Summer School (1987) - February 8, 2022

[houseca]

Speaking of PG-13 movies that should have been R-rated.... I remember I was in Junior High, or "middle school" as it is called nowadays... and we went to see Woman in Red which was PG-13. It had Kelly LeBrock showing full frontal nudity. I was very surprised even back then.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by houseca

It had Kelly LeBrock showing full frontal nudity.

In many countries that's just called network television, the MPAA is a joke!

[Luke Dodge748]

Originally Posted by houseca

Speaking of PG-13 movies that should have been R-rated.... I remember I was in Junior High, or "middle school" as it is called nowadays... and we went to see Woman in Red which was PG-13. It had Kelly LeBrock showing full frontal nudity. I was very surprised even back then.

I have the Kino Lorber bluray. I don't remember seeing her full nude. Could it have been removed??

[meremortal]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

In many countries that's just called network television, the MPAA is a joke!

Really, full nudity on network tv? I still remember the outrage when Dennis Franz showed his butt on NYPD Blue in the 90s.

[houseca]

Originally Posted by Luke Dodge748

I have the Kino Lorber bluray. I don't remember seeing her full nude. Could it have been removed??

I honestly don't know if it was removed or not. I sure hope not. The scene is when

[Show spoiler]she is in bed with Gene Wilder towards the end, and her fiance/husband calls her and she jumps out of bed. It was brief but I remember getting a decent look at her.

I have the KL disc too, so I'll check when I get the chance.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by meremortal

Really, full nudity on network tv? I still remember the outrage when Dennis Franz showed his butt on NYPD Blue in the 90s.

When I was in Germany and the UK I remember seeing topless women and even some full frontal men on late night TV, especially variety shows. Maybe things have changed, but doubt it, only the USA demonizes that stuff. Heck Youtube and Twitch has WAY worse than standard nudity imo for free.

[DR Herbert West]

Caps

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

Caps

The DVD looked pretty good

[pigmanjoe]

Originally Posted by houseca

Speaking of PG-13 movies that should have been R-rated.... I remember I was in Junior High, or "middle school" as it is called nowadays... and we went to see Woman in Red which was PG-13. It had Kelly LeBrock showing full frontal nudity. I was very surprised even back then.

In the early days of Comedy Central, they aired that Woman In Red scene unedited for a long time. As a cable station, they could have done whatever they wanted anyway, but I assumed it was just an oversight on such a brief shot. On the network side, shows like Miami Vice had some accidental nudity, and NBC aired Schindler's List completely unedited. That one is crazy, with the nudity being the least problematic issue for kids.

Anyway, I'm glad Summer School is finally on blu, but that encode looks 20 years old.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by pigmanjoe

that encode looks 20 years old.

Prepped for D-Theater

[nymets24]

Originally Posted by Luke Dodge748

I have the Kino Lorber bluray. I don't remember seeing her full nude. Could it have been removed??

It wasn't removed on the KL disc.

[sancho]

Watched this last Friday Night. Such an awesome movie + release.

[WBMakeVMarsMovieNOW]

Originally Posted by meremortal

Really, full nudity on network tv?

yeah, certainly in The Netherlands (at least as recently as 10 years ago) and France (at least in the 80s/early 90s) at the least and surely many, many more places (almost certain the same thing in a quite a few other European countries and I think also in parts of South and Central America), regular network seeming TV, not ultra late at night or anything, shows and commercials

heck (at least in the 80s/early 90s) you could drive down a highway in France and they'd have high school girls shown showering on giant billboards advertising soap and shampoo as well as in TV commercials but it wasn't anything exceptional as in the summer it seemed like most lake beaches and lots of ocean beaches were somewhat clothing and certainly topless free more often than not so it wasn't anything that would have stood out to anyone there, just regular life

[Lignerty]

Personally, I love these old American films. They evoke in me a warm feeling of nostalgia for my childhood. Before, I always ran to the TV as soon as possible in order to be in time for the start of the show. But my mother allowed me to watch TV only after I had done all my homework. Therefore, I always used https://ca.edubirdie.com/article-rev...iting-services through which I could easily and quickly order article review writing and not worry about homework all day. I miss these times. Now such films are not being made, and it remains only to look for such films on the Internet.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by houseca

Speaking of PG-13 movies that should have been R-rated.... I remember I was in Junior High, or "middle school" as it is called nowadays... and we went to see Woman in Red which was PG-13. It had Kelly LeBrock showing full frontal nudity. I was very surprised even back then.

