#125 - "St. Elmo's Fire" (1985) with JB Huffman - 80s Flick Flashback

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
I can't remember who met who first or who fell in love with
who first. All I can remember is the seven
of us always together. Well, it's not just infatuation,
Kevin. She's not just a girl.
She's the only evidence of God that I can find on this entire
planet. Where did you meet Wendy again?

(00:27):
Prison. Please how you doing?
Me. Oh, you know it ain't easy being
me. You know all those nights we
stayed up talking? How come you never made a pass
at me? I'm going to get you a red Lacy
baby doll, Mike. Alec, I'm very happy in your old
pajamas. I'm happy when you're out of my
old pajamas. Alec is becoming a Republican

(00:50):
and he wants to get married. Oh my God, do you ever feel like
you're not accomplishing anything at all?
I think I'm in touch with that emotion.
The heat this summer is at SaintElmo's fire now.
I can believe Hot Hand is going to be rate it off.

(01:11):
In the mid 1980s there were few dramas aimed at young adults and
movie studios had not yet figured out how to appeal to
what would be known as Generation X, who were then in
their teens and early 20s. At the same time, a new group of
young actors were on the verge of stardom.
This 80s flick featured Rob Loweas a deadbeat dad, Andrew
McCarthy as a struggling journalist, Mayor Winningham as

(01:33):
a kind hearted wealthy girl, Emilio Estevez as a lovesick
waiter obsessed with a hospital intern, Judd Nelson as a young
Republican, Allie Sheedy as his Pearl wearing girlfriend and
Demi Moore as the resident dramaqueen.
The film captured the spirit of the Reagan era and focused on a
group of college friends who hadjust graduated from Georgetown
on university. It resonated with its youthful

(01:55):
audience and remains a cultural touchstone for many people now
in their middle age. So get ready to climb the
highest mountain and cross the widest sea as JB Huffman and I
discuss Saint Elmo's fire from 1985 on this episode of the 80s
Foot Flashback podcast John used.
All his teen dreams montage is the simple themes in Fairy's

(02:20):
hands. The sea fans living life like it
never ends. It's in Bikes to the Sky
Breakfast Club, just getting by.Radical dreams and daring
quests. Back then we were all very bad.
In the 80s. We will run where every day is

(02:45):
just cure fun. Welcome in 80s flick lovers.
Welcome to another exhilarating episode of the 80s Flick
Flashback podcast. Get ready to embark on a
nostalgic journey through the most iconic films of the decade

(03:05):
that brought us unforgettable adventures, epic music, and
classic 1 liners. We're thrilled to have you join
us. And if you're as excited as we
are, be sure to leave us a stellar 5 star review on Apple
Podcast. Don't forget to hit that follow
or subscribe button. We want to hear from you as
well, so dive into the conversation on Facebook,
Instagram, Tiktok, or YouTube. Your favorite flicks and

(03:25):
questions fuel our passion for all things rad from the 1980s.
And if you're feeling generous and want to show your support,
check us out at buymeacoffee.com.
Every little bit counts and goesa long way in keeping the
podcast alive. Plus, make sure to explore 80s
flickflashback.com and RT PublicStore for some totally awesome
merch and original designs. Now let's get this party

(03:46):
started. Let me introduce my Co host Back
in the Coast chair after a little hiatus but glad to have
him back with us. It's JB Huffman from Manly
Movies podcast. How you doing JB?
I am doing great man. Christmas is over and it takes
forever and and in my family because I've got family in other
states. So yeah, good times.

(04:08):
Yes, yes. And let's be the first to say
Happy New Year. This is a first episode of 2025,
which is kind of cool because Saint Elmo's fire came out in
1985. So we're talking about a move
that's going to turn 40 years old this year, which doesn't
make us feel old at all, right? Oh, because I'm turning 40 as
well, so. Yeah, I crossed the five O mark

(04:31):
Latin just a couple months ago. So yeah, so fun times to be
ahead by all. But anyway, you know how we do.
Let's get it started. When did you see Saint Elmo's
fire for the first time? Oh, man, you know, I, it's
funny. It's kind of, it's a, it's a,
it's a funny story back in 2005,I think, when that song by

(04:54):
Bowling Pursuit came out, 1980. 5.
See, I was born in 85 and I, I kind of, I try to watch a lot of
movies from 85 and some of my favorite ones are like Back to
the Future in Breakfast Club. But they mentioned in that song
Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, even St.
Elmo's Fire. And I was like, when I first
heard the song, I was like, whatis Saint Elmo's fire?

(05:14):
Because I, I couldn't think of it.
And then finally when I decided to watch it, I was like, oh, I
watched this like several times when I was a kid.
I just, I, I couldn't think of the, I didn't realize that was
the name of it. But I remember watching it a
lot. Like is it come on TV or my, my,
my mom might have watched it or something.
But I, I remember watching it quite a bit, maybe not like

(05:35):
start to finish every time as I as a kid in the 80s and 90s, but
my actual first time that I can remember it vividly watching,
you know, start to finish was probably 2010.
My wife and I watched it together and I watched it a
couple times since then. So yeah, it's, it's, it's a good

(05:56):
one, man. I'm, I'm a big fan of that, that
era that the Rat Pack, Like I grew up watching that stuff,
John, John Hughes and all those kids.
So yeah, it's good times. Yeah, this is not one that I saw
as a kid. I think I might have seen bits
and pieces. I might have watched the TV
version. When it came on, I was obsessed

(06:17):
with the song. Like, you know, Man in Motion
saying was Fire was a huge hit. We'll talk about that.
We get into trivia and then likeas a teenager, like 14-15, maybe
even 16, we lived on base in Texas.
I've thought about this before there we could check out like
VHS movies and we could also check out like albums full like

(06:39):
record albums. I remember finding like a David
Foster album of all, like David Foster would like did all these
instrumental songs. And that was one of his biggest
hits was the theme from samples Fire.
So listen to that. I was like, man, I really
haven't ever seen that movie. And so when we were moving from
Maryland back to Georgia, my parents, we came, you know, I

(07:00):
came down with my parents and they were looking at houses and
I think I hung out with them forlike the first hour.
And I was like, I cannot look atanother empty house.
I'm like, you know, 7/16/17, I'mlike, this is not how I want to
spend 8 hours of my day. So they're like, hey, we'll take
you back to the hotel and you can just hang out.
And so at the hotel, I think they had they must have had
Showtime because I still think of at that time, at that point,

(07:23):
HP only only showed AR rated movies after 9:00 and whatever
cable they had there St. almost fire was coming on like 4:00 in
the afternoon or something like that.
So I was like, oh, well, I've never seen it.
It's coming on. So I watch it.
So I remember watching it for the first time there at the
hotel and really liking it. Like, you know, maybe being
older as a teenager, I can understand a little bit more of

