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Episode 80: Girls Just Want to Have Fun featuring Molly Rich
57 Plays23 days ago
Molly Rich, a friend of the show, has got us out of horror-fueled haze with the breath of fresh air that is Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985). Inspired by the popular song by Cyndi Lauper, it follows the exploits of new girl Sarah Jessica Parker who befriends Helen Hunt as they both attempt to get a part on Dance TV, all while navigating catholic school, an angry father, boys and nerves. Jonathan Silverman and Shannen Doherty are in the mix, too. It’s a good-hearted, fun coming-of-age film that can’t decide if it’s sexual or not, but who cares? We all had a blast, and so can you, so tune in!
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Transcript
Introduction & Question: Why Are Bad Movies Liked So Much?
00:00:40
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to your favorite bad movie podcast. It's the only podcast that's brave enough to ask the question, if this movie's so bad, why do you like it so much?
00:00:53
Speaker
We're your
Meet the Hosts and Guest
00:00:54
Speaker
hosts. My name is Chris Anderson. And with me, as always, I have the Jeff to my Drew, Mr. Greg Bossy. Hello, Chris.
00:01:04
Speaker
How are you doing today, Greg? Oh, I'm doing all right. Yourself? Man, I'm hanging in. I'm hanging in. Thank God it's Monday. Yeah. unfortunately Hey, my favorite day of the week is I get to hang out with my buddy, Greg, and occasionally my wife.
00:01:20
Speaker
There you go Unfortunately, my wife couldn't be here this week. The Lynn to my me, Chris Anderson, could not make it due to the fact they're recovering from getting their vaccine boosters yesterday.
00:01:34
Speaker
Doing that, they're doing the right thing. So that's good. But we do have a very special guest. It's me. It's Molly. It's Molly Rich. Let's cut to the cake chase. It's Molly Rich. It's Molly. How are you, Molly?
00:01:48
Speaker
I am fantastic. How are you tonight?
Excitement for 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun'
00:01:51
Speaker
Man, I'm doing great. I had so much fun watching this week's movie. Aptly titled Girls Just Want to Have Fun.
00:02:00
Speaker
Yes, we do. And ah listeners, if you haven't seen Girls Just Want to Have Fun, here's just a little clip, a little synopsis, a little picture to hold in your mind as we continue to discuss the film.
Plot Overview: Janie's Dream & Obstacles
00:02:24
Speaker
Janie wants nothing more than to be on dance TV. The only things standing in her way are Catholic school, her strict military father, a rich, very mean lady, and dreamy dance partner that's always acting like a dumb boy.
00:02:43
Speaker
But the with the help of her best friend, Lynn, she might just have a shot.
00:02:51
Speaker
Wow. That one was a mouthful. It was. a lot happens in this movie. It's very dense. It's very plotty. Yeah, yeah it is. It's really propulsive that way. I just feel like ah with also like Don't Tell My Mom the Babysitter is Dead, these like teen romance things. Well, this is not that romantic exactly, but neither was that. It's like there's just a lot happening in them.
00:03:16
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's very full of incident. Yes. There's not a lot of scenes of people just sort of sitting and talking. Yeah. Or like just looking out at a vista. Yeah. There's not a lot of the plot to discuss.
00:03:29
Speaker
It's usually plot to do. Absolutely. Like I said very propulsive. That is going to factor in big in my
Molly's Personal Connection to the Film
00:03:36
Speaker
watchability. Molly. When I came, you came to me, you, you said, I want to talk about girls just want to have fun. And I said, yes, yeah.
00:03:48
Speaker
Tell me, tell me, why did you want to talk to us about girls just want to have fun? So when I think about a bad movie that people love, it's just, you watch it over and over and over.
00:04:02
Speaker
And this is like the most watching over and over and over movie. So for context, I am the youngest of three girls. Oldest one was born in 82.
00:04:13
Speaker
I was born in 85. That's a lot of girls in just a few years. And yeah I want to say like probably in 1990, 91, we rented this movie from Shawnee Video every single Friday for about five months.
00:04:30
Speaker
Wow. We would rent this and then we would rent like whatever thing came out or like ladybugs or the princess bride. Like if you want to get in that kind of mindset, that's what we were doing.
00:04:46
Speaker
VHS classics. Yeah. Perfect choices. And so like, I don't know why my my parents were out just like, you cannot watch this movie anymore. Like they could have bought the tape like four times over.
00:05:00
Speaker
And I think eventually like we just got sick of it. But then like, you know, if it was on like TV, you would have to sit and watch the entire thing. And then I hadn't really watched it since I was probably like 19 and living with my oldest sister.
00:05:16
Speaker
Okay. And then I moved out and then I hadn't watched it since then. And then ah watched it this morning and it was like, i i knew everything that was about to happen right before it happened.
00:05:27
Speaker
Very nice. And I knew like every word, every song. and was and Yeah. Yes. Lots of yeses. i Every scene. I could see this being that type of movie that you, you memorize the script as a child. You, you eat through this tape.
00:05:45
Speaker
This is just so watchable. And all the gals in it are like so cool, but so relatable, you know, it's Greg. Had you seen this one before? No, I hadn't. I knew of it, though, because I remember being in a video store with my mom and her friend, and her friend was like, that's a fun movie, Andrea. Have you ever seen that movie? And she's like, no, I haven't. And she looked at me, she's like, that's a fun movie. You'd like that movie. And just being like a 12-year-old, was like, sure, all right.
00:06:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, maybe. We'll put that one in the maybe pile. Yeah, I don't know. ah and so But I just always have that memory. just like She really loved miss Campbell. Really loved girls that just want to have fun.
00:06:29
Speaker
And now I know why. Yeah, very understandable. This was one that I had never gone around to. This was a blind spot for me. yeah And I was really delighted.
00:06:40
Speaker
You guys want to want to hear what I found out when I put some research into this bad boy? knew it. All right, then let's roll that beautiful context bumper.
00:07:01
Speaker
I wish I had some context about the background of the film. Script director, actors on set. What was going on on screen?
00:07:12
Speaker
I want to hear some details. Gossips can do all that shit. Canon matcher, all get done.
Film Background: Release and Director's Career
00:07:30
Speaker
So Girls Just Want to Have Fun came out on April 12th, 1985. The director Alan Metter.
00:07:41
Speaker
Ring any bells? No. no No. No. Very understandable. Very undistinguished career. ah Three taglines for this movie. No.
00:07:52
Speaker
Number one. That's all they really want. Yeah, I like that. That's fun. Yeah. yeah Makes perfect sense. If you thought this was in relation to the popular song, you're correct.
00:08:08
Speaker
Question number two. Getting into trouble is easy, but getting out is all the fun. Yeah, i guess. the Maybe for us as the audience, I don't find that to be relatable as the experience. No.
00:08:28
Speaker
Life will be serious soon enough. But for now, dot, dot, dot. Girls just want to have fun. Yeah, I think that's the best one. Yeah, I'll take it.
00:08:39
Speaker
I'll stick with that's all they really want. yeah think I'll go. i think if I had to choose between them, I think that's the stronger one. But I do like that one. it It's functional. Definitely works. Yeah, it does.
00:08:51
Speaker
And it's it's rare when you have the pre-title tagline. Yeah, yeah, yeah. fun mix them up in the format. I'll give them
The Iconic Song and Cyndi Lauper's Involvement
00:09:00
Speaker
that. So in 1979, the song Girls Just Want to Have Fun was written by a then unknown New Wave musician named Robert Hazard.
00:09:13
Speaker
Mm-hmm. In 1983, it was re-recorded by Cyndi Lauper. She made it a huge hit off of her album, She's So Unusual.
00:09:24
Speaker
I'm going to say one of my favorite albums of all time. I'm a huge Cyndi Lauper fan. It's a shame she's very marginally involved with this film. The reason why that is, is because in July 1984, after...
00:09:41
Speaker
Cindy Lauper had made it a hit. Roger Corman's new world picture, shout out to Roger Corman. Uh, they announced that they bought the film adaptation rights to Robert Hazard's girls just want to have fun.
00:09:58
Speaker
So this is why Cindy Lauper was completely cut out. She got no money from this movie. Wow. Wow. So she has a little bit of a beef with it. She does appear in the film in one scene at the diner full of punks.
00:10:12
Speaker
Okay. Okay. ah But that that's why also why the version that you hear in the movie is not Cyndi Lauper. That's so weird.
00:10:23
Speaker
Yeah, they got like soundalikes. It was a very... Yeah, I know that. But just like the idea that it's like, you know that popular song? We played the guy we we paid the guy who wrote it for his rights. It's like, i yeah, it just feels... We got the rights to the lyrics to that song. So... Great.
00:10:44
Speaker
So... They were probably partially inspired by a new world success with rock and roll high school five years earlier. And I think this movie has a lot in common with rock and roll high school.
