Get a Peter Hell, are you here? Welcome to You ain't seen nothing yet? The Movie Podcast where urch out to a movie lover about a classical beloved movie they haven't quite got around to watching until now. And today's guest comedian Damian Power. You ever dance with the Devil in the Belle lighted?
I'm walking here, I'm walking here.
Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.
But what happening?
Right?
So? You ain't seen nothing yet.
Damien Power is one of my favorite comedians to watch and has been for quite a while now. For over a decade, the Queensland Natives dry sardonic wit has been winning fans all around the country. Damien's comedy dissects lives and societies hypocrisies. His routines are beautiful, constructed, logical, and
always funny. Damien's the kind of blow that you may want to take your conspiracy theorist friend to spend ten minutes with, confident that when they return, their tail would be firmly between their legs and their tinfoil hat crumpled. Damien is always working out how to push the boundaries further and where he wants to take his audience in his next show. He's brave, astute, hilarious, and I'm bloody stoke and be' hanging with him today.
My name's Damien Power, and my three favorite films are Glengarry Glen Ross.
Hit the Bricks, pal and Beat It Because you are going.
Out, fight club, this.
Is your life and it's ending one minute of a pin.
And fear and loathing. In Las Vegas, I.
Was right in the middle of a fucking reptail zoom and somebody was giving booths to these goddamn things.
And up until last night, the film I hadn't seen was The Breakfast Club.
Yes, is there an eighty song more connected to a film than Simple Minds? Don't You Forget About Me? With The Breakfast Club, a princess, a jock, a nerd, a basket case and a criminal are all forced to spend a Saturday to together in detention at Sherman High In John Hughes nineteen eighty five seminal teenage film The Breakfast Club, a film about trying to fit in the class system, fate and a prison movie. Cleverly Disguised has a high
school film a rare movie that took teenagers seriously. It made them feel seen despite a complete lack of diversity, which I'm sure we'll get too soon. If movies can actually help shape a generation, and I'm not sure if they can, but if they can, this feels like it might be one of those kind of movies, A cultural phenomenon which helped kick off write a director John Hughes extraordinary career, Damien Power. Have you ever taped anyone's buns together in order to impress your dad?
Well, obviously, of course I have, and I mean we've all done that. I mean the sad thing is, of course mine was last week, but it was it's a weird where weird. It was a weird barbecue.
But you're in Brisbane. It's all freedom day every day in Brisbane.
You can say so the pape Uncle Gregg's last cheeks together.
Again, Mate, Thank you for coming on the show. Very excited to have you on. Why Why did you choose the Breakfast cum Why hadn't you seen it?
It's a good question. I've known about it and cultural references to it, but I just never got around to see it. I can't really pinpoint why or how I missed it because now that I've seen it, it's such an eighties like I get the folklore around it now. It's just so eighties and it's so of its time I can see. And it's funny watching something like that with the I have no nostalgia for it because I
never saw it. So it's funny. I could just see how people would have laid it with nostalgia, you know what I mean, Like it would have added a layer to it that I didn't see.
So this film for me is quite a meaningful film.
Like I watched it when it came out and eye and I continued watching it, and I really it's a real comfort film for me.
I really, I hadn't seen it.
I watched it with my kids a few years ago, and so I had seen it, you know, I had seen it as an adult a few times. It's one of those films if it's on, I'll watch it for a while. But I was really curious, knowing that I was going to be speaking to somebody who hadn't seen it. What what felt, you know, like it was, you know, something from a bar gone era, and what still feels somewhat relatable?
And and so and.
We'll definitely get to that, and I will I will admit that somebody else had nominated a breakfast Breakfast car. I won't out them, and they and they actually began to watch it, and they and then I didn't hear from them for a week or two, and I sent them a text saying I sent them a text saying, well, I say it was an actress in her probably mid twenties. And I did text her saying, oh, yeah, have you
watched the film? You know, go to the podcast. And she replied basically saying she hates she she just hated that she couldn't get through us right.
We abandoned it.
I said, well that, come on, and you know, like not everyone has to like the film that we watch. Just saw a part of it. It's talking to somebody who is still processing a film that just watching, and sometimes your opinion might even change throughout the podcast. But she was coming from pretty stern. I just couldnot relate to this film at all. So I am curious to have to find out what you related to and maybe what you didn't. But let's talk about your your three
favorite films. Three cracking films. Glen Garry, Glenn Ross David Mammott written film with Albert Chino, Alec Bordwin, Jack Jack Lemon. Such a beautiful performance in Jack.
Lemon unbelievable and did you so? And Ed how Horris, Ed Harris and Kevin Spacey, I think we let us say it. Yeah, and Alan r Kin. Oh yes, just think about that. That as an ensemble. It's al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Jack Lemon, Alan r Kin. That's not a and Alec Bordwin does a cameo, a monologue that won an Oscar. Just single monologue that you now, every single drama school in the world used, Like when I applied for drama school, it was on every list.
You know, they give you a list of monologues that you could potentially perform in the audition.
Yeah.
So it's just a phenomenal, phenomenal film.
That may have been replaced by Goodwill Hunting more recently.
Yeah, true, but it is for those who haven't seen it. So what do you describe It's basically about a group of sale agents.
Yeah, it's I think the key to getting into it, I guess, or thinking of it as framing it that is David Mammott, I guess that's really the thing here,
isn't it. Because David Mammott, if you don't know, is a legend, well probably the greatest contemporary playwright of a live today, people would argue, And his dialogue is what drew that cast in, that incredible casting to do the film because obviously there was absolutely no money in it because it's not a big blockbuster film, but the dialogue and the script is so good they all agreed to do it. So I guess that's the kind of thing
about it. So it's set in basically a single room almost entirely, and it's totally an ensemble piece, and it's just all about the dialogue. It's just all about the witty back and forth and almost dialogue over I mean character to a degree. It's so such a good script.
Yeah, and Jack Lemon I remember being such a big part of the heart of that film, Like he because he's so he's so desperate to make the sales and to get the what do they call the things they need? The leads, the leads, the leads. He's so desperate to get the leads.
It's so and you.
Know, and he's maybe you know, being a bit shady in some of his dealings with you know, as far as being an honest salesman, he's probably compromising his own his own belief system.
But it's it's a cracking film.
And for those who don't know David Madman yet, like you said, I think you're framed him really well. You know, you can imagine Aaron Sorkin, for example, being a huge you know, being hugely influenced by David Mammon. It's in that kind of light. It's very kind of fast. It's not necessarily a naturalistic kind of way people speak, but it's it's it's very it's it's a lot going on in that dialogue, and it's it's really entertaining to watch.
It's it's it's brilliant. It's so it's so entertaining. And Jack Lemon plays the most, as you say, the most pathetic salesman that has ever existed, and his life is totally on the cusp of collapse, and so he's got to get these leads and all they're doing is selling real estate. It's funny in itself. Basically they're all desperate, except al Pacino's character, who's the cool kid.
Albercino's pretty Cockshaw.
Yeah exactly.
Yeah.
So he's like the Wisbang guy who's doing well, but everyone else is just on the cusp of, you know, basically getting food on, not getting food on the table, but just trying to hold their lives together. So every sit as they call it, when you sit down with someone to sell them real estate is absolutely crucial to
them and their character. So they're desperate to sell these these properties that are probably bullshit and not very good, and so that's sort of what drives the whole film, is this continual desperation and absolute life affirming need to sell shitty real estate.
And it's pretty much set over. Is it twenty four hours or is it a night or something?
Yeah, it's set over like one day.
Yeah, yeah, which has obviously some connective tissue with the film we'll be discussing very soon. Fight Club has come up before some people's top three films. Did you see it when it came out? Because this was nineteen ninety nine, which if you look at nineteen ninety nine and the films that came out, an extraordinary bunch of films come out in nineteen ninety nine, like The Sixth Sense came out Blair Witch Project, which was a huge phenomenon at
the time. I think seven was then Run Lola Run, like The Usual Suspects might have been that year as well. Like there's an extraordinary number being John Malcovich American Beauty, extraordinary amount of like like indie kind of classics that came out that year. I think Three Kings might have been there as well. And there's a great book called nineteen ninety nine Best Movie Year Ever, and it kind
of tracks that year. And The Matrix was The Matrix is ninety nine, Phantom Menace was ninety nine, which is a kind of probably a different kind of ballpark, and.
Some really bad films as well, don't forget the horrible ones Pete as well, don't forget them.
Yeah, absolutely right, And it was a big year for twist films, you know, because The Sixth Sense has perhaps one of the greatest twists of all time. The Usual Suspects has one of the great twists of all the time, as does as this Fight Club.
