no.  There are portable ones the US military has, but nowhere near as powerful as the 5 megaWatt cannon they make in the movie.  There are ones that are much more powerful now, though not nearly as portable as the one in the movie.  So, it’s still somewhat of a fantasy (as a frame of reference, the laser pointers you can commonly buy as pointers for lectures are often 5 milliWatts or less, a billionth of the power the one in the movie supposedly had.  And even those made by Wicked Lasers, supposedly the most powerful handheld ones you can buy are under 5 Watts – more than a millionth of the power of the Real Genius laser.  Still, check out the site above for ads for their products – still cool as hell, though I’m not entirely sure what you’d do with one, unless you want to pop some popcorn with one, like in the film).

Speaking of popcorn, it’d be hard to imagine the film’s ending credits, popcorn flying and all, without Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” a bittersweet anthem for a movie about making weapons and human domination (though for me, it was always bittersweet since it meant the movie was over).

Click on the poster below to find a copy of the film:

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Enjoy a little collection of animated gifs from the film:

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A cameo by Deborah Foreman, who was also in Martha Coolidge’s Valley Girl.  Below her is Michelle Meyrink (also in Valley Girl) as Jordan, who in her words, “never sleeps.”

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The real geniuses (minus the guy in the closet, who’s just driven off with a significant portion of the winnings of the Frito-Lay contest): Jordan (Michelle Meyrink), Mitch (Gabe Jarret), Chris (Val Kilmer), and “Ick” (I think it kept calling him Ish on the show, played by Mark Kamiyama).

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Did this ever happen to you in college?  I love how no one reacts to the meltdown except that some dude steals the guy’s chair.

The montage sequence where the gang gets ready to exact revenge with a great score piece done by Thomas Newman:

The podcast now has a page on Facebook, so head over there and to Instagram to check out some scenes from the film.

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hourplaylist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #158: Reflections on Rewatching Spacecamp

Episode #154: Reflections on Rewatching Spacecamp

https://archive.org/download/Podcast158_201808/Podcast%20158.mp3

This week, I decided to take on one of my all time favorite movies as a kid, Spacecamp (the reason for my wanting to be an astronaut for almost 10 years and going to the actual camp in Huntsville, AL three times), and rewatch it to see what it looked like through adult eyes.  It was a mixed experience, as I expected and talked about on the show, but overall, when viewed as a fantasy, I still think the movie is a lot of fun.  Yes, the whole reason the Space Campers end up in space is contrived, but then so were the plots of most 80s sci fi movies.  I still enjoyed the teen movie elements (it was probably the first actual 80s teen movie I watched without actually realizing it), the characters, the music by John Williams (which, every time I hear it out of context, takes me right back to being a ten year old looking forward to the movie as the opening credits rolled), and the dialogue.  There are still some downright funny scenes.  And that’s how I view it all these years later – a lighthearted 80s sci fi teen comedy with elements of a thriller rather than something akin to a training film for future astronauts (which is probably closer to what I thought at age 10 – hence the fact I can still recite verbatim whole sections of dialogue).

Like a lot of 80s films, Spacecamp featured an ensemble cast with the teamwork approach (i.e. each person on the team has their own specialty), which of course fits for a space mission movie.  You may recognize a number of the actors here from their roles in other films.

And just in case you’re wondering, there is an adult Space Camp that you can do over a weekend.  And a family camp were you can go with your kid.  Just sayin’.

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hourplaylist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #154: Reflections on Rewatching Some Kind of Wonderful

Episode #154: Reflections on Rewatching Some Kind of Wonderful

https://archive.org/download/Podcast154_201807/Podcast%20154.mp3

This week, I decided to take on one of my all time favorite movies, Some Kind of Wonderful.  I’d been awhile since I watched the whole thing, start to finish, and given that I’ve done a bunch of these retrospective rewatchings over the last few years for this show, I’ve mostly gotten over the worry that I’ll tarnish a rose-colored, nostalgic view of a film I enjoyed as a kid when looked at through adult eyes.  In many cases, like this one, my views are somewhat different, but thus far, the basic elements that drew me to films such as these years ago have not changed much despite the years in between.