00:10:56
Speaker
Only instead of being obsessed with the Ramones, they're obsessed with MTV, but they don't have the rights to MTV. So they call it dance TV.
00:11:06
Speaker
And I think it's also more eighties and that it has a lot of softer edges. But I think that makes it just go down a little bit smoother.
00:11:18
Speaker
Rock and roll high school has way better music because it has the Ramones in it. But, ah you know, they both have their charms. You know, i don't want to set two two kings in opposition to each other.
00:11:29
Speaker
King and queen, whatever you call it. Royalty. We don't need to choose. That's all I'm saying. ah Now, the first actress that was brought on board was Sarah Jessica Parker as Janie.
Casting and Behind-the-Scenes Advocacy
00:11:44
Speaker
At this point, she was most famous for starring in the cult teen sitcom Square Pegs. Okay. Have you guys seen any Square Pegs? No, no.
00:11:55
Speaker
I just know it just is like, just that tidbit. Hey, did you know that Sarah Jessica Parker was in it? That's it. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, the only other like factoid I can tell you is that the, uh, uh, title theme was done by the waitresses, the same band that did. I know what boys like guys want.
00:12:16
Speaker
Uh, and it was sort of like ah a, a Degrassi for America. Okay. Uh, And it it went for 20 episodes and then allegedly they didn't bring back the bring it back for a second season because there was too much drug use on set.
00:12:30
Speaker
Wow. But it's supposed to be pretty good.
00:12:36
Speaker
Now, she convinced ah director Alan Metter to bring on Helen Hunt ah because she really liked her audition. And at one point, I guess, Alan Metter went over and said, like Sarah Jessica Parker would love it if you were on this movie.
00:12:51
Speaker
Was this her film and debut? i I think she had done one or two other things, but she had mostly been working in TV. Okay. Let me see if I can pull up her filmography on my second monitor. We're doing it.
00:13:08
Speaker
We're doing it. Thank you for the layup, Greg. So let's see. She has 110 acting credits. So I'm gonna have to do a little bit of scrolling. That's what we call it when we use the computer folks.
00:13:23
Speaker
Here we go. dera Down, down, down, down, down. 1985. Let's see. She'd done a couple of TV movies with titles like sweet revenge choices of the heart. Ooh, quarterback princess. I bet that one's good.
00:13:37
Speaker
Oh, I've seen that. How was that? It should be great in that. Yeah, it's um it's like a, well, I saw it on like the Disney channel. like That makes sense. It might have been a Disney TV movie.
00:13:48
Speaker
Yeah, like very, very, very long time ago. And it's basically about, yeah, Helen Hunt plays a girl who wants to play on the football team against all odds.
00:14:00
Speaker
yeah She's a football player. She would crush that. Oh, yeah. yeah This was her second theatrically released feature film. Before that, she had been in Trancers.
00:14:14
Speaker
Once again, we find ourselves talking about Trancers. It's so weird that Trancers is like the one of the backbones of this podcast. some Maybe we should look at, I should make Trancers one of our Saturday matinees. maybe I've been wondering what to do for the next one. That'd be a good choice.
00:14:32
Speaker
Listeners, join the Discord and come watch movies with us. it's pretty fun. And, if you want to live the podcast listeners dream and actually get to know the podcasters, this is your best way.
00:14:44
Speaker
Um, where was I? Yes. Uh, yeah. So Helen Hunt gets brought, brought on. Now let's talk about Alan Metter. Who's Alan Metter.
00:14:56
Speaker
He was originally an ad man. Uh, then he started making music videos for Olivia Newton, John in the late seventies. And at that point, music videos were sort of an extension of the advertising business.
00:15:11
Speaker
So that makes sense.
00:15:14
Speaker
Like, I think even ah MTV was not on the air when he was directing these. So I don't know. It must have solely been for advertising. ah He also, because of that relationship with Olivia Newton-John, made the making of Xanadu the musical fantasy movie special.
00:15:35
Speaker
Wow. So check out our episode about Xanadu. There's a Xanadu. And you can see a little bit of Xanadu in this movie's bones in the musical numbers, I think. I can see that.
00:15:46
Speaker
I think they're both pulling from that Busby Berkeley. Mm-hmm.
00:15:52
Speaker
ah He also directed the music video for Rappin' Rodney, the Rodney Dangerfield rap music video. How about that? Oh, no. And that's pretty much his entire resume before Girls Just Want to Have Fun. He also did one Steve Martin TV special that was mostly edited together from previous appearances.
00:16:13
Speaker
Now, Girls was not a big hit when it came out. and only made $6.3 million at the box office on its $5 million dollars budget. Obviously, kept on picking up money in the VHS era.
00:16:26
Speaker
Yeah, from us renting. Yes, specifically from Molly's family.
00:16:33
Speaker
Now, the matter would continue on with a relatively undistinguished career with a few familiar titles. One that was a touchstone for me was Back to School.
Director Metter's Career Highlights
00:16:43
Speaker
Once again, working with Rodney Dangerfield.
00:16:47
Speaker
You guys ever see Back to School? I have not. I know of I've seen clips. Yeah, I think I've seen bits and pieces of it. It's great. Rodney Dangerfield goes back to college with his son. Does he get does he get respect?
00:17:02
Speaker
no even though he's rich and so he's rich because he owns a chain of big and tall stores that is very successful that's such an interesting little character it's ring it's a good movie yeah i think i think if you like girls just want to have fun you should check out back to school okay um he also did police the academy mission to moscow which i do not recommend And he did two Olsen twins movies. Oh boy. Yes.
00:17:35
Speaker
He did billboard dad and passport to Paris. Two of the bigger ones. Okay. As far as I know. And he also directed the growing pains movie. And since around the two thousands, he didn't get much work.
00:17:50
Speaker
Still. Girls Just Want to Have Fun did end up developing enough of a cult following to maintain cultural relevance over the years. In both 2009 and 2023, 20th Century Fox and Village Roadshow both announced remakes, respectively.
00:18:07
Speaker
Also in 2023, a jukebox musical version was announced. I am not sure if it ever actually opened. Hmm.
00:18:16
Speaker
But still, people are still, you know, interested and, you know, invested in and inspired by girls just want to have fun. Turns out they still want have fun. The girls. Yeah.
1985: A Year of Iconic Teen Comedies
00:18:26
Speaker
It's a timeless message. Yeah.
00:18:27
Speaker
yeah Other teen comedies of 1985. Hmm. You got Teen Wolf. Yeah. You got Just One of the Guys. Okay.
00:18:42
Speaker
classic giving gender ah you got weird science oh yeah you got the goonies what a lot of people consider the definitive 80s teen movie yeah yeah you got better off dead oh wow and you got back to the future this is a big year for teen comedy Yeah, this was a thriving genre. There are a lot of hits there.
00:19:11
Speaker
So it's it's understandable why something as good as Girls Just Want to Have Fun could get lost in the shuffle. You know, especially it doesn't have as big stars. You know, it's got TV stars. Yeah. I mean, Back to the Future, Michael J. Fox is a TV star.
00:19:30
Speaker
Anyway, anyway. Who wants to talk about the plot? Yeah, let's talk about it. Yes, then it's time for another bumper.
00:19:59
Speaker
Plot bumper, listen to me. I'm gonna give you the plot summary. Come on, baby. Here's the synopsis.
00:20:12
Speaker
Plot bumper, plot bumper.
Janie's School Life and Dance TV Dream
00:20:25
Speaker
So we open on Sarah Jessica Parker, and age probably 18, probably playing a 15-year-old, I want to say. She was. So I looked into this a little bit. So our three main people, ah helen ah yeah Helen Hunt, ah Sarah Jessica Parker, and the boy.
00:20:47
Speaker
um No, not the boy, not the boy, Jonathan Silverman. They are, I don't know which is which, I can't remember. It's like 20, 21, and 22. twenty one and twenty two so those three are within the ages of and The boy is twenty four twenty six enanton doherty is fourteen okay And they all they all play their age.
00:21:11
Speaker
And none of it feels particularly egregious. Maybe the boy. I feel like Helen Hunt is always 37. And I mean that even now.
00:21:22
Speaker
I mean, she I feel like she was born 37 and has remained as such, if that makes sense. Absolutely. I could see Hearing her talk on this, I was just like, that's just mad about you. You're just doing the mad of about you voice. Like, this is just, you're with Paul Reinser right now.
00:21:36
Speaker
It's true. That's fair. I'll give you that So Janie, Sarah, Jessica Parker is ah introducing herself to a class at an all girls Catholic school.
00:21:48
Speaker
We learned that she moves a lot because she's an army brat. She does do gymnastics and more than anything, she wants to be on dance TV. And then we cut to dance TV.
00:22:00
Speaker
Mm hmm. And this was all a cold open. Our credits roll. And Dance TV is aerobicizing style modern jazz dancing, I think. Would you call this modern jazz?