(07:44):
even though it was still kind ofdated with some of the stuff in
it. But I I resonated with some of
the characters and, you know, recognized everybody, pretty
much everybody that was in it because I'd seen them know the
things since then. So, so yeah, that was my first
time watching it from beginning to end.
And I probably hadn't watched itfrom beginning to end until
watching it again for the podcast.
So how long has it been for you since you rewatched it before we

(08:06):
watching it for the podcast? Probably four or five years ago
and I and I may not have watchedthe whole thing then I remember
catching it on like, I don't know, one of those streaming
channels or something that showsstuff.
I said I'm saying it was fired. But yeah, So yeah, this I want.
This is the third time watching it when I rewatched it the other

(08:29):
day so. Gotcha, gotcha.
All right, well, let's jump intostory origin and pre production.
So there wasn't a whole lot here.
I did find some cool like a couple of cool articles that was
like talking with the the director Joel Schumacher, who
was also a Co writer on it. It was kind of like his whole
vision. And so he said, I lived in

(08:50):
Georgetown during the period of Reagan, Reaganomics, which is
the 80s. I was looking at all these kids
who are acting like adults who thought they should have 25 year
plans. Every studio turned down the
spec script. The head of Universal Universal
Studios actually called me to his office, threw the script
down and said, Joel, in the history of movies, you have
managed to create seven of the worst people I have ever seen on

(09:14):
a page. He then went on and made Howard
the Duck. It.
Wasn't the best to figure that out, but his initial concept for
Saint Animal's fire was more of a political statement.
But that didn't really happen, Schumacher said in the
Entertainment Weekly interview in 2010.
The attitude of that time becameI'm rich, you know, F you, you

(09:35):
know, edited down. All these kids were coming out
of universities with 20 year plans.
I felt sorry for them. I was listening to their
conversations and I thought whatit must be like to be spit out
of these universities thinking Ibetter make a lot of money.
Shoemaker, who never went to college, enlisted the help of a
Duke University intern named Carl Kurlander to Co write the

(09:57):
spec script on the topic. Ferlander arrived with his own
screenplay, sparked by a bout ofunrequited love for a waitress
during a period when he worked as a bellhop at the Saint Elmo
Hotel in New York. New York State, not the city of
New York. Schumacher shot Shoten.
Schumacher's sharp criticism of contemporary youth was already

(10:18):
beginning to lose its edge as the film became more about how a
group of recent Georgetown University graduates were
adjusting to the new responsibilities of adulthood.
The clearest connections back tohis original idea are probably
found in the character of Alec, who was such an empty, suited
careerist that he's willing to deny his own bedrock political
beliefs in the name of quote UN quote moving up.

(10:39):
But really, most everyone ended up possessing mainly deeply
unsympathetic traits. Rob Lowe later said.
I think there are people who go to college because it's kind of
what's accepted. I feel unfortunately, sometimes
it's used as a holding tank waiting to go into the real
world instead of for education. I think there are people who can
go into the marketplace right after high school and do well.

(11:00):
So that's kind of how he, you know, thought about the movie.
So pretty interesting. I mean, what are your what are
your overall thoughts of the movie, especially now as an
adult? There's not a whole lot of
movies out there that are anything like this.
Like kind of there. There's so many coming of age
stories from like high school. Right, right.

(11:20):
Puberty. And, you know, high school.
Yeah, middle school, high schoolkind of thing.
And even quite a lot of of kids of college students too, but
there's very few of the early career fresh out of college,
right film. So it's like, I can't I can't
think of any right now. So it in in a way, it's very

(11:41):
unique. And but yeah, he managed to
make, what, six of the most unlikable characters?
In the. In the history of movies and
like, it's just I was watching it this time trying to latch on
to somebody, you know, personality wise, I'm like, I

(12:03):
don't like any of these people. I could see myself in a few of
them, but not the full character.
Like they're almost the extreme of like everybody's to an
extreme. Like there's nobody.
That's kind of middle ground, you know what I'm saying?
Like they're all like, not necessarily exaggerated, but
like even for example, any of the rest of it is Kirby.

(12:26):
Like everybody's had a crush on,you know, I got, I mean, I think
we've all had a crush on a girl.Have we, you know, gone to the
links that he went through. I mean, of like, I mean,
borderline stalking, which he pretty much was talking.
But I could see myself in like not as like somebody outside of
college when I was in high school maybe, or like between

(12:47):
high school and college, there were girls that was like, and I
mean, it was, you know, I have, I do have a somewhat stalking
story of my own. I was a girl that I I really
liked. And yeah, I did some things that
I'm not proud of. I didn't break any laws or
anything. I didn't like, like sneak in
their house or anything. But, you know, just trying to
figure out before there was social media, like trying to

(13:09):
figure out where they were and, you know, find some way to kind
of like casually bump into them to like, you know, have a
conversation, you know, simple harmless stuff like that.
So but and then even with like Andrew McCarthy's character, you
know, to be in love with someonethat's already in a relationship
with somebody else, been there, you know, so there's those kind

(13:30):
of things that you can that I can see.
Like they were part, you know, there were parts of their
personality that could see myself in.
But they are all kind of like, like I said, that extreme or the
obnoxious side of jewels probably being the most
obnoxious to me. Like Demi Moore, who's probably,
you know, one of the most beautiful women in the world in

(13:52):
this movie, is like the most annoying person on screen.
So it's like you want to see her, but you don't want her to
stay on the screen very long because like, you're driving me
crazy, lady. Just do something correct in
your life for once. I feel like out of the out of
the six main characters, I don'treally count Wendy.
She was kind of more of a like aside piece.
Yeah, yeah. I feel like the only one who was

(14:12):
semi normal was Ally Sheedy's character which is kind of funny
because it was the because she plays the basket case in the
other movie she was in that year.
Right, right, right. Quite a departure.
Yeah. For her and Judd Nelson, they
kind of, you know, really kind of went different directions,
but we'll we'll talk a little bit about that when we get into
casting. The 80s Flick Flashback Podcast

(14:34):
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(15:18):
Catcher. And remember, man up.
Let's jump in the casting. So the producers interviewed
hundreds of people for the cast,including Anthony Edwards, Jon
Cryer, and Leah Thompson. Emilio Estevez, Allie Sheedy and
Judd Nelson all portrayed college graduates in the in this

(15:40):
film the same year. All three actors also portrayed
high school students, and John Hughes's The Breakfast Club came
out the same year. Saint Emil's Fires producer
Lauren Schuler Donner has said all three were cast in the film
due to strong recommendations from John Hughes.
So that's good to know that JohnHughes felt they could, they
could, you know, be in this movie as well.