Yeah. Absolutely, fight Club to me is a one of a it's a one It sort of stands on its own in my opinion, and it's not like any other film really, And now I think about it, and I wonder about this is the controversial I've thought about this film a lot, and there's a few things that I think.
First of all, Tyler Durdin is an anarcho socialist, so he believes in resetting society back to year zero and beginning it again as an agricultural society where you just live off the land, and to totally completely destroy history. So that's exactly what Polepot wanted. So pole Pot was an agrarian socialist who believed in restoring society and destroying history and bringing it back to year zero, like back to farming. So anyway, that's just a little thing I thought of.
I mean, you took the words right out of my mouth.
I mean.
I had my pole Pot compared and locked and loaded. I was ready the guy.
Yeah, yeah, well you should have seen that coming. But so so or you know, when I was in college, people would have Tyler Durden posters up on their door, you know, like, you know, I'm trying to think of something. You know, it's cool quotes or whatever. You know, you're nothing, You're you're you're all singing, all dancing blah blah blah blah blah and like, yeah, it was also very similar
to pole pot in his ambitions. So anyway, so you know, and the other interesting thing about it is this talking about diversity and you know, the world we live in today, and I'm sure we'll get into a lot of that with the Breakfast Club.
But.
The the the this is just my take on it. The obviously a staunchly anti capitalist film, and famously, the Fox executives were apparently extremely unnerved by when they actually saw it, because they originally backed it thinking it was just people punching each other in the head for an hour, you know, like a fight. A fight from them like yeah, it sounds great. Wow, let's get that. Yeah, absolute fight club. Yeah, they'll be punching. Great violence. Not one of the most
insightful takedowns of corporate culture ever created. So apparently it was quite an awkward viewing room, Like really, is this okay? Interesting? Year zero, you say, But so, this is what's interesting to me about it is the entire the revolution in
Fight Club is of middle working class white men. So and I think that's intentional because to me, the message is of course, now we would say, well that's a lack of diversity, but the reason why it's such a cutting takedown of the system is that I see it as the benefactors of our society, White middle class men in nineteen ninety nine. Aren't they have the thing that you know that, they have, the job, they have the thing that they were promised, the society they're living in.
They've got everything, and they're still not happy. And the message to me of the film is like, even at the top of this society where you're meant to be, you have the furniture, you've got the apartment, you've got, the job, you work in, the in the thing, you've got all the stuff. You're the privileged class. Nobody's happy and there's a deep darkness under current to it. So to me it's actually more biting because they're all middle class white men.
And do you think they're saying to those middle class white men you are crazy not to be happy, or is it saying, no, of course you're not happy because these things are never are never about you're chasing and not the things you should actually be chasing.
Definitely what Definitely, it's definitely the whole dream is fake. The things you want will not make you happy, ikea will not make you happy. Getting the apartment fully furnished and paying it off won't make you happy, and that what's missing is what Tyler Durton wants, which is a community and a sense of belonging to something closer to earth and community and tribal living and stuff. And so we need to punch each other in the head, as
white middle classmen do feel what we're missing. Yeah, yeah, or antidepressants, that's the other way.
What was real?
What's interesting when it came out?
Well, and this seems crazy to talk about this now considering we're going through a very real global pandemic. I am in lockdown, you are in luckily in Brisbane. But we're still living with all of this. Everyone is. But and this is frames ont of these ninety ninety nine films where a lot of these indie kind of films that were like high concept were coming out because there
was a for those younger listeners. There was something called the ywo K bug, the millennium bug, which is very funny to talk about now, but if you remember, I'm not sure how I was, how old you were in nineteen ninety nine. You're younger, you're younger block than I am. But there was a real anxiety about y U K and the Millennium Bug, and the real unease about what it could happen, like the stroke of midnight.
I remember I was at ULARU. I think we were mates.
Let's us get away from technology and go to the most isolated place we know. It turns out all is not that isolated and New Year's e funily enough. But but was it was? So I think thinking of those twentieth century Fox executive seeing this already in this kind of feeling, the feeling that was out there, they it would have made them.
It would have made them nervous.
But I think that's that, you know, people who wanted to dive in.
I think that helped the movie in a way.
Yeah, it's a really interesting little piece of the context of when the film was released. The Millennium Bug. I mean looking, I mean it, companies just made an absolute mint of something that never happened or existed.
It's really hard to look my kids in the eye where they've missed the last two years of school, and say we were worried about the millennium We were.
Worried computers to be like, well cannot compute two thousand. That was That's how it people sold it. It was sold by the IT industry. Is like computers won't get the two thousand thing. It's like, wait a minute, I've got a calculator on my Windows ninety five machine that does tell I won't get it.
I mean, I mean the Queensland government runs a very similar argument for daylight saving as far as the cows won't understand.
Yeah, and we just go, yeah, that makes sense. All the cows I know hate it. So what about the cows?
You know? Fear and loathing in Las Vegas Hunter Hunter s Thompson, What do you starry? Johnny Depp? Of course I've seen it. I've seen it once. It doesn't necessarily hold a lot of real estate in my mind. But tell us how you read the book and then went onto the movie or did you.
Well, obviously you've never been on a drug fuel Last Days where you wake up naked in a park or something. Because for people like us, it holds a lot of real estate.
It's it's very true what you say. So so why this film do you go back to it? The noise are just.
You know, it's obviously it's always hard to pick your top top films, but this one definitely for a while in my life held a lot of wait, so to speak. But I think it's Terry Gilliam, Yes, so you know, he's brilliant. Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro are so good. Johnny Depp's character acting in it, and you lived with Hunter S. Thompson for a while is incredible. Hunter S. Thompson really captivated me in my earlier years, in my
twenties or whatever. Is like this cool writing, you know, I think for a lot of people a bit like Bokowski or something, you know, like WHOA, this is cool crazy you know kind of writer, kind of kind of vibe. And so yeah, the combination of all those those things makes I thought it was a brilliant film. It's so hard to watch all of it. I can't. The first half is about as far as I make it in
one sitting. Obviously I've seen it all, but it is just such Terry Gilliam's never done drugs, right, but if you watch the film, it's it's an unbelievably accurate but as someone who's done psychedelic drugs, it's an unbelievably accurate portrayal of what it's like to be on them.
That's really interesting because I spoke. I spoke to Ross Noble. We did Wake in Fright. I'm not sure you've seen yeah, the Australian film. Yeah yeah, And I said, the russ who doesn't drink, I said, to be honest, like watching Wake in Fright, it's very few movies have I seen make you feel like you are there and you are like take you inside a drinking experience. It's a very
hardcore Australian outback drinking experience. But I really do feel like for someone who doesn't drink, and I'm talking about you having a tiple, I'm going to talk about going out and going on a bender waking front kind of not that I've gone on and often shot kangaroos when I've had a few tennies. Not that not that you remember, Not I remember, But I feel like it's very visceral in the way that it makes you feel about drinking and that experience.
It's a great comparison because fortunately I've done a lot of drugs and drinking. So I'm going to I sit in that weird middle ground. I've been able to assess both films.
I have hit page it today.
Yeah, lucky you got me on. Let me break this down. Yeah, it's actually an excellent comparison because when you watch Waking Frider, you feel the hangover almost like come ups in your psyche because it's so accurately portrayed. It's like, and I feel the same about fear and loathing in Las Vegas, and these days I don't really do any of that
stuff anymore. So for me, it's like it can be almost unnerving in the same way that like with the hangover in Waking In fright, you're kind of almost like, oh, you can almost feel it, yeah, from watching the film.
Yeah, you know, yeah, absolutely. All right, Well let's get on to the movie. We are here to talk about the John Hughes classic nineteen eighty five, The Breakfast Club. Before I asked you what you thought of it? What did you know? Did you know? Did you know at least simple Minds? The Simple Minds came and the rough premise of the five kind of different teenagers kind of thrown together.
Well, the beauty is I actually knew nothing, right. I think the most I knew was that it was iconic and like a film that everyone's talked about and everyone's seen. It was this film as like I don't know, like Star Wars or something, you know what I mean, that's kind of what. It's just this thing. You haven't seen it. You've got to see it, you know. And that's all I knew. I kind of got the vibe that it was one of those real eighties, classic, you know, kind
of things, but that's all I knew. I knew nothing about what it was about.
And what do you think?
I really liked it for so many weird reasons because, like I said, I'm visiting it in twenty twenty one, like fresh eyed, So it's like it's a bizarre snapshot of eighty eight. It's it's crazy, it's so eighty so that I enjoyed. I can't believe it was. It was. It was a weird thing of realizing how much society has changed, so that it was just crazy because really, like they're basically assaulting that woman in it, you know, it's like insane and words that we just can't say anymore.
