ALERT: THE LEGACY OF FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH IN DOUBT!!!

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

I just had a brief albeit shocking conversation with my roommate. We were discussing the new movie Crash. I have not seen it but my roommate "took it in" a few weeks ago. When plied for a brief plot summation, he responds in his characteristically vague manner, "Uh, it's about several people and their different stories. And then, at the end, all their stories intersect."

Okay, so he was probably a *little* more articulate than that but you get the idea. (For your edification, he's actually a very bright and reasonably well-cultured guy who graduated from Vanderbilt, etc. yada yada yada). Anyway, trying to be funny, I reply, "Ah, so it's like Fast Times at Ridgemont High?" (Not really but it was kinda funny....for me anyway.)

He says, "I don't know. I've never seen it?" Cue the dramatic movie music....DUN DUN DUN DAH!!!!

WHAT THE FUCK, PEOPLE!?!?! I BESEECH YOU: WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Anyhoo, that's not what I said. I merely replied, cool-headedly: "I can't believe you give me shit about not having seen Tommy Boy but YOU'VE never seen Fast Times."

So, this is what he says. Shocked the socks right offa me. In fact, cue the dramatic movie music one more time....DUN DUN DUN DAH!!!!

"We'll I may not have seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High but I guarantee you Tommy Boy is better."

Jesus Fucking Christ!!! I haven't wept to hard since Simba died. And get this: HE'S NOT EVEN A REPUG! Sad news, folks. Sad news indeed.

The End.

[progmom]

1. SOTBP?

:hug:

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

3. Thank you.

:cry: I needed that, progmom. Tell me it's gonna be okay.

[progmom]

6. Thank God you were there to intervene.

You can make a difference in this poor misguided soul's life. :hug:

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

8. It's a moral imperative.

Something must be done.

[zigster]

23. Do it.....

Strap your friend to a chair, tape his eyelids open, and make him watch Fast Times.....

He'll thank you later.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

30. I would...

but I think he's READING. :sarcasm:

Hey, welcome to DU, zigster! :hi:

[Maddy McCall]

2. Sad, sad, sad.

I taped the holes on Tommy Boy and recorded over it.

Fast Times is the best teen movie ever. Long live Jeff Spicoli! :headbang:

[Merlot]

5. Tommy Boy? never heard of it...

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

7. That's what I'm screamin'!

I mean, how do you go thru life not knowing that character. A full third of my fellow students in high school fit the "Jeff Spicolli" stereotype to a T (tee? Tea?)! Life is so much richer when one has experienced Spicolli.

Plus, it seriously IS one of many Sean Penn performances, IMHO.

[tjdee]

4. I've never seen it either....I did see the Breakfast Club though!

And Ferris Bueller....and stuff...

I do know that Sean Penn has shoulder length hair in it and he's kind of a Bill/Ted character...

I feel funny now...should I rent it right now?!

[madrchsod]

9. rent it today

one of the best teen movies of all times, hell maybe the best

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

10. It's definitely worth watching.

Probably better with a group of like-minded friends though. It helps if you're...like....12 when you first see it though. Any chance of that?

[sakabatou]

11. Sadly...

I have yet to see it too. Sorry.

[democracyindanger]

12. My dad's a TV repairman

He's got an awesome set of tools.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

25. "You can't fix this car Spicolli!"

"I can FIX it!"

[jobycom]

13. If you've never seen Tommy Boy, stop everything you are doing, RUSH

to your nearest video store, and find, oh, just anything else to watch, and you've seen a movie as good as Tommy Boy. I mean, I liked it, but it's not Fast Times.

Condolensces, pal. We all have friends who challenge our tolerance from time to time. You are holding up well, under the circumstances.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

26. Thank you for the kind words.

Sigh....it's been tough.

;)

[nine23]

14. Phoebe Cates. 'Nuff said.

Tommy fucking Boy? Your poor, poor, sad, misguided, lost friend...now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna have to find a way of "relieving myself" of this Phoebe Cates imagery now burned into my brain...

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

27. I know the scene well.

:rofl:

[tedoll78]

15. Funny you bring it up..

The Alamo Drafthouse Theatre in Downtown Austin had a screening of Fast Times last night. The pizza guy from Mr Hand's class was there as a special guest, and we had all-you-can-eat cheese & sausage pizza. Good times.. :)

[Zomby Woof]

16. Fast Times is at least loosely based on fact

It was based on Cameron Crowe's undercover observations at a Beverly Hills high school in 1978-79... and he wrote a book about it which became the movie.

He was so youthful looking, that even at 20, he could pass for one of the students... he wrote it with the cooperation of the principal.

[RPM]

17. Actually, Fast Times sucked

JVS pointed that out to me.

At first, I didnt want to believe.

Over time, I have come to realize that it is a virutally random sequence of events with no coherent plot or character development so that the writers could affect a couple of sight gags and a dubious (if existing) social message.

Judged against other contemporaries (Breakfast Club, Better off Dead, 16 Candles, or Cant Buy Me Love) it totally fucking blows.

I hate Teen Wolf, but it still blows Fast Times away.

Sorry you had to hear it this way, and from me....

[JVS]

19. LOL

[ET Awful]

20. You do realize that your description, i.e.:

"Over time, I have come to realize that it is a virutally random sequence of events with no coherent plot or character development . . . and a dubious (if existing) social message."

Defines high school perfectly right? :evilgrin:

[RPM]

24. yes - it defines high school

but it dont make a friggin movie!

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

28. Well, at least you've SEEN it...

That's a start. I think it's brilliant when judged on a certain scale. I still think I'd put it above all but the John Hughes movies on your list. Oh well. To each his own.

[JVS]

18. The sad fact is that Fast Times is not as good a movie as most remember it

I discovered this when I gave it to my brother for Christmas. We watched it a few times and said "This sucks, put in Lebowski"

[ET Awful]

21. I'd be more likely to put in Dazed and Confused :) n/t

[ThoughtCriminal]

22. Did I do something wrong Mr. Hand?

Ray Walston's best roll since "Damn Yankees".

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

29. My fav. quote from that movie...

is in Spicolli's surf dream sequence when the interviewer says, "You know, a lot of people thought that Mark "Cutback" Davis or Bob "Jungle Death" Gerard would take the honors this year.

Of course, the next line is the one everyone remembers, "Those guys are fags!" I'm really more a fan of the surfer names. How come no one calls me Paul "Jungle Death" (Enter Last Name Here)?

Oh well, one can dream...