00:22:14
Speaker
Sure. Sounds about right. It's very high energy. It's it very much looks like ah competitive aerobic sizing, I want to say.
00:22:24
Speaker
yeah With a lot of a lot of twirls, a lot lifts.
Lynn's Style & Friendship with Janie
00:22:28
Speaker
Yes. Very physical, very choreographed. This is not freestyle, you know, couples dancing.
00:22:37
Speaker
And then we meet a British DJ and ah then, or should I say VJ more accurately. And then we cut back to school, which is letting out.
00:22:52
Speaker
And Janie gets on a bus and Lynn asks her to cover for her. She sits next to Lynn. Lynn is, of course, played by Helen Hunt. And Lynn asks her to ah cover for her so she can flip her clothes around.
00:23:06
Speaker
She turns her skirt inside out and it's gone from a Catholic schoolgirl shirt to a... a vinyl like mini dress or mini skirt and she flips her jacket off and rips off the uh sleeves which were held on with velcro and now it's a flannel check vest and just really loud and it was just like oh this is the coolest girl you've ever met in your entire life oh absolutely absolutely that You instantly are like, God damn, she's on another level. She is so cool in this movie.
00:23:42
Speaker
Literally anytime she was on screen, i was like, kid, will you go to the prom with me? didn
00:23:50
Speaker
Yeah. Helen Hunt is incredibly magnetic in this. And I'm glad that she's 21 because I feel slightly less creepy saying that about a 21 year old woman.
00:24:02
Speaker
But yeah, to me, she stole the show. But yeah, and this is how they become fast friends. And Lynn is also obsessed with dance TV. She heard Janie saying she loves dance TV. And she's like, I love dance TV.
00:24:16
Speaker
We should watch dance TV together. She's like, yes, we should watch dance TV right now. I'll go with you to any house you want. And so they go to ah Lynn's babysitting gig.
00:24:31
Speaker
She does some after school babysitting. Cause she's so mature and she's got it together. God. And she's the girl you want to be. ah And soon the two of them are ah dancing and giggling and downing Doritos and Pepsi while the baby they are sitting sits on a pizza.
00:24:51
Speaker
I love that image. She's actually just such a bad babysitter, which is, yeah which is so fun. Yeah. That she just gets away with whatever she wants and not caring about things.
00:25:04
Speaker
I like how they just abandoned the pizza. Like it's, it's like a margarita pizza. This little infant in just a diaper just, just houses this giant slice of tomato. it's just like that baby had a great time on set that day. Oh yeah.
00:25:18
Speaker
Oh, I hope so. Yeah. Making a big old mess. oh And while they're watching dance TV, the British VJ announces that there's going to be a dance contest.
00:25:32
Speaker
for a new couple to dance on dance TV. And they're both are so psyched. i mean Yes. And Lynn says, with your like gymnastics and dance training and with my sense of style, we've got this. And that really points out both of their strengths and why they're such good complimentary friends for the rest of the film.
00:25:55
Speaker
We also see on Dance TV, Ricky, who is sort of a cross between Kurt Loder and Madonna. She delivers music news, but in like a sexual way and a very theatrical way and Yeah, she also seems to have like a new opening and everyone's like, I don't know what it's going to be. And it's just like you do this like five times a ah week.
00:26:22
Speaker
Yeah, like you that's ah these big dramatic entrances for stuff, which I think is like a cool art project. I do like it. I do like it. No, I think she's great. I'm just saying, man, that's a lot of work to sign up. That is.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yeah. Just for entrances. That's why she's the best. That's true.
00:26:41
Speaker
So they aren't the only ones watching dance TV. There's also Drew and Jeff. ah Drew, of course, played by Jonathan Silverman. Jeff played by Lee Montgomery.
00:26:54
Speaker
Jonathan Silverman, you, of course, remember from Weekend at Bernie's. Lee Montgomery. I don't know where you'd know him from. Yeah. Yeah, I looked him up on Wikipedia. He just like quit acting in 1988 because like his whole family is an actor, so I think he just did the acting.
00:27:11
Speaker
Now he like is a real estate agent in Southern California. Because I was like, this guy pretty good. What happened to this guy? He seems to be like what they like the molds, the proto like Joey Lawrence before him.
00:27:27
Speaker
The sort of downturned eyes. Yeah, just too much hair. Yeah. Yeah, he was good in this. And he was beefy. Like, when they introduced him, he's got his shirt off and he slammed Duncan. It's like, this guy's kind of cut. This guy's kind of sharp.
00:27:42
Speaker
And I'm really happy that they made him the sort of... Because, like, there's usually two kinds of guys in a dance movie. It's like, I don't want to dance, although i secretly do. And I want to dance.
00:27:53
Speaker
And I'm glad that he was in the I want to dance category. Yeah, that you actually bring up something that i that i noticed in this watch is that, like, That's not present anywhere. The whole like fictional city of Chicago is like, oh, of course, everybody loves dancing. Yeah.
00:28:09
Speaker
Everybody. yeah Here's a weirdo over there. They love dancing. It's all anybody wants to do. I love that in dance movies where it's just like everybody is dancing and loves dancing, as is the common custom in real life. It's like, I don't know about that, but OK, I'm into it. Let's go.
00:28:27
Speaker
Yeah, dance is a joyful expression. We all agree with that, right? So, yeah, Drew is sort of a nerdy con man who wants to convince Jeff to go and ah go to the dance contest because, you know, Drew figures there'll be some way he can ride his coattails. There'll be some sort of opportunity there for him.
00:28:50
Speaker
he's that He's always, you know, he's playing chess. Everybody else is playing chess. Uh, Jeff doesn't think that his dad will go for it because his dad wants him to go to trade school.
00:29:03
Speaker
He's got to go to trade school. So he probably doesn't want him entering any dance contests. Not because dance is bad, but he just has to have something practical lined up.
00:29:15
Speaker
but yeah you know It's just time to go to trade school. You can't put that off for six months, man. All the jobs will be gone. Mm hmm. ah We also meet ah Jeff's little sister, Maggie, played by Shannon Doherty, who had some sort of things going on, but I couldn't quite clock him.
00:29:33
Speaker
No. I think she wanted to be like a punk or new wave, but not very much. She just seemed to be a little sister character. Yeah.
00:29:45
Speaker
Back at the babysitting, Janie says that her dad won't go for it either because he's so strict. He's a military dad. You know, does things by the book. And then we cut to a mansion.
00:30:01
Speaker
And this is Natalie's mansion. Natalie is a spoiled rich girl. She's a girl that doesn't want to have fun. She's a girl that wants to be mean. She sucks so much. I love her so much. She's great.
00:30:15
Speaker
She's a very good villain. And she's very like, daddy, i want to win the dance contest. So that's what I'm going to do this week. Shut up. You know, she's that kind of character. Yeah. There's the biggest perm in a movie full of perms. Hers is the biggest.
00:30:32
Speaker
Yeah. and And both our leads are blondes and she's an evil brunette. And so Janie goes home and we meet Janie's family, her dad and her mom and her little brother, Zach.
00:30:47
Speaker
Zach is a little army dude. i love Zach. yeah he's he's He's a pretty fun character. And now we've met all the key players in our film. All the puzzle pieces are in place.
00:30:58
Speaker
So that's great. So the next day, Lynn wants Janie to go in spite of her dad saying no. And Janie eventually comes around and hops on a city bus downtown.
00:31:12
Speaker
Drew, Jeff, and Natalie all roll up too. Natalie almost running over Lynn and Janie. And then they all get assigned numbers.
00:31:24
Speaker
And we get a dance montage to a cover of Dancing in the Streets.
00:31:31
Speaker
I wish they had spent a little bit more in the music budget on this. yeah wish they had another couple grand to spend. But this is fine. it It all works.
00:31:42
Speaker
um So everybody got sort of partnered up with randos since none of the gals brought a boy. And you can't have somebody instantly partnering up with Jeff. That's too easy. So Natalie does well. Obviously, she's taken a lot of dance classes, so that ought to be good.
00:31:59
Speaker
Janie does a bunch of gymnastics and blows everybody away. They're like, what? Dancing and gymnastics combined? This is blowing. This is crazy. ah Jeff just sort of spins around like a maniac. He does he does one of my favorite like eighty s dance moves where it's like the man punches through the air while taking long strides across the stage in like a very technical way.
00:32:23
Speaker
it was just like, hell yeah, he's dancing. It's like he's kind of like lunging in time. I'm not a dance judge, so I don't really know what the... ah just yeah i was just surprised. like He's just running around punching. It was like, hell yeah. It's like, there's something in that.
00:32:40
Speaker
He was very motivated. Phenetic. He was very confident. I'll give him. oh yeah ah Lynn shows up and starts doing some very good couples dancing. She's just like a very good dancer.
