Last Night I Joined "The Club"

25 years ago, a film came out that managed to hit home for kids all over the world.  That movie went on to become one of the defining films of a generation and, somehow, managed to continue to reach out and touch high school and college kids for the next two decades.  Last night, in celebration of the release of this classic, a screening was held in NYC.  In attendence were four of the five primary stars.  They were there to honor the man who created the film, and a multitude of classics before and after this film.  Kevin Smith was on hand to moderate a question and answer period after the screening and then, all those that ponied up for the VIP passes, were invited to a private party at a night club where the stars went to mingle with the guests.
The film?
The Breakfast Club.


The theater was buzzing with excitement.  The stars were doing the red carpet thing, being interviewed, posing for pictures etc and the crowd was a giant mass of reminiscing.  I picked up chatter from people around the theater, all talking about their favorite scene, quote, song etc from all the movies that John Hughes so generously gave us.  John Hughes' wife and sons arrived and joined the cast on the red carpet and we all took our seats as a woman took the stage.  Turns out that the woman who presented the film was the friend of my friend who alerted us to this event.  Apparently, her family was the source for the movie The Royal Tannenbaums. I've seen bits of the movie and, if I were her, I'd probably be pissed at the Wilson brothers for putting my insane family on screen like that.

Anyway, she introduced another dude and he introduced the cast, who stood and acknowledged the cheers from the rest of us.  Then he introduced the Hughes family and they received their first standing ovation of the night.

The theater then went dark and the movie started.  The quote from Bowie's Changes came on the screen.  I never realized how perfect that quote was.

"And these children that you spit on
 As they try to change their worlds
 Are immune to your consultations
 They're quite aware of what they're going through"

The soundtrack starts pounding, the opening drums of Don't You Forget About Me, and the hairs on the back of my neck bristled.

The theater cheered the names of the characters as they appeared on screen, cheered when they first showed up and sang along with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds.  They shouted out the lines, applauded and cheered as each confrontation between Bender and Vernon exploded.

When the movie ended, Kevin Smith took the stage and did a brief monologue, explaining how important this movie was to him.  So important, he said, that he pushed the start day of his new film back two days so he could attend.  So important that he flew back from the west coast (he had a "thing" with the airlines over his size and the two seat rule a while back).

He was hysterical.  I've always been a fan of his movies and always found him funny but he was brilliant on stage.  He brought the cast on and ran thru a bunch of questions that he had.  He was lightening fast with the jokes and the follow up comments and the hour and a half of questions flew by.  The only down side to it all was Judd Nelson who appeared to have developed a bit of Michael J Fox's parkinsons.  No, he doesn't have it but he sat in a strange, hunched over position the whole time, gripping the microphone with two hands, as if he was trying to tighten his whole body up.  His speech seemed forced and he appeared to stumble over his own words, his enunciation was forced.  It was odd.  More so since, it seems, he's a bit of a douchebag.  I've always loved his movies but his comments, at times, were pointed and seemed rather bitter.  Not towards Hughes and the film we watched but towards the industry as a whole.  I'm guessing, his lack of work has left him angry and he was pointing out that he was spoiled by his experience on this film.  Who knows.

The most impressive was Anthony Michael Hall.  He's funny as hell, he had no issue mocking Nelson throughout the Q&A and he sounded far more intelligent than I expected him to be.

The ladies looked great. I always had a bit of a crush on Ally Sheedy and she managed to rekindle my childhood lust for her.  Molly Ringwald looked great as well.

They were all very open and honest about the filming process, divulging all kinds of interesting tidbits.

The scene where Bender is under the desk and takes a peek at Claire's panties, before moving his head between his legs?  Kevin Smith asked if that was Molly's upskirt shot.  She said no and Kevin shouted "who the fuck have I been masturbating to all these years?"

It was that kind of a Q&A.  At one point, Smith pointed out that some of the audience were still cum when the film came out and Ally Sheedy told a story about her daughter's classmates would approach her at school to say they'd seen the movie and how important it was to them.

After the Q&A we headed to Good Units, a night club located in a trendy hotel a few blocks away.  We were on the VIP list so we were ushered into a room that overlooked the main club and dance floor.  We grabbed some drinks and sat down on the couches and, a few minutes later, Ally Sheedy and her family arrived.  They sat across from us.  Hall and his entourage (his mother and sister were his mother and sister in the film and they were with him) came next, sitting off to our right.  Then the Hughes family arrived and they sat next to us as well.  The stars were friendly as could be, taking pictures and chatting with the fans.

We left before the rest of the celebs arrived but it was an incredible night, one where we felt like we were in the library with Bender, Claire, Andy, Brian