Foxcatcher

I feel as though the latest run of biopic films has culminated with this film. And although Foxcatcher is a biopic that chronicles the relationship between Olympic wrestler Mark Shultz and billionaire industrialist John du Pont, I feel it also is a snapshot into the wrestling world of the late 1980s.

Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) is trying to make ends meet speaking at schools across America, but still lives in the shadow of his older brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo). One day, Mark gets a phone call from the estate of John du Pont (Steve Carrell), the heir to the du Pont family fortune, to come and discuss leading a wrestling team that John wants to set up. Mark agrees and is hoping to win gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. As time progresses, du Pont's behaviour starts to display signs of madness.

This film is a marvel of direction. Bennett Miller knows how to use his actors properly and is amazing at making beautiful and evocative shots. Many times throughout the film when there is great stress happening on screen, the sound drops away to emphasise the powerful images that are being presented to us, a technique which I have always loved.

Like American Sniper, Foxcatcher is a patriotic film. This patriotism, however, is laced with a certain cynicism, with du Pont manipulating other people's sense of nationalism to his own ends. The film also gives a more detailed look into competitive wrestling than I have witnessed before. Since I only learn about the world through movies, my only real exposure had been through scenes in The World According to Garp or Born On the Fourth of July, but here I was exposed to the raw physicality of the sport. There is a jaw dropping scene at the beginning of the film where Tatum and Ruffalo are training together and you can sense the unspoken power struggle between the two. 

This film has some truly transformative performances. Channing Tatum's Mark Schultz isn't the brightest human around and Tatum somehow makes the guy endearing, despite the fact that the character can be slightly one-dimensional at times. Carrell is engaging as du Pont and the movie really shows how charming he was. I was a bit disappointed that Miller didn't make it as clear that he was a paranoid schizophrenic, but Carrell does portray the creepiness to his character well. Mark Ruffalo gives probably my favourite performance of the whole movie as Dave and he really does show how versatile an actor he is here.

Overall, Foxcatcher is a superb movie that despite having some minor problems, I felt that Vanessa Redgrave and Sienna Miller's characters could have been used and explored more and the ending is a tiny bit historically inaccurate, but that's okay given the run time of the film, it is definitely a movie people should watch.

John Hughes Month: Vacation (1983)

After Animal House was released in 1978 (and I promise to review that one of these days because it is hands down the funniest movie ever), there were a bunch of raunchy comedies that came out in the early-1980s. These comedies were influenced a lot by the (just new) sketch show Saturday Night Live. These films included Caddyshack (1980), Stripes (1981) and Porky's (1982) and starred actors like Bill Murray, John Candy and Chevy Chase.

Vacation (or to use it's full title National Lampoon's Vacation) is written by Hughes and based on a story he wrote about his own family's ill-fated road trip to Disneyland. Chevy Chase plays his most memorable role ever; family man Clark Griswold (changed to Griswald in the sequels) who just wants to please his family. This time around he has planned to take them all to Walley World in California.

Hilarious gags and mishaps dog them all the way, including tying a dog to the bumper on the highway, the death of Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and getting stuck in downtown St Louis, as well as many, many more, like that creepy incest joke.

In addition to Chevy Chase's wide eyed Clark, Beverly D'Angelo plays his long suffering wife Ellen and his two kids Rusty and Audrey are played by Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barron. The two other hilarious performances come from Randy Quaid's idiot character Cousin Eddie, who is the biggest redneck ever, and John Candy's ultra-officious Walley World security guard. There are also two great cameos from model Christie Brinkley and future funny man Eugene Levy.

Verdict: Not a traditional John Hughes movie as such, but the more adult oriented vision is fantastic, especially with Harold Ramis' superb direction.

John Hughes Movie: Weird Science (1985)

Weird Science is definitely one of the weirder (pardon the direct reference to the title) creations of John Hughes. It is packed full of ridiculous scenarios that make you wonder just how he came up with them, whilst at the same time you're laughing your head-off at the often corny jokes that bring out your inner teenager, whether you want to or not!

