Now that the holidays are over, the winter doldrums are starting to set in..."Summer School" is the perfect 80's movie to brighten anyone's mood!
I remember this movie being shown on HBO all the time when I was a kid, but I didn't really get into it until I was in high school. IMO, this movie is right up there with "Breakfast Club" and "Can't Buy Me Love" but it seems to be lesser known. It really has all the ingredients of a perfect 80's teen movie. Teen pregnancy, a teacher/student romance (kind of), a smarmy villain, a foreign exchange student, and of course a happy ending. The soundtrack is amazing too...E.G. Daily anyone? Her song, "Mind over Matter" should have been a huge hit! Does anyone else share a love for this movie?
Posted by Earl Keese (Member # 7986) on :
I loved Dave and Chainsaw and their summer long double crush on Anna-Maria. Sure they were a B-squad Bill & Ted, but they made me laugh. Loved when they ran into the room with killer bunnies latched onto their faces!
Mark Harmon has always been one of the most underrated actors (great in The Presidio & The West Wing), and was perfect as Freddy Shoop! He definitely should try his hand at a few more comedies sometime down the road.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Love your "Heathers" tribute screen name! Have you really been registered since 2003 and this only your second posting? Wow
"Summer School" is so underrated. Great cast of characters that meshed well for some great moments. I've always been a Shawnee Smith and Ken Olandt fan, but Dean Cameron (Chainsaw) and Gary Riley (Dave) make this movie so enjoyable to watch for me.
I have "Mind Over Matter" on my iPod and listen to it quite often!
Posted by Shannon80sfan (Member # 8491) on :
i watch this the other night. i loved this movie. Chainsaw & Dave Made the movie!
Posted by Earl Keese (Member # 7986) on :
Completely forgot about "Mind Over Matter"...must find it now!
Posted by JAY LEE (Member # 6345) on :
Fell asleep to Summer School last night! Can't really sleep without the TV on, so I usually pop in a movie and doze off. Last night, the pick was Summer School!
Posted by Veronica Sawyer (Member # 2221) on :
Valley, yes I've been registered forever but have just got around to posting! I have the whole Summer School soundtrack on my Ipod, but "Mind over Matter" is definitely the best song. Don't you just love Courtney Thorne-Smith's little Valley Girl moment too? "I'm so sure!"
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Summer School is definitely a cool movie.
Here´s a thread dedicated to Elizabeth "E.G." Daily:
I still have the LP soundtrack to Summer School in my mom's attic. Great movie.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
JCWBob, is your mom's attic like the one in "The Goonies" or what? Isn't your "RAD" LP in that treasure chest too?
Posted by 80'sRocked (Member # 6979) on :
Awesome movie indeed! Bought it recently on dvd myself and gave it a watch for the hundredth time....never gets old.
Posted by JCWBobC (Member # 2525) on :
I used to hit the Tower records in NYC late on Saturday nights and buy all the soundtracks they had in the clearance bin (I used to buy all the movie novelization books back then as well). I'll have to pull them all out when I get back from Disney World and make a list. I definately have Summer School, Rad, Better Off Dead, and Labyrinth because I used to copy them to cassette and listen to them in my car.
I just checked a couple that I had taken out earlier this year to sell on Ebay but never did.
The Warriors Return of the Living Dead (picture disc with Linnea Quigley naked on one side.) Marx Brothers The Cocoanuts-Not an 80's movie but still cool to have. Bugsy Malone The Omen Meatballs The WWF Wrestling Album Wrestling Rocks Charlotte's Web (picture disc)
I also have some great movie memoribilia from the 80's that i'll have to make a list of and take some pictures to post. Bob
Posted by logan5 (Member # 1467) on :
'Summer School' is definitely one of the 'B' classics of the 80's. It came out during the great 80's teen movie saturation period. I recall watching it and being pleasantly surprised (there was a lot of dreck at the time). It struck that golden balance by creating a movie where there are somewhat cliched characters who never really descend into caricature.