And obviously the entire cast is white, so it was just like, holy shit, it was a jarring look back on what it would have been like to be. And the other thing is it also brought up nostalgia in a sense because it just brought back to this time when American culture pre the Internet and everything that's happened pre nine to eleven, where American culture was just so reverent and so it was just like when I was a kid, it was like the coolest place and the
coolest thing. And American high school kids watching those films or films like that, it was just like, Wow, they go to they don't have school uniforms, and they drink coke at school, and they have this weird relationship with their teachers where they just talk to them like their people. It was just this incredible thing when you were a kid, American culture, you know. It sort of reminded me of that.
I spoke to Sam Mack.
We spoke about Mean Girls, which is a great film, and we spoke about that kind of wonder lust we had for American high schools, and like I want to go to a party where we drink beer out of red cups, you know, like you know, and I want a cafeteria. We don't have a cafeteria at our school. We just have a canteen, a hole in the wall.
We have to line up and get our sausage roll, you know, I want to go to a cafeteria, you know, and then yeah, it's it's amazing, and I want one of those varsity jackets you know that Emilia west Bez wears.
Yeah, yeah, totally. And the lockers and stuff, and the culture around lockers and the gym and stuff, and the gym change rooms and stuff where they all had cool uniforms and it was Yeah, that part of it. I guess there was an element of nostalgia, you know, not for the film, but for the time, and reminded me of what it was like growing up, you know, like to look at it like that.
And let's just cover the things you just spoke about, as far as the things that stand out that would not get done, like the bomb and not the left bomb that these you're not talking about fun, I'm not talking about fuck no, no, no. It's a slanderous comment, usually aimed at gay people. And it's it's said that quite a few times, and it's it's a common thing with these movies, and I think we all know now outside of that damon, it seems that we don't.
That we don't, we don't use that film.
Watches it every morning but we all like that word. This is such a jarring word, you know, it really is, like, but I remember back in those days that word that those words were used a lot, you know, I you know, I don't necessarily remember using those but I'm sure I probably did, you know, occasionally, but not necessarily aimed at somebody who was gay. It was just like, you know, in the same way that gay became a term that you would describe as something that wasn't.
Cool or you know, in that kind of way.
And watching this film, I feel like it's more uncomfortable to watch when it's aimed at somebody who is gay, as opposed to later using it here. And I'm not saying it's right, like you know, it's a word as doesn't exist anymore. I've had more uncomfortable experiences when it's aimed at somebody, you know, as a you know, I know, I know that you're gay, and I'm putting my boots on your neck as a result.
Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah, No, I can't remember that, yeah that, I mean, you know, Eddie Murphy is delirious obviously has has that word in the opening thing, and people talk about it all the time, and his commentary on aids and all that stuff, like, Wow, the eighties, different time and stuff. But yeah, that word, yeah, I mean it's like that Louis c. K bit where he talks about that word being something that was equated with just someone being annoying. Yeah, you know, yeah, so I guess words
changed meaning over time. But yeah, I certainly I can't remember. I mean I up into womb, but so I don't remember. There was no there was no gay people in the sense that no one would no one would ever owner you know, like no one would come out into them or whatever. Thad's just it was such a it was such a crazy conservative backward town when I grew up there. So yeah, I never saw it directed at actual gay people and stuff. But that's a whole different level.
Yeah, it really is. And the other thing that you mentioned to other things we will touch on is there's a complete like a diversity, the fact that everyone is white. I mean, if you make that film now, you do not get you know, past any kind of draft with that insurance assurances that there is some diversity. He both sexual diversity, cultural diversity, you know, it's all it would all be in there.
Yeah, Well, there's I think like say bad words in films obviously should continue to be said in films because bad people say bad words in real life, and we as people watch that and learn, and that's what art should be a reflection of real life. So those things should never be censored. And the thing about the all white thing is the you know, you're right. I was thinking, going, this is such a snapshot of white people in eighty eight and their concerns and what they're worried about and
what their kids think. And then from a script perspective, you're missing out on this whole other just talking about making the film more dramatic, you're missing out on this all these other voices. Yeah, all these other voices, whether it be Asian, black, or you know whatever, Latino anything. You know, all America's very diverse. So in a way it was I think we you know, look back on stuff like that, and in a way it's kind of a bit more boring.
Oh, as soon as you when you're writing something and then you can't you know, when you're casting.
As soon as you.
Diversify it, like you just feel it, you feel when you're writing it, it becomes so much more interesting, you know. And I'm not necessarily, you know, hoping for a Breakfast Cained reboot. I'm not a massive reboot fan, but no doubt if they were making this film today, the cast looks very different and it'd be better for it. But it's quite interesting because Molly Ringwold has kind of like addressed some of these concerns that she's had about the
things that we are speaking about. And of course, the the scene with Bender under the table and he basically well sexually assaults her.
You know, that stuff was that was crazy. Yeah, I believe how they treat that girl, and it is insane.
Yeah, And she feels like she writes, she write a really great article in the New Yorker, which I've got here and I read it a bit out in the sect, and she's just kind of John Hughes died, I think in two thousand and nine, and so Molly Ringwood was his muse. He kind of discovered Molly Ringwood and casts in the Breakfast Club off her head shot and then and then wrote sixteen Candles as I was getting, you know, prepping Breakfast Club. The studio loved sixteen Candles. They saw
that as an absolute hit. Breakfast Club was a bit of a you know, they weren't completely sure back because it read more like a play than it did a movie. So they made sixteen Candles before they made Breakfast Club. And then when they're making Breakfast Club, he writes pretty in Pink for Molly Ringwood, and then Molly Ringwood kind of didn't want to make any more teenage films. She wanted to come out, you know, grow up, and John
Hughes kind of resented that. They kind of had a bit of a falling out, but I think eventually over time they kind of rectified things. But she's been trying to work out her place in all of this in light of the me Too, Harvey Weinstein stuff and and
the bit she she got she got to. One of the things that interested me was was was because she's very you know, she's not she's not trying to dis own the films at all, like and and and what kind of brings her back to kind of like still being proud of the films is that the impact it had on people. Before these movies you had teenagers were basically like it was it was teenage films were like
written by men for boys. You had Porky's and you know Animal House and John Hughes came through that National Lampoon's kind of school if you like. Uh. But so she she writes that she was stopped at a party by Emil Wilberkin, who is a gay African American friend of a friend, and she said she they said, Molly Ringwood, that movie The Breakfast Club saved saved them, and she said thanks, and she moved off.
But then she emailed.
She got their email and email them asking why she was curious as to why these film with five white people and no gay character in there at all white
It meant so much. And this Emil Wilkin, who's a journalist who works for the Native Son which has devoted the empowering gay black men, said this, The Breakfast Club saved my life by showing me, a kid growing up in Cincinnati in the eighties, that there were other people like me who were struggling with their identities, feeling out of place in the social constructs of high school, and
dealing with the challenges of family ideals and pressure. These kids were also fighting themselves and being other in a very traditional, white, heteronormative environment. The lack of diversity didn't bother me because the character and storylines were so beautifully human, perfectly imperfect and flawed. Now, I think it's it's it's a good point. I mean, I'm not sure. I don't think he's saying they're saying the journalist is saying, you know,
diversity doesn't matter. Obviously it does. I mean, you know, we should'll be striving for diversity. But I think Breakfast Club prevails because it is quite human.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Like I do, you know, I guess that's a really interesting perspective because he's taken so much out of it, and the color thing doesn't at all, The representation of gay people doesn't matter. He's taken all this extra you know, he's taken. He's taken the sort of I guess the point of the movie out of it anyway and stuff. So I mean, I suppose, you know,
I guess you can overthink these things a bit. But I guess it's a it's a in a way, it's like, that's why we shouldn't cancel films.
Well, I think the point you get out of that, I think Mollywood's article is and she doesn't mention cancel culture at all in that, And this has written a few years ago, so cancel culture probably has gathered momentum, maybe since this articles written. But I think that's right. I think we you know, there are still things to be taken out, like we know, and it just has
to be part of it, of a conversation. And she says, the next generation will have their own opinion about breakfast club, and they should have their own opinion about breakfast club. And we should always be striving for diversity. But it's it doesn't render it meaningless.
No, absolutely not. And that's a perfect example of why things shouldn't be canceled and why, as you say, there should be a conversation. And that's why these kinds of things, pieces of art, pieces of history or whatever should be left out in the open and the discussion should be had out in the open. So that I think that prejudice and stuff happens when things are tried to be suppressed. So yeah, I think that's yes, super interesting.
Did you interesting when you're at school? Did you fit into any of these these groups? Were you Were you the jock?
Were you the nerd?
Were you the athlete? We had a basket case? Were you the criminal?