(16:03):
The strength of the movie, despite a script filled with
sometimes thoroughly unlikable characters, was in its casting,
Schumacher has said. I may not be a genius director.
I may not be the smartest man inthe room, but I will match my
cast with anyone's. And that's true.
I mean, this is one of those like perfectly cast movies where
every character is right for thecharacter they're playing, I

(16:25):
would say. And then Rob Lowe mentioned, he
said you could tell we were all really good friends and we all
really cared about each other and that we were a gang.
That's what we played on screen.I think it really was captured
and felt like we were all very much in the same place in all
the lives, all very ambitious, all looking to the future and
wondering what the future would hold.
So kind of some of that real life of their young actors.

(16:48):
A lot of them had only been in afew films, not really breakout
stars necessarily yet, I think for any of them really at that
point. So yeah, they, I could, I guess
they could see themselves in thecharacters a lot of like, OK, I
need to have a plan for if this is what I'm going to do for the
rest of my life. So this movie better, better be
good. So.

(17:09):
It's, it's funny too that you talk about this is kind of their
coming of age when they're playing these coming, coming,
coming of age characters. And when I watched the movie,
the, the documentary Bratz aboutthese guys, it's like, man,
McCarthy suffered some serious depression over this man like

(17:30):
this. It's, I don't know, I think a
lot of them kind of took it witha grain of salt, but McCarthy,
McCarthy really held on to it for a long time, so.
Yeah, I didn't really do AI didn't dive too deep into that
for the for the podcast. It it that's kind of that
because it would turn into its own like separate thing.

(17:51):
But yeah, definitely if you haven't watched Rats, the
documentary that's on Hulu and Ireally want to read the book.
And I said I I didn't really want to talk about it until I've
read the book And I haven't had a chance to read the book yet
because I'm sure the book probably goes in even more
detail. But it is interesting that and
even doing the research that came up a few times about, you
know, the term the brat pack came from a a writer that hung

(18:15):
out with a couple of the guys one night where they went and
partied or whatever. And what it seems like for at
least from their perspective, was he was a little jealous of
them being these young hotshot actors that were getting all the
ladies and getting all the attention.
And so he termed, he gave the term Brat pack as almost like a

(18:35):
is is really a negative moniker.But it's funny because as a kid
hearing the term Brat pack, I never took it that way.
Like I didn't think of that as anegative thing.
And so it really goes to show how like it's all on how you
interpret the word, whether it if it offends you or not.
But you know, nothing is a general rule for all things.
But just in this in this case, let me let me correct my hear

(18:57):
what I'm saying and not what I'mnot saying, but but yeah, but
it's it is that watching the documentary was very interesting
to see how that article really changed their trajectory.
Some, by their own admission, they said that, you know,
because of that they didn't takecertain roles because they
didn't want to be associated with that, where if they had,

(19:19):
they might have had a more, you know, prolific career than than
they did, even though most of them still did pretty well.
So. But so the cast at the beginning
of the movie are listed alphabetically, and I believe
it's the same way here and how Ihave them listed here.
So we're going to start with Emilio Estevez as Kirby, the law

(19:41):
student and waiter at the Saint Emil's Bar.
Of course, you know Emilio Estevez As the son of actor
Martin Sheen and the older brother of Charlie Sheen,
Estevez made his theatrical filmdebut in the drama film Tex in
1982 as one of the actors associated with the Brat Pack.
As we just said, he is notable for starring in coming of age
drama films such as The Outsiders in 83, The Breakfast

(20:01):
Club in 85, as well as the cult science fiction comedy film Repo
Man in 84. He's also starred in films and
various genres such as Judgement1993, Loaded Weapon One in 93,
Mission Impossible in 96. Stakeout in 87, Young Guns in 88
and it's 1990 sequel as well as the Mighty Ducks franchise.

(20:22):
So I'm a big fan of Emilio Estevez.
I think he's a great actor. I actually kind of like him.
I wish, I wish that he had more of a prolific career like
instead of Charlie Sheen. Not that I don't like Charlie
Sheen, but they're just they they definitely approach acting
from a different perspective. But I do think like Estevez made

(20:43):
it known that he really wanted to direct.
And if you've watched any of themovies that he's directed, you
can see why that's a big passionfor his.
And I think he's a decent director.
I mean, you know, he's not top notch, but he think he has it.
He does does pretty well. Yeah, to be honest, I haven't
watched any of the movies that he's directed, but I'm with you.
Like he, I he's my favorite of the entire Estevez family.

(21:07):
Like I like Martin Sheen. I like, you know, a lot of his
stuff, but I grew up on Emilio, you know, like, I mean, I was
watching, I think my first moviewas probably The Outsiders, and
I remember watching that a lot. Breakfast Club became a favorite

(21:31):
Mighty Ducks. I play those Mighty Ducks movies
over and over and over again andI I didn't even never even
watched hockey growing up, but Iloved.
It Yeah, exactly. Yeah, we watched when when
Disney Plus came out like the the the Muddy Ducks movies run
there. And I watched with my daughter
and she loved, we watched, maybewe watched all the three of them
and she liked the she loved the first one.

(21:52):
The second one I think she liked.
She really didn't get into the third one.
But even when they had the show that came the the Disney Plus
show, you know, came on when at least the season of Amelia was
on there, you know, she watched every episode with me.
So yeah. And saying we're not big hockey
fans, but we just love that franchise and and that story.
But yeah, he was a big part of that.
Like he, I think the two movies I can think of that I know that

(22:14):
he directed Wisdom was his firstone he did, which is an 80s
movie. I think it's him and Demi Moore,
I'm pretty sure, kind of like a Bonnie and Clyde, the Terry
Bonnie and Clyde type of movie, which is decent.
You know, he was trying to make a name for himself and could
have been a lot better, but he was trying to be a little more
ambitious. And then he did one a couple of

(22:34):
years ago. Oh man, what's the name of it?
It's not the library, the public.
I think it's the name of it and it's about, I think like a
politician or something that wants to get the homeless people
off the streets. And so they decide to lock
themselves into a public, the big Public Library that he's
like works at and he defies the police by not letting them come

(22:57):
in and take the homeless people out.
So it's really good, kind of like a drama, you know, good
drama movie. So check that one out if you
want to see something he's directed.
Those are two that stand out that I've I've enjoyed that he's
directed so. And he directed Men At Work too,
I think, with him and Charlie. So yeah.
So that that's a fun, fun comedy.
I think you wrote that one too. So.

(23:19):
But yeah. Looks like looks like he did one
with his dad called the way. Yeah, and I've seen the ad ads
for that one. I've never watched it, but it's
supposed to be really, I've heard good things about it.
It's supposed to be really good.So yeah, I think.
But I, I got to say this one, Mighty Ducks will always be a
favorite of mine, but the one orthe two that I will gravitate to

(23:43):
the most from him are Young Guns.
And Young guns too. Absolutely young guns too,
especially just because it's a Jon Bon Jovi soundtrack.
Man, it's so much fun and and the soundtrack just makes it
blaze of glory. Then when the song comes on I'm
like, this gets me fired up. I had that.
I had that soundtrack on cassette and wore it out.

