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backseatproductions
i'm a sucker for chic flicks, dramas, comedies -- both raunchy and sophisticated -- and even good action movies or great martial arts films. i don't get horror movies but the great ones are undeniably memorable.
right now i'm making spiritual documentaries and family history videos. i love everything about film-making -- and by film, i mean video, final cut, i'm a man of the times.
Reviews
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
The best parts of this movie are between the lines
This movie is a classic. it is such a classic, that when people use the word 'classic' to describe a movie, the benchmark for that distinction should be something which stems from this movie. ironically, 'classic' is a slang term i would expect to come right out of the mouth of SPICOLI, the movie's lovable surfer/stoner whose performance was only grazed and approximated by BRAD PITT in TRUE ROMANCE. but i digress.
the most important thing about this movie to me, and it's been a number of years since i've seen it, is what lies between the lines. CROWE is an awesome writer. the character DAMONE spouts one liners about chicks and broads like he's been getting' it on since kindergarten. but an acute eye will notice a new swagger to his walk the day after his pool house romp with STACY, which anyone who's ever lost their virginity will tell you can only mean one thing. Did anyone catch this was his first time?
and then there's LINDA BARRETT, who is allegedly dating a 40 year old pilot or something and pedantically informs STACY that their love-making sessions typically last about 45 minutes and they always climax together. am i the only person who recognizes that she has never had sex and has learned everything she thinks she knows from the pages of COSMOPOLITAN?
If it's been a while since you've indulged, you should watch this movie again. hell, I should watch this movie again -- if only to find other brilliant subtle aspects which permeate what is possibly the most quintessential high school movie of all times. how cool would it be to have the distinction of having been a part of such a thing? my hat is off to you CAMERON, and AMY HECKERLING as well (along with all the on-screen talent). Perhaps it requires the sensitivity of a female director to convey the discreet nuances of what appears on the surface to be an otherwise obvious movie, giving it depth, and vaulting it to the esteemed level of a CLASSIC everyone should see.