I was selling pot? So I guess I guess I certainly wasn't the jock in the sense that I had to play upper grade, you see, and so they all hated me because I wasn't in part of their grade. So what do you do when you're a teenage kid? You hate whatever you know. And except when they wanted to buy pot off me, then they were quite fucking friendly. Different story then, isn't sorry about what happened, you know, the other day in the oval? But yeah, just twenty
five is good. Yeah, so probably I probably relate more to the I definitely wasn't the criminal guy, but I would say I was a nerd whole pot.
Well, I think that's what you kind of come to in the end.
I'm sure a lot of people who watch this movie try to figure out where they may fit in in this subgroups. But and you kind of get to the point where you kind of go no way to movie And yeah, for storytelling purposes, everyone's really clearly defined, but nobody is as clear And I think they learned that along along the way, Like there are things throughout where they learn that, you know, Bender is smarter than maybe even he gives himself credit for.
Here's my impression of life at Big Briar's house.
Son, your dad? How's your day, pal? Great dad? How's yours?
Super? Say? Son? How'd you like to go fishing this weekend?
Great dad? But I've got homework to do.
That's all right, son, you can do it on the boat.
Gee, dear, isn't our sun's swell? Yes, dear, isn't life swell? Oh? Oh all right? What about your family? Yeah?
It's real easy, stupid.
Worthless, no good god, damn free loaded son of a bitch, retarded, big mouth? No it all asshole jerk, you forgot, ugly, lazy and disrespectful?
Shut up?
Which who puts me?
Turkey pipe pie?
What about your dan?
Fuck you?
Well, what about you?
Fuck you?
Oh dad?
What about you? Fuck?
They're all capable of more than what they have been told, you know, they.
Find character, Yeah, which is kind of the point of the letter at the end. You know, the thing the essay at the end is kind of like you can put us into these you know baskets, the crazy one, the sport one, the criminal but where you know that, And in a way it's interesting because they actually can find themselves in that. Yes, which is what you're saying, which is yeah, super interesting. Yeah, like the criminal guys. That's Bender, is it?
Yeah?
Yeah, he's obviously very smart. Yeah, and I think that's a beautiful, little nuanced It's done very well.
Yeah. Yeah, And Bender's really important to the whole story because he's kind of the engine of it. I feel like he's the one. Like without without Bender, they probably do all sit quietly for ninety minutes.
It's still a good film, but it's not as interesting, just like an Andy Warhol piece. It's like, was that I don't know, you know, just just four kids sit there quietly. I mean I was watching Bender, go on, what does that do? Thirty eight? Like it's not I was like, this thirty eight year old due his land is a pretty good gig.
Oh wait, he's one of the kids. It's such a thing in American movies. I think they've gotten better at getting the ages of the acted closer to the characters these days. But I will take you through the ages if you like. John Nelson was the oldest at do you want to have a guess? Oh boy?
Okay, okay, for I'm going to say he was twenty four, very close twenty five wow five.
Emilio Estevez and Alie Sheeny were the same age.
How old do you think they were? So that's the best case that no, twenty.
Three, both twenty three, I thought that, Yeah, okay, all right, and Molly Ringwood and Anthony Michael Hall were the same age as well.
They were younger, surely they were younger twenty.
Sixteen, sixteen, even younger. Yeah, oh wow.
You can see all that though, But I mean it didn't play up watching it, like you weren't going, wait a minute, that twenty five year old. You know, I didn't interfere with the enjoyment of it, but no, you could see that she looked younger to me.
Yeah, yeah, which does make which does make those scenes where Bender's really kind of, you know, being aggressive towards her even more uncomfortable, because you do, even though you are thinking they're on the same year level basically, but you kind of do feel.
Yeah, what's this old dude sixteen year old girl for?
Yeah? Yeah, twenty five year olds should not be saying pandies in front of a sixteen year olds, whether they're filming or not.
It really does add a dark, sinister edge to the film that I didn't think of before. Now that you say that.
Did you do you agree with my summation in the introduction that this is this is kind of like a prison film. It's it's it's a it's a prison film by stealth.
It's a brilliant observation. Yeah. I didn't think of it. I didn't. I didn't think of that. Yeah, it's it's absolutely is a prison film. Yeah, and and done with so much fun.
Yeah.
You know they're in a high school, so and you've got the warden is not he's totally ineffective and absolutely impotent, which is which is hilarious.
Yeah. Yeah, the warden, you know, the principle fature, but he is playing awarden basically, I mean he actual he puts Bender in solitary confinement, like yeah, and you know there are little moments where they're running around the corrilors and they come and there's basically a cage and there's little things what they're whistling, you know, the theme from the Bridge over the River KOI.
There's some lovely touches.
What surprised me watching this film last night, which I don't even think I felt when I watched it a few years ago with my kids, was I actually in the first half of the film. I actually had empathy for Vernon that the vice principal actually weirdly felt. And the moment that was was when he kind of left after you know, don't message the bull, you'll get the horns. When he gives Bender, you know, seven or eight detentions, he leaves and he has this kind of like sigh of like.
Like, yeah, I thought that was brilliant, and so yeah, because it just gave him dimension, like he's not really enjoying this and like you say, that's what I picked up too. He's putting up so much. He's been putting up such a facade and acting this role over the top because it deep down and the janitor kind of touches on this is that he's probably deeply sad and doesn't really enjoy his life.
Yeah, I mean does he want to be he's in intention too, like he doesn't want to be here exactly, baby sitting on a Saturday.
Yeah, totally. And so where's the cool jacket? And you know, thanks himself? Pretty cool because his life sucks.
Yeah, what did you think? What do you think of that scene where this you know, we'll call it soldier. You can find where he takes Bender into that broom closet.
Hey, man, someday, when you're out of here and you've forgotten all about this place and they've forgotten all about you, and you're wrapped up in your own pathetic life, I'm going to be there, that's right, and I'm going to kick the living shit out you.
Man.
I'm going to knock your dick in a dirt. You're a lion sack of shit, and everybody knows it.
Oh you're a tough.
Get on your feet, pal, Let's find out how tough you are.
I want to know right now, how tough you are. Come on, I'll give you the first punch.
Let's go, come on right here, just take the first shot.
Please, I'm begging you.
Take a shot right here. Come on, just take one shot.
That's all they need, just one swing. Like it felt to me, the bender was it was the first time you saw him, and that was the one time where he looked like a kid, like he didn't look like the older kid, like the twenty six, twenty five year old. He actually looked like a kid, and he actually looked a bit scared.
Yeah, he's you can still see his shadow, and shit though, it's still like this old adude shouldn't be picking on this to this little bit less older dude, I don't think.
No.
I love that. I love that bit because to me, the sad case and it is the is the teacher. Yeah, yeah, you know, and I thought it was brilliant. I love that, you know, because it's just like like the kid, like you say, yes, absolutely vulnerable and we see him finally step back, but then you're just like this dude, like you're just bullying a kid in a closet. It's insane. It's so pathetic. It's the most pathetic thing that guy, the teacher does the entire time.
Yeah, and it is the point where if you had any empathy, like and like I said, growing up, I never had any empathy for the teacher.
He was he's the villain, like yeah, two dimensional villain.
Yeah. But you see that little moment that we spoke of coming out, and I felt like that when I've when I've yelled at my kids, you know, like when i've you know, you know, I've punished him for some reason.
Now you're ground or.
You're not, you know, you're you're off your PlayStation and you're gonna go out and you go bloody. How did n't feel good?
Yeah, and now you realize that it's insane that you've just yelled at a three year old or whatever.
It's like, yeah, and now I have to police this now. Like what he's done. He's connected himself with Bender for the next seven or eight weekends.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's like he's like perpetually keeping the nightmare of his life rolling. Yeah, and you're right, it's an interesting point. We do see our high school teachers and stuff as two dimensional bad guys. And do you remember times in your life in high school where you'd see them living a normal life?
Oh whatever, you saw your teacher down to the shops was on and the weirdest things.
Looking so weird. I remember getting so drunk once on Vodka wine used to be a thing in to Wombo. It was like a cheap wine that was vodka as well, poor mama. And yeah, I was just stumbling down the main street of to Woombo with my friends and just inside the window was my economics teacher having dinner on a date. And I was just like, mister fucking Munron just through the window. Fuck yeah, and he's like hello,
and I'm just like swaying around, can go get it? Yeah, just would have been the world just like why is there like a kid with no shoes on, drunk wandering the street main street of Tawoomba, like you know, but none of that countered because it was out of school, so it was just like, oh yeah, there's young.
Damien either weird experienced where we our year level was playing in at the time.
It's called the Herald sun Shield for football, where it.
Was like the all of the private schools would play off for the Herald and the AFL Football and you'd play at the MCG. And we had a very you know and before one of the senior games, before a Collingwood Essenon game which had you know, like ninety thousand people there, and it was like the you know, the game the curtain raiser before that, and and I didn't make the team, but I got to go on the bus because I was kind of on the edge of maybe making the team, and I was just kind of there for morale.
