The long nightmare is over as "Pump Up the Volume" comes to streaming.
February 10, 2022 10:13 PM Subscribe
Last year here, someone mentioned music rights likely have kept the (*cough*) seminal 1990 movie off the internet, something confirmed by Christian Slater in 2020. Out of nowhere, apparently with zero fanfare, HBO Max added it earlier this month. Now you can stop watching that standard-definition version from the Internet Archive (although, you know, doing it that way might be more thematically appropriate?)
Anyone watched it there yet? There's a ton of Twitter chatter but no one's year confirmed that all the music remains intact and nothing's been swapped out.
Anyone watched it there yet? There's a ton of Twitter chatter but no one's year confirmed that all the music remains intact and nothing's been swapped out.
I remember being quite fond of it at the time. Among other things, it was my introduction to Leonard Cohen.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 10:42 PM on February 10, 2022 [16 favorites]
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 10:42 PM on February 10, 2022 [16 favorites]
Still annoyed at the shirt removal scene.. classic faux-empowered male gaze shit.. but I did overall enjoy it at the time.
posted by latkes at 10:59 PM on February 10, 2022
posted by latkes at 10:59 PM on February 10, 2022
I owe my discovery of Leonard Cohen to this Movie, as Everybody Knows.
posted by CygnusXII at 11:58 PM on February 10, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by CygnusXII at 11:58 PM on February 10, 2022 [11 favorites]
I had a few friends at the time who were big into this movie. They told me I talked like Christian Slater, who I said was just talking like Jack Nicholson.
Little did they know I was trying to be cool like Christian Slater in Heathers.
Buncha Clowns. We're all still friends, though.
posted by lkc at 12:14 AM on February 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
Little did they know I was trying to be cool like Christian Slater in Heathers.
Buncha Clowns. We're all still friends, though.
posted by lkc at 12:14 AM on February 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
Still love this movie, it’s great! The very end voiceovers in the credits really get me…I always imagine being able to tell them how much they all won’t believe what’s ahead.
posted by iamkimiam at 12:27 AM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by iamkimiam at 12:27 AM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
Also, how great is it that the rebel English teacher in this is played by Ellen Greene, who is Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors!?
posted by iamkimiam at 12:30 AM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by iamkimiam at 12:30 AM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
Still annoyed at the shirt removal scene.. classic faux-empowered male gaze shit.. but I did overall enjoy it at the time.This is apparently cropped out in the 16:9 version? Cant speak for whats on HBO Max.
posted by dumbland at 2:34 AM on February 11, 2022
To be clear the scene and all its baggage is still there just any exposed female nipples fall outside the 16:9 frame.
posted by dumbland at 2:39 AM on February 11, 2022
posted by dumbland at 2:39 AM on February 11, 2022
Whatever. Americans are squeamish about sex. It's a moment when the two characters are revealing themselves to one another, in the dialogue and everything, for the past four scenes at least. There's much more shirtless dude time than anything else, and the dumb heterosexism of the parents is lampshading that kind of hurr hurr response.
This isn't some kind of film made of cinematic genius, but it's not gratuitous for characters who are shown to be struggling to be intimate with each other to be then shown to take their shirts off as resolution.
posted by eustatic at 4:09 AM on February 11, 2022 [13 favorites]
This isn't some kind of film made of cinematic genius, but it's not gratuitous for characters who are shown to be struggling to be intimate with each other to be then shown to take their shirts off as resolution.
posted by eustatic at 4:09 AM on February 11, 2022 [13 favorites]
I have seen this movie so many times, and replaced my vhs copy with a dvd years ago so I wouldn’t lose it (before streaming of course). I haven’t seen it in a long time, though, maybe fearful that I wouldn’t like it as well.
posted by acantha at 4:53 AM on February 11, 2022
posted by acantha at 4:53 AM on February 11, 2022
Between my adoration of this film and my slavish devotion to the "comedy" of Bill Hicks, it's no wonder I was such an insufferable asshole in my twenties.
posted by Optamystic at 5:19 AM on February 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Optamystic at 5:19 AM on February 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Well - between this, Wargames (1984), Sneakers (1992) and... Hackers (1995), I was well on my path to geekdom by my early 20's (and, uh... piracy...).