00:32:52
Speaker
Yeah. ah ah But then her a partner starts kicking her in the shins and like fucking up. And later on, we learned that Natalie paid him to lose.
00:33:04
Speaker
Which sucks because obviously nothing bad should ever happen to Lynn. She's wonderful. Exactly.
Dance Audition Chaos & Energy
00:33:09
Speaker
o So now we really hate Natalie. yeah And something that was happening during the scene that really struck me is how like,
00:33:18
Speaker
You know, they keep cutting to this, the coordinator, producer, whatever his job is. He's constantly, like, taking, you know, some kind of a special prescription. And you get the sense that, like, all these people, oh I cannot believe how awful this group is. And they're all, like, super competent dancers. Yeah. Like, this is definitely, like, pre, you know, the American Idol where it's, like,
00:33:42
Speaker
you know, we're going to have some real duds in here. it's just, I'm surprised that they didn't like work in like somebody like just doing the hokey pokey or something or the chicken dance.
00:33:54
Speaker
But no, every single dancer was so good and like doing their thing. I think they definitely had the musical numbers serving the music. There aren't like any real comedic musical numbers. yes They're all pretty just like, this is going to be a song and dance number about music and dancing.
00:34:13
Speaker
It's also, I felt as I was watching it, I was just like, this dance audition is like just chaos. It's just like a bunch of high schoolers on a stage and, And like the coordinator is like, somebody will eventually start dancing and then we will rate them. And it's just like, no, someone's got to be calling this stuff out. Like, obviously it's like a movie, you know, but like, I have a feeling that the audition, like the reason why everyone is so good is because it's not really supposed to be an audition. It's supposed to be like a dance sequence.
00:34:43
Speaker
And so it's just like, here's all these genres and dancers. It's like, well, some of them have to be bad because it's an audition. It's like, it's not really that. No, the way they communicate that some are bad is that they're out of style.
00:34:53
Speaker
Exactly. It's just like, well, that's not popular anymore. And I love that kind of world where it's just like everyone is extraordinarily competent and everyone's real into dance. It's just like everybody's dance, dance, dance all the way, all the time.
00:35:08
Speaker
So Natalie, Jeff and Janie all advanced to the finals. They all advanced to the finals. And Jeff and Janie, it looks like they're not going to be partnered up, but then they are.
00:35:20
Speaker
It's almost as if it's meant to be. What?
Janie and Jeff: Dance Partners
00:35:23
Speaker
And luckily they both have their wingmen, Lynn and Drew, to make sure that ah Jeff gets Janie's number.
00:35:32
Speaker
That night, Jeff talks to Maggie about not going to trade school and focusing on dancing. And then dad comes home and he's like, no, you're not doing that.
00:35:43
Speaker
You're a tradesman. You're going to trade school. Just like me and my father did. Dancing ain't good enough for you. Trade school.
00:35:53
Speaker
Then he tries to set up a rehearsal that night at 9 p.m. with Janie. Janie obviously can't get out of the house because she's like 15 years old and, you know, they're in a new city.
00:36:06
Speaker
ah So she ends up ghosting him. And so they're off on the wrong foot.
00:36:11
Speaker
The next day, Lynn, ever the loyal sidekick, helps Janie sneak out of choir practice so that she can go off and meet up with Jeff.
00:36:22
Speaker
It turns out that they have different dance styles and personalities. These two. Yeah. It's like you think it's oil and water at the beginning, but then it turns out to be oil and vinegar.
00:36:34
Speaker
Yeah. A delicious salad dressing. That's right. ah And yeah, and he dances like he's from the streets and he's wild and crazy.
00:36:46
Speaker
dances how he feels in his heart and she's very technical and also knows gymnastics which is going to be very important natalie oversees them dancing together by which i mean she sees them dancing together yeah and somehow she pieces together that janie has skipped choir practice to be there and also she has janie's phone number somehow and ah so she poses as a nun to call janie's dad and rat her out I thought she was calling to school. That makes more sense now.
00:37:21
Speaker
Yes. so But it is a strange moment. But, yeah you know, you buy it if you don't, if you aren't writing down what's happening and thinking yourself, I wonder how she got that phone number.
00:37:33
Speaker
And maybe she heard it when someone shouted it. could be i was gonna say she's just extremely rich probably just like i don't know bribed the phone company or something don't know i think also back then there was a time when you could be like hey is there anyone named this name in a town they're like yeah i'd be like all right could you call them for me and they would just do that which is crazy to think about now yeah wild times uh Then, as Jeff is leaving, Natalie invites Jeff to her debutante ball, which is really more of a coming out party.
Natalie's Chaotic Debutante Ball
00:38:10
Speaker
This is not a debutante ball. but No.
00:38:13
Speaker
Who am I to quibble? After the rehearsal, Lynn walks Janie home, and they talk about Jeff.
00:38:23
Speaker
Janie thinks he's sort of a turd from butt. Whereas Lynn thinks that he is a cute boy and they're trying to both reconcile that. Maybe both these things are true. Yeah.
00:38:34
Speaker
Lynn does say something to the effect of anytime I'm alone with another person. I asked myself if we were the last two people on earth, could I make out with them? Which is an interesting habit that she has.
00:38:48
Speaker
She's afraid. Yeah.
00:38:52
Speaker
Uh,
00:38:54
Speaker
Lynn almost gets busted for skipping choir, but Zach lets her know that her parents are on tour, and Lynn helps her generate a cover by saying that she passed out at gymnastics practice or some such.
00:39:08
Speaker
The next day, Lynn and Janie go to the mecca of the 80s, the mall. Yes. Finally get to see cool girls at the mall. Yes.
00:39:19
Speaker
Drew sees them as he's getting fitted for a tux. And he says to himself, oh, there's Jeff's dance partner and that cool girl, which is a very accurate way to describe the two of them.
00:39:32
Speaker
And he tells them about Natalie's debutante ball and even shows them the private ah invitation that he has. They steal it and bring it to a nearby copy shop.
00:39:43
Speaker
Mm hmm. And then to the tune of a cover of Girls Just Want to Have Fun, they hand out 150 invitations to all the punks that they can find and also some very strong women at a gym.
00:39:58
Speaker
um ah knew I knew that was going to get brought up. The really, really strong ladies lifting the cards. Yeah, also a great invite to the party, I'll be honest. You want to have these powerful women there. And I do love that they're lifting up a car. It's like, let's help you get those invitations out from underneath that car. It's like, you you all are awesome.
00:40:17
Speaker
Yeah. but I mean, the real heroes. Exactly. real girls having fun are these powerful women. Yeah. And ah also these punks are all clearly LA punks.
00:40:30
Speaker
This, I believe they were all cast. This was shot in LA and this was what really tipped it off for me. I can see that. I really liked how, you know, using the girls just want to have fun over this montage of like, just a whole lot of clearly like queer coded people.
00:40:49
Speaker
That was like, felt like a really fun subversion and like,
Cyndi Lauper's Meta Cameo
00:40:53
Speaker
they're all going to go to this, like, debutante ball of like, you know, this very like heteronormative, I'm the best pretty girl. And you know, it's like, Oh, what's going to happen.
00:41:07
Speaker
Yeah. Really great stuff. And, uh, one of the punks in the diner that they go to is Cindy Lauper. So you can't see Cindy Lauper sitting there as someone else sings. Girls just want to have fun.
00:41:21
Speaker
It's a very odd image in the film. Yeah. Yeah.
00:41:25
Speaker
So then we cut to the debutante ball. It's quite boring there. There is a very cool jazz band there called the Grateful Dudes. Which is pretty good, but I think they're playing a cover of Ringo Starr's 16, which is sort of strange.
00:41:41
Speaker
Yes.
00:41:44
Speaker
Then Natalie's rich dad, JP, shows up and presents her to everyone. She's making her debut. And ah then a punk does a front flip through a a bay window, smashing it, and dozens of punks run in screaming and wreck the party.
00:42:03
Speaker
It's such a great image. Well, what's fun is that like, you see all these like, you know, guests at her party before they come in and like all these people who are ostensibly her friends are like so bored and having like the worst time. And then when the punks come, everybody who was already there is like finally some life into this party. And like they they they show like her guests and these like Fancy frou-frou outfits, like dancing and have a wonderful, having a wonderful time with the punks. And it's basically just Natalie and her dad are the only ones that are like grumpy about it. It's true. You don't have any of like an old lady being like my word. You don't have any. Yeah.
00:42:43
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Even the grateful dudes are like, yeah, you guys want to take a run. We'll go take five and let the punks take over the bandstand. And obviously Lynn and Janie and even ah little Maggie are all watching from the smashed in bay window and be like, yeah, got him.
