Who wasn't in Fast Times At Ridgemont High

What the hell happened to the ticket dude? He was GREAT in that flick, and then, poof.

Oh, Phoebe.

I heard her talkin' with her friend when she thought nobody else was around.
She said she's got to be somebody's baby; she must be somebody's baby.
Cause when the cars and the signs and the street lights light up the town,
She's got to be somebody's baby;
She must be somebody's baby;
She's got to be somebody's baby.
She's so....
She's gonna be somebody's only light.
Gonna shine tonight.
Yeah, she's gonna be somebody's baby tonight.

I try to shut eyes, but I can't get her outta my sight.
I know I'm gonna know her, but I gotta get over my fright.
We'll, I'm just gonna walk up to her.
I'm gonna talk to her tonight.
Yeah, she's gonna be somebody's only light.
Gonna shine tonight.
Yeah, she's gonna be somebody's baby tonight.
Gonna shine tonight, make her mine tonight.

i like jackson browne's first four records.

*may actually have been in Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Was definately in FTARH. (oh yeah)

phoebe cates looks a lot like our felicity redwell! (also both have asian and eastern european ancestry!)

I can see that!

to wit:

http://www.hissandpop.com/celebrities/c/phoebecates/photos/phoebe-cates-002.jpg

Ha, nobody's called me by my full alias in years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rathbone

Is that character Damone's friend who has the crush on Jennifer Jason Leigh?

Yes, he is perhaps the protagonist of the film...

...

...

Kind of liked this but kind of surprised at how straight realist it is after all the hype. Def great performances by Penn and Reinhold.

I wasn't aware until just now that Lana Clarkson, who plays Mrs. Vargas (Vincent Schiavelli's wife, and responsible for my favourite visual joke of the film), was the woman Spector is in jail for murdering. (If I'd read this thread, I would have known.) Getting old: no one in the theatre except me was laughing when Schiavelli introduced her.

http://www.netwalk.com/~truegger/ftrh/lanaclarkson.jpg

It was all downhill for Sean Penn after Spicoli, no? ;-)
― helenfordsdale, Friday, 15 February 2002 01:00 (9 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yes and no. He gave a stirring speech at the Academy Awards in defense of Jude Law.

So is Linda's boyfriend real or not?

how does ilx feel about this i presumed it would be a slightly elevated porkys but it was not that

not a period piece cuz i saw it in '82

if only life were like the movies

http://imoviequotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2-Fast-Times-at-Ridgemont-High-quotes.jpg

Your mom

i don't remember that line

Porkys isnt even in the same universe as this movie.

The Last American Virgin is Ratner in a Porky's scenario.

Rewatched this last year, it's a good movie. Best thing about it is Jennifer Jason Leigh, one of the great performances of adolescence.

So is Linda's boyfriend real or not?
― jimmy falloff (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ)

I think so. She does seem genuinely distraught over the alleged break-up--her crying and the letter (or phone call, I forget) she relates to JJL would be a fairly ambitious ruse if it weren't true.

i think its pretty clear that he isnt

I can't find the clip online, would have to watch it again. I'll concede that you may be right, but I don't think there's anything in there that makes it "pretty clear." What would be the motivation for Phoebe Cates to do that?

I suspected that she might have been lying in order to appear sophisticated/experienced/desired until the scene where she was crying over the breakup. That seemed real to me.

any time asked for specific details shes uncomfortable and eg cant say how long he lasts in bed without trialling answer and awaiting the response, etc etc

I remember one of those lies now--that does cloud the issue. Tried to find some confirmation one way or the other online but couldn't.

Still seems odd that this teenage girl who could reel in exactly the fantasy figure she's made up without much effort (witness the mall-creep who meets up with Stacey) wouldn't just arrange for the real thing. Phoebe Cates wouldn't seem to have to fabricate appearing desirable.

recurring theme of cheap talk and nerves at the actual point of fulfillment surely?

which is where jjl's character is pretty standout not just in this movie but across most of the genre

I don't think it's an example of the "fake boyfriend" trope, but the "adolescent thinks they have mature adult relationship/partner but actually doesn't" trope. making shit up about how long he lasts in bed=they're mature sexual relationship is fictional, rather than he's fictional

the "adolescent thinks they have mature adult relationship/partner but actually doesn't" trope. making shit up about how long he lasts in bed=they're mature sexual relationship is fictional, rather than he's fictional

This was how I saw it.

Otm

if the gag was bf didn't actually exist, this genre of movie would clearly show that to be the case at some point.