And yes, the soundtrack was the bomb - introduced me to Leonard Cohen as well - and I have been a lifelong fan ever since - actually it was my awakening to how important a good soundtrack could be.
posted by rozcakj at 5:23 AM on February 11, 2022 [9 favorites]
And yes, the soundtrack was the bomb - introduced me to Leonard Cohen as well - and I have been a lifelong fan ever since - actually it was my awakening to how important a good soundtrack could be.
posted by rozcakj at 5:23 AM on February 11, 2022 [9 favorites]
MetaFilter: To be clear the scene and all its baggage is still there
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:28 AM on February 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:28 AM on February 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
The "official" soundtrack had the Concrete Blonde version of 'Everybody Knows' can't imagine waht music rights kerfuffle was involved in this decision (cause if it's intentional its almost criminal).
Definitely a favorite of mine at the time. I was of course introduced to it in its french dub version, heh a lot the humor/world play didn't translate well, but the sentiment remained. I was always amazed at the outside lockers, this wouldn't work at all in other climates.
It's amazing that the big bad of the movie ends up being the principal who's cheating students of their education in an illegal scheme to fund the school and that upon discovery something actually happens. It would be a science fiction movie now. (maybe I've become too cynical)
posted by WaterAndPixels at 6:04 AM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
Definitely a favorite of mine at the time. I was of course introduced to it in its french dub version, heh a lot the humor/world play didn't translate well, but the sentiment remained. I was always amazed at the outside lockers, this wouldn't work at all in other climates.
It's amazing that the big bad of the movie ends up being the principal who's cheating students of their education in an illegal scheme to fund the school and that upon discovery something actually happens. It would be a science fiction movie now. (maybe I've become too cynical)
posted by WaterAndPixels at 6:04 AM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
I probably watched this movie over 100 times in high school (and more recently...). The soundtrack had a major influence on my taste in music and introduced me to the magic that was Chris Cornell's voice. Also, like many others here, Leonard Cohen.
After buying the soundtrack and discovering it did not include the Leonard Cohen version of Everybody Knows or Hi Dad I'm in Jail by Was (Not Was), my sister and I went to Rent-a-Disc and rented the albums that included both of those songs. The guy at the rental counter checked with us many times that we really wanted those, because it seemed like an odd choice for a pair of 13 year old girls.
posted by Kris10_b at 6:54 AM on February 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
After buying the soundtrack and discovering it did not include the Leonard Cohen version of Everybody Knows or Hi Dad I'm in Jail by Was (Not Was), my sister and I went to Rent-a-Disc and rented the albums that included both of those songs. The guy at the rental counter checked with us many times that we really wanted those, because it seemed like an odd choice for a pair of 13 year old girls.
posted by Kris10_b at 6:54 AM on February 11, 2022 [7 favorites]
Yeah, man I can't think of the last time I watched this, and watching it now I'm sort of annoyed that none (?!?!?) of the goddamn seminal rap ended up on the soundtrack. I mean, I knew the soundtrack was a goat rodeo because of the aforementioned concrete blonde version of everybody knows, but.. c'mon, some of the songs that ended up on the soundtrack were just background music during his broadcast and not stuff that was played loud and up front.
Sheesh.
And I mean, nothing against concrete blonde, they're fine, I've got the 12" dance cover of what's up, but they're not Leonard Cohen.
posted by Kyol at 7:08 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Sheesh.
And I mean, nothing against concrete blonde, they're fine, I've got the 12" dance cover of what's up, but they're not Leonard Cohen.
posted by Kyol at 7:08 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
I cannot think of a better "right movie, right time" in my life.. had I watched this a little later, the flaws might've detracted from all the elements that just mainlined directly to my brain at the time. Hindsight will ruin your youth if you are not careful, is my point.
Lots of mentions of Cohen here.. growing up in Canada, there are good odds you'd been hearing "So Long, Marianne" (etc) for years.. but when this kid heard the Pixies perform "Wave of Mutilation" (UK Surf version) on the VHS rental of Pump Up the Volume, I can say it's the first time I became absolutely obsessed with tracking down a specific song. We all have our own song, and it's that, for me.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:26 AM on February 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
Lots of mentions of Cohen here.. growing up in Canada, there are good odds you'd been hearing "So Long, Marianne" (etc) for years.. but when this kid heard the Pixies perform "Wave of Mutilation" (UK Surf version) on the VHS rental of Pump Up the Volume, I can say it's the first time I became absolutely obsessed with tracking down a specific song. We all have our own song, and it's that, for me.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:26 AM on February 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
The "official" soundtrack had the Concrete Blonde version of 'Everybody Knows' can't imagine what music rights kerfuffle was involved in this decision (cause if it's intentional its almost criminal).