(24:05):
But yeah, it was funny because Ithink Laramie and I did Young
Guns the first one couple coupleof seasons ago.
And the first thing he said was like, I started watching the
movie was like, oh, this is the one that doesn't have the great
soundtrack. It's like it's the second one.
But yeah, I love both Young GunsOne and Young Guns too, but it's
one of the few movies where I think I actually like the sequel

(24:26):
better. And I think because it's just a
little bit, it doesn't take itself too seriously.
It's a little bit more fun and more of a popcorn flick, I guess
you'd say so, but still really good.
So yeah, I love both those movies for sure.
And one that I've never got, Sorry, I've never got to move
on. The one that I've never really
gotten into until I've never actually watched until recently

(24:48):
a couple of years ago, is Repo Man.
Yes, I've yet to see that one yet.
It's on my list. See, it's on my list.
I work in finance and I do a lotof repos.
I know it's a different kind of repo.
I mean, this dude's like, yeah, but yeah, I, I really, really
like that movie. And I'm at some point I'm going
to pick it up. There's a Criterion collection

(25:10):
of it. So I'm I'm probably going to
pick that up at some point. Yeah, yeah, that was definitely
that's that's how my list of watch it's it's hard to find it
on a streamer. It's not one of those that you
that you see very often. So Columbia Pictures didn't want
in the list of his. Instead they wanted Rob Lowe,
who all but begged Schumacher for a role in the film.
Schumacher said He came in to see me three times.

(25:32):
He poured his heart out and I thought, this poor kid, no one
is ever going to want it as muchas he does So, but ended up
keeping both of them, which I thought was pretty cool.
So that moves us to Mr. Rob Loweas William Billy Hicks, the
saxophonist frat boy. He made his acting debut at age
15 with ABC short lived sitcom ANew Kind of Family following

(25:54):
numerous television roles in theearly 80s, he came to prominence
as a teen idol as a member, as we said of the Brat Pack, with
starring roles in The Outsiders 83, Class in 83, The Hotel New
Hampshire in 84, Oxford Blues in84, About Last Night in 86 and
Masquerade in 88. By the turn of the Millennium,
his career saw a resurgence whenhe ventured back in a television

(26:15):
making his breakthrough a Sam Seaborn on the NBC political
drama The West Wing, for which he received nominations for a
prime time Emmy and two Golden Globe Awards.
Other TV roles include ABC dramaBrothers and Sisters, NBC sitcom
Parks and Recreation, which I loved him on.
He's on the CBS medical drama Code Black and on the Fox drama

(26:36):
911 Lone Star. And of course he's now the host
of the floor on Fox, which I'm abig fan of as well.
So Rob Lowe, just one of those guys that just doesn't go away.
He just so, but he's good. I mean, he, I think he's great
in this, you know, even playing kind of the wild, wild and crazy
role that he does, but. My wife is one of those that

(26:59):
always wants to see him on screen, but now I yeah, I
remember obviously the outsiderswas one that I grew up on.
I've already mentioned that, butthe one that I have probably
watched the most with Rob Lowe in it or was probably Tommy Boy
the the Chris. Oh yes, 1995.

(27:20):
Yep, Yep, Yep. He was.
He was a bad dude in that. But yes, great movie.
Yeah, and then the Austin Powersmovies.
Are some. That I watched a lot.
Yeah, yeah, he's, I mean, he's, he's multi talented.
He can do the comedy, he can do the drama.
I mean, he's very multifaceted. So yeah, that's why he's kind of
stayed like he's coming back. You know, he, I mean, 'cause I

(27:41):
think even when he did Tommy Boyand Austin Powers, people didn't
really know of him as comedy until he did those movies.
And he did really well. So it kind of brought him back
to the forefront. I liked him in Parks and Rec
too. Yes, I, I, I love that show so
much. I'm actually what's funny is I I
was asked to be on the they're starting a parks and rec

(28:03):
committee at in my town. Oh, really?
It's a really small town. They don't have one and so they
asked me to be on it. And so I like, I created a, a
GroupMe chat, put everybody in there and I made the picture for
the GroupMe chat all the like a picture from Parks and Rec.
Right. Right.
It's like everybody's like oh dude I love the thumbnail.

(28:24):
Like, literally, I'm literally going to be on the Parks and
Rec. Yeah.
Chris Traeger. Yep.
And fun fact, they did their ownpodcast.
It was started with him and one of the writers, I think, where
they would go through each episode and talk about like
behind the scenes, the stuff. But I think Rob Lowe said he he

(28:47):
actually based his character on Tom Cruise.
Like if you talk to Tom Cruise, that's how he that's like how he
is. He's like very serious and
every, you know, very like direct and you know, so that
just it brings it brings new, new nuance to the watching that
whenever you watch, because I'llcatch that reruns all the time
when it's on Comedy Central, whatever.

(29:08):
And it's always fun when he's onthere and Perkins.
All right, moving on, Andrew McCarthy as Kevin, the writer
for the Washington Post. He's most known as a member of
the Brat Pack, with roles in 80sfilms such as Pretty in Pink,
Mannequin and Weekend at Bernie's, which we've covered
already. He's ranked #40 on VH1's 100

(29:29):
Greatest Teen Stars of All Time,as the directories known for his
work and Orange Is the New Black.
Schumacher knew he wanted AndrewMcCarthy for Kirby's room.
Moody roommate Kevin. He said for me, there was no one
else on the planet who had that mix of smarts, gentleness and
sarcasm, which I can see that. I mean, that's just, that's
just, yeah. I mean, I had seen Mannequin

(29:52):
probably so many times because it came on cable all the time
and my sister would watch it over.
That's one of those movies like I can't believe I haven't
covered on the podcast yet. Like what's wrong with me?
It's like I've I've tried the one 80s movie I've probably seen
more than any other. Well, not maybe not the most,
but it's definitely in the top 10 or 15 of most watched 80s
movies. So yeah, seeing him in this is
very different. And then his character and

(30:13):
Weekend at Bernie's is very different as well, so.
Yeah, and it's funny, you watching him in this and then
you watch him in Pretty and pink.
Yeah, he's like the total opposite.
Once again, very versatile. For sure.
Like he's, he's not, you know, it's Jon Cryer basically plays
his character. From this Yeah, yeah, exactly.

(30:39):
And there's one, like, the one scene when he's in the apartment
and he's like, before Kirby comes in and the whatever the
Aretha Franklin song is, he's playing the bongos with the
sunglasses on. I was like, OK, why are you
giving me and Andrew Michael Hall vibes all of a sudden?
Like, this is right. Yeah, yeah.
Real. That's like that's.