00:43:06
Speaker
So that part is also really good. The bad news is Jeff accidentally hits Natalie's dad in the face with a blueberry pie. So now, now Natalie's dad is getting roped into this and he's, he's a 500 pound gorilla. It's going to turn him.
00:43:23
Speaker
And Natalie says, this means war as the gals flee into the night.
00:43:31
Speaker
And then the next day, Jeff rolls up outside of Janie's school on his motorcycle. He's looking very cool. And Lynn distracts Nunn by asking her to do a pommel horse demonstration. Which is such a good moment.
00:43:47
Speaker
Yeah. Great visual gag. Yeah. And a great dialogue between the two of them of her just being like, sister, can you show me your great pommel horse routine again? And the sister being like, well, if you insist and you can tell she loves it when anybody asks her to do this, this is a very easy way to distract this woman.
00:44:07
Speaker
Lynn, once again, just seeing the heart of the cards, going right to it. um So Jeff asks Janie to come hang out with him at a basketball themed nightclub called The Court that night.
00:44:23
Speaker
And she's like, okay. And so she sneaks out of the house to go hang out at a basketball themed nightclub called The Court. You just skated past like probably one of my favorite lines is that the once the, the, the gymnast nun sees what is happening, she goes, you can't talk to him.
00:44:42
Speaker
He's a boy. got a huge laugh for me. was really excited about that line. That's a, that's like a classic trailer line. That's a great line. It's perfect for the film.
00:44:54
Speaker
So at the court, a a tall guy tries to dance with Janie while Jeff is off doing something. And Jeff is obviously smaller than this guy.
00:45:05
Speaker
So he's like, why don't we flip for And then sucker punches the guy in the face while he's distracted. And the two of them run off. And then he gives her a ride home on his motorcycle. and when they get home, they kiss.
Janie and Jeff's Romantic Connection
00:45:19
Speaker
oh It's Janie's first kiss. It's in the movie. Yeah. And now they're dating. She's like, and you now you're my boyfriend. And he's like, ah guess I am.
00:45:33
Speaker
ah So the next day she tells Lynn, who was very psyched for her. Love that Lynn is not a jealous friend. And then at rehearsal that afternoon, Janie teaches Jeff some gymnastic basics in a big montage.
00:45:52
Speaker
But when Jeff is about to drive home after a long afternoon's montage, he's accosted by mr Natalie's dad. It turns out that he owns the factory where Jeff works and he threatens to fire Jeff's dad.
00:46:08
Speaker
If Jeff doesn't lose the dance contest, which to me, if Jeff's dad went to trade school, I don't know why he's not working at a union shop.
00:46:18
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
00:46:21
Speaker
that would completely take care of this third act problem. Jeff would be like, I'm begging you to try and fire my dad. He will get six months paid vacation out of it. Please, please bring this bullshit to his shop. Stuart.
00:46:36
Speaker
Uh, now the next day at rehearsal, Jeff, he's feeling intimidated. This plan is working. So Jeff starts acting like a dick. He doesn't want to explain why. For some reason.
00:46:47
Speaker
It seems like that would be the easy play. But you know how people are. a classic move. it's a classic move You need conflict in your movie. That's true. But yeah, he doesn't he doesn't say what's actually going on and he quits.
00:47:00
Speaker
Boys, am I right? Nah, you are right.
00:47:05
Speaker
Then, when Janie tries to sneak home, The burglar alarm on our house goes off. Which is owned by SANS. Did you see that? It was like SANS Security.
00:47:18
Speaker
Oh. Small world. That guy, he's got a finger in ah every single pie in town. He does. He's trying to stop both of them.
00:47:28
Speaker
Yeah. He was probably like, let me cut you a deal on security systems, Colonel.
00:47:37
Speaker
um But Janie gets in trouble. She's grounded.
00:47:42
Speaker
The next day, Jeff's dad can tell something is wrong. He's wearing his I'm with coach T-shirt, which gives him super dad powers.
00:47:53
Speaker
That shirt was so cool. The font on that shirt was incredible. I love that shirt.
00:48:00
Speaker
he hears Jeff's story about what happened and he tells him not to back down, not to quit. Yeah. What a dad. I really liked that beat. It was just like, let the guy fire me. Don't you throw away your dreams.
00:48:13
Speaker
I also, again, it's that moment in the dance movie where it's just like, dad's going to be against dance. It's like, no dad is into you dancing because he wants you to follow your heart. Cause you're his son. Yeah. and it's just like yeah Yeah. That's right.
00:48:26
Speaker
dad would prefer trade school, but he definitely would prefer you not to get pushed around by some dickhead. That's why dad is cool. He's the coach. Yeah, he is the coach.
00:48:38
Speaker
Janie is at home crying in bed in her underwear, ah but her little bro, Zach, passes the word to her that it's come through the grapevine that Jeff has changed his mind and he's going to dance.
00:48:53
Speaker
Zach is Hermes. like always there like He's just like, I've got to give you a warning. Here's a message. It's just like, yeah, Zach, you're all right. Yeah, this little exposition boy.
00:49:07
Speaker
Now Janie just needs to figure out how she can break out of the house. Luckily, Lynn... The Enki-doo to her Gilgamesh is there, ready to help her out, sneak out into the night. She's got a rope with nods in it.
00:49:21
Speaker
She's got an aerosol can and a lighter to shoot a flamethrower at the guard dog. She is ready. They arrive just in time. Janie and Jeff share a quick embrace and then take the stage.
00:49:36
Speaker
And all the couples dance to the synth pop classic Dancing in Heaven by Q Field, which will be our closing song. That song fucking rules.
00:49:46
Speaker
Like, i yeah what I just, every time I even just think about this movie, it's always just like, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. Like, it is infectious. That should have been the song of the year, 1985. And it is a travesty that so few people know about it and so Do you know its origin story?
00:50:08
Speaker
I don't. I looked at it briefly. It was written for like the UK local version of Eurovision. Like the winner of this would go into Eurovision. It came in sixth place out of eight.
00:50:23
Speaker
That's disappointing. You know, maybe, maybe they didn't have the right producer at the time. And after they were on there, they were able to get hooked up with the right guy or something. But yeah. Yeah, that that's how that got to where that is. But yeah, it's great. You get to see every couple dance to this great tune.
00:50:41
Speaker
Janie's family accidentally catches her on TV and dad rushes out to the studio. He's incensed. My daughter has snuck out of the house and she's dancing with a boy on television. This is another thing that I really love in a movie where someone's like, I got to get to that TV station or I got to get to that concert. And then they're just able to do that.
00:50:59
Speaker
Yeah. They just i love it. It's just like, he's like on set. It's like, how did you get on the set of a TV show? That's taping. you just burst through the door? It just goes to show if you're a middle-aged white man. And if you act like you're walking someplace that you know where you're supposed to be, no one stops you. That's fair.
00:51:19
Speaker
He's got that military walk, too, so I'm sure he carries himself well. Yeah, and a real, like, don't fuck with me face. I'm sure all he has to say is, my daughter's in there. And you're like, whoa, okay. All right. but Okay. Hope you find your daughter.
00:51:31
Speaker
You should say that at the bank, though. My daughter's in your vault. I need in there. ah So once he gets there, he runs into Drew. And Drew's like, your daughter's good at dancing. And Dad's like, wait a second.
00:51:46
Speaker
Yeah. Now that and another man is pointing it out to me, maybe my daughter is good at dancing.
Dad's Acceptance of Janie's Passion
00:51:55
Speaker
Well, do like that immediately he's just like, yeah, she's really great, man. Like, she's really good. You must be really proud of your daughter for how great she is. And it's just like, yeah, good on you.
00:52:06
Speaker
Yeah, i guess I guess maybe I should be proud of my daughter doing something great. feel silly now. But ah soon it's time to announce the winners. And it's a tie.
00:52:17
Speaker
oh What a twist. Janie and Jeff are tied with Natalie and her partner, Ben, who has no discernible personality. Certainly no storyline.
00:52:31
Speaker
I don't think he has a single line. No, i don't think I think he gets yelled at, but I don't think he says anything in response. That's a good way to keep your budget down. So it's going to come down to a dance-off between the two couples.
00:52:46
Speaker
Luckily, Jeff... And Janie have practiced their secret weapon, gymnastics. Yes. And when they start doing flips and shit, the judges also flip their wigs, that is.
00:53:00
Speaker
And ah they announced that Janie and Jeff are the winners.
Winning the Dance Competition
00:53:06
Speaker
And on top of that, the VJ announces that they're the winners, and he tries to throw it to Ricky, the Dance TV news anchor, but she had just quit the show.
00:53:17
Speaker
And it looks like Lynn has her job. but Now Lynn is the new news anchor and the coolest ever. And then ah Jeff and Janie kiss, and then the credits roll. Hooray! Yeah.
00:53:33
Speaker
So final thoughts, five-star ratings in terms of watchability and weirdness. Where did we land? Greg, please. Yeah, I mean, this is a pretty good time.