Logan's Run and Airplane were rated PG and both featured nudity. Back in the day it was surprising what you could sometimes see aired on TV on UHF channels, especially late. Easily R-rated material. But it was inconsistent. The same film would be cut the next time they air it. Or they would cut one scene and keep another. Same with profanity. They would leave one instance in but cut another, even the same word.

[The Great Owl]

Freddy Shoop, a laid-back gym teacher played by Mark Harmon, is accustomed to doing the minimum amount of work necessary to coast through his job so that he can enjoy his summers off. After he is forced to cancel his vacation plans in order to teach remedial English to a group of underachievers during summer school, however, he finds a newfound sense of purpose as his students relate to his lackadaisical demeanor.

When I first saw the 1987 comedy, Summer School, directed by Carl Reiner (The Jerk), during one of its countless airings on cable television shortly after its release, I instantly loved it, despite its dismissal by critics as forgettable throwaway fare, but I figured it as a one-and-done endeavor that would soon fade from memory. Over the subsequent decades, though, this lowbrow endeavor proved itself to be timeless in my eyes as a film that I had to watch with undivided attention each time I stumbled across it while channel surfing.

I love how Summer School plows forward with reckless abandon and hilarity while somehow accidentally becoming a meaningful movie that inspires us to care about each character, taking the time between its hijinks to address serious issues like teen pregnancy, learning disabilities, and alcoholism. While Shoop guides the kids from one misadventure to another, he turns them into better people while learning a thing or two himself.

During my first viewing of this film as a teenager, I naturally felt a kinship with the two devout fans of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, played by Dean Cameron (Ski School) and Gary Riley (Stand by Me), although, in reality, I was more of a blend between the geeky misfit played by Richard Steven Horvitz and the good-natured athlete played by Patrick Labyorteaux. Kelly Jo Minter (The Lost Boys) is brilliant as a bad driver whose wittiness is a facade to conceal her dyslexia. Shawnee Smith, who stars as the pregnant student, was a favorite of mine back then, due to her appearances in The Blob, Who's Harry Crumb?, and Stephen King's The Stand. Courtney Thorne-Smith (Melrose Place) would move on to iconic television roles after starring as the wayward surfer girl here. Fabiana Udenio, as an Italian exchange student, provides some of the biggest laughs because of her reactions to Cameron's and Riley's horror-obsessed duo. Of course, I was always just as sleepy as the nocturnal teen played by Ken Olandt, although I did not have a cool job like he did. Duane Davis (Beetlejuice) makes a memorable and funny mark as a mostly absent student.

Harmon, a former football star who was appearing in Coors beer commercials at the time, was the best possible choice for our bewildered lead, because he is so convincing as a happy-go-lucky jock. Robin Thomas shows superb comedic timing as the vice principal who is out to get Shoop, while Kirstie Alley excels as a love interest. Finally, I cannot leave out one of my favorite dogs in cinema.

The music score by Danny Elfman is icing on the cake.


This Shout Factory Blu-ray looks just fine to me. I'm loving the special features now.

[meremortal]

I enjoy reading these forum reviews a whole lot more than the "professional" ones.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

[Show spoiler]Freddy Shoop, a laid-back gym teacher played by Mark Harmon, is accustomed to doing the minimum amount of work necessary to coast through his job so that he can enjoy his summers off. After he is forced to cancel his vacation plans in order to teach remedial English to a group of underachievers during summer school, however, he finds a newfound sense of purpose as his students relate to his lackadaisical demeanor.