(31:00):
The first thing that came to my head was Andrew Michael Hall and
like except I, I when I watched the other day, like I thought
Andrew Michael Hall, but I was like, man, this why?
I'm like really into this scene for some reason, Like I could
just see myself sitting around doing.
That, yeah, having writer's block, he was trying to stir up

(31:21):
some emotions, get some, get thejuices flowing.
So, yeah. All right, moving along, we got
a lot to cover. Demi Moore as Juliana Jules Van
Patten, international banker andparty girl of the group.
Moore began her career as a model and joined the cast of the
soap opera General Hospital in 1981.
After departing the show in 83, she rose to prominence as a
member of the Brad Pack with roles in films like Blame It on

(31:43):
Rio in 84, About Last Night in 86.
She merged the star with her portrayal of a grieving artist
in the romance film Ghost in 1990 and Further box office
Success and A Few Good Men in 92, one of my favorite movies,
Indecent Proposal in 93 and Disclosure in 94.
She also voiced Esmeralda and Hunchback of Notre Dame in 96,

(32:04):
then received a then unprecedented $12.5 million to
star in Striptease in 96. She then went on to make movies
such as The Scarlet Letter 95, The Juror 96, GIJ 97, which were
not box office hits. So she took on supporting roles
in movies like Charlie's Angels,Full Throttle in 2003, Bobby in

(32:25):
2006, Mr. Brooks in 2007, and Margin Call in 2011.
And of course she's back on the screen this past year.
We're in 2024 in the movie The Substance, which I've not seen
yet but I've heard is like really good and really creepy
so. Yeah, yeah, I've, I've heard
that it's like one of those is like probably going to be

(32:47):
nominated quite a bit. Yeah, I remember her in Ghost
Man, Like, Oh yeah, that she wasjust so beautiful, for one
thing. Like, yeah, I, I, I'll watch
that movie over and over and over again.
I just watched it last year just, yeah, just because I

(33:08):
wanted to like I had it so. Good for a long time.
Yeah, I know that. Just out of your reach for 80s
movies. Yeah, I.
Think, I think if I don't and maybe like the second-half of
this year, I'm just going to do like a month of like 80s
adjacent. Like I'm going to do stuff from
like 78799091. Like it's not quite 80s, but

(33:29):
it's just close enough that I can cover it.
So yeah, so I way I can do like young guns too.
I can do Jaws, I can do Point break.
Ghost released in the 90s, made in the 80s more than likely, but
yeah, yeah. So yeah, yeah.
I mean, I'm trying to think like, what I would have known
her from from probably not that much that young.

(33:51):
I didn't really know who she wasuntil like the 90s, like a few
good men. Of course she's great in that.
But yeah, Ghost. But yeah, I mean, like, I knew
who she was, but I can't say that was, you know, I'd watched
many of her movies. Most of her movies that came out
when I was a kid rated R so I couldn't watch it.
Yeah, like indecent proposal. Yeah, you know, or blame it on

(34:12):
Rio Animals fire about last night.
But But yeah, much like her character, Demi Moore had a drug
problem when she was cast in thefilm.
One day, director Joel Schumacher actually demanded
that she leave the set because she was really high.
Moore had to go through rehab and promised to stay clean and
sober in order to play a character with a drug problem.

(34:35):
Moore revealed in an autobiography later that she had
a cocaine problem and was using an eighth of an ounce of the
drug every two days. She went to treatment for 15
days and then had a counselor with her on set while shooting
the film. I did remember that kind of
being a thing about during the movie.
Reportedly, Here's a big rumor, actresses Jodie Foster, Jennifer

(34:56):
Beals, Tatum O'Neill and Joan Cusack were also offered the
role of jewels, but they turned them.
They all turned it down. Also read somewhere that it was
actually Joel Schumacher who sawDemi Moore in walking down the
hall of like the studio offices and he told his assistant go
find out who that is and see if she's an actress.

(35:17):
And the story is that she was actually there meeting with John
Hughes trying to get cast in oneof his movies.
So once again, things you're on the Internet may be true.
Not very not has not BeenVerified.
But then we got Judd Nelson as Alec Newberry.
His acting roles include Hot Rodand Rodimus Prime in the

(35:37):
Transformers the movie, animatedmovie it was John Bender in The
Breakfast Club, Alex and Cybermutt, Joe Hunt and
billionaire Boys club, and Nick Peretti in New Jack City.
I remember seeing that he also had roles on TV shows like
Empire and Suddenly Susan. It was said that Ally Sheedy

(35:58):
actually recommended John Nelson, who was also shooting
Breakfast Club with her at the time.
The studio couldn't see him as Leslie's yuppie boyfriend Alec,
after being cast as the loner Burnout in John Hughes's film.
Nelson later said. I think I'm probably going to be
criticized a lot. My character is very straight,
very conservative, very career oriented.
After Breakfast Club, I think people will say I should have

(36:18):
played another St. Punk.
They'll criticize me for not doing what I'm good at, for
trying something new. But you know what?
I didn't. I didn't.
I believed him as the conservative philanderer.
Is that what he is? Well, fake conservative.
Yeah, very. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, no, I, I, I liked him and,and honestly, this is probably

(36:40):
the member of the Brat Pack thatI have the least amount of
experience. With true true.
I think other than The BreakfastClub, like the only thing I've
seen him and obviously it's had almost fire.
I think the only other thing I've seen in him other than like
bits and pieces of airheads. I've never, I've never finished
Airheads, but I remember him in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

(37:05):
OK, yeah, it was a very small role that I just remember.
He popped up on Psych a couple of times, like they did like a
they had a thing about one season they wanted to have every
member of The Breakfast Club do a cameo.
On the show. So I think he popped up once,
but yeah. And I think of of of this cast,
he's probably one that wasn't asprolific.

(37:26):
Like, he did do a few things, but he just didn't really have
quite the career the others did for whatever reason.
I didn't really dig too far intothat, but but yeah.
It's funny, like I'm looking at the actors and he actually has
like twice as many credits as Demi Moore.

(37:46):
But but they're all movies that you haven't heard of, right?
Most of most of them are anyway.And then Demi's like then
nominated for Oscars and stuff. So it's like it's different.
She's taking better movies. And I think he became, I believe
I remember him being pretty reclusive, too, like in the 90s,
like going from the 90s to the 2000s, because I remember when

(38:07):
he would pop up, you know, for, like, different things.
You know, he didn't people like,this doesn't even look like Judd
Nelson anymore. Like, he looked completely
different. So.
But yeah. So then we got Ally Sheedy as
Leslie, the budding architect who's reluctant to marry Alec.
She made her feature film debut in Bad Boys in 1983, Not the
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Bad Boys came to prominence as a

(38:30):
member of the Brat Pack with roles in Oxford Blues in 84,
Breakfast Club in 85, in Blue City in 86, also with Judd
Nelson. She received 3 Saturn Award
nominations for Best Actress forPerformances in War Games in 83,
Fear in 1990, and Man's Best Friend in 1993.
She also starred in the films twice in A Lifetime in 85, Short

(38:52):
Circuit in 86, Betsy's Wedding in 1990, Only the Lonely 91 with
John Candy, and Life During Wartime in 2009, and then Rumor.
Rumor. Brooke Shields, Meg Ryan, Jamie
Lee Curtis, Melanie Griffith, Sarah Jessica Parker, Bridget
Fonda, Elizabeth Shue and Jennifer Jason Lee were all
considered for the role of Leslie, believe it or not.