00:53:44
Speaker
I would say this is a very watchable movie. I'm going to give it four out of five just because I feel like it's got a bit of the... um don't know how to say it and not sound rude, i get but it it's it's got a family-friendly nature to it that is not like bad, but it's just not going to be for everybody. You know what I mean? And that's why I give it a four. just like you can tell that it's like this is a cup of tea.
00:54:11
Speaker
Some people are just not going to like tea. What can you do about it? And I get it, but I also get why people like tea, and I like tea. So, you know, giving it four stars.
00:54:21
Speaker
A real good time. i think it is, again, Helen Hunt to me is, again, just 37 all the time. She's doing an amazing job.
Discussing the Movie's Charm
00:54:30
Speaker
ah But it just, like, all around, this is a lot of fun to watch with a lot of, like, actors when they're young giving strong performances. And, again, it's that, like, that nice additive world where the no one is really fighting anybody else.
00:54:44
Speaker
It's just a struggle and you're just trying to prove yourselves, which is always much more enjoyable to me than, like, watching for an extended period of time. So I mean, like, I don't want you to do the plot and I want to do the plot. It's like, that's very boring to me.
00:54:57
Speaker
So i really like that. This is what it is. ah It's a little strange just in that it's got this, ah like this balance of like, are we sexual yet or not?
00:55:09
Speaker
And so sometimes that comes up and every time it does, it's just like, what? Cause it's very not sexual. So I'm just going to give it two stars for weirdness. Yeah. I'm going to give it four and a half in terms of watchability. I thought it was incredibly fun, incredibly charming, very briskly paced, very perfectly pitched. Everybody in this movie seemed very cool.
00:55:30
Speaker
Lynn obviously made a very huge impression on me. Oh, yeah. and There was one scene where she had a six inch grass, six inch plastic grasshopper on her hat.
00:55:41
Speaker
Yes. On a pillbox hat. And i was like, this look is in instantly iconic. You know, i this movie feels like so much of it ought to be iconic.
00:55:54
Speaker
For weirdness, I gave it a two. ah It did feel to me, at one point I commented Anna, it felt like a live action anime almost. Yeah. And that it was sort of heightened and surreal in a way that like elevates emotions and makes everything very easy to read, ah but also still very relatable. And it had a sort of very familiar, understandable story that was well executed and, you know,
00:56:21
Speaker
So not particularly weird, but just sort of mildly surreal. It was not, you know, I wasn't watching Ken Burns baseball. You know what I mean?
00:56:32
Speaker
oh Molly, where where did you land in terms of watchability and weirdness on a five star rating? Well, got to give it a five star because i watched it, you know, every Friday for like five months.
00:56:46
Speaker
Yeah. But no, I, it was as, you know, watching it you know, as like a grownup, I was really, really struck by how like just so charming Sarah Jackson Parker's performance is. It's really, really physical in not just the dancing, but like she really embodies like this sort of teenage girl, like, Oh, I'm so embarrassed. Or, Oh, I'm so happy. Like you read it in her body. Like she has a real dancer sensibility of how she's like performing emotions that felt very like teenage girl to me. um Yeah. Like in that opening where she was introducing herself to the class and they showed her like fidgeting in her shoes and they would just like show her but below the knee. I thought that was a really great moment and a good highlight for her as an actress.
00:57:38
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And I really love how much, like, texture is in, like, every scene. Like, there was just, like, one throwaway scene of the boys in their high school.
00:57:49
Speaker
And, like, everybody that walks by is like, giving, like, hunky boy shit because he's with, like, a Catholic schoolgirl. But, which is not sexual in this movie. It's embarrassing for him, which I thought was so funny and weird.
00:58:05
Speaker
But, like, and then... You know, the he the the friend has this like, you know, essay selling business. But like every every scene is like that where there's just like, how can we cram in texture into this world that like every all of these things were happening before this movie started and all of these other things are happen after it ends.
00:58:27
Speaker
Yes. All these characters felt very realized and like had full lives. And it's like, it like yeah it didn't need to go that hard as a script, but like, i really, really appreciated it on that front where it's just like, yeah. And I love that something that I really love about 80s movies too was the sibling dynamics. It's just like, it's just like, oh, I hate you. Go away. i Shut up.
00:58:52
Speaker
Which doesn't really show up that much anymore. yeah Like there was a scene where Jeff was spitting on Maggie. He was like spitting Gatorade on Maggie. Yeah, like that that feels gross teenage boy to me.
00:59:06
Speaker
Yeah. what i And Oh, sorry. What about in terms of weirdness out of five stars? um I'm going to agree with both you guys with it too. Like, yeah, with the the weird sexual stuff, it was just like the friend is so creepy and ravey.
00:59:22
Speaker
Like it would be like a really fun scene and then it would just be like. just take you completely out of it. Like, like the tune in Tokyo joke is like, he's just, Oh, I forgot about that. haling this girl Yeah. And it goes on for a while.
00:59:36
Speaker
you know what tune in Tokyo is, it's like, he's just, yeah i thought they were not going to cut back. Yeah, I did too. I just thought that was going to be the joke. And then like, you know, Shannon Dougherty's character is supposed to be like 12 and like he kisses her at the end. Yeah, that was really weird.
00:59:53
Speaker
Like, get a job. Stay away from her. Like, it's so gross. And it's like, you're really supposed to like him, but it's just like, he was the a big weak point. And that's what makes it weird for me. Yeah. And also just a fun weirdness that we talked about all through this, about how just dancing is just a part of
The World of Dance: A Humorous Portrayal
01:00:15
Speaker
life here. And that is just adds to the fun surreality of it.
01:00:19
Speaker
hmm. But yeah, yeah, you're right. Jonathan Silverman's character definitely had that. Like every 80s teen movie has like something in it that's just like. Yeah. yeah And Jonathan Silverman was the. o Yeah. the Unfortunately.
01:00:33
Speaker
But he's not as as a lot of other ones. No, no, no. Yeah, it was almost like it felt like like there was like a perv checklist to make it like a real 80s teen movie. Yeah, and we've talked about like it being sexual. It's not that sexual. It's just that in context, it feels very sexual because the rest of it is so non-sexual.
01:00:54
Speaker
yeah Yeah, it is like if something mildly sexy happened in an episode of Muppet Babies. um Yeah, you'd be like, that's weird. yeah that's a weird joke to throw in there. yeah and did like his running joke of like your car's being towed. Like sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
01:01:12
Speaker
Yeah, his his old Mercedes was a great gang. With that, you guys want to move on to act three of the show and we can talk a little bit about What if there was more of a cinematic universe to girls just want to have fun?
01:01:29
Speaker
Huh?
01:01:39
Speaker
This movie was really cool. It had a lot of cool ideas. This rich setting would really work for a cinematic universe.
01:01:59
Speaker
dude.
Imagining Sequels and Spin-offs
01:02:01
Speaker
A cinematic universe.
01:02:37
Speaker
So we thought it might be fun to both come up with ideas for sequels to Girls Just Want to Have Fun. If we wanted to create a ah cinematic universe, and we thought we'd pitch those to you, Molly, get your feedback.
01:02:50
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Greg, would it be all right if I went first? Sure. Go ahead, please. All right. So my sequel is Girls Just Want to Have Fun.
01:03:02
Speaker
Money Changes Everything.
01:03:06
Speaker
So when Janie won the big dance contest on Dance TV, it was seen by kids all over the world, including Naoko Takata, daughter of a wealthy Japanese businessman who's just moved to Chicago.
01:03:22
Speaker
Now, Naoko is very shy. And Mr. Takata sees her watching Dance TV, and she was wishing that she could have friends like Janie and Lynn. Now, uh, he has to go continue traveling around the country and business and he's left in the care of Takata. She's left in the care of Takata's subordinate Cosgrove.
01:03:43
Speaker
Uh, while he travels around the States, Cosgrove would be played by, let's say Steven Tobolowsky. I've got him front of mind. Now, uh, Cosgrove arranges for them, uh, to hang out on Takata's dime.
01:04:00
Speaker
Uh, She's like, you know, he goes to the TV station and he's like, would you like to spend some time with, uh, I can pay for whatever you want to do. And they're then, you know, the, the gals get talked into it.
01:04:13
Speaker
I haven't worked out all those details. But at first they're doing a bunch of fancy stuff, snooty restaurants, the Chicago Opera House. They probably got something like that there. I don't know.
01:04:27
Speaker
Then they they go to a Cubs game in a fancy private box. But Jamie sees Jeff and Drew and the other other guys, maybe some other guys, and they're down in the bleachers.
01:04:39
Speaker
And this so they sneak out of the private box to go hang out with him. Maybe there's a boy there that Namco can befriend. But they begin teaching Elka how to cut loose and have fun American style.