After failing consistently to get the attention of the ladies and being bullied, two high-school nerds, Gary Wallace (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt Donnelly (Ilan Mitchell-Smith), decide to make a virtual woman on Wyatt's computer, which they can ask questions, use to test pick-up lines etc. But things get out of hand when their virtual woman (Kelly LeBrock) comes to life. Lisa, as they call her, is not just a beautiful bomb-shell that is available to fulfil their sexual desires, but is highly intelligent and has superhuman abilities, both of which she uses to attempt to improve both Gary and Wyatt's lives.

This is, like most of John Hughes's movies, clearly aimed at teenagers but that makes it all the more hilarious and enjoyable. This scene of Lisa's creation, for instance is beautifully outrageous. It'll remind you of all the crazy fantasies that you believed were possible as a kid, bringing things to life with the touch of a button.  

The two bullies, Max (Robert Rusler) and Ian (A young Robert Downey Jr.) make great caricatures, and Bill Paxton plays Wyatt's idiotic, aggressive older brother Chet, who gets what's coming to him in the end, I promise. This is also a great performance from Hall, who portrays the ambitious yet awkward Gary perfectly.

It may not be as character driven as some of Hughes's other films but the events that these guys have to deal with prove very entertaining and there's plenty of fun, outdated special effects and awesome 80s music to keep you totally fixated.

If you saw this when you were growing up, you'll undoubtedly have fond memories of it, and if you're just getting around to watching it now then you'll get plenty of laughs out of it.

John Hughes Movie: The Breakfast Club (1985)

When it came out in 1985, The Breakfast Club was extremely popular and relevant and watching it now, thirty years later, that relevancy is still there. It deals with themes of broken homes, stereotyping and teenage rebellion with such grace and subtlety that leaves you with a truly satisfying feeling after the film has ended.

This is more a character movie than a plot movie. Five students get given a detention on a Saturday and have to endure it together. They each come from a different stereotype that teenagers generally fall into; a nerd, a jock, a criminal, a princess and a basket case (who is just an introverted kid). 

Over the course of the day these kids eventually learn that they each have something in common, despite their socially appointed roles that they think are so important. This is still something that pervades teenage culture today. The kids in the movie discover that these stereotype boundaries don't actually exist, although at the end of the movie they come to the grim reality that despite the time they spent getting to know each other, come Monday they will neglect to recognise that they are just the same as each other.

The other major theme is the idea of rebellion against authority figures. Early on this comes John Bender (Judd Nelson) "the criminal" against principal John Vernon (Paul Gleason). At one point in the film Vernon speaks about his difficulty relating and dealing with the teenagers. The kids also have trouble with their parents. It is hinted that Allison (Ally Sheedy) "the basket case" has an abusive home life. Both Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) and Andrew (Emilio Estevez) have undue pressure from their parents. Bender and Claire's (Molly Ringwald), "the princess", home lives can be summed up in this clip.

If there's one thing that is consistent throughout Hughes' movies, it's the soundtracks. And this is a great one. Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" is a fantastic lead track in a list of songs that includes a lot of other 80's pop classics and themes from TV shows and other movies.

Verdict: Undeniably the best teen movie of all time that hasn't aged one bit.

John Hughes Movie: Sixteen Candles (1984)

This movie is the perfect introduction to the movies of John Hughes because it is probably his most relatable film. I think so anyway. It's also really funny and heartwarming.

The plot is quite simple and doesn't get too convoluted despite the fact that there are a lot of characters to keep up with. Sam (Molly Ringwald) wakes up on her sixteenth birthday to find that not one member of her large family has remembered. At school she pines for senior Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling) and is followed around by the The Geek (Anthony Michael Hall), a freshman who has the hots for her.

This is another one of those movies where the action takes place all in a short amount of time; it happens over two days. This normalises the movie and makes it more relatable yet again.

Sam sees a school dance as her opportunity to woo Jake, but little does she know, he too feels for her. This really taps into the feeling we all had (or still have) as teenagers, not knowing who liked us or not. This movie really shows that everyone is in the same boat, regardless if you're a nerd or a dork or one of the cool kids.

This movie has some pretty memorable characters, but none more than Long Duk Dong (Gedde Watanabe), a super racist Asian stereotype that was even criticised at the time of the film's release. But this character, nicknamed Donger, becomes sort of endearing and he is a teenage archetype: that nerdy loser who is popular for some reason.

Verdict: A great teen movie that everyone can watch. It doesn't matter if you're single or in a relationship, young or old, this movie has something for everyone. A great one to start our John Hughes month with.