(39:18):
She's one that I've I've seen several movies when I was
younger, but I need, really needto watch them again, like war
games and she's having a baby. But I I I noticed this and I'd
forgotten about it, but she. John Hughes brings her in for a
cameo and Home Alone too. She plays a a ticket agent at

(39:40):
the. At the.
That's right, that's right. Yeah, Yeah.
So. I love how John Hughes just uses
these actors over and over and over again.
It's just, it's just like loyalty type thing.
It's just kind of cool. Yep, absolutely.
Yeah, of course. I was a big fan of Short
Circuit. I'll probably watch that a

(40:01):
million times. That's probably the only thing I
really knew her from. Like, I didn't really watch and
War Games. I saw War Game, probably not as
much as I saw Short Circuit, butyeah.
But yeah, she was good in this. I agree with that.
She was. Then we've got Mayor Winningham
as Wendy, the social worker who was also helplessly in love with

(40:24):
Billy. So her film and TV roles include
The Thorn Birds in 83, Miracle Mile in 88, Turner and Hooch in
89, The War in 94, Swing voting at 2008 Brothers in 2009.
She also appeared in American Horror Story for Four Seasons.
And yeah, she's done some of theTV work.
Casting her as the virginal social worker proved to be a

(40:46):
challenge. Since she arrived expecting
expecting her third child, Schumacher was forced to clothe
her in baggy Laura Ashley dresses.
Yeah, they said. It was like, I think Rob Lowe
was the youngest of the cast at like 19 and she was the oldest
who was already married with twokids.
Wow, so. But she played, she played the

(41:08):
part well. Like, I mean, it was believable.
Oh yeah, for sure. I'd actually Turner and who's
just probably yes, one that I watched quite a bit when I was
getting a girl I. Just I just rewatched that a
couple weeks ago. I was like around Christmas.
I was like, I want to watch something kind of family
friendly. That's Dynasty Christmas.
And it was on Disney Plus. And I was like, I you know who?
Who can say no to Tom Hanks and a dog in a movie mean, come on.

(41:32):
Right, exactly. And I watched Swing Vote for the
first time actually the day of the election.
Oh wow, that's Kevin Costner, right?
Yeah, Kevin Costner. I think I've seen it one time,
but it's been a long time. Yeah, I thought that I'd seen
it, but then I watched. I was like, dude, I don't
remember anything. So I don't think I ever watched

(41:53):
it. Like I must have been something
else that I'd watched. It was I thought was swing
though. But but I do remember her and
brothers with. Oh yeah, with.
Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire. Yeah.
You actually had a pretty big role in that.
It's like their mom, I'm not mistaken.
Yeah, it's been too long since Iwatched it.

(42:15):
And then Hatfield's and McCoy, she was in that.
Did you watch that? No, I watched.
I think I started. I don't think I ever finished it
so, but yeah. It's good.
Yeah, yeah, I think it was nominated for a lot of Emmys,
wasn't it? I think so.
Yeah, I think so. All right, got a few more.
We're kind of trying to, I know it's hard when I do ones with
big cast because like I feel like that's all the whole

(42:35):
podcast. So we'll run through these kind
of quick. Andy McDowell is Dale Bieberman,
the hospital and intern that Kirby is infatuated with.
Early films include Greystoke, The Legend of Tarzan 1984.
Her breakout role was in Sex, Lies and Videotape in 89, which
earned her an Independent SpiritAward for Best Female Lead
actress. She then starred in a series of

(42:56):
films, including Green Card in 1990, Groundhog Day in 93, Four
Weddings and a Funeral in 94, Michael in 96, Multiplicity in
96 and The Muse in 1999. So yeah, she's fun actress.
I remember her from Groundhog Day, of course. 4 Weddings and a
Funeral so. One that doesn't get talked

(43:19):
about a lot, but it's Norman Jewison film from 2001 with Anne
McDowell, Dennis Quaid, Toni Colette, Greg Kinnear.
It's called Dinner with Friends if you haven't watched.
It OK. Check it out, it's really good.
I always used to always get her confused with Mimi Rogers.
I thought they looked somewhat alike, so I get them confused a

(43:40):
lot. But I'm only going to bring this
person up. He's very, very has a very small
role. Martin Balsam as Wendy's father.
His most notable role is juror #1 in 12 Angry Men.
He was also in Breakfast at Tiffany's in 61.
He was also in The Taking of Pelham, 123 and 74.

(44:02):
He was had a recurring role on the TV drama Doctor Kildare in
the 60s, as well as Archie Bunker's Place from 79 to 83.
So I'm a big fan of 12 Angry Men, so I had to mention him,
even though it's a very, very small role in the movie.
Dude, I was watching it and I was like, that guy looks
familiar. And you said that.

(44:24):
See, I didn't even look it up. I just, I just kind of moved on,
didn't think about it. And then we just said that I was
12 Angry men. And then I'm looking it up and I
was like, he was also in all thePresident's Men, too.
Oh yeah, yeah, I couldn't list them all.
Breakfast and yeah so I'm I'm looking at Oh yeah, he was in a
lot of movies that I've seen so yeah, that's why he looks
familiar so. But then he and Joyce Van

(44:47):
Patten, who played Wendy's parents in the movie, were
actually married in real life from 1957 and 1962.
So I didn't, I didn't mention her 'cause she didn't have a
whole lot of acting credits. But I did see that little note
and I was like, that's pretty cool.
And then kind of that guys or people that you would recognize
for the things Blake Clark as Wally the bar owner or the, you

(45:10):
know, Kirby's boss, best known as Chet Hunter on Boy Meets
World and Harry the hardware store guy on Home Improvement.
He also voiced Slinky Dog in theToy Story franchise after the
passing of Jim Varney. He's also been cast in numerous
Adam Sandler films, including The Waterboy, Neil Nikki, Mr.
Deeds, 8 Crazy Nights, 1st, 51stDates.

(45:32):
I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry.
Bedtime Stories, grown-ups. And that's my boy.
So, I mean, as soon as you like,I heard his voice and knew that
was him. And then you see his face and I
was like, yeah, I know that guy.I don't know.
I didn't know his name was BlakeClark.
So he's definitely that guy. And then the only other one is
Anna Marie Horsford as Naomi, the prostitute that picks up men
near Kevin and Kirby's apartment.

