My Tutor (1983, George Bowers)

One of my pals from my screenwriting course let me copy zillions of 80s teen films he'd downloaded, and My Tutor was probably one of the worst, haha. Don't get me wrong, there's no bad films when it comes to 80s teen films; they're all pretty terrible (aside from the Hughes films, which are stellar through and through), which is really what makes them so enjoyable. As I was going through the titles and seeing what the films were about, I was certain I'd already seen it, but it turns out every decade has it's own My Tutor-esque film -- sometimes more than one. I remember one variation with Tia Carrere and Jason London.

But, really, there's no excuse for how horrible 1983's My Tutor really it's, to begin with, the high school kid looks about 30 and when he sits in his school bench, it just feels totally wrong.

Also, below you'll find caps of the opening credit sequence, 90 seconds into the film and it's all bumping, grinding and pelvic thrusts.

Worst or best 80s high school film? It's a fine line.

Old Hollywood Tomboys

Finding this great photograph of Jane Russel by Murray Garrett made me think of how great actresses used to look in the 1940s-50s; I love the dress shirts, flared trousers and elegant jackets. Here are some of my favourites.

I Love You, Lindsay Lohan

Seeing all the footage today of Lindsay Lohan going into court today and her subsequently being booked into jail made me sad for her. Ever since her holy trilogy of colourful teen films -- Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Mean Girls, the latter obviously being the very best -- I've been a big fan of hers. She's got a spunk and sensitivity that I think is rare for such a (mainstream) young actress. Vanity Fair has done a 'young starlets' feature numerous times now, but when I think of which young actresses I really admire, Lindsay always pops up.






From her beautiful role in Emilio Estevez's Bobby to some impressive key scenes in Georgia Rule (otherwise a trainwreck), Lindsay always delivers; she's come close to saving numerous bad films she was in. She's shooting a film about 70s X-rated star Linda Lovelace at the moment (let's hope the collagen lips are part of the role) and I'm actually excited about it. The script outtakes sound rather disastrous, but if it's the same Lovelace project Angelina Jolie was once attached to star in, then I'm curious to see what Lohan will come up with.






Linsday Lohan in Bobby
Long story short, I have a huge soft spot for her -- I think she's really talented and hope she'll come out on top. While it's obvious she's made some huge mistakes, it's sad to realise I'm actually three weeks older than her. When you look at her nutjob parents and her career (starting when she was six!), I kind of just want to give her a hug and a nice sandwich.

Good luck, Linds, I hope there's a good script waiting for you once this is all over.

five fun movie links

#1. Third Act Failures from the AV Club.
Just think about it, how many times to you think, "well, they could have just left out the last 20-30 minutes".. so many movies spring to mind.

#2. The Best Movies of All Time Map from ritholtz.com.
How amazing does this look? Probably took the person who made it an embarrassingly long time, but still. Totally worth it. I'd love to turn this into a 'Best Movies of All Time the 80s Map', with special categories for Michael J. Fox and Films Containing Stereotypical Nerds With Pocket Calculators.

#3. How Karate Kid Ruined the Modern World from Cracked.
Karate Kid is not the only movie to blame, but this blog makes for a hilarious read. And you know what, the dude who wrote this is totally right. Recommended viewing: Team America: World Police, this post is the blog-equivalent of their 'Montage' song.

#4. Everyday Things That Never Happen In the Movies from Virgin Media.
If Saturday Night Fever were real: "Sadly viewers are unable to tell if John Travolta is a woman's man by the way he walks because every five yards he is stopped by a wildly enthusiastic man in a bright yellow T shirt asking him if he'd like to set up a monthly direct debit."

#5. Sincerely, John Hughes from We'll Know When We Get There (a personal blog).
I'm willing to admit I'm a very sentimental person, especially when it comes to my childhood heroes, but John Hughes pretty much always makes me cry. This post certainly didn't disappoint. A great tribute to a remarkable man.

Looks of Love: La Belle Personne

Y'know, not to get overly pretentious or anything, but Hector Berlioz once described Beethoven's Mondschein Sonata as "one of those poems that human language does not know how to qualify." Why am I bringing this up? Because it's exactly how I feel about film and specifically certain scenes that show you the exact moment a person falls in love.