Because that's what was played in the movie. Jump to time index 1:27:59. It's used for about 20 seconds so the viewer can hear Johnette wail everybody knowwwwwsss! and that's all.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:29 AM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
Because that's what was played in the movie. Jump to time index 1:27:59. It's used for about 20 seconds so the viewer can hear Johnette wail everybody knowwwwwsss! and that's all.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:29 AM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
I loved this movie when it came out and will be very curious to see how it does or doesn't hold up.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:33 AM on February 11, 2022
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:33 AM on February 11, 2022
Because that's what they played in the movie. Time index 1:27:59.
Oh I know they played it once at the end to no effect. It's still not the one I wanted, and I'd bet good money, nobody wanted that one when they bought the tape.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 7:35 AM on February 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Oh I know they played it once at the end to no effect. It's still not the one I wanted, and I'd bet good money, nobody wanted that one when they bought the tape.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 7:35 AM on February 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Because that's what was played in the movie. Jump to time index 1:27:59. It's used for about 20 seconds so you can hear Johnette wail everybody knowwwwwsss! and that's all.
And earlier, when Mark is talking about the suicide at 42:29, it's just the jangly guitars of the bridge but it's there, I think.
posted by Kyol at 7:35 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
And earlier, when Mark is talking about the suicide at 42:29, it's just the jangly guitars of the bridge but it's there, I think.
posted by Kyol at 7:35 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Whoah. TIL that people aren't into that concrete blonde cover, which is always top of mind when Mrs. Sauce and I have a "greatest cover song in history, go!" road trip conversation.
It's a great cover imo. Johnette is a beast.
posted by Sauce Trough at 7:38 AM on February 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
It's a great cover imo. Johnette is a beast.
posted by Sauce Trough at 7:38 AM on February 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
Ok this is wild, Usenet thread from 1992, where somebody is trying to identify who's the artist for the original version of the song, and then somebody chimes in with the fact it's from Leonard Cohen but they don't know which LP... that's all trivial to find now in google/wikipedia, you can even stream it from youtube or spotify... it's hard to remember sometimes how different the world was.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 7:39 AM on February 11, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by WaterAndPixels at 7:39 AM on February 11, 2022 [14 favorites]
Yeah, the Concrete Blonde cover is my favorite version of that song..,but then I’m a bit of a cretin who likes Tower of Song better than any actual Cohen album other than You Want it Darker. I bought the Still in Hollywood cassette because of Pump Up the Volume.
posted by acantha at 7:43 AM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by acantha at 7:43 AM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
And I mean, nothing against concrete blonde, they're fine, I've got the 12" dance cover of what's up, but they're not Leonard Cohen.
You're thinking of 4 Non-Blondes. Concrete Blonde is a very different entity. I happened to be standing next to Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde lead singer) the night that Leonard Cohen sent her long stemmed roses in appreciation of her cover of "Everybody Knows".
posted by Optamystic at 7:51 AM on February 11, 2022 [24 favorites]
You're thinking of 4 Non-Blondes. Concrete Blonde is a very different entity. I happened to be standing next to Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde lead singer) the night that Leonard Cohen sent her long stemmed roses in appreciation of her cover of "Everybody Knows".
posted by Optamystic at 7:51 AM on February 11, 2022 [24 favorites]
Ah you're right, it's credited to DJ Miko on the album, so I've forgotten the actual artist over time.
posted by Kyol at 7:53 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Kyol at 7:53 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh lord, Ensign Vorik (Alexander Enberg) is the dubber's buddy @ 55:10. I'd forgotten about that. And a very young Seth Green.