I was, you know, unsurprisingly you know, the class comedian.
And and we won like we won we actually they wanted it easily, and we all got invited back to one of the teachers place, you know, for beers, and so this teacher kind of thought he has been pretty cool and yeah, probably you know in our eyes he was inviting us back and having beach with other teachers. What yeah, seventeen seventeen Wow this teachers.
Wow.
Yeah. But then the teacher said we were together through the bottle shot and the teacher said, what do you want? Cans or tinnies? And we're like, what the fuck?
Like, they just have the same thing, the same fucking thing. Mate's so weird moment when you realize they're just fucking losers. You like when you realize your parents are actual parents like people, you're just like, oh, you're just a fucking loser. So in the movie, it's that moment where the music comes in and slowly pans in on the you know, the character's face when they're like, oh my god.
That's when I realized, yeah, yeah, and that's he Also one of his favorite expressions was you're skating on thin water, which was, you know, kind of frames the kind of guy he was.
Yeah, good teacher, good teacher.
How good is.
Anthony Michael Hall in this as Brian?
Like its fat? Like, particularly in that first half, I mean, he's great in the second half when the therapy session kind of kicks off. But but his ability to spike moments with jokes, you know, we're not even jokes, observations that are funny and lines that are funny.
So he's Brian. So he's the nerd, all right.
And he went on to have a big acting career.
Did he?
Yeah, well he was.
He also was very big in the John Hughes world and like would play famously rusty in The National Lampoon's Vacation. But he was also yeah, he was also in sixteen Candles and John Hughes.
Didn't do that, you know, stand by me? Did he?
Or no, No, it's like one of his films. That's Rob Brnner.
Oh yeah, right right right, yeah.
But yeah, did you like Did you like Brian?
I just loved, you know, there was a lot of stuff that I just loved that he is the fake ID. He was sixty eight, so good vote.
Yeah, yeah, bender's age. Yeah. I thought he did a brilliant job. I agree with you. I think his character was maybe a little bit less character cure, like, I mean, that's what was showing the age a little bit of the film in the sense that the characters were nuanced characterures. Yeah, whereas a character these days would be you know, it's just more nuanced and complicated just because people aren't pigeonhole like that anymore, just in their identities.
Yeah, it don't make sense, it does, and it felt like it felt like I think Anthony Marcaelehall's performance is the most natural.
Yeah, yeah, for sure, which.
Is quite amazing because he's the youngest there. I mean, Molly Wing was also sixteen, but yeah, he felt like the most natural.
Yeah, i'd agree with that. Yeah, I think it was more natural. And it took me, like it took me a bit to realize he's the nerd kind of thing. Like I got that he was. That was what he was meant to be in the character. Sure thing of it, but his performance of it, it wasn't. I mean, let's not forget the movie nerds, like, you know, the portrayal of nerds and that are just fucking like well.
Like I don't don't revenge the Nerds?
Is that?
Yeah?
Yeah, yeah, I.
Mean you know yeah, oh yeah, so compared to that, it was quite nuanced.
Yes, he didn't have glasses that they didn't take the easy option exactly what I'm saying. They set the characters I think really well though, Like when they arrive, you get a very good glimpse as to what the family dynamic might be. You have Molly Ringwell, the princess, you know who we've learned who missed because she wax school to go shopping. Then we go to Brian. We see the pressure to study, you know, the mums saying who's actually here his real mum and real younger sister in
real life. And then we have yeah, Emily Westevez rock up Andy and the pressure to kind of you know, there's a there's a boys we boys.
Kind of vibe, yeah going on there.
Alie Sheedy as Allison, you know, gets out, goes down to kind of like maybe you know, give hemma, I forget who was driving? Mom and dad a kiss and they just drive off and you have Bender just walking by by him.
Yeah.
I love the touch that Benders because you have the drop off and the pick up. Yeah, and it's a very contrived device in the film, but I like it though, Like I was like, okay, you've just gone bang like drop off, set up, drop off, set up. You know that it's very unnaturalistic. I think it's really really I really liked it. I like that kind of Tarantino does a lot of that. We're just like bang here it is bang. Like he doesn't try and blend it in with like he just gets the information. Yeah, do you
know what I mean? Like he just goes here's the information.
Absolutely, And I think when you're writing that, I feel like astraying movies don't do that. Perhaps enough, they're scared.
They're scared, they're scared to take the risk. I think, yeah, every industry we're.
In, even though when you watch it it feels like a safe choice. So it does feel like like, of course this is hey, this is what an economical way to set up your characters, you know by doing this.
Yeah, it's a great point you make because yeah, when you think of Australian films, you just think of naturalism. Yeah don't you really?
Yeah?
Absolutely, where there's no one's style.
Has anyone ever done a stylized film as an Australian director, that's as an Australian film.
I reckon that that there would be.
But I can cascele crocodile dundee.
Yeah, let us know, yasny podcast at gmail dot com if you can. Yeah, what's the most stylized Australian film you think you see? Because there's moments all the way through this, even the fact that when Bender's crawling through the air vent he starts telling a joke. He sets up a joke which is you know what, why is he Why is he telling a joke to nobody?
Insane moments in it. Yeah, they're just trashing this library. It's just ab third. Yeah that was an Australian film. Be like, oh no, I don't touch that. Sorry, I won't And they just sit down.
Milo ESBZ and he smokes the joint which correct me if I'm wrong, is a relaxant, and then gets so fired up he yells so loud that it breaks the glass.
Yeah, that's pretty crazy. Also, the amount of weed he has is like this crazy, Like it's like this much. So yeah, I grab my weed. It's like, well, we carry half an ounce of weed. The school is a lot in weed smoking terms.
I think I did.
You'd probably have a little bag like this.
I did laugh a lot when he said the weed is in Johnson's underwear. That that actually made me laugh out loud again last night and I've seen this film probably twenty times.
The weed is in Johnson's underwear.
Yeah, yeah, what were because yeah, he says Vernon accused him. He's pot where his potty is?
You know?
And he says it won't sir, because it's in Johnson's underwear.
That's right. Yeah, And it's so absurd that no one but like doesn't take it seriously. Yeah, yeah, that's cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Also the other part where they John Hughes is clever to kind of, you know, help with some character development is the lunches. The lunches are great, again just serving to show what where his home life is. I mean the sushi. And you don't know how weird sushi was in nineteen eighty five, Like it really was so exotic and so weird. What you're eating raw fish? I'm not sure we've actually Molly Ringwild's character Claire was refrigerating this fish.
You know it probably it's probably danger dangerous way of eating sushi, just having your handbag and then bring it out.
Lunch to mention the mercury in the fish.
She probably wasn't.
Thinking about that there might be mercury in it. But anyway, Yeah, no, yeah, you're totally right. That's a great pick up. Yeah I thought that too. I'm like, ohoh soush. The crazy and shit. And again it's that it's that thing of like being an Australian, you know, watching the American and it's like, ah, you know, the lunches and stuff, and they're all just like bags and just whereas we'd have all have the same kind of lunchboxes and you had a lunch box
and you know what I mean. It just seemed like they just seem to have so much more freedom, which I guess is embedded in that ideological, the ideology of America, which is the super individualism. You know, like they had their own uniforms, they dress how they like, they sort of bring their own lunches and that's tailored to who they are and stuff, whereas in Australia we grow up with a lot more like your dress like this, you all dress the same, you're you know.
Yeah, but it's kind of it's kind of ironic, isn't it, Because there is a super like concentration and focus on the individual in America, and you know, the individual's personal freedoms and liberties. Yeah, there seems to be so much conformity in America, like.
That old South Park joke of the goths. You know, they're like, what is it that they're all sit around and they're like, we're just trying not to conform and they're all the same as in the Yeah.
Yeah, because I don't know anyone really in Australia. And maybe it's the same in America. Again, this is a movie, but it's you know, no, there's enough American movies that seemed to reflect this, you think that where they smoke this fire. But in Australia, I just don't know anyone who conformed or fitted in so neatly to any of these subsets.
Yeah.
It's a very interesting point, isn't it. Yeah. America seems to have that kind of thing where people are something and they like being I'm that I'm the jock, yeah, and I'm glad and I'm proud and I'm In Australia it was again a lot more uniformed.
Yeah, like jocks would hang out with nerds and and you know, it just wasn't as Oh no, it's segregated.
Like you couldn't have a movie like Revenge of the Nerds in Australia. No, because everyone would be like, what what.
The nerds are now running the world.
And yeah, yeah, true, all in Chilicon Valley.
All coming up with vaccines.
Yeah, thanks nerds.
I mean the Lockers bender has a guillotine in his locker, which again.
