Dorathen Better Late Then Never

2freensel I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

bettycjung 3/31/18. While this film didn't get a lot of press when it first came out (1979) because there were similar type movies at the time, it eventually got rediscovered and is now considered a cult classic. As a cult classic you really can appreciate the social commentary this movie provides about how planned communities failed to meet the needs of their residents, namely, the tween population. And, tweens need guidance more than anything else. Eventually, an all out rebellion explodes when one of their own is shot by a cop. Today you can watch this as a cautionary tale about how tweens and teens do need parental guidance and cannot be left to their own devices (now with an added meaning in our technological addicted society). Worth watching as it has stood the test of time and still remains relevant because it still says something about what it means to be in middle school and trying to grow up without being ostracized by one's peers. By the way, the soundtrack was totally fantastic!

sol- Living in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do, the bored and disaffected teenagers of a poorly resourced planned community are eventually driven to revolt against the oppressive adult population in this searing drama written by Tim Hunter, who also helmed the similarly themed 'River's Edge' a few years later. The film tackles a very real issue that, with urban sprawl all around the world, still exists today: families lured into cheap housing in new communities that are improperly resourced to handle energetic adolescents. Indeed, while the parents of the film come under scrutiny for not understanding their kids and how boxed up they feel, the poor planning of the town is really the villain of the piece. It takes a long time for the film to make its point though, and with the revolt only occurring in the final third of the movie, there are a lot of repetitive scenes of the teens trying to score drugs, pick up girls and evade the sadistic police to firstly endure. The antagonism between the police and teenagers is a little undercooked too; while all the teens believe that the cops are hell-bent on power and tend to overreact, it is hard to blame the police for being like that if the teenagers do actually constantly vandalise their cars and create public nuisances for no good reason. Unless, of course, boredom is a reason, and say what one may about the film, the movie deftly shows the power of boredom to lead to mischief. Topped off with a mood-setting, eerie score by Sol Kaplan (of 'Niagara' fame), it is a haunting experience that lingers in the mind too.

SnoopyStyle Carl (Michael Kramer), Ritchie (Matt Dillon), Claude (Tom Fergus), Johnny (Tiger Thompson) and the other neighborhood kids are restless and rebellious against their suburban lives. They do drugs and hang out at the rec center. They get into trouble and hassled by the cops. After an incident, a curfew is imposed. After Carl gets beaten, cops close the rec center. The clash between the kids and the establishment only escalates.It's Matt Dillon's debut. He's not the lead but he steals the movie. There is some good music but only in the background. The material is edgy for its era. The kids are doing more than a little weed. It's got an indie feel with real amateur kids playing the roles. It reminds me of Kids (1995) except it's in suburbia. It does need to play up the rock music of that era. When Carl gets beaten up, traditional classical music gets played. It's the wrong idea. That violence needs to be backed up by a pounding rock anthem. There is too much traditional scoring. Otherwise, this is a really interesting cult classic.

PimpinAinttEasy I guess i'm getting old, I found the kids really irritating in this kids vs.adults movie. Kids in a planned community slowly start to go wild after they feel like the adults are ruining their town by attracting new business and paying little attention to their needs (were the kids communist? HOHOHO!). The acting by the teenage actors are terrible except for Matt Dillon who is hilarious as a tough kid. Dillon mouths some really cheesy dialog like "A kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid!!!".Michael Kramer who plays the leader of the kids made me sick, what a little chump, I felt like he needed a nice beating :). The hard rock and punk rock soundtrack do liven things up a little bit. But overall, this film is just dire. Apparently this is Kurt Cobain's favorite movie. Unlike nirvana's music this film does not even amount to a slap on the face of the establishment. It is just weak.