Posted by JCWBobC (Member # 2525) on :
Every night I go to my mom's to help put my grandmother to bed so I decided to check out my old room and grab something i've been meaning to bring to my house for awhile.
I got this back in the 80's when I worked in my first video store. It's a cloth hanging of Back to the Future with movie buttons all over it that I got when the movies were announced.
The movie buttons are:
ET Batman Batman Mask of the Phantasm Back to the Future 2 Tales From the Crypt Demon Knight Land Before Time Dirty Dancing In the Mouth of Madness The Mangler Tank Girl-2 different buttons Star Trek 20th Anniversary 1966-1986 D*ick Tracy Voodoo Big Trouble Say Yes Dark Half Gargoyles The Movie Monster Squad Little Shop of Horrors Assassination Unbearable Lightness of Being From Beyond Critters Troll Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Let's Get Harry Ishtar Pinoccio Rescuers Down Under Brainscan Wolf
Bob
[ 30. December 2009, 20:52: Message edited by: JCWBobC ]
Posted by LoverswithCassie (Member # 7794) on :
You can watch "Summer School" on YouTube if any of you are interested. Javilare has the whole film posted on there.
Posted by WolfmansGotNards (Member # 5910) on :
This past summer I was pretty surprised to find Summer School: Life's A Beach Edition on a $3 display at walmart... needless to say I immediately grabbed it and ran to the self checkout
Awesome flick and $3 WELL spent!
Posted by Veronica Sawyer (Member # 2221) on :
the Life's a Beach edition rocks!!! Hopefully that one won't go out of print like the Valley Girl Special Edition did.
Posted by 1badgmc (Member # 8501) on :
The wife and I just watched this on DVD last night. After all these years, this movie never gets old.
Posted by JCWBobC (Member # 2525) on :
I decided to look up what the Summer School soundtrack CD was selling for and couldn't believe it sells for $199 on Amazon and around $50 on Ebay.
Another one that sells for a surprising amount is the Back to the Beach soundtrack.
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
Yeah, this one can be pricey. Are you buying or selling, JCWBobC? It is a fantastic soundtrack.
Posted by cindymancini (Member # 679) on :
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Ice breaker...had to be done !!!!
I love this movie...it's on right now in my living room, no lie!!
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
quote:Originally posted by cindymancini: it's on right now in my living room, no lie!!
What? Cool! What part are you at?
Posted by cindymancini (Member # 679) on :
They're in class and the song "Mind Over Matter" by E.G. Daily is playing...and Rhonda is going into labor!
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
oh man! I love Mind Over Matter. "save the umbilical chord...and the afterbirth if it's convenient" hahaha Posted by JCWBobC (Member # 2525) on :
I own the Summer School CD and Laserdisc so I was going to put them up on Ebay. I figured I would check completed listings to get an idea of what to start it at and couldn't believe their was only 1 up recently and it sold for $48. Then I checked Amazon and their is only 1 priced at $200.
Right now their are none on Ebay so mine is going up on Sunday. I'll also be putting some other rare CD soundtracks like Back to the Beach, More Music from Valley Girl, Stealing Home, Midnight Run, and more. Anyone interested can PM me for a full list.
Bob
Posted by Pyromantic (Member # 7658) on :
got the DVD awhile ago..though i still have the VHS that;s in goos working condition.
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
This will always be one of my favorites! anytime of year....I may just watch it soon too Loved Harmon and his students. Loved all of it......The horror scene always comes to mind. The sunglasses........I use that trick now to get free stuff, all from this movie!
Posted by xchazx (Member # 7158) on :
this was one of my favorite movies from the 80's. my friends and i watched all of mark harmons 80's movies.
i remember watching back to back this movie and side out on hbo. those were some good days.
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
Can I say how much I love Denise!! Her wise cracking and her outfits, facial expressions.