Like growing up, you're just like man the locker and the locker culture and how coo everyne had different crazy things in their locker And every American movie we had port lock Did you have port like bag rack?
Yeah? Yeah, we bag racks like basically big pigeonholes.
Yeah, it was ship. I wanted a locker with a combination. And and he's got half an ounce of weed in there and they're just smoking it, and the and the teacher knows.
It's like what yeah, I mean, I mean Vernon really does just stop checking on them after a while, doesn't.
Yeah, yeah, He's like, you know, we know you're smoking dope. At one point, it's like, fuck me, this this school's off. The one kid brings the good school a gun and the other dude's got half an ounce of weed and he's got a guillotine, and you know, like it's pretty diverse compared to Australia.
I did, like Carl there's a nice touch of Carl the cleaner where I'm not sure if you picked it up. I certainly hadn't until last night. But he's actually won I think Student of the Year. There's a frame of him, a fully had younger fudo of him, and which is kind of great. It's just really cool that they have done that as a you know, and now he's he hasn't gone anywhere, like he's still at the school and he's the cleaner.
It's such a great little detail that he's like I love that about his character, where his character goes, oh you're laughing at me. Well, I've got keys to all your lockers, I see all the papers. I know I'm actually the king of this place. Yeah, it's like king of the shitty. He's a bit like the teacher in that respect. They're like, oh, yeah, yeah, we're in charge of this weird, pathetic kingdom.
Yeah, you know.
Like it's actually so much more pathetic that he is like, oh, no, you laughing at me and doesn't go like, oh, some people need to work real jobs, and instead he goes the path of oh, I'm actually the coolest.
But it does feel to me that he is more at ease at his where he is, you know, like he's probably you know, I take your point that he's a bit kind of like, no, hang on, I'm cooler than you. I'm cooler than you think. But I feel like he gets the kids more than say Vernon. Vernon still feels like he should probably be principal. Like the fact that made him vice principle is a nice touch.
Yes, absolutely, yeah, you're totally right. The janitors like whatever, yeah, you know. And and there's way more secure than Vernon, Yeah, way more secure. And he plays on that a bit when he catches him in the basement going through the files.
And stuff, speaking of how far we've come. There's he's going through the files and I think he points out that one of the teachers has a slight mental health issue that like he's obviously planning on them, like using that as collateral. Like it's like, what the fuck?
Well, the interesting thing I thought of that was like mental illness back then was this crazy fringe thing, like someone who was mentally ill was like what, like are they wearing a trench coat and living under a bridge? And now it's just like everybody's mentally ill like that, you know, nobody's ashamed to say their mental health problems and stuff, and it's just such a sign of the times that he was like, oh, a little bit mentally ill, you know, yeah, crazy?
Did you What did you think? Because obviously the third act is mainly it becomes like a therapy session for everyone. What did you think? We briefly about the Andy's confession. I think he kicks things off because we already know why Claire's in there because.
She skipped school.
We know. I think we know why Bender's there, and we learned that Allison's there because he's got nothing better to do, which is a great tag of that line. But the yeah, I'm in two minds about Andy's confession about taping Larry's buns together.
It seems weird.
It is weird, weird. I think it's saved. I think it works because I think if we learned that information early on, we kind of don't like Andy, you know, and some people might like him, and somebody obviously might not. But I quite like him because he defends Claire earlier as well, he defends Brian. He's kind of like, this is jock jock. Yeah, so he's kind of trying to defend everyone. He knows there's a loose cannon here and
he sees his role to try to defender. So there's I feel like you come up on board with him, and then you learned this kind of you know, detail, which is not you know, it's bullying. You know it's
not it's not a cool thing. The one thing that kind of always it did always get me and I remember you really kind of hitting me was his realization and his empathy for the idea that Larry would have to go home and tell his parents that that had happened, and he's his ability to connect with that kind of how how tragic that is that he put him in that situation.
It's a brilliant line he rides because I mean, it's almost laughable that he's in attention for taping together ass checks. But there's just a twist like it's going along and it could go to joke or where it ended up more serious. And there's a part he says, I ripped off the hair and some skin came to yeah, and that's when I went, oh, that was like the And then like I think he does a really good job of delivering it really seriously. But it's it's but also
it's the dumbest thing. Yeah, but you definitely leave going oh fuck.
Yeah that poor kid.
And I think you're right. I think that the skin it's an important detail because it really takes you in.
It stops it.
From being funny. I mean, it's it's probably not funny even before he gets to that bit, but it really does take you into that moment, agoing and putting you in that moment and in that Larry's Who character we never see and never hear of again, but going oh
fuck that is that is horrendous. And then the idea of you know, like that I remember I've always had like this empathy and like I've always thought about like kids going to have to go home and say this happened to me at school, you know, or you know, I've almost empathized with the parents even from an early age. And watching it last night, I wonder if this actually
played a part. This planted this in my head, this idea that you know, kids having to go home and tell their parents that being either bullied at school or is just like such a horrendous thought to me.
Yeah, I mean it really shows that character's empathy that the jock guy, because and that makes us so attached to him, and yeah, you're totally right. Like I think he says something like he's breaking down and he's like, how would you even explain that? And and I think you're right with the skin thing is strangely now, I think about it crucial because if it had just ripped a bit of hair off, it would just be laughable. Yeah,
like he's got a bit of his ass cheek. That's just like, yeah, people be like that kind of look funny, you know. But the fact that he's actually kind of injured and goes back and has to teller, like it leaves that visceral memory and then you're visualizing him having to tell his parents why he's hurt or whatever. Yeah, I think it adds It adds weight to it and also makes you really I think the jock character is the most likable and perhaps you're most attached to as a hero figure. I think yeah.
And then the other detail I think it is really nice in there is that Brian knows who Larry is. He's in his like friendship circle at least, or he is in his you know, per circle. And I think I think there's a because Brian gets quite upset in this scene, and I think he's probably thinking this could have so easily been me, like if I like I am. And then he asked the question about about will we
be friends on Monday? In fact, we might actually play that scene now when Brian wants to know you know, sure we're all friends now, but what happens on Monday?
What is going to happen on some Monday and we're all together again? I can see you guys my friends?
Wrong?
Am I?
Well?
You what happens? Are we so friends?
To me?
For friends? Now? That is?
Yeah?
You want the truth?
Yeah?
I want the truth. I don't think so with all of us are just.
All of you?
It's a real nice attitude.
Oh be honest, Andy, if Brian came walking up to you in the holland Monday, what would you do? I mean, picture this year there with all the sports, you know exactly what you do. You'd say hi to him and when he left he cut them all up to your friends. Wouldn't think that you really liked him?
No way?
Kay? What if I came up to you same exact thing?
You are a bitch?
Why? Because I'm telling the truth? That makes me a bitch no.
Because you know how shitty that is to do to someone, and you don't got the balls.
Just stand up for your friends and tell them that.
You're gonna like who you want to lie.
Okay, what about you, you hypocrite? What do you take Alison to one of your heavy metal vomit parties or take Brian out of the parking lot at lunch? You get higher? What about Andy? For that matter?
What about me?
What would your friends say if we were walking down the hall together? Did laugh their asses off? And you probably tell them that you were doing it with me, so they forgive you for being seen with me.
Don't you ever.
Talk about my friends. You don't know any of my friends, You.
Don't look at any of my friends, and you certainly wouldn't condescend just speak to any of my friends. So you get stripped to the things that you know shopping now, polish your father's BMW and your poor rich trunk mother in the Caribbean. And as far as being concerned about what's gonna happen.
When you and I walked down the.
Hallways to school, you can forget it because it's never gonna happen.
Just bury your head in the.
Sand and wait for your fucking prom I hate you.
Yeah, good, yea.
So it's it's interesting, there's a feeling interesting things happening there, even with the question that Brian ass will we be friends on Monday. When Carl the janitor comes in earlier and he actually recognized he knows Brian and he says hi to Brian, Brian kind of puts his head down and kind of like doesn't actually.
You know, you know, a bit of shame that he knows.
Yeah, and he knows the janitor. So it's there's some hypocritical color of behavior going on here from Brian. But I mean the vitriol spewing from Bender towards Claire is
is quite confronting. From a behind the scenes kind of element, Judd Nelson apparently would stay in character and often direct some of his stuff to Molly Ringwood, to the point where John Hughes nearly had him fired, and the rest of the cast went, including Molly Ringwood, went to him and said, no, no, it's fine, You're like, let him stay. You know, he's he's a really good actor and it's working and it's good for the movie and all that.
But how interesting.
But after this film, John Hugh said, I'm never working with Judd Nelson again because the idea was supposed to be that every ten years they're going to make a sequel to see the catch up with these these The script was really fascinating, but he this decided he didn't want to work with John Nelson again. But with that said, yeah, it's a pretty it's a pretty full on, full on scene.
