Movies that Define the Decade

[Chux]

Go to work, fellas.

[Scourge]

What decade? Any decade?

[Chux]

Yeah, they were talking about Can't Hardly Wait defining the 90's. etc.

[Scourge]

I kind of agree with Can't Hardly Wait. But there was another movie that probably a lot of people never watched. Richard Linklater's Suburbia, which also takes place all in one night and is pitch perfect at capturing the 90's. I also think Clueless should be mentioned.

I have to disagree with Fast Times being more like American Pie than Superbad. Fast Times, with the exception of Spicoli, is filled with naturalisitic performances and, eventhough it's a comedy, treats a lot of its subject matter seriously. There's a lot less farce in Fast Times than American Pie. American Pie is more like a parody of the teen experience. Superbad had mostly naturalistic performances in farcical scenarios.

I'd be hardpressed to pick one movie that defined the 80's. Things were so different in the beginning of the decade than toward the end.

I'm guessing by "defined", any movie in question should be popular, right?

[MechDeus]

Quest for Fire.

[dave is ok]

Tango and Cash

Point Break

[Port]

I'm go on about Can't Hardly Wait then.

In the same way Breakfast Club had the stereotypes, so does Can't Hardly Wait and it mixes them up in its own way and in a way for the 90s. For being in your teens for the 90s, you ran into every one of these archtypes and in the same way that Breakfast Club broke them down, CHW does the same.

Preston: Your average guy.
Amanda: The cheerleading queen. (Molly Ringwald in BC)
Mike: The jock. (Emilio Estevez in BC)
William: The nerd (Anthony Michael Hall in BC)
Denise: The emo/alternate girl (Ally Sheedy in BC)
Kenny: The 'rebel' modernized for the 90s: the wigger (Judd Nelson in BC)

Of the main characters, we see the same wall breaking down akin to BC. It's not the same exact kind as BC but it is generally the same. BC was more of a 'So that's who that person is' deal while CHW is more of a 'You are not your stereotype' kind of deal. CHW is definitely more topical than BC, but CHW expands on it by adding more characters and the addition of Preston - who becomes the average person that was absent from BC.

Preston: The average guy ends up with the girl who wants to be average.
Amanda: The cheerleading queen distances herself from the stereotype she was.
Mike: The jock is humbled into the nerd.
William: The nerd is popularized into the jock.
Denise: The emo/alternate girl sheds her image with Kenny.
Kenny: The wigger sheds his image with Denise.

All this is going on while providing comedy from even more stereotypes that you can recognize: the foreign exchange student, the peppy school spirit girl, that guy trapped in the past, the wiggers, the nerds, the jocks, the cheerleaders, the bitter unpopular girl, even the girl whose house it is as she progressively keeps losing her mind as the party gets worse, all in the modern setting of your average drunken HS house party.

I think the allusions to Breakfast Club and all that they crammed into the movie makes it the defining movie for the decade.

[Mr-K]

Alright, I listed the movies that I think define each era pretty well in the Superbad thread, but I'll give it another go.

Late 50s/Early 60s - American Graffititi
Late 60s - ???? Anyone know? I can't think of anything besides...Something faggy like Hair.
1970s - Dazed and Confused
1980s - 16 Candles
1990s - Can't Hardly Wait
2000s - Superbad (So far, at least)

All of these movies take place in one day, they have their wide range of stereotypes, they all feature the music of the time (Save Superbad, but more on that later), and they're all funny/heart warming/nostalgic.

American Graffiti really set the mold for this type of movie as far as I know. Way to go Lucas, and Dazed, 16 Candles, and Can't Hardly wait all fit that mold really well. Superbad makes some departures from it though. There aren't as many fleshed out characters, the music isn't contemporary (save for some things, I remember them playing 'House of Jealous Lovers' during the adult party), and I don't really think it's... quite 'this decade' enough. It's a bit hard to explain because we are still so heavily entrenched in this decade. I'm sure it will shine through much much more in 10 years, but as of now it just seems, well, normal. Which I guess is a good indication that it captured things correctly. Time will tell.

But I'm pretty dead set on my other selections. All in 24 hours, all have many, many characters, and they're funny.

This would make a pretty interesting paper, or at least a film marathon.

[Dolemite]

Escape From New York is SO 80's.

[Thief Silver]

March of the Penguins, 2000-2010