Does it hold up? I mean I think the general universal sense of teenage isolation and loneliness does? Even though the actual specifics might be pretty much completely unrecognizable to current teenagers.
posted by Kyol at 7:57 AM on February 11, 2022
Does it hold up? I mean I think the general universal sense of teenage isolation and loneliness does? Even though the actual specifics might be pretty much completely unrecognizable to current teenagers.
posted by Kyol at 7:57 AM on February 11, 2022
I've always found this movie to be really interesting, BUT I do not think it will "hold up" worth a damn now that it's out in the world again in 2022. This movie was all "pirate radio is the only way to express ourselves" and then well, the Internet, blogs, and social media are now all out and Hard Harry wouldn't be going to jail for doing any of that.
Even at the time it was pretty weird that (a) this family spent sooooooooo much money to hook this kid up with more or less a home radio station "to call his friends at home" (who presumably didn't have same), and (b) the parents were stoooooooooopid enough not to think, "Hey, some kid is running his own pirate radio show, OUR KID has the setup in the basement, HMMMMMMMMMMM." But adults were pretty fucking stupid in that movie anyway, so.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:06 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Even at the time it was pretty weird that (a) this family spent sooooooooo much money to hook this kid up with more or less a home radio station "to call his friends at home" (who presumably didn't have same), and (b) the parents were stoooooooooopid enough not to think, "Hey, some kid is running his own pirate radio show, OUR KID has the setup in the basement, HMMMMMMMMMMM." But adults were pretty fucking stupid in that movie anyway, so.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:06 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
"Welcome to Der Weinerschnitzel, may I take your order please?"
posted by steef at 8:08 AM on February 11, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by steef at 8:08 AM on February 11, 2022 [8 favorites]
But adults were pretty fucking stupid in that movie anyway, so.
Wasn't that an entire trope in 80-90s teen films? Ferris Bueller being the pinnacle of that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:09 AM on February 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
Wasn't that an entire trope in 80-90s teen films? Ferris Bueller being the pinnacle of that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:09 AM on February 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
Happy Harry Hard On is my patron saint of blogging. I haven't seen the movie in probably twenty years but everytime I watched it I would always want to make some thing afterwards. I can't say that about any other movie. Thumbs up.
posted by hoodrich at 8:11 AM on February 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by hoodrich at 8:11 AM on February 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
how many films of our youth "hold up" though, and what does "holding up" really entail?
if I think hard enough about most youth-targeted films I loved (as a youth) I am pretty sure I can find all kinds of ways to deflate any given absurdity or questionable choice.. maybe it's just because I re-watched BDG's Perfect PokeRap, but there's something beautiful about just letting the memory of your young self remain in love with the things you loved
posted by elkevelvet at 8:19 AM on February 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
if I think hard enough about most youth-targeted films I loved (as a youth) I am pretty sure I can find all kinds of ways to deflate any given absurdity or questionable choice.. maybe it's just because I re-watched BDG's Perfect PokeRap, but there's something beautiful about just letting the memory of your young self remain in love with the things you loved
posted by elkevelvet at 8:19 AM on February 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
also I am seeing so many of my terrible teenaged fashion choices in this film and I don't like it.
posted by Kyol at 8:35 AM on February 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Kyol at 8:35 AM on February 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
I liked this as a kid, but not as much as Gleaming the Cube. I've re-watched the latter fairly recently, and while the "punk skater kid cuts his hair, mostly cleans up his act" shit still irks me, I find it pretty interesting that the film has something to say (even if it's not particularly deep) about the Orange County Vietnamese community of the late '80s. It's not an element I'd expect from what would have otherwise been a pretty whitebread flick.
The line that's always stuck with me from Pump Up the Volume is Nora's "I'm not like that, except when I'm like that." It's tempting to write it off as an example of a particularly teenage attempt at profundity, but damn if it doesn't actually say a whole lot about human behavior.
posted by heteronym at 9:30 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
The line that's always stuck with me from Pump Up the Volume is Nora's "I'm not like that, except when I'm like that." It's tempting to write it off as an example of a particularly teenage attempt at profundity, but damn if it doesn't actually say a whole lot about human behavior.
posted by heteronym at 9:30 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Interesting to hear this film was, for a lot of people here, their introduction to Leonard Cohen. Might be worth mentioning in that case, the director of this film and Empire Records, was Quebecer Allan Moyle. If you've only seen Pump Up the Volume, check out Rubber Gun (which introduced me to another Montrealer, though less famous than Cohen, Lewis Furey). I think it is more interestingly subversive but like Pump Up the Volume no less of a slice of a specific place and time.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:43 AM on February 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:43 AM on February 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
I adored this movie with the fire of a thousand suns and I even bought the DVD a few years back because my VCR tape that I recorded off of HBO finally broke.