Christophe Honoré is quickly taking over Francois Ozon's position as my favourite French director. My favourite of his is obviously Les Chansons D'Amour, but I really enjoyed La Belle Personne recently.

While Ozon works with better scripts, Honoré manages to include little moments of feeling that you don't see anywhere else. Also, I love how he's just doing his own thang; in both Dans Paris and La Belle Personne he lets characters put on a record and he simply forces a certain tune on the audience for about three minutes.

So my love for Honoré might also have to do with the fact that he cast Louis Garrel in nearly all of his films and I might just have a teeny-tiny crush on Garrel. What can I say, I have a thing for noses.

In La Belle Personne, Garrel plays an Italian teacher who falls in love with a 16-year-old student (the stunning Léa Seydoux) who just transferred to his school. She's actually the lead in the film but other than the fact that she cries a lot and everyone falls in love with her, I didn't get much from her character. Garrel is deliciously pervy in the way he looks at her -- only in France!

Here's my favourite scene from the film, where he asks her to read a poem in Italian in class and then translate it. The way she makes eye contact at him when she says "parce que je t'aime", and his mouth twitches into a sneaky smile, then she says it later in the poem and he smiles again? Oh, you slay me, Garrel.

Delia Derbyshire & 'The Delian Mode'

Working at a movie theatre definitely has its perks. Every June, the EYE Film Institute hosts a great documentary film festival called DokuArts that focuses on documentaries on art. It just so happens that I'll be spending my birthday with Brian Eno and my great heroine Delia Derbyshire.


It looks like 'The Delian Mode' will make for a really interesting 25 minutes; Delia was such an interesting and influential person and her music still sounds like the future, over 40 years after it was made -- quite a feat. Calling her a visionary wouldn't be too much praise.

From the trailer it looks like the documentary is more about the images Delia's music provoke than her as a person, but I hope there's some mention of her life or career. She worked as one of the few women in that field and in the 1970s she just stopped composing. She only started working on music again in the late 90s, shortly before her death in 2001. Why did she give up on something she was so good at? That always fascinates me.

You can see the great BBC Four documentery 'Alchemists of Sound' (about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop) on YouTube.

Bobby (2006, Emilio Estevez)

The first time I saw Emilio Estevez's Bobby, I was impressed by it, but also a bit put off by the celebrity-studded cast and over-the-top admiration for the man. Of course, you don't spend close to ten years working on a script if you feel ambivalent towards someone, but still. I first saw the film three years ago and some of the scenes in the film have really stuck in my mind.

In January, I started taking a screenwriting course and it's really made me appreciate Bobby a lot more. For all its flaws, it's a film I feel really strongly about. There's some scenes I'd scrap, some characters I'd throw out, but all-in-all, I really admire what Estevez did with the film. Aside from the politics, it's a beautiful example of how people lead their lives, how politics play a role in their lives and how it influences human interaction. It's not too preachy -- not too believable at times either, but it makes you sit up and notice, and think.

It's interesting to me that Estevez didn't choose to make a film about Kennedy himself, but about how he influenced people. When you see the archive footage of Kennedy (RFK is portrayed by RFK, basically), you realise that's the perfect tribute to him. A movie about Kennedy is a movie about Kennedy, a movie about Kennedy's influence shows just how important he was.

The great thing about Bobby is also that it was made by an actor. It's interesting that Emilio Estevez chose to make the movie with a lot of old friends, colleagues and even his Dad. It's a star-studded affair but when did you last see 'Mighty Duck' Joshua Jackson play a meaty role (pre-TV's 'Fringe')? Nick Cannon has a great serious role, Harry Belafonte and Anthony Hopkins share some amazing screen time and Laurence Fishburne and Freddy Rodriguez share the most intense, gorgeous scene in the film. Also, Lindsay Lohan is loveliness personified but then again, I'm probably the only LiLo-fan left. I'll always sing her praises, she shines in this film.

My favourite thing about Bobby, though? The scene between Demi Moore and Sharon Stone. It may be a result of growing up in the early '90s, but Sharon Stone is legendary to me. I don't think these two great actresses (seriously!) would have ever gotten to share such great material if it weren't for Emilio Estevez. Just genius casting. Sharon Stone got by on her sex appeal for a long time, but the look of hurt on her face in this scene just wipes the floor with me.