(45:53):
I knew her from the TV show Amenfrom 86 to 91.
She was also Dee Baxter on the WB sitcom The Wayans Brothers.
She's also been in Friday and its sequel Friday After Next, as
well as The Fan in 81, Presumed Innocent in 1990, Set it Off in
96, Along Came a Spider in 2001,Our Family wedding in 2010 and

(46:14):
the Madea Christmas in 2013. But yeah, once again, very small
role, but I'd recognized her immediately from Amen.
Friday. And Friday.
Yeah, I love Friday, but he talked about Blake Clark, he
said. You didn't know his name was
Blake Clark. He will always be farmer friend
to me. Yes, yes, yes.

(46:38):
Good times. All right.
Anybody else from the cast that I might have missed?
I don't think I did, but anybodyelse you want to talk about or
anything? You hit all the highlights, man.
OK. And this one guy, he looks like
Mitt Romney, apparently. Whip you believe?
Oh, yeah, that sounds right. That sounds right, Whip.

(47:02):
All right, let's talk about iconic scenes.
So if anybody said or someone said St.
Emerald's Fire, what's the firstscene that pops into your head?
The most iconic scene that pops into my head is until this last
watch, but when they're at the very end, when they're walking
away all together, all the friends, I'm like, that's,

(47:23):
that's what I remember is just they're all together at the end
and they just went through all this trauma and like, I don't
know, that's just something thatalways, always sticks out to me.
So that that that shot of them walking away from the bar.
Yeah, the scene when they're in the Jeep, and I think because

(47:46):
they use that as like the screenshot for the Bratz
documentary, but even watching it again today, like, I don't
know, I didn't look up who the cinematographer was, but I'm
assuming that had to be part of the vision of Schumacher as
well. But he did a really good job of
framing them all. Where like even in that scene in
the Jeep, you see every person, everybody's face, like they're

(48:08):
nobody's hidden in that scene. And so that's tough to do with
like 7 people in a, you know, 7 main people in your cast.
So but there's a couple other shots like when they're at the
bus station and Billy's leaving,like when they're all standing,
like they're just positioned just right where you're there,
you can see them all. And so those are the kind of
scenes where like they're all inscene together, ones that I

(48:29):
think about and then I think about Jules, Apartment, all pink
with the Billy Idol Muriel on the wall.
That stands out to me for a reason.
Any scenes that stand out as faras like maybe won't, maybe I'm
kind of get away from like favorite scenes, but are there
any impactful scenes or scenes that you felt didn't fit or just

(48:53):
something that stood out to you?Well, I mean, to me, impactful
scenes at you could say favorite, you could say
whatever. But the scene towards the end in
when Jules has locked herself inthe in her apartment and all the
friends are trying to get in there and then there's like
humor thrown in there, which backs me up.

(49:13):
It's like, you know, we we need a hacksaw or an experienced
thief is like, I'll go get Billy.
You know, I'm kidding. There's humor in there for
levity, but there's like also some like hardcore drama going
on with this. And when, when Rob Lowe finally
gets in there and Rob Lowe and and Demi Moore are just, they're

(49:36):
having this heart to heart conversation.
Like I, I, I saw those two starsborn in that scene, you know
what I mean? Like it's like they, they made
their career based off of that scene.
You know what I mean? Like they, it was like, it was
really, really good. Like, and it just kind of hit
you in the fields, you know, like watching it.
But so that one always that one's kind of sticks out.

(50:03):
I'm trying to think. You said the Jeep scene was 1/2.
When Kevin gets his story published was, you know, really
cool. So.
Yeah, I like the scene. Honestly.
I was saying like another impactful scene for me or scene
that kind of stands out is the scene at the bar when Billy's

(50:24):
wife comes in with the other guy.
And of course he gets jealous and, you know, he's, you see,
he's flirting with all the women.
He's like kissing Demi Moore, who's on the jukebox, you know,
just he's being the like flirtatious guy.
And then his his quote UN quote wife walks in with the other guy
and he just goes crazy and starts fighting.
And then they had this big fightout in the street and then and
then piss and make up and it's just like, come on, dude.

(50:46):
Like this is just crazy. But but yeah, that was it was
interesting, interesting story arc.
I'll tell you. The saddest scene for me,
though, is when Billy goes back to the university and he run and
it goes back to the sorority house or the yeah, at the
sorority house, the rat house and all the guys.

(51:07):
This is the legend is movie kid da da dad.
He's out playing football. He's like, hey, you think you
get a job? He's like, yeah, man, just want
to get us some drugs. And it's like that was when he
had his epiphany. Like, you know what, it's time
for me to grow up. I can't I can't go back to who I
was. You know, I've got to I got to
grow up. So good scene, like good

(51:27):
character development scene, butjust a sad for that situation.
Then he goes, you know, then he goes straight from that to his
wife, who says the guy who's probably the father of the baby,
even it's not really said, wantsto marry her and take care of
the baby. And so she's going to leave with
him. So he's like, I'm losing
everything all at one time, But yeah.

(51:49):
That's that's good. Got to grow up sometime.
Another one that kind of sticks out to me is when Alec and
Leslie are breaking up and they're kind of splitting up all
the stuff in the apartment. Oh yeah, yeah.
Yeah, and going and when they'regoing through the record
collection. Man.
And, you know, like Alec is a total jerk.

(52:11):
Oh yes, there's. One, there's one point in the
movie where I was in 100% total agreement with him.
When he yelled out. He said no, Springsteen is
leaving this house. Right, right.
I was like, yes, that's right, you tell her.
You can have all the Billy Joel except for the stranger.
Oh gosh. Yeah, yeah.

(52:32):
Good scenes, good scenes. The 80s Flick Flashback Podcast
will return after these messages.
Hey there fellow 80s movie aficionados, Are you ready to
embark on a nostalgia filled journey to the greatest era of
cinema? Then look no further than the
Retro Life for You 80s movie podcast.

(52:53):
Join us every week as we rewind the VHS tape, dust off those
Betamax classics and dive head first into the neon soaked,
totally tubular world of the 1980s.
Leaves from the Brat Pack, the action heroes, we've got it all
covered, Breakfast Club, Ghostbusters, ET in Indiana

(53:14):
Jones and more. It's like a trip in Doc Brown's
Time Machine, but without the DeLorean.
So whether you're a die hard 80sfilm buff, we're just curious
about the cinematic gems of the past.
Retro Life for You is your ticket to the ultimate movie
time warp. Follow us on Instagram and

(53:34):
Facebook at Retro Life for You and we can be found anywhere you
listen to your podcast as well as on our website
www.retrolifethenumber4theletteru.com.All right, let's jump into some

(53:56):
scenes and trivia or trivia. Maybe think about some other
scenes as we go. The film's title, Saint Elmo's
Fire, is derived from a real life meteorological phenomenon
which is mentioned in the movie.It's also known as Saint Elmo's
Light. According to Wikipedia, it's a
quote UN quote weather phenomenon in which luminous
plasma is created by a coronal discharge from a sharp appointed

