#randomly every year a kid or two tells eddie their mom has a crush on him

[batbitten86]

elementary school teacher steve harrington who is married to rockstar eddie munson that is completely taken care of, he doesn’t need to have a job but loves teaching kids so much. he just wants to make sure these kids have a safe space because school was always his place to get away from his parents and eventually the empty house, so he uses all of the salary he gets from teaching and just puts it back into his classroom and the kids he teaches he just wants to make sure everyone feels special in his classroom. (and the kids think it’s a magic trick he’s able to get a real life ROCKSTAR to show up to his classroom to bring him flowers or lunch)

[amongthegraham]

Resurrecting a Classic

“Gee, I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky.”

If you read that and busted up laughing, congratulations, you are a fan of the nonstop off-the-wall humor featured in 1985’s “Better Off Dead.”

“Better Off Dead” may have a very strong cult following, but outside of the fans that cherish it, many people just don’t get it and think it’s an awful movie. Much like the comedy series “The Kids in the Hall,” you either love it or hate it. There is no middle ground.

I can specifically remember introducing it to someone and they just kept repeating “this isn’t funny” and quit watching it. The final straw was the math class scene when the students are ecstatic over the complicated material and the way they unanimously rejoice over their homework assignment of memorizing “pages 39 to 110 for tomorrow’s lesson.” True, no teenager would groan when the bell rings and they have to leave the class, but that’s precisely what make “Better Off Dead” so unconventionally hilarious.

Even the star of the film, John Cusack, is anti “Better Off Dead.” According to “13 Facts About ‘Better Off Dead’” from Mental Floss, after fighting to cast Cusack as the lead, Lane Meyer, Cusack crushed writer/director Savage Steve Holland when he walked out of the screening in the first 20 minutes and then confronted Holland the next day, saying, “You know, you tricked me. ‘Better Off Dead’ is the worst thing I have ever seen. I will never trust you as a director ever again, so don’t speak to me.” This was quite the predicament since that was the same day the two would commence working together on Holland’s follow-up film, “One Crazy Summer.”

However, recently Cusack has come to appreciate the film and told The Nerdist podcast that he didn’t hate it, he just got sick of talking about it, and that he did feel “terrible” the cast and crew thought he truly disliked “Better Off Dead.” Costar Curtis Armstrong, who plays best friend Charles De Mar in the comedy, commented on Cusack signing a “Better Off Dead” poster in the past few years, telling The Nerdist, “That was huge, because he literally would not sign anything.” He added, “Somebody would hand him something and he would push it away, it was like a cross in front of a vampire.”

Cusack’s view of the movie is even more exasperating when you consider how phenomenal he is as the heartbroken teen who ponders suicide when his girlfriend dumps him for the captain of the ski team. His deadpan performance is positively unforgettable and definitely helped cultivate his acting skills.

So, why am I talking about this 32-year-old movie this week? Truthfully, I have an early deadline due to Labor Day so won’t be able to review Depeche Mode’s August 30th Tinley Park concert (that will be the subject of next week’s review). Therefore, I am revisiting this classic film.

This past August 24, I randomly texted my buddy that I was hankering to watch “Better off Dead.” He immediately responded, “I’m in!” Interestingly, my buddy was 13 when “Better Off Dead” was released and saw it in the theater. I was 3, but would later discover it thanks to USA always airing it during “No Class Movie Daze” marathons.

Despite the age difference, we both deeply revere “Better Off Dead.” Though we have both seen the film countless times and know every little detail, a fly on the wall would have thought it was our first screening judging by how uncontrollably hard we were laughing. Maybe the Schlafly Pumpkin Ale played a role, but at what point I had tears in my eyes.

As we watched, the two of us incessantly pondered how anyone could possibly not like “Better Off Dead?” Even after the movie, the praise continued for quite some time. One characteristic we could not get past was the fact that there is literally no down time in “Better Off Dead.” Every scene is one bizarre situation after another.

What makes the movie even more enjoyable is that it’s actually a true story.

The movie is based on Holland’s own experience with losing his girlfriend to the high school ski captain. He actually tried to kill himself in the garage, but the pipe he was hanging from busted and his mom only cared about all the water raining down. He began keeping a diary of his experiences and people found them hilarious, not depressing.

There is no other movie on the planet quite like “Better Off Dead.” An animated hamburger emulating Eddie Van Halen, a scary paperboy hell-bent on $2, Japanese drag racing brothers (only one speaks English, but only by channeling Howard Cosell), a mom that cooks disgusting food that moves (Holland’s own mother was the basis for the character and she actually gifted him TV dinners for his birthday), snorting snow and Jell-O in lieu of real drugs, and a little brother that picks up “trashy women,” never speaks, and builds his own spaceship…these are just glimpses of this extraordinary cult classic.

Though not everyone is on the same side when it comes to this comedy, one thing is certain: I will go to my grave continuing to spread “Better Off Dead” awareness.