I can remember the feeling at the end, that we could actually possibly change some of the bullshit associated with being a teenager and feeling just so fucking lost. I remember swapping tapes and pirate radio stations that popped up all over and feeling like yeah, music can save us. And we for sure won't grow up like those asshole Boomers who believed the exact same thing.
For me, the film held up but caused heartbreak because my peers that loved this movie so much are some of the ones trying to ban books because they don't want their kids to learn that America was and is racist AF. Just like those that came before us, we wanted to change shit, but we ended up just being shit.
Nevermind me, I'll just be over here crying to Leonard Cohen, The Pixies, and Descendants.
posted by teleri025 at 9:59 AM on February 11, 2022 [9 favorites]
I can remember the feeling at the end, that we could actually possibly change some of the bullshit associated with being a teenager and feeling just so fucking lost. I remember swapping tapes and pirate radio stations that popped up all over and feeling like yeah, music can save us. And we for sure won't grow up like those asshole Boomers who believed the exact same thing.
For me, the film held up but caused heartbreak because my peers that loved this movie so much are some of the ones trying to ban books because they don't want their kids to learn that America was and is racist AF. Just like those that came before us, we wanted to change shit, but we ended up just being shit.
Nevermind me, I'll just be over here crying to Leonard Cohen, The Pixies, and Descendants.
posted by teleri025 at 9:59 AM on February 11, 2022 [9 favorites]
Can’t speak for anyone else but it still holds up for me.
posted by bixfrankonis at 10:03 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by bixfrankonis at 10:03 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
nothing against concrete blonde, they're fine, I've got the 12" dance cover of what's up
You can't see it, but this is what i look like right now.
TIL that people aren't into that concrete blonde cover, which is always top of mind when Mrs. Sauce and I have a "greatest cover song in history, go!" road trip conversation.
It is definitely one of the great covers of all time, but IMO, it's not even the best cover that Concrete Blonde ever did.
posted by MrBadExample at 10:36 AM on February 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
You can't see it, but this is what i look like right now.
TIL that people aren't into that concrete blonde cover, which is always top of mind when Mrs. Sauce and I have a "greatest cover song in history, go!" road trip conversation.
It is definitely one of the great covers of all time, but IMO, it's not even the best cover that Concrete Blonde ever did.
posted by MrBadExample at 10:36 AM on February 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
the night that Leonard Cohen sent her long stemmed roses in appreciation of her cover of "Everybody Knows".
can we all take a moment and appreciate this moment of Leonard Cohen-ness
posted by elkevelvet at 10:41 AM on February 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
can we all take a moment and appreciate this moment of Leonard Cohen-ness
posted by elkevelvet at 10:41 AM on February 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
I'm scared to watch this again because this and Heathers were such "core" movies to who I was/am. (I'm still a raving smartass I just try to be nicer about it now)
Also, definitely had a crush on Samantha Mathis.
I wonder what the "angry disaffected" teen movie is/will be for the current generation. What's in been for previous ones?
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:56 AM on February 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also, definitely had a crush on Samantha Mathis.
I wonder what the "angry disaffected" teen movie is/will be for the current generation. What's in been for previous ones?
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:56 AM on February 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Internet Archive version if anyone else is looking for it: https://archive.org/details/pump_up_the_volume_1990
posted by thefool at 11:01 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by thefool at 11:01 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
I wonder what the "angry disaffected" teen movie is/will be for the current generation.
this is a great question! I'm orbiting from a great distance away now, not sure I still have the capacity to recognize such a film anymore....
I think "Donnie Darko" is a decent point on the map, not sure what we'd stick on the 2010/11 spot and still less certain where we land in the 2020 range. Looking forward to the great examples to come, in this thread!
posted by elkevelvet at 11:20 AM on February 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
this is a great question! I'm orbiting from a great distance away now, not sure I still have the capacity to recognize such a film anymore....