That to me, that that scene, to me, is the most universal and human kind of part of the that that scene for me is the relatable bit that really leaves the high school politics and is so relatable to anyone in life because there is that thing of like the secret like people that you meet and are friends with and then how that's perceived by the outside world and other people that you know. Yeah, it's so it's
so relatable, especially in comedy, you know. And yeah, I think it's just just the perfect beat before the before the ending, and and it it kind of ties the whole film together thematically, and to me, that's like that's where it sort of leaves the the kids world and enters the adult world a bit.
Yeah, yeah, I think you know, yeah, I think absolutely right, And then we get to the end and they what do you think of Brian's again a really lovely performance Manthony Michael Hall. But the he's supposed to make this this elephant kind of lamp. Oh yeah for whatever class that is, yeah, trade class and.
He brings a gun to school. I mean, fuck, how American is that? I know, you know, that's like the that's that was the craziest thing again about being an Australian kid and looking at American cultures. It's just this element of guns, like in films often would end up with a gun or there'd be a gun somewhere and they'd pick it up and yeah, you'd have to go you had to go to a farm or something to shoot a gun in Australia like yeah, I mean this really it is.
Continues to be staggering. The idea that you can just have that easy in access to any kind of firearm in Australia, Like it just yeah, it's just the idea of having one in the house in Australia is mind boggling.
Well, especially at school. It's something that really stuck with me watching American stuff growing up like that where it's just like there could be a gun in someone's locker was just the most terrifying mix of innocence and violence that you sort of picked up on growing up. I find for me anyway, just stuck in my head that idea. It's just crazy to me. Yeah, and so terrifying. But yeah, I mean the lamp thing again, it's that bordering on
silly but just twisted just enough to be dramatic and real. Yeah, because I guess they are kids issues. Oh yeah, so they're never going to be like, well, I didn't get the executive report to the CEO in time, and it is going to be shipped like it's an elephant lamp and I taped the guy's ass cheeks together.
Yeah. Yeah, And then we get to the end and there's some hooking up going on. What what did you think? And I think Molly Ringwood kind of makes this point that one of her kind of slide issues is that the behavior shown by Bended towards Claire is not There's a lot of yelling, abuse, and she still he still ends up with the girl.
Yeah. Well, I mean that's a fine line, isn't it, Because at that that that age, there is lots of as they call it now, nagging and stuff. You know, this kind of you know, you tease them and stuff, and that shows that you liked them was the oldest thing in the book. As growing up as a kid, you know, yeah, so there's always gonna be element of that. But I did find his character like just took that way too far and repetitively, and there's no relief from it.
There's barely any indication that she's interested. Maybe a look or here or two there. And so to me it was like, yeah, of course, high school kids are going to tease girls, and girls are going to tease boys because they like them. But to me, it did just seem to go too far as a as a character thing, a bit that she would he's actually secretly like likes him.
Yeah, And I say it never bothered me growing up, because you know, you know, I'm not really you know, when when I was, you know, twelve, I wasn't reading into it.
Was like you said, it was like you know.
The the you know, the the bad boy in movies. It seemed to happen a lot, you know, and you just never I never thought about it too much. But yeah, watching it again last week and ago, Yeah, why does Claire go for me?
Is it just because he's the bad boy.
The only other way I can see it kind of working in my mind is that she liked him from the start, like she just had a thing for him. And I have heard people say that she was a thing, like she went in with kind of a feeling of like, this guy is kind of hot and you know, and and rebellious, which you know, I might like because my parents are, you know, look this way.
And I think I think it's it's definitely plausible that she likes him. And they have that a little moment when they're stoned and they're playing with her makeup and stuff, and she's a bit curious about why he has so many girlfriends and so on and how he treats them and stuff. But yeah, it's just a fraction. It just is a fraction over the top from him.
Yeah.
And then you have Andy and Allison getting a getting together in front of.
The parents that struck me as so weird. Like again, it's that thing we were talking about with just the the just take the easy option, what they just like the dad just does I mean, I was watching it because he makes out the jock makes out with the weirdo and just does it in front of all the parents.
It's just crazy, like you drop your kid off to detention and he walks out with a girl who looks completely different it could be a different woman and then just makes out with her and it's like see her. It's like good, Like it's insane. And I was like please. You can see the dad and the driver's seat watching it, and I'm like, please, look like it's crazy if you don't go, and he does thankfully. I mean it's sort of salvage.
Is that a bit?
But again, it's that American thing of just like yeah, the happy ending, the thing, the bows tied. Yeah, it's in front of the parents.
Yeah. Oh well, yeah, this works. This works. Discus the message across. We haven't chatted out Allison, that's before we wrap up, but we did. You like Allison. She doesn't speak for the you know, for the first half of the film, played by Ali Sheeny.
What were your thoughts on Allison?
Her behavior is a little characture, over the top crazy, you know, at the start, and I guess there could have been more nuanced to that. But as she slowly starts talking and stuff, and that whole progression is I think really good, and I think it's believable and stuff. And I don't know if there was a credible connection like there was with the bully and the girl. Yeah, it was more credible than him hooking up with yeah,
because basically it's totally not on. And then she gets her makeup done a bit and comes out and he's like, oh, yeah, no, I'm in love with you. That's right. It's not quite as.
Yeah, we haven't can kind of we haven't really seen any kind of like like Bender and Claire have had like a lot to do with each other during this. It feels like, yeah, Andy and haven't had that kind of nothing hard to develop this.
It's more like we need this to make it even a happier ending.
Yes, you know, yeah, to make this connection complete.
Obviously there's five, so Brian can't end up with anyone, but he's happy with his grade. He gives himself a little punch in the arm and kisses his essay.
Yeah, yeah, that's brilliant.
Yeah, Hey, some fun facts before we go. John Hughes wrote this. I know you're you're a writer, Damien. You may hate this fact, but John Hughes wrote this in two days.
That is annoying. That is very annoying.
And I can say when he wrote it July fourth and fifth, ninet and eighty two, he was a famously a very fast writer. I think he wrote Weird Science even quicker than that, believe it or not. And I gotta say it shows yeah, but yeah, and then he yeah, there's the redrafting, and they had rehearsals and the actors were encouraged to take bits of the script that they
liked and developed. So I think the stories that Andy and Brian came up with, the taping at the barns and the elephant trinket things they developed themselves.
With John Hughes, which is nice.
There were quite a few scenes that were taken out, Like there was a scene where Vernon, the vice principal, is spying on a female teacher who's getting changed at the school pool, which does take it to that kind of Porky's kind of style of Revenge of the Nerds kind of comedy, but Molly Ringwold actually talked him out
of actually having it in the film. Really and yeah, it's quite seems to be other there's a dream sequence where I think Alison saw Andy's a Viking or something like really weird stuff that gladly I think they streamlined it and.
It's the Viking thing. I like to have seen that.
You'd love to see it as an outtake, I think, yeah, maybe not in the film. Yeah, John Hughes is a director's cameo. I think when he picks up Brian, it's actually John Hughes in the car. It's a blinket or you'll miss it. And of course a famous song Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds, so iconic in this movie. It was written specifically for the movie by Keith Dorsey.
I wanted to know that. Yeah, I love it's brilliant.
It's such a brilliant.
Such a good song, you know what. The one thing I thought, and this was as soon as it played at the start, I was like, oh, why did you play it at the start? That's the only thing I thought, is like, have some other music? Yeah, because the song is such a great song, and it's so well suited to the movie, and you've really developed an attachment to
these kids. By the end, like it has worked. You have gotten the emotional reaction you wanted, and the song is such a bit it would have just been so good to see that song play out somehow over the ending, Yeah, and not have heard it at the start.
Yeah, because you already had the book ending of the essay, which I think there's some slight tweaks. I think he signs off the breakfast Club, so you have that kind of holding it together. If that's what, If that's the style you're going for, the book ending style. Yeah, I
think you're right. You know, you perhaps don't need you know, there are other songs and John Hughes was a big kind of love these music loves finding the right you know you popular songs to put in like more soundtrack overscore, I think.
But the song was.
Actually yeah, written by Keith Thors. He was offered the Billie Idol, who knocked it back. Offered them the Brian Ferry, who knocked it back. Then offered the Chrissy Hind and she knocked it back, but she was married to the lid singer of Simple Minds. Simple Minds then recorded it became their only hit in America.
Ah, such a good song.
It's a great song. So how you not at back?
How do you knock that song back? It's got some great lyrics.
And you can I can imagine both Billy Idol and Brian Ferry and Chrissy Hein coming out of their mouths, to be honest.
But yeah, bizarre some casting.