Of all the 80s teen movies, for some reason, this one was always my favorite.  In some ways, it ironically also feels like the most grown-up of John Hughes’ 80s teen movies, and from what I’ve read, was his last one of this type. Most people know of The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and Pretty in Pink, but for some reason, this one is not quite as well known.  It does sound like it quite difficult to write, and the backstory behind the making of the film is quite interesting to read if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

I identified with the main character, Keith, as a teenager and remember thinking it would be great (and probably too good to be true) if your best friend also turned out to be your significant other.  (I’m guessing a lot of guys can identify with that wish, especially if it all happens without you having to, you know, do actual work.)  I loved the way Keith and Watts bantered back and forth, and it’s probably one of the main reasons why the main characters in The Thirteenth Hour, Logan and Aurora, not only have a similar relationship but come to understand their love for each other in much the same way Keith and Watts do in the movie.

Rewatching it years later, the basic charm of these two still holds, but I found myself appreciating the other characters in the film much more.  Perhaps even more than Keith and Watts.  All in all, I thought Keith’s father, played by John Ashton, was actually a pretty good guy and, in the end, supported his son in the way we can all only hope to support our own children (i.e. the most difficult way – even if we don’t like or agree with what they are doing, we still believe in them, to paraphrase what Keith tells his father.)  I found myself siding a bit more with his father this time around.  I know, I know.  But just a bit.  I found myself wanting to take Keith aside and give him the low-down – forget about high school drama – no one is going to remember or care in ten years.  Don’t blow your college fund on a single date for a girl who you don’t really know and probably won’t appreciate it.  Not fair to you.  Not fair to put that kind of pressure on her.  And, you know, hate to say it, but your old man’s onto something.  He wants you to go to college, I get it.  Make him happy.  He ain’t gonna live forever.  He doesn’t want to be worrying about you when he retires.  So pick a school in a place you can tolerate.  But by all means, pick one that has a good fine arts program so you have the option to major in that if you like.  Once you’re in college, it doesn’t matter!  So few people actually use their college degrees for their actual work, anyway!  Alas, I’m not sure anyone gave Keith this talk (not sure if it would have done much good – what 17 year old wants to hear this kind of stuff?).  But his Dad came sort of close.

john-ashton-some-kind-of-wonderful-photo-GC   John Ashton as Cliff Nelson

I always liked the unlikely pals that Keith meets in morning detention, Duncan and his gang, but appreciated the comic relief Duncan brought to the film much more this time around.  Elias Koteas, who plays Duncan (below), sort of reprises the role as Casey Jones in the first live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film a few years later (1990).

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I love the scene where Keith walks into detention, expecting Amanda, only to be greeting by a bunch of dudes in motorcycle jackets and shades.  The guy above randomly rips a book in half, a scene that still cracks me up to this day.

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Two artists bonding over their works of art – Duncan’s is a vandalized school desk (scratched with a pocket knife) and Keith’s is in his sketchpad (I don’t think we ever see it – probably a picture of Amanda Jones).  Another great short scene.  Duncan, of course, has to break the desk in order to show it to Keith 🙂

img_4212Lea Thompson as Amanda Jones

Speaking of Amanda, I always liked the way the Amanda Jones character was a bit more three dimensional than just phoning it in for her looks, but I liked her a lot more this time around.  She’s no angel, of course – she cuts class and then weasels her way out of detention by sweet talking the driver’s ed teacher and clearly doesn’t have the best taste in friends or boyfriends.  But, hey, no one’s perfect.  She’s portrayed as a human being, flaws and all, and one of the nice things is that she grows.  You get to see her change course at the end of the film, when she decides to learn to make friends and find significant others who like her for who she is, not for who she’s with – a great lesson that everyone needs to learn in some capacity at some point.  Unfortunately, there traditionally aren’t as many of these roles for women – the kinds where it’s seen as a positive for her to stand on her own two feet even if it means outwardly losing face in the eyes of school (mirroring the eyes of society).  This article hints that Lea Thompson pushed for more three dimensionality in her character than the script originally intended.

Speaking of which, this site is a great resource for all kinds of trivia regarding the film, including a copy of the script.  There’s also whole music section.  I mentioned on the @the13thhr.ost instagram page how much I’ve enjoyed the soundtrack over the years, though unfortunately, it really should be a two disc set since there are lots of good songs and instrumental parts not found on the album.   The synth instrumentals were done by Stephen Hague and John Musser, which you can find here as isolated tracks.  Thanks to fans, here’s an instrumental compilation of the score:

The song playing when Amanda and Keith head up to Hardy’s house is Charlie Sexton’s “Beat’s So Lonely,” a great 80s track, also not on the official soundtrack, but a great high note to end on.  Stay tuned for more 80s films as the summer progresses!

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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hourplaylist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