Sound On Sight Radio #117 – That 80′s Show
The 80′s was a strange but wonderful decade. For us Gen Xèrs it was a time of bad fashion, strange celebrities, great catchy pop tunes, and the best toys to date. The 1980s was if anything a giant free adventure playground when going to the cinema was clearly about one thing; escaping reality. The films were very much a product of the time but with time, they become more and more loved.
(Tune in Wednesday May 13th for Episode 118 – Star Trek special part 2)
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Ricky D is the editor-in-chief of Sound on Sight and one of the hosts of 'Sound On Sight Radio', the 'Sordid Cinema' podcast and our videocast titled 'Front Row Center'. He also contributes written reviews when time permits.
Favorite films: 'Salo', 'Contempt', 'The Vanishing', 'Pulp Fiction' & 'La Haine'
Favorite Directors: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Quentin Tarantino, P.T. Anderson, Jean-Luc Godard, Billy Wilder & Stanley Kubrick 
Sound On Sight Radio #117 – That 80's Show | Sound On Sight http://tinyurl.com/y8jq6xo
[...] Episode 117 – That 80’s Show [...]
I think that River rocked my sox!! But he was stupid for killing him self!! hE HAD A FUTURE!! Iwould have married that guy!! hott hott hotttt!!!
Nicely put Ashton. River was a babe!
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I have to fully disagree with the hosts on The Last American Virgin. This movie captures the painful essence of high school in ways that few teen films have ever done. It achieves this by not only showing the trio of friends, Gary, Dave, Rick, as smoking, drinking, ever on the prowl teens, but also dwells on the nature of friendship itself as these three friends have their loyalties tested. This film is a snapshot of the time when childhood ends.
I take back what I said. Will Wheaton rocks this film but I still like River best. However I would never change any of the casting in this film. It`s perfect!
The soundtrack rocks and Mr. Hand is hot. I once had a teacher like him. Good times! Lots of boobs in this film. How come no one mentioned the celebrity nudity. Very disappointing. Good job outside that major fuck up.
The music in Fast Times–the studio put the boots to them and forced music on Crowe/Heckerling…they had to fight for a few of their faves. Rick, rock the commentary track–its fascinating for a big fan (as I am as well).
Hey Drew. I waited until the day of the show to re-watch the film and when I sat down to watch it I discovered that my DVD went missing. A problem I have had in the past few months which is why my collection is now on lockdown. Anyhow the point is I am now watching it as I am typing this and I take back what I said. Sure I don’t like the selection of songs as much has The Last American Virgin but I think each song choice works really well in each scene and none of the songs are ever too distracting. I will check out the commentary tomorrow night on my grave shift. Thanks for the feedback!
I fucken LOVE Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I am quite surprised that no one mentioned the kid who wears the Montreal Canadian hockey jersey at the start of the film. I’m a hockey fan and I am always surprised when I see it considering it is a film that takes play in California. Also I really enjoyed The Last American Virgin. I agree that it starts as a dumb 80′s teen sex comedy but than it changes to nihilistic realism so quickly that it catches you off guard. It also as you pointed out has a fantastic soundtrack and in all honesty I thought it was ahead of it’s time.
TOTAL RECALL was 1990, but otherwise this was an awesome show! STAND BY ME is in my top 10. I never saw LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN but some of my friends really like that film and have recommended it to me, but based on what you said about it, it sounds like exactly what I suspect it is. I’m not a fan of films like that and PORKY’S and stuff like that. FAST TIMES was really good though.
This was a great show guys. I really hope you do another 80`s show in the near future. I completely forgot about The Wonder Years. I love that show. When are they going to release it on DVD? Also I agree with the girls on Last American Virgin. I really hated this film but the reason I rented it was because of the high praise it receives on the message boards on IMDB. I would have also included Designing Woman on the best TV shows and being a girl of the time, I was a huge fan of Care Bears. Also the best film that you discussed on the show was Stand By Me. Sorry Rick but I am not a big fan of Fast Times and I have never seen The Monster Squad but now that I have kids, I will rent it sometime soon.
I noticed that IMDB gave The Last American Virgin some pretty misleading reviews, but then again maybe some people did like it. Unfortunately, you are right The Wonder Years is not available on DVD. According to Wikipedia, this is due to: Unlike most long-running popular American TV sitcoms, The Wonder Years has still not yet been released on DVD as official season box sets due to the cost of securing the music rights. Because of this, The Wonder Years routinely appears high on the list of TV shows in-demand for a DVD release.
However, there are two specials that you can buy; here is the link to Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Wonder-Years-Dan-Lauria/dp/6305053987
Enjoy =)
You can find the whole series on eBay, though it must be counterfeit: http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-WONDER-YEARS-DVD-COMPLETE-SERIES-115-EPISODES-NEW_W0QQitemZ150345337914QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_DVD_HD_DVD_Blu_ray?hash=item230147cc3a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:2079|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50
The dialogue when Sean Penn crashes the car is priceless.
Nice touch with the eighties ads.