John Hughes had cast John Cusack in the Bender role, really yeah, and I don't think they had started shooting, but he decided to recast him after they had decided on him, and they the one that they wanted was Nick Cage. This could have been a Nicholas Cage film, which you know, I think that'd be pretty cool. I think you could definitely see.
That totally totally as Bender. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
And Rick Moranis was originally cast as the janitor and they he grew a thick beard and was speaking in a Russian accent when they was developing it.
And I think.
I think it John, I'm sure it was John Hughes. One of the ducers said that it's too much. He doesn't fit in this film Russian accent.
So actually in the eighty during the Cold War, it's like we've got a spy.
Yeah, is it Ivan di Dago or nothing?
I'm afraid. And so John Capolos plays Carl and he has appeared in other John Hughes films. I think he's in wed science and I think sixteen candles as well, So there you go. So mate, thank you so much. I know this podcast comes with homework. I do appreciate you watching it.
I thoroughly enjoyed the homework. I'm glad I made me watch it finally, which is something I've been wanting to do. So yeah, it was great. I really enjoyed it.
Well, thanks mate, and go out and enjoy all those freedoms that you have. Get onto a stage, tell some jokes for us and yeah, well ch that soon.
All right, it sounds good, Pete. Thanks for having me.
Thanks mate, see you mate.
Dear mister, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice the whole Saturday and detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did was wrong. We think you're crazy to make us randon now telling you who we think we are.
What do you care?
Can you see us as you want to see us in the simplest terms, the most convenient definitions. See us as a brand, an athlete, a basket case princess, and a criminal.
Well that was a lot of fun. I've been hoping to get Damien on for a long time. He is one of my favorite comedians on the scene. Like I said earlier, he's just fascinated to watch. He is always really funny, but there's always something else going on in these shows as well. So you ever get a chance to se Damian Powell live, I suggest you did not pass up that opportunity. Thank you so much for everyone
we have. We are nearing the end of season three of You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, and I couldn't deal it without my podcast manager, producer Derek Mayer some Cassways Studios dot Com. Good A, Derek good doing? O. I'm good mate, I'm pretty good. That was fun A fun chat of Dan. You've e seen half a Breakfast Club? You're telling me off there.
I was really really excited about watching it because it slipped through for me as well. I was nineteen when it came out, and therefore I was too cool to watch it at the time. But I've been meaning to and all the references everyone talks about it, I even reference it as a team thing, and without admitting that I hadn't seen it, I thought, I'm just going to sneak in and watch it last night, and I chaoed
on the couch. Not because it was boring. It was very intrigued to see what was happening when I thoroughly enjoyed the first half and I look forward to the second half.
Yeah, you will enjoy it. We've probab obviously spoiled a favorite of it for you, but that's the danger of working this job, and we appreciate the sacrifices you make, Derek, no doubt about that. YASNY podcast at gmail dot com. Y as n Y Podcast at gmail dot com. That's the best place to get us if you want to
give us some feedback. We do love the feedback. It keeps our spirits up in these lock down times and makes it all feel very wealth while what how else, Derek, can people make their love for yasny known.
This is a very important one. On Apple or wherever to drop a on iTunes to drop a five star review. If you really don't like the show, make it four and a half, but five is the recommendation. Five star review and and a little bit of a comment, and it does massive things for the magical algorithms and allows it to get, you know, to stay in the charts and also reach more people to enjoy it.
Absolutely and that you know, This expands the reach of the podcast and you know, opportunity for a variety of guests as we go on and on and I start running out of people to ask friends in my phone. It'll come in handy, no doubt. But thank you and we do. Have you got one this week, Derek. Somebody who's contacted us.
Yeah, Kylie has sent through an email Kylie to yasny podcast at gmail dot com and she says, Hi, Pete just wanted to say thanks for making you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm loving it. I've been rewatching many of the movies you've discussed on the podcast that I haven't seen for years. And the more you talk about the Godfather movies, which is a lot by the way, Yep, the closer I am to thinking about maybe watching them.
So we haven't quite spoken about the Godfather enough. Okay, that's a challenge that I'm up to. Kylie.
We'll get more Godfather. You must watch the Godfather movies.
Yeah, we need to ramp up Godfather talk.
I'm not sure where Kylie is, but if you're in lockdown, it's fine a night where you know, spare, take some time and open a bottle of red and enjoy, enjoy.
And some Cannolie and then she goes on. I really enjoyed the latest episode with Zoe coombsmar and wondered if you had any other estions of movie soundtracks to work too.
That's a good question. I think we may have spoken about Carter Burwell potentially, who is one of my favorite film composers. He did a great job at Burn after reading he did a lot of the Coen Brothers films also in Bruges. I think it was Carter Burwell. Another fun soundtrack to listen to is The Life Aquatic with Steve's the Zoo by Wes Anderson, and it's got a lot of David Bowie songs, but in Portuguese by an
artist by the name of Sue George. I think maybe he say he's got songs like Rebel, Rebel and Starman, and he's also got Mark Mothersbroough. He's also does he kind of does most of the score. He of course is the man behind Devo, so he's a composer. A lot of great musicians gone and become composed. Johnny Greenwood does great work with port Thomas Anderson. Check out the Magnolia soundtrack is amazing. But even fan thread he did great work on that and there will be blood. He's
a great score as well. So that was Johnny Greenwood. Check that out as well.
So there's a few yep and from me Master and Commander soundtrack, Ghost Dog soundtrack, and that's Sue George stuff from Life Aquatic. There's not a week goes by I don't listen to at least a couple of tracks off that. Yeah, absolutely love it.
I had no idea that, So there we go, there we go. It's it's gold standard. Listen to the Life Aquatic. This sives that one fantastic Shall I finish the go for a Kylie's Curly's on a roll.
I am always on the search to find music to listen to while working so I can block out all those annoying background disturbances aka husband and small child. Thanks Pepe, keep up the great work. Five starts.
Thank you so much, Kylie, Thank you. Really it means a lot to hear the people embracing and also which episodes you like, which guests you like, any movies you want us to try to cover.
I basically give a.
List of thoughts starters to our potential guests and they choose, so it's sometimes hard to kind of find somebody who hasn't seen a particular movie, but I'll put it on the list and then we can go from there. We have one more show to do. We're going to have a quick break after the next week's show just to reload and yeah, and this is kind of catch up
on some episodes. Get a little bit ahead of ourselves, not ahead of ourselves as far as our ego, but just record more episodes though we're not chasing our tail, so we can deliver the best possible episodes for you, to give Derek a chance to put all the magic in the episodes. After I chat with my guests, we have great people lined up for series series four. Kate Lambrook is going to come in. Sampaign's going to come back, Charlie Pickering is going to come on. The hunt for
Judith Flucy will continue. For those who missed my announcement a couple of weeks ago, Lockdown has has played havoit with getting Jude on. We want to do it face to face as opposed to do it remotely. So sadly, the much anticipated Judah Flucy conversation about the sound of music will hopefully be in series four when we come out of lockdown. It'll be a glorious day when we release it, trust me. So lots of exciting people lined up for Ryan Shelton is another one. So yes, look
forward to series four. But we have one episode to go and I'm very excited. One of my favorite people just around on the scene, a man who's been doing great comedy for a long time and a great podcast for a long time, mister Josh Earl, is coming on. Josh, he's just bloody fantastic. He's a lovely guy, but he's hilarious. He works, got a great work ethic, and he pumps out a podcast called Don't You Know Who I Am?
I've had the pleasure of going on. I'm sure a lot of my audience will know Josh and know that podcast. It's such a fun podcast, Don't you Know Who I Am? It's like a It should be a game show on TV. I'm shocked that it hasn't been picked up. To be absolutely honest, I've tried to have words to the right people, but without putting that aside, it maybe that doesn't need to be because it works so brilliantly as a podcast.
I've done it as a live show and it's it's got a great following, great community that they've built, and josh is a great person to be my final guest on series three. If you ain't seen nothing yet, and we'll be watching a movie that I haven't seen. It's a movie that's been remade two times and it is the taking of Palam one two three. Now I haven't seen it, so I'm not sure if I'm saying it right, Derek. I'm not sure if it's a taking of Pealem one hundred and twenty three or one two three or not,
but it's a taking of palam one two three. Well, I know it's a classic film. I've been meaning the Watcher for many years. It's been remade recently, I think, starring Denzel Washington in the last decade or so, so I'm gonna be watching that. It is a classic, but it's not necessarily like what I'm excited about. I think it's a film that a lot of our audience may not have seen. So let's try to watch it during the week and we'll have a big finale with Joshua
for the final episode of Serious three. You Ain't seen nothing yet the taking of palam one, two three, Until then bye. And so we leave old Pete safe and soult and to our friends of the radio audience, we've been a pleasant good night