I dance and sing to Mind Over Matter everytime
Bob!!!!!!!!
Totally one of my favorites everytime I watch it......I need to boot a movie of my top 20 and put this one in there.
Posted by kevdugp73 (Member # 5978) on :
Wow...for a minute there I thought I clicked into the Grease 2 link and Muffy was like...."top 20"....and I was like "OMG Muffy". Then....realized it was Summer School....all makes sense now! Seen Summer School for the first time only recently.....loved it.
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
"wondermutt! look, i found bob!" ..(and mark harmon's mouth wasn't moving when this was said ha!)
denise is cool..and pretty.
"i'm telling you, you gotta try these poptarts!"
mind over matter is great, and i also like danny elfman's tune at the beginning and end....awesome.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
What I've found out that it is quite cool to watch a movie such as "Summer School" with a diverse group of friends ..
The reason is the fact it draws out all the different aspects that make this film a classic..
One guy seemed to mainly concentrate on the beach scenes almost to the point of asking to analyzing the scenes in slo-mo while at the same time keeping enough concentration to discuss why the McConaughey and Zellweger "The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was somehow the best because of the craziness of McConaughey.
While another individual seemed rather emotional about how she disliked Pam's rudeness because Shoop brought an unannounced guest to dinner and then felt horrible for Pam two minutes later when Freddy rejects her underage advances. Maybe it was because she was conflicted about whether or not to borrow shirtless Shoop's wicked headset and rollerskates while he was in jail. Oh.. and I was kind of shocked when she admitted that she'd never seen "Once Bitten". Really?.. Hands Off
Yet another person took the approach of throwing back a few brews.. dancing like Willard from "Footloose".. then later inviting everyone to his Miami Vice beach pad to actually watch "Summer School" in the sand next time.
But let's not forget how this one girl got all excited about the new sport of Beach Volleybowl to the point of complaining about all the popcorn stuck in her teeth. I was personally excited to hear that she still had her teeth .. so those rumors that have been circulating around are apparently false everyone.
But I think I was spending too much time paying attention to this one savy individual pointing out all the fashion accessories throughout the movie including a certain set of earrings I wanna see. Oh.. and somehow this cute girl with the "Life's an Endless Summer at Shoop's beach house" t-shirt on, admitted that 75 really won't matter. She told me it's Mark Harmon, do the math!
The only disappointment of the night was that one of my friends left early because she was expecting to watch "Revenge of the Nerds" .. so instead she decided to go the "pretend" route and watched "Revenge of the Nerds" as she zonked out from exhaustion. Not the movie.. apparently it was us chatting.
In the end, I think we all agreed that "Summer School" was a fun flick and Denise was a major factor despite the fact none of us are interested in riding with her to school anytime soon. There were also questions about how Mr. Shoop ever graduated college because it appeared he spent most of his college years at concerts such as The Rolling Stones and The Boss.
And the tribute to original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was just wicked cool.
My fav part of the night was when everyone started singing and dancing to the E.G. Daily "Mind Over Matter" montage.. but unfortunately we had to stop early when one of the guys went into contractions with Shawnee Smith's character in the movie.
Friday night was a blast!
[ 23. March 2011, 04:54: Message edited by: Valley ]
Posted by The Pyromantic (Member # 7658) on :
nice post valley...it definitely was fun
Posted by The Good Package (Member # 9492) on :
for along time i thought chainsaw was the guy that started south park.
i wonder why chainsaw's career didnt take off
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Was there a reason you associated Dean Cameron with South Park?
Cameron was great in "Ski School", but my fav was "Miracle Beach"..
Also, he played Spicoli in the short-lived tv series based on the movie "Fast Times At Ridgemont High".
Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
quote:Also, he played Spicoli in the short-lived tv series based on the movie "Fast Times At Ridgemont High".
Always wanted to see that. Only ever got to see a couple of little clips. Shame.
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