01:04:51
Speaker
But then Naoko starts getting too crazy and Americanized. And Cosgrove is worried that Mr. Takata is not going to be happy when he gets back. So he grounds Naoko and forbids her from ever seeing Janie and Lynn again.
01:05:06
Speaker
So Naoko runs away. But without her friends, she gets lost on the Chicago l train and finds herself in a bad neighborhood. She's able to call Lynn and she and Janie rush out there and pick her up and drive her home only to find that ah Mr. Takata has now come back.
01:05:23
Speaker
But Takata loves the fact that Naoko's new friends care about her so much. And so he's not mad and they're going to stay in Chicago and Naoko enrolls in the Catholic girl school.
01:05:35
Speaker
The end. All right. Money changes everything.
01:05:41
Speaker
So Greg, or do you have any, any feedback on mine?
01:05:46
Speaker
You're asking me? Anybody. Open to the floor. mean, it seemed pretty solid. Yeah. Okay, perfect. The idea of of opening up to a whole other kid, sort of like a karate kid too.
01:06:02
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. You expand and you and it shows that truly all types of girls want to have fun. Yes. Is it girls just want to have fun?
01:06:13
Speaker
Yes. Money changes everything. Greg, what about you? So I took it in a slightly different way. I was thinking more like adapting another Cyndi Lauper song to a film as opposed to like sequelizing girls just want to have fun.
01:06:30
Speaker
So you're like Jamie and Lynn. I was like, I hadn't thought about them being involved. So my idea was for all through the night, which again, it's going to different piece, but it's all through the night. Um, I think my idea was it maybe takes place in Milwaukee. I really liked that. Like Chicago is the place they're trying to get to and girls just want to have fun. Cause it's like a Midwestern big, big city, not a like New York or Los Angeles.
01:06:54
Speaker
So like the idea of Milwaukee or maybe Las Vegas. Um, okay. You've got like a down and out guy and a down and out gal and they're just trying to make it work.
01:07:05
Speaker
And they get it. She gets a job as a waitress, all night waitress. He gets a job as a taxi driver. And they're just struggling and they're trying to make it work. And one night she goes back to take out the trash and she lights up a cigarette. And what she doesn't know is he's on the other side smoking a cigarette. He's on the other side of the fence smoking a cigarette.
01:07:26
Speaker
Okay. He starts like singing a song and then he does the response to the songs. The two of them are singing the song through the fence together. but they don't really who they are. And then like the beginning of the second act or like what brings the second act in is that I think someone gets like hit by a car. And so he gets out of the cab and she comes out of the restaurant and that's how they meet each other. They save the person's life and it's like this story, but then they both get like in trouble at work for like leaving work.
01:07:58
Speaker
So then they have to continue working all through the night and they're trying to get together and be with each other and eventually just get, just get the, just get out of Milwaukee. know, they're trying to work through the night to get, to get out of Milwaukee together and everyone's rooting for him at the, at the diner. Cause he comes in to eat and that's like the only way they can really see each other. She's got a weight on him.
01:08:18
Speaker
Okay. And I was thinking as far ideal cast, I was thinking Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Beals. Okay. I'm there for that. Yeah. um My butt's in the seat.
01:08:31
Speaker
Yeah. You've sold me great. Thank you. Any feedback? Any thoughts? I mean, I know it's not a direct sequel, so there is that feedback. Yeah. I like to be like ah of a, a greater, Cindy lover cinematic universe and you can just keep going. She has like a pretty big, uh, so.
01:08:50
Speaker
Oh yeah. Lots of hits. We haven't even, you can do a she bop movie. I forgot about she bop. you do true colors, the movie time after time.
01:09:01
Speaker
Yeah. I time after time is obviously the time travel version where adult Lynn and Janie go back. and 60s, whatever, like current Helen hunt and current Sarah, Jessica Parker, you edit them into the movie.
01:09:15
Speaker
Yeah. You don't, they're all, everything new was shot on green screens. Like we have to make sure that you kiss Jeff. God, yes. Good.
01:09:27
Speaker
That's the Capra. That's how we wrap up the cinematic universe phase one. Well, you guys want to play a game? Sure. i would love to. All right. Let's play a little guess the title.
01:09:49
Speaker
Let me tell you about this brand new game. Where you guess the movie's name. You just tell me what the title is prove you know about showbiz.
01:10:04
Speaker
Guess the title. Whippa, whippa, whippa, whippa. Guess the title. Gooby, gooby, gooby, gooby. Guess the title. Guess the title.
01:10:14
Speaker
Come on, honey. the title. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:10:22
Speaker
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:10:26
Speaker
So we're playing a little guess the title with the films of Shannon Doherty. R.I.P. Shannon Doherty. I forgot she died last I forgot that, too. Yeah, me too. Yeah. R.I.P. Listeners probably know her best from Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed, or the movie Heathers.
01:10:43
Speaker
None of that's going to come up in this quiz. What I'm going to do is I'm going to read you a plot description that I snagged from IMDb and three possible titles. I want you to buzz in by saying your own name and tell me which one of those is the real title of the movie.
01:10:59
Speaker
And if you get it wrong, your opponent will have the chance to steal. And these are going to be movies, not television shows. Yes, this is all movies. Okay. Does anybody have any questions? I'm solid.
01:11:11
Speaker
I'm good. Okay, perfect. Hands on buzzers. Question number one.
01:11:19
Speaker
When a beautiful paparazzo finds herself pursued by a ruthless stalker, she is determined to emerge from this deadly game alive and independently wealthy.
01:11:34
Speaker
Is that picture this striking poses or shutter bug? Greg. Greg? Picture this.
01:11:50
Speaker
Molly, can you steal? i think it's the second one. Striking poses? Yeah. Yes!
01:11:57
Speaker
Correct!
01:12:00
Speaker
Question number two. A woman recovering from a domestic violence relationship finds out that her former partner still wants her, even if that means killing her.
01:12:12
Speaker
huh Is that the man is back?
01:12:17
Speaker
Leaving Lamont, the Rebecca Dubrovich story? Or sleeping with the devil?
01:12:26
Speaker
Greg? Greg? the The second one, the really long one with the subtitle. Leaving Lamont, the Rebecca Dubrovich story? That's the one.
01:12:38
Speaker
No, I'm sorry. It wasn't Leaving Lamont, to the Rebecca Dubrovich story. Molly, can you steal? I'm going guess the one with the devil. Sleeping with the devil?
01:12:48
Speaker
Yeah. Bing again! That's two points for Molly. Was was that movie, was that a real movie or did you make up that name for the leaving Lamont or whatever?
01:13:01
Speaker
i mean I saw that her character was called Rebecca Dubrovich and I saw that she had some other titles that were the but something something story. Yeah, yeah. So I was like, yeah, okay, let's go that.
01:13:13
Speaker
Yeah, that was going to be my first guess. Yeah, yeah, Greg leapt on that grenade. Question number three. A slacker surf instructor who's on and off the wagon gets his life together when he falls for a beautiful but troubled woman he meets in Alcoholics Anonymous.
01:13:31
Speaker
That's not a good idea. No. Is that undateable John? How about that drink or booze hounds? Wow.
01:13:43
Speaker
Molly? I'm guessing booze hounds. oh Nope. I'm sorry, Greg. Can you steal? How about that drink or whatever that the second one? ah No, that was undateable John.
01:13:57
Speaker
Okay. that That is a bad title. It sure is. Yeah. Really bad. Question number four. After chomping through the fish population, thousands of starved lamp rays begin attacking the citizens of a sleepy lake town.
01:14:15
Speaker
Like they do. Yeah. yeah Is this Blood Lake Attack of the Killer Lamp Rays on Bloody Pond or Maws?
01:14:28
Speaker
Can you? Oh, Greg. Greg? Maws.
01:14:36
Speaker
It had to be done. The grenade was right there and I just said, is no one going to jump on it? Come on. Yeah. I was really proud when I thought of Maus.
01:14:49
Speaker
Molly, can you steal? I remember the first one. Bloody Lake, Attack of the Killer Lamprage. Yeah, yeah. Bang! Oh, wow. and You did very well.
01:15:00
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I was also really proud of On Bloody Pond, just to be clear. That was my first choice until it until I understood what you were doing with Maus.
01:15:12
Speaker
Question number five. A radio talk show inherits her grandfather's pumpkin farm. Now to pay off the mortgage and keep the farm, she hopes to win the giant pumpkin growing contest.
01:15:27
Speaker
Okay. Is that pumpkin love growing the big one or a pumpkin for Christmas? Molly.
01:15:40
Speaker
Molly. I kind of want to do a pumpkin for Christmas. I don't think it's right, but I really like it. It's not right, unfortunately. yeah But it is pretty much, it substitutes a pumpkin for Christmas in its plot. What was the what was the the second one? it was Growing the big one? Yeah, growing the big one.