That's more along the lines of what I was thinking--that Linda sees herself in this serious, epic romance, whereas he's about as serious as Stacey's shoe salesman (and that the idea of attending Linda's graduation is ludicrous, not to mention criminal).

if yr chasing it that hard then sure the movie doesnt disprove it

imo yr chasing it pretty hard tho

an adult viewer (and the adult screenwriter) knows from the beginning that their relationship is going to be shown to be a charade, because unlike a high schooler we know that college kids are 99.9% as immature as high schoolers. we never see the bf, never see how they actually are together, we only get Phoebe's take on it so as to save the "reveal" for the end.

Well, I don't think she was pretending to cry over the breakup so, at the least, she had to have deluded herself that she was involved with someone and wasn't just making the whole thing up to impress her friend. xp

self-styled "mature" high schooler shown to have just as immature relationship issues as all her peers is a teen sociology observation in line with the rest of the film's POV/ethos. self-styled "mature" high schooler is lying about even having a boyfriend doesn't conform to it.

if you see jjl character as the main one then i think pc's character exists to egg her on by vicarious experience, whether this is hollow by virtue of a shit relationship or a nonexistent one is moot but i disagree that yr interpretation of what the movies ethos is is a stronger basis for divination than the performance/script tbh

In the book Doug is Linda's fiancé who she takes to the Ridgemont High prom... but not before she is unfaithful to him with another character.

...and then in the epilogue she ends up breaking off the engagement, going to USC and shacking up with her Abnormal Psych professor.

the adult screenwriter

lol, Crowe was barely 20yoa at the time.

oh boy sleep that's where I'm a viking

fake lover=let's lol @ this character for pretending to be some sort of cassanova when they spend friday night at home playing role-playing games
fake mature romantic relationship=let's lol @ this character for thinking they were above the fray of the rest of their peers
which makes more sense as the "takedown" of Phoebe's character? as has been pointed out she most def could snag a college guy, that is not something she would have to create make-believe about. but she cannot escape being a teenager. that's the "gag".
re: genre...this is a teenage comedy. you tend not to have open-ended plot points in them which leave room for jamokes on the internet to debate what REALLY was going on. Director would point out with a flaming neon sign HEY Y'ALL HER BF DOESN'T EXIST, and that never happened.

Just take her, man.

Where'd you get that jacket?

Criterion!

https://www.criterion.com/films/30464-fast-times-at-ridgemont-high

Glad to see that Criterion is continuing to schedule their new release announcements just after I've bought a lower grade copy of the movie in question, hats off to them

Can't help thinking of this back-and-forth.

Olivier Assayas Poll

xpost Your choices help predict their future, for which we all thank you.

Somebody on Criterion Forum brought up that this edition will be Amy Heckerling's preferred version w/never before seen full-frontal Damone (which was removed at the time to get an R rating).

One of the cheerleaders is Bruce Springsteen's sister.

Sean Penn is now six, seven years younger than Ray Walston was:

https://miro.medium.com/max/700/1*fBnrsL9lBpdoWmn3_m_pqg.jpeg

Just looked at the clip Criterion puts up. "This is U.S. history--I see the globe right there."

Definitely one of those iconic films famous for being one thing (in this case, funny) but in reality being a lot grittier and more depressing than people remember it. See also: Saturday Night Fever, Porky's ...

I can't remember where I read it, and after I read it I couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed it before, but there are no parents in the movie, the kids are all on their own in their teenage world

Rewatched on big screen today. What struck me was how sweet it is. There's not an unlikeable character in the whole film. It's very bittersweet for me because I started high school in '82 and there's so much shock of recognition in the film. I remember the precise semester when suddenly every other dude was wearing checkerboard pattern Van's slip-ons because of Jeff Spicoli. I remember girls like Phoebe Cates' character who allegedly had a college-age boyfriend but no one ever saw him.

The background detail really floored me. Stupid things, like RC Cola cups.

Made me think 1982 was another planet altogether.

It's a great, great film. Damone has a couple of moments where you hate him, but I agree, even he patches things up with Ratner in his own way. I've noticed the last couple of years that Spicoli's checkerboard running shoes have made a comeback with intermediate students.

Wait, “Another Girl, Another Planet” was on the soundtrack? Oh, I see.

Yes, we see how and why Damone has his moment with Stacy but we also see that he palpably regrets it because he values his friendship with Ratner and his reputation as a straight shooter.

The three girls who look like Pat Benatar, LOL

What elevates this film is that is legitimately FUNNY while most teen sex comedies of the ‘80s are simply BONEHEADED

Funny and also more human and sweet like you said.

Thank you. Not to shit on contemporary filmmakers but I can’t imagine a film like this being made today, with no snarkiness or blatant malice in the script. We live in a zero sum world now.

You can't even portray abortion in a mainstream studio movie today.

It was a big jolt how casually the abortion topic was dealt with. The big dispute (which was resolved quickly) was about who would pay the $150 for it.

No parents in the movie either

Which is period accurate