Tag: Anthony Michael Hall

Retrospective: Forty Years since John Hughes held us all in detention with ‘The Breakfast Club’ By Jesse Striewski

A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal, each students at the same Illinois high school that couldn’t be from more opposite sides of the spectrum if they tried, forced to spend a Saturday in detention together for their own unique offenses.

Originally released on February 15, 1985 (but taking place on March 24, 1984), The Breakfast Club was Director/Producer/Writer John Hughes’ magnum opus, portraying the American teenager at the time so accurately that it struck a cord so deep within audiences (grossing over $51 million domestically) its fabrics have remained a staple within pop culture (and our lives) in the ensuing years since, often quoted, imitated, or parodied.

Anthony Michael Hall played the “Brain” with a penchant for good grades and computers, Emilio Estevez was the “Athlete” pushed to the breaking point by a controlling father, Ally Sheedy was the “Basket Case” outcast ignored by the world, Molly Ringwald was the preppy “Princess” with everything seemingly handed to her in life, while Judd Nelson was the “Criminal” that no parents wanted to see their daughters bringing home.

Photo of actress Molly Ringwald as Claire in The Breakfast Club spotted at a local clothing store (Revolve) on 8/2/23 (from the author’s personal collection).

These unique characters – as well as the actors playing them – were each relatable enough in their own ways that nearly any teen could find at least some part of themselves in them, even more so once the nickname the “Brat Pack” was coined to define the young cast and several of their contemporaries (Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, and Rob Lowe were a few more to fit in this club, among others). And who could forget the Simple Minds hit and the film’s theme song, “Don’t You Forget About Me?”

At the time of its initial release and ’80s prime, I was still just a kid grade school. But with four older brothers and sisters in either middle or high school, I was very much aware of the influence of The Breakfast Club, and I can distinctly remember going to one of said siblings’ schools at the time (namely Overbrook High School in New Jersey, coincidentally where I also attended preschool) and feeling as though I was in a John Hughes movie myself with the students we would come across there.

Today, the legacy of The Breakfast Club is just as strong as ever; one year while doing some back-to-school shopping with my own teenager at a local resale clothing shop, various images from the film were scattered about different areas (see above), and not even a week ago I was picking up a Funko Pop! figure of Nelson’s John Bender character (see below). The film has clearly endured for decades, and no doubt will for decades more to come; in the words of Hall’s own Brian character…”Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.”

John Bender Funko Pop! recently spotted on a store shelf on 3/21/25 (courtesy of the author’s collection).

Film Review: Halloween Kills (Miramax/Blumhouse Productions/Universal Pictures)

By: Jesse Striewski

I can’t honestly say I was impressed at all with the last Halloween film released in 2018; not only was it derivative and borrowed heavily from previous entries that it supposedly ignores (it was essentially a redux of 1998’s H2O), it asked us to accept far too many idiotic and implausible situations and concepts; from giving Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) a daughter other than Jamie Llyod from parts 4-6, to the fact we’re supposed to believe that Michael Myers is somehow remembered as a great notorious figure (sure, we know who he is as an audience, but if we’re supposed to ignore the events from all of the sequels actually happened, wouldn’t he just be some guy who killed a few people decades ago, and not as revered of a murderer?). And then there was that ridiculous plot twist with the doctor assuming the role of Michael Myers for a second (don’t even get me started on that).

For a brief moment, I was actually intrigued and lost within the onset of Halloween Kills; the flashback sequences tackling aspects from that fateful Halloween in 1978 were admittedly interesting at first. If the whole film could have just somehow stayed in that reality, maybe something could have been salvaged here. But things quickly become a joke, and the updated treatment of the late Donald Pleasence’s Dr. Loomis in these flashbacks are some of the most insulting scenes ever put on screen.

And despite having the returning Curtis paired with other series alumni from earlier films such as Charles Cyphers as Leigh Brackett, Nancy Stephens as Marion Chambers, and Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace, it does zero to add to this dying series. Even having Anthony Michael Hall portray the character of Tommy Doyle from the first film was as out of place as it gets, and by the time it gets to the point of him leading an angry lynch mob through a hospital, chanting “Evil dies tonight,” it felt as though I was watching a parody of the Halloween films, similar to the likes of Sharknado. There’s no drama left for any of the characters to have, just mean-spirited intentions spewing awful dialogue.

The worst is how certain elements are treated; Myers is now an even more ruthless killing machine than ever, torturing his victims mercilessly in some of the most brutal fashions imaginable (at one point he repeatedly stabs a victim with multiple knives even after killing them). Any sense of suspense is taken away in place of more blood and gore in hopes of appealing to the lowest common denominator (and yet that’s somehow supposed to be better for us to see on screen than the gratuitous nudity once so prevalent in these films that has been replaced by by mindless bloodshed?!). The reason The Shape was so menacing to begin with in the original films was not because of the quantity of outrageous kills on the screen, but the motivation behind it.

But judging by the audience reaction on opening night, small details like these are trivial matters to them at best, and do not matter to them one bit. Where there should be screams during kills, there was plenty of hootin’ and hollerin’ instead. Even the most mundane situations were enough to invoke unfounded laughter (a woman picks up a wine bottle to defend herself?! What a hilarious concept!). But it quickly became clear I’m very much alone in not accepting these trashy new dumbed down incarnations.

The flimmakers could have actually done something different with the material here. Hell, it would have been better had they even took the route of 1982’s Halloween III: Season of the Witch (the best film in the entire series in my opinion, yes, even more than the original) and introduced an entirely new concept, instead of beating this dead horse of a storyline into the ground for so long. But director David Gordon Green has taken this franchise into unforgivable territory ALMOST as atrocious as the Rob Zombie remake films. But until we stop embracing regurgitated garbage being spoon feed to us like this, they will continue churning out soulless entries as long as we continue accepting them. We deserve better than this. Yes, evil really should die, along with this entire franchise (and yet, we still have at least one more film to endure next year).

Rating: 1/5 Stars