(54:19):
object in a strong electric field in the atmosphere, such as
those generated by thunderstormsare created by volcanic
eruption. I just thought it was because
they went to Saint Emo's bar. I didn't think that was because
it was a real thing. Yeah, exactly.
But the street that St. Emo's Bar is on is in the
universal backlight. Two or three buildings to the
left is the Hill Valley Clock Tower from Back to the Future in

(54:41):
85 The Magic of Hollywood. Is that right?
So Amelia Estevez and Demi Moorebegan dating during the filming.
In the movie, he said he was quote UN quote deeply in love
with her, that for a time they were even engaged, though they
never married. I think they were engaged when
he made wisdom because then theycame out the year after.
So because you remember them being like a real couple while

(55:02):
they were filming that, you know, talking about the title of
Saint Almost Fire, Columbia Pictures hated the title, going
so far as to send a 35 page memolisting all the issues with the
with the proposed title and suggesting such alternatives,
alternatives as the real world and Sparks like, yeah, terrible,

(55:26):
terrible titles. Terrible.
Titles So we talked about the song being a hit.
The film's title song went to number one on the American
Billboard a Hot 100 chart on September 7th, 85, where it
stayed for two weeks. Singer John Parr, who Co wrote
and sang the title song saying Iwas fired for the soundtrack,
explained during a speech at theChildren's Choice Awards that he

(55:49):
was not particularly thrilled tobe working on the film and that
the song was written in honor ofParalympian and fundraiser Rick
Hansen. He said the Wheels of the Man in
Motion reference in the lyrics was popularly thought to mean
the wheels of Debbie Moore's Jeep, but actually refer to
those of a wheelchair. Last little bit I have here the
film's producer Lauren Schuler Donner set of the movie St.

(56:13):
Almost Fire confronts the problems of what happens to
friendships after a life change,such as graduating from school,
marriage, divorce or changing jobs.
Unfortunately, old friendships tend to dissolve as one's move
as one moves on in life. The friendships of our 7
characters are an important element in each of our lives.
But now they're setting out in different directions and will
form new bonds, which you kind of see at the end where you can

(56:37):
kind of tell they're all about to really.
Even though they're planning to meet for brunch quote UN quote
on Sunday, you have a feeling that they probably won't see
each other as much as they did before.
Even thinking about not going back into the bar because it's
filled with kids and it's noisy,it's like, well, they grew up
all of a sudden, so. Yeah, there was a conversation

(56:59):
between Emilio Estevez and McCarthy's characters staring
into St. Saint Emil's bar.
And Emilio says, I always thought that we'd be friends
forever. And then Kevin, Kevin says,
well, forever got a lot shorter.I get it, man.
I get it. I mean, whether high school

(57:19):
college people move off and do their own thing.
Like one, one thing piece of trivia that I found out after I
watched 'cause I actually owned the DVD and I watched the like
bonus features after. It was like interviews with it.
And apparently Rob Lowe had beenworking on Youngblood for like 2

(57:40):
years before that came out, before Youngblood came out.
So he was working on Youngblood,but he also had to prepare for
this role as well. So he he had to learn how to
play the saxophone while he was actively working on Youngblood.
Learning to play hockey. Yeah, yeah, learn to play hockey
and learn to play saxophone at the same time.
And and shooting a movie. So I'm like, this dude is

(58:01):
freaking working his tail. Off.
Oh man. Yeah, I didn't realize that they
were the same time like that. So, yeah.
But he really wanted to be in the movie, so he was willing to
make that, you know, just like Michael J Fox when he was
filming Back to the Future at night and still filming Family
Ties during the day. Like he went like two or three
months with like 0 sleep or likevery little sleep and was still

(58:25):
given his A game on both projects so for.
Sure. Man.
All right, let's jump in the boxoffice.
San Almost Fire was released in North American theaters on June
28th, 1985. It's only new release
competition was Pale Rider with Clint Eastwood which took the
top spot. San Almost Fire landed at #4 at
the box office behind Cocoon, which fell to 2nd place in its

(58:49):
second week, and Rambo First Blood Part 2 was at #3.
The film did end up making $37.8million that outperformed other
box office disappointments from Columbia Pictures that year,
including Silverado, The Bride and Perfect.
Man, it's a lot of great movies on at the theaters at the same
time. Summer of 85.

(59:10):
Yeah, I got a new feature for the podcast.
We're going to talk about the rewatch ability and nostalgia
meter. So instead of going over
critical consensus, we I've decided to make a change.
And so I have this meter that we're going to drink it from
1:00 to 10:00. You can pick any number between
1:00 and 10:00. But to kind of give you a gauge
one would mean, I saw it once that was enough. 5 or right in

(59:33):
the middle would be a good rewatch every couple of years.
And the 10 is highly rewatchableand full of nostalgia.
So JB, where does it land on therewatch ability nostalgia meter
for you? Rewatch ability because I see so
much depth in this and what they're trying to do here like I
it's kind of one that I would like to revisit every few years

(59:54):
so I'm I'm I'm going to say it'skind of been that 567 range
there yeah yeah yeah I'll probably give it a six as far as
rewatch ability goes so. Yeah, I'm, I'm kind of right
there with you. It's not highly rewatchable
because it does have some heavy,heavy spots in it.
And it's, you know, they're they're not as likable as you'd
want to see. Like, yeah, it's worth watching

(01:00:15):
every couple years, especially to see, like, these guys in
their prime. Like we talked about Rob Lowe
being on the floor. I mean, he still looks great for
his age. Like he's, you know, definitely
in his 60s now probably or like late 50s.
Yeah. To see him kind of in his prime.
Gotcha. All right.
Well, I'm going to wrap it up. Anything that you want to add

(01:00:36):
about Manly Movies? Is it coming back in 2025?
I know you're trying to get backback in the swing of things.
Yeah, it's wanting to come back.I've I've taken steps to get
there, filed, bought me a new computer because my other one
had kind of bitten the dust and.You can always go back and check

(01:00:57):
out his previous episodes, they're still good to go back
and listen to if you want to hear him talk about some good
movies like Remember the Titans,Unforgiven, Tango and Cash.
One of our favorites, so definitely go check it out.
Well, thanks so much, JB, for being a part of this one.
Happy new year, everybody. Thanks again for tuning in.

(01:01:18):
I'm Tim Williams, Fady's flick Flashback podcast.
Never trust a woman who says sheisn't angry.
The 80s we will run where every day is just pure fun.
Coonies never say thy they're your mind.
In those films, we lose our mind.

(01:01:56):
John Hughes and all his teen dreams, montages and simple
themes. In fairest hands, the city
bends, living a life like it never ends.
Are you still here? It's over.

(01:02:18):
Go home. Go.

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#125 - "St. Elmo's Fire" (1985) with JB Huffman

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#125 - "St. Elmo's Fire" (1985) with JB Huffman