St. Elmo's Fire

1985’s St. Elmo’s Fire is a timeless hit. Rocking theme song, awesome cast, and a radical plot makes this movie a great 80’s classic. I saw it in a movie theater while I was a private in the Army and remember my friend saying, “It’s the Breakfast Club all grown up”. That’s it in a nutshell. Most of the friends return (minus Molly Ringwald and the addition of  more super stars).

Brat pack returns include Judd Nelson as Alex Newbary, Emelio Estevez as Kirby Keegar and Ally Sheedy as Leslie Hunter. Defining actors include Rob Lowe (Class, Youngblood) as Billy Hicks, Andrew McCarthy (Class, Pretty In Pink, Mannequin, Weekend at Bernies, Less than Zero) as Kevin Dolenz, Demi Moore (One Crazy Summer) as Jules, Mare Winningham (Turner and Hooch) as Wendy Beamish, and Andy MacDowell (Sex, Lies and Videotape) as Dale Biberman.

Newbary, Keegar, Hunter, Hicks, Dolenz, Jules and Beamish are inseparable friends from Georgetown University. They’ve been tight for years and as realize their futures are right before them. All they have to do is seize the day. But there’s a problem, they refuse to grow up. They go to the same bar, (St. Elmo’s Fire) insist on sitting at their table, refuse to get jobs and those who do work, can’t seem to give up their drug habits they developed in college.

Through a series of ordeals that include arrests, suicide attempts, bad breakups, broken trust and fighting, the group realizes that not only do they need each other, they need to make the plunge into adulthood.

Great lines include, “The only way to lose weight in the thighs is amputation”, “Men, can’t live without ‘em, can’t shoot ‘em”, “I enjoy being afraid of Russia. It's a harmless fear, but it makes America feel better..” and much more.

St. Elmo’s Fire has a totally awesome soundtrack that helped define the 80’s. Love Theme From St. Elmo’s Fire and Man in Motion are awesome contributions to 80’s pop culture.  

St. Elmo’s Fire is rated R

10 to Midnight

10 to Midnight stars Charles Bronson as Leo Kessler, a hard as nails detective. Kessler is on a one man hunt for a man who is killing women. He will stop at nothing to get his man, including planting evidence.

Warran Stacey (Gene Davis) is the naked man. He has a unique signature style for his murders. Naked and with a handy knife, he dispatches beautiful women who have resisted his charms.

This movie has a few tricky moments. I thought for sure Stacey was going to kill a beautiful movie patron who he hits on incessantly. However, he is just establishing an obnoxious aliby so he can kill the woman of his obsession. While his movie plays, he sneaks out of the bathroom and takes care of business.

Leo's daughter is the beautiful Nurse Laurie Kessler played by Lisa Eilbacher of Beverly Hills Cop fame. By chance, she is acquainted with one of the murder victims and helps daddy identify Stacey. Stacy is now after revenge and begins to stalk Laurie.

Uh oh! Now Kessler is totally miffed and is stalking Stacy to the point of harassment and evidence planting. this cat and mouse game continues until the bloody climax.

A symphony of psycho synthesizer music tracks this film. Though filmed in 1983, Bronson drags in the 70's kicking and screaming to give this a totally un 80's feel. Look for appearances by Wilford Brimley (the oatmeal guy), Kelly Preston, and Andrew Stevens.

10 to Midnight is rated R for violence, gore, and nudity.

They Live

They Live

I saw John Carpenter’s They Live for the first time while stationed in Wildflecken, Germany. I watched a lot of movies back in the day. It was a good way to blow off steam at the end of a long work day when I wasn’t seeing the sights or otherwise touring the landscapes and scenes of Europe.

They Live has no famous 80’s background music. Filmed during what I call the black hole of music in 1988, I doubt if the sound track would be as good as that of Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, or Footloose. Instead this move was tracked with the electronic sounds of old Carpenter himself. The only real pop culture was probably just the same ol’ LA scene as in most movies of the time; palm trees, cityscape and flannel shirts.

Rowdy Roddy Piper plays George Playa, a homeless man who wonders into LA looking for work. He sports a great mullet and is busting out of his cloths, wrastlin’ style. The writers ensured his first job is on a construction site where he gets a few shirtless scenes to keep the movie campy. While on the site he meets Frank a character well played by Keith David.

George and Frank don’t trust each other, but it’s clear that they should definitely resolve their issues and save the world. As the tension mounts between them, an unholy mystery is forming at the nearby church. The homeless wonderers join others at an outdoor homeless gypsy camp and become aware of the strange late night events at the church. Meanwhile, a weird hacking of the television channel is warning observers that someone is controlling them.

Out of nowhere the police come and destroy the camp, church and some suspicious characters from the church.  However in an even more campy twist, we find the parishioners are smuggling …wait for it…SUNGLASSES. After the police raid the church George goes back in and discovers a magic box of Ray Ban or Vuarnet Wayfarer knockoffs. Don those catch me kiss me shades and not only will the ladies be hunting you down, but you can actually see the aliens who are enslaving us. Oh yea, the subliminal “OBEY”, “NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT” and “MARRY AND REPRODUCE” message are revealed in magazines, bill boards and signs.

Only after a lengthy knockdown, drag out, butt kickin’ scene do George and Keith begin to see eye to eye. In fact, George practically knocks Frank out before forcing glasses on his face to see things from his point of view.  After that the tension is gone and they can get down to a good old fashioned friendship while they save the world.

This movie is rated R and rightly so as swearing is peppered throughout. It actually makes it through 92 of 93 minutes before the first and only nude scene arrives and pretty much unexpected. Fun movie, good times, see They Live.