One of the most iconic films to come out of the 1980’s was a teen angst film unlike any other, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. Not only was it a launching pad for mega super teen star Matthew Broderick, but it was yet another huge hit for teen auteur director John Hughes. If you thought the 1950’s were happy days just wait till you’ve seen a John Hughes film from the ‘80s. As a part of the Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF) the “Retro” perspective will include several iconic films from the 1980s.
Along with John Hughes’ best remembered film, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” screening Saturday, June 18th at 8:00PM, preteen angst will be well represented with Rob Reiner’s adolescent coming of age tale, “Stand By Me” on Sunday the 19th, also at 8:00PM. On a completely different theme, the German submarine film “Das Boot” will be screening Tuesday, June 21st at 7:20PM. A complete schedule of times and locations is available at the official festival website, LAFilmFest.com.
I was very fortunate to have been apart of the rampant audience for these films when they were initially released, and indeed I saw most of these films when they first came out. However, I some how missed out on a whole other kind of coming of age tale represented by John Singleton’s fledgling, yet brilliant film from 1991, “Boyz n the Hood” (screening Thursday, June 23rd). Most people my age can’t believe it, especially since I was in film school myself when fellow film school alumnus, Singleton made a tremendous impact with his very first film straight after graduating from USC. He was even nominated for an Academy Award as Best Director when he was just 23 years old. That’s a year younger than Orson Welles was when he received the same honor with “Citizen Kane”.
And I still haven’t seen the film yet. So you can imagine where I’ll be Thursday, June 23rd at 8:00PM. I can’t miss out on seeing this emblematic film of a whole generation for the first time on the big screen. It’s like a second chance to relive a time I should not have missed in the first place. Hopefully, I will be surrounded by others who are in the same situation. But undoubtedly there will be a slew of fans in attendance as well. I would be disappointed if there weren’t. So, come and join me at this year’s LAFF and catch some not so very old classic films worthy of some adoration and admiration of fans, both new and renewed.