When I first saw the 1987 comedy, Summer School, directed by Carl Reiner (The Jerk), during one of its countless airings on cable television shortly after its release, I instantly loved it, despite its dismissal by critics as forgettable throwaway fare, but I figured it as a one-and-done endeavor that would soon fade from memory. Over the subsequent decades, though, this lowbrow endeavor proved itself to be timeless in my eyes as a film that I had to watch with undivided attention each time I stumbled across it while channel surfing.

I love how Summer School plows forward with reckless abandon and hilarity while somehow accidentally becoming a meaningful movie that inspires us to care about each character, taking the time between its hijinks to address serious issues like teen pregnancy, learning disabilities, and alcoholism. While Shoop guides the kids from one misadventure to another, he turns them into better people while learning a thing or two himself.

During my first viewing of this film as a teenager, I naturally felt a kinship with the two devout fans of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, played by Dean Cameron (Ski School) and Gary Riley (Stand by Me), although, in reality, I was more of a blend between the geeky misfit played by Richard Steven Horvitz and the good-natured athlete played by Patrick Labyorteaux. Kelly Jo Minter (The Lost Boys) is brilliant as a bad driver whose wittiness is a facade to conceal her dyslexia. Shawnee Smith, who stars as the pregnant student, was a favorite of mine back then, due to her appearances in The Blob, Who's Harry Crumb?, and Stephen King's The Stand. Courtney Thorne-Smith (Melrose Place) would move on to iconic television roles after starring as the wayward surfer girl here. Fabiana Udenio, as an Italian exchange student, provides some of the biggest laughs because of her reactions to Cameron's and Riley's horror-obsessed duo. Of course, I was always just as sleepy as the nocturnal teen played by Ken Olandt, although I did not have a cool job like he did. Duane Davis (Beetlejuice) makes a memorable and funny mark as a mostly absent student.

Harmon, a former football star who was appearing in Coors beer commercials at the time, was the best possible choice for our bewildered lead, because he is so convincing as a happy-go-lucky jock. Robin Thomas shows superb comedic timing as the vice principal who is out to get Shoop, while Kirstie Alley excels as a love interest. Finally, I cannot leave out one of my favorite dogs in cinema.

The music score by Danny Elfman is icing on the cake.


This Shout Factory Blu-ray looks just fine to me. I'm loving the special features now.

One thing about this movie is that basically every character is worthwhile. It's sorta like Fast Times in that way. It's hard for me to pick a favorite character. Nobody is overbearing, male and female characters both get it to do their thing without it coming off as forced. The Alley/Harmon stuff could have easily overshadowed everything, but it didn't.

I think both Summer School and Some kind of Wonderful suffered from there being so many teen comedies back then. People were starting to get exhausted from those movies much like they were with slashers by the time 1987 rolled around.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by rocknblues81

One thing about this movie is that basically every character is worthwhile. It's sorta like Fast Times in that way. It's hard for me to pick a favorite character. Nobody is overbearing, male and female characters both get it to do their thing without it coming off as forced.

Summer School has some of the best casting I've ever seen, just like you said every single character is memorable and all of them have great dialogue (even the parents!). Hollywood doesn't even try anymore with their casting, people get roles for checking boxes on a spreadsheet and not their acting ability nor if they're even right for the role (recent example: Resident Evil Raccoon City). This is a truly "diverse" movie and it absolutely dunks on any of the manufactured schlock productions these companies try to push out now.

I would also take Summer School over Fast Times all day, Fast Times is like a cartoon compared and I've never considered the writing in that very authentic considering Cameron Crowe wasn't even in High School himself for barely 2 years.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

Summer School has some of the best casting I've ever seen, just like you said every single character is memorable and all of them have great dialogue (even the parents!). Hollywood doesn't even try anymore with their casting, people get roles for checking boxes on a spreadsheet and not their acting ability nor if they're even right for the role (recent example: Resident Evil Raccoon City). This is a truly "diverse" movie and it absolutely dunks on any of the manufactured schlock productions these companies try to push out now.

I would also take Summer School over Fast Times all day, Fast Times is like a cartoon compared and I've never considered the writing in that very authentic considering Cameron Crowe wasn't even in High School himself for barely 2 years.

I'm surely not going to go so far as to say SS is better, but SS deserves to be better known than it is.