01:16:03
Speaker
bing Wow, I didn't think that was going to be real. Yeah. and She's in a pumpkin movie called Growing the Big One. Question number six.
01:16:17
Speaker
A young woman enrolls at an all-girls college in New England to investigate her sister's suicide and is slowly lured into a witchcraft club by a quartet of students.
01:16:30
Speaker
Is that the art? Yes. Witch Club or Satan's Schools for Girls? Molly. Molly?
01:16:41
Speaker
The Art.
01:16:45
Speaker
Now I was trying to make like a knockoff of the craft. That's what I thought they were doing. what was really got me there What were the two again? What are my options here? Witch Club or Satan's School for Girls? It's really a shame the two worst are the ones that are left. We'll do Satan's School for Girls.
01:17:02
Speaker
Bang! Correct.
01:17:07
Speaker
It's all right. There's plenty of game left to play. It's currently two to three in favor of Molly. Question number seven. A young woman and her husband try to spice up their flagging marriage with some kinky bondage games.
01:17:21
Speaker
Meanwhile, her sister, who is a cop, is hot on the trail of a serial killer with a penchant for blindfolds and handcuffs. Coincidence? Is this Unbound?
01:17:36
Speaker
blindfold acts of obsession or fit to be tied molly the second one the second one blindfold acts of obsession yes bang yes correct yeah i because i think i have heard that i've heard that title before it's pretty memorable yeah question number eight
01:18:03
Speaker
Police sketch artist Sarah is savagely attacked by a sadist named Theodore Gray. Ten years later, Gray is released from prison with one thought on his mind.
01:18:14
Speaker
Revenge!
01:18:17
Speaker
i't know what he's taking revenge for. he Yeah. but But, you know, who can get in the mind of Theodore Gray? He's so twisted. It's true. Is this art imitates life?
01:18:30
Speaker
Sketchy? Or the rendering? Greg. Greg? The rendering. Bang! Correct.
01:18:44
Speaker
All right, it's all down to this. Question number nine. A psychologist who specializes in research about twins is haunted by her mother's ghost.
01:18:56
Speaker
Hmm. Is that Almost Dead, Forgive, Don't Forget, or ah Mother's Ghost, The Catherine Rorschach Story?
01:19:10
Speaker
Hmm. Greg. Greg? Forgive, Don't Forget.
01:19:16
Speaker
Words I live by, so... no Fair enough. Molly, can you can you steal? I'm going to try to do the the third one, the the story of one.
01:19:27
Speaker
think A Mother's Ghost, the Catherine Rorschach story? Yes.
01:19:34
Speaker
I'm sorry. It was almost dead. Molly, you're the big winner this week. Congratulations. ah Good job. Love winning. Thank you. That's good because Greg is indifferent to it.
01:19:46
Speaker
I am. I'm very indifferent to it. This really worked out. Yeah. Uh-oh, it's the Batty Awards.
01:20:01
Speaker
Now you're messing with the Batty Awards. Now you're messing with the Batty Awards. Now you're messing with the Batty Awards. Now you're messing with the Batty Awards.
01:20:17
Speaker
Congratulations to all the nominees.
01:20:24
Speaker
That's right.
The Batty Awards: Recognizing Highlights
01:20:25
Speaker
Congratulations to the nominees. Congratulations to you, listener. You've made it to the Batty Awards. Good news. It's the final segment of the show. You can almost do something else.
01:20:38
Speaker
Greg, do you have a Betty award? I do. I'm going to give my, ah wait a minute, award to a line that I liked quite a lot. Okay. In the very beginning, when Helen Hunt is changing all of her clothes, Sarah Jessica Parker says, I was like, you are just crazy or whatever. And she's like, Helen Hunt says, i just know I must be horny, which is a funny line.
01:21:03
Speaker
But if you stop to think about it, what she says is, I just know i must be horny, which means she doesn't know if she's horny or not. And she's just like kind of guessing. I feel like that's my interpretation of this. I just know I must be horny. did That must be what this is.
01:21:21
Speaker
This is is horny, right? This is what when you're at age. you You don't have a name for it. Yeah. And that's what I realized. It's like, maybe she's never experienced horniness before. What I thought was just a funny throwaway line is actually maybe revealing something about her character. It's interesting, I thought.
01:21:37
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Great stuff. I'm going to give my Batty Award to, in the credits, this is a special thanks. They gave a special thanks to the Buttheads.
01:21:51
Speaker
I don't know who that is.
01:21:56
Speaker
It might, I don't know if it's just like generalized haters or if it's some specific like group of people that they're calling the buttheads or someone that calls themselves the buttheads. I really like this a lot.
01:22:08
Speaker
It's just special. Thanks to the buttheads. Uh, so you also get a batty award, buttheads. Congratulations. Molly, do you have a batty award?
01:22:21
Speaker
I do. um Mine is for... i don't have really a name for it. That's fine. I do want to highlight during the montage where they're passing out all of the photocopied and invitations to all of the various punks.
01:22:36
Speaker
There is ah person that steps out of a dressing room. have no idea. but they're handed they're handing the invitation and they make The most i insane, like, bird, dinosaur, like, ooh, ah, like, reaction. And that was, like, one of my favorite parts when I was a kid. And we would just, like, free will rewind that over and over again. And it, like, I saw it again today. And I was, like...
01:23:10
Speaker
this is this the the best choice I've ever seen made on film. And I just want to highlight that person. No, that's, that's a perfect batty award. That is the perfect thing to give batty award.
01:23:21
Speaker
One person who is in one shot of the film, who gives one amazing scream that has stuck with you your entire life is, think the definitive batty award.
01:23:32
Speaker
Oh yeah.
Gratitude to Molly and Nostalgia
01:23:33
Speaker
ah Molly, thank you so much for bringing us this movie. this very Oh, and I got to ask, Now that you're, you said your daughter's Jesus, four years old.
01:23:43
Speaker
Yes. Has she watched girls just want to have fun? No, she doesn't watch movies except for labyrinths, which she has seen about 80,000 times. Okay.
01:23:55
Speaker
Wow. Hopefully sooner or later, she'll be in the mood to mix it up. And would love to hear what she thought of girls just want to have fun. Yeah. I'll introduce it to her when she's probably like seven.
01:24:05
Speaker
night. Yeah, that seems better. But boy, what a blast. Oh, yeah. Thank you again so much. What a ray of sunshine this movie was. Thank you for having me. I'm glad that I got to to share that with y'all.
01:24:18
Speaker
Well, do you have anything to plug? do you have anything that you've got going on these days? I have nothing going on. I have my Blue Sky account, which is I Like Mints at ah Bisky whatever they have.
01:24:32
Speaker
Disgust Social. um And that's kind of it. I just hang out. there you know Molly's a quality follow, you guys. Always good to see Molly on the timeline. Always good to have Molly on the show.
01:24:44
Speaker
Molly, promise me that you'll come back. Oh, I would love to. I mentioned
Future Discussions and Show Engagement
01:24:49
Speaker
Ladybugs earlier, and I was like, I haven't seen Ladybugs in like 20 years. Yes, Ladybugs would be. And boy, it has that Ronnie Dangerfield connection. Two degrees of separation between those two. We get respect this time, though.
01:25:01
Speaker
Only one way to find out. That's right. It's true. Well, listeners, we won't keep you around too much longer, but promise me listeners that you'll come back next week when we're going to be joined by ah truly ah wonderful twosome. I was going to say gruesome twosome, except i'm they're wonderful and I'm excited.
01:25:19
Speaker
We're going to have Manolo Moreno coming back, bringing Melisande Osnes. I'm sure I'm fucking up that pronunciation. And ah they're going to be talking about Barbie as Rapunzel.
01:25:31
Speaker
I'm very curious about Barbie as Rapunzel. What's crazy is literally someone recommended that to me about a year and a half ago. She's like, I've seen every Barbie movie. You need to see Barbie as Rapunzel.
01:25:42
Speaker
I was just like, okay. I'm very excited to dig into this one. Yeah, this should be good time. Listeners, hit that follow button. Hit that subscribe so that you are locked in when this one's coming down the pike.
01:25:54
Speaker
And while you're there, give us that five stars. Molly, are you going to listen to this show when it comes out? I think I will, yes. When you do give us five stars, give yourself five stars. That's what I'm talking about.
01:26:08
Speaker
Listeners, it's that easy. Get on the five-star train and find us on Instagram and blue sky or shoot us an email at favorite bad movie pod at gmail.com. Molly reached out and asked us to come on the show.
01:26:21
Speaker
And I got to tell you, that is so much better for me than asking other people to come on. If you want to come on the show, shoot me that email.
01:26:32
Speaker
I would love to get it. ah And until next time, Be good. and Goodbye. Goodbye.
01:27:24
Speaker
I'll never get my feet this far. Oh baby, baby.