I think "Donnie Darko" is a decent point on the map, not sure what we'd stick on the 2010/11 spot and still less certain where we land in the 2020 range. Looking forward to the great examples to come, in this thread!
posted by elkevelvet at 11:20 AM on February 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
I wonder if it’s somewhere between Eighth Grade and Promising Young Woman?
(Maybe I’m just obsessed with Bo Burnham?)
posted by iamkimiam at 11:55 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
(Maybe I’m just obsessed with Bo Burnham?)
posted by iamkimiam at 11:55 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
I love Eighth Grade.
posted by bixfrankonis at 2:19 PM on February 11, 2022
posted by bixfrankonis at 2:19 PM on February 11, 2022
Some where out there is a middle aged Twitch streamer wondering, "Where in the hell is my own Eat Me, Beat Me Lady?"
posted by hoodrich at 3:02 PM on February 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by hoodrich at 3:02 PM on February 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
"Welcome to Der Weinerschnitzel, may I take your order please?"
"Do you want Bill sperm with that?"
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 8:34 PM on February 11, 2022
"Do you want Bill sperm with that?"
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 8:34 PM on February 11, 2022
I kinda reject the notion that something has to hold up. If it was important to you then, it was important to you. End of story.
posted by panama joe at 11:34 PM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by panama joe at 11:34 PM on February 11, 2022 [4 favorites]
I'm not really sure what hold up means but my big fear that keeps me from revisiting some younger me beloved media is that it'll be so cringe worthy in whole or part that I feel bad for having ever liked it. I mean it shows personal growth but still kind of depressing.
posted by Mitheral at 6:02 AM on February 12, 2022
posted by Mitheral at 6:02 AM on February 12, 2022
I like to imagine that pirate radio is about to have a nostalgia rebirth, like vinyl, polaroids, and blogs (now we call them "newsletters").
posted by hydropsyche at 3:42 PM on February 12, 2022
posted by hydropsyche at 3:42 PM on February 12, 2022
> I wonder what the "angry disaffected" teen movie is/will be for the current generation.
I don’t think they have time for disaffection, given they know they’ll need four jobs to survive until the climate just gives up (or I guess, nuclear war). Ennui is pretty passé, I’m guessing.
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:05 PM on February 12, 2022
I don’t think they have time for disaffection, given they know they’ll need four jobs to survive until the climate just gives up (or I guess, nuclear war). Ennui is pretty passé, I’m guessing.
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:05 PM on February 12, 2022
I was already in college when it came out, but as a young college DJ, it was definitely a fave (not that I then turned into Happy Harry Hardon on the air over night, but I did relate at least somewhat to the subject matter). Caught it on Archive (though I have it on DVD somewhere) and, a few cringeworthy moments aside, it still mostly holds up (even if nowadays it seems more like a time capsule of a pre-blogging/YoutTube/podcast era).
Though one thing that a friend (who also liked the film) pointed out at the time was that HHH rarely (never?) let a song play all the way through without talking over it or cutting it off midway through (which we "real life" DJs might do once in a while, but not 24/7).
posted by gtrwolf at 11:31 PM on February 12, 2022
Though one thing that a friend (who also liked the film) pointed out at the time was that HHH rarely (never?) let a song play all the way through without talking over it or cutting it off midway through (which we "real life" DJs might do once in a while, but not 24/7).
posted by gtrwolf at 11:31 PM on February 12, 2022
I watched it a couple of weeks ago probably for the first time since 1993 or thereabouts -- my sister and I were both obsessed as teens but I hadn't really seen it since I was a teen.
"Holds up" is a weird framing; what I noticed is ... things about my own patterns and attractions and inclinations in all the years since then that I can definitely see having been imprinted from that. They're not great, they didn't necessarily serve me particularly well, if I'd been watching it with some specific friends I know exactly what they would have razzed me about.
And yet. That is what that moment was, that's how I came thru it.
(And I love the Concrete Blonde version!)
posted by epersonae at 4:57 PM on February 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
"Holds up" is a weird framing; what I noticed is ... things about my own patterns and attractions and inclinations in all the years since then that I can definitely see having been imprinted from that. They're not great, they didn't necessarily serve me particularly well, if I'd been watching it with some specific friends I know exactly what they would have razzed me about.
And yet. That is what that moment was, that's how I came thru it.
(And I love the Concrete Blonde version!)
posted by epersonae at 4:57 PM on February 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
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