Pajiba

5-25-77...how many of us here weren't that kid? Hell, STILL are that kid.
Can't wait.

Angus is no masterpiece, but damned if it hasn't stuck with me all these years. I wept like a statue of the Virgin Mary during the Peter Gabriel song scene.

Your love letter prompted me to search and discover that Angus is unavailable on DVD. What the Frak?!

I was born in that netherrealm (not the freshly-shorn, rarely viewed Jessica Alba style) between the John Hughes era and the Can't Hardly Waits (which would be an amazing new band). We were weened on The Goonies, The Karate Kid, The NeverEnding Story, and the Monster Squad (Which you also can't fucking get on DVD.)

I proudly owned the soundtrack. I loved that fat bastard like my own brother. I harbored an unfathomable hatred for James Van Der Beek. Shit, it even made me like Jurassic Park more, when I realized the little girl who almost became T-Rex leavings was the girl of his dreams.

The kid in the trailer is the trainee from Waiting .... He's popping up in more and more things.

I've never seen Angus, but it airs occasionally on HBO Family or one of the other pay channels. I'm sure it's on VHS, so you could wipe the cobwebs off the ol' VCR and plug it in.

socalledonlycousins, was that sarcasm? My sarc-o-meter is sort of broken today. It's Sam! From Freaks & Geeks! And, yes, he was in Waiting, too. I hope he's old enough now for me not to feel like a dirty old woman for being excited he's naked in a significant portion of that trailer.

I love Angus. My roommate has it on VHS. Too bad we chucked our VCR.

From Freaks & Geeks

Urm . . . Carrie, this is where if I were truly pathetic, I would pretend like, "Oh, yeah, I was just kidding," but since we're all friends here: I never watched Freaks & Geeks. That was a really non-TV time in my life, and it came and went so fast. But I think I have it queued on Netflix.

[*slinks away*]

I have this movie on VHS tape I got from Amazon, I watched it so much it got stuck in my VCR. I forced my now-husband to watch it on our obligatory movie date (he is a film major). I watched it in the theater when I was 10 and it completely stuck with me through high school.

Screw'em became my motto and I did it all from cheerleading to yearbook, art contests to drama club, choir to cross country.

I loooove this movie, especially the science project/going to prom scene.

I wasn't shaming you, socalled. Don't worry. I guess my sarc-o-meter wasn't broken, I just didn't need to have it on at all.

Enjoy Freaks & Geeks when it comes up on your queue. It is truly great.

Personally I had a great time in High School so I find all these amusing to watch. Anyway there's a great misconception about Better Off Dead, pay close attention and you'll see Lane wasn't your classic "loser" or "geek" he was just jock who, for a moment, was out of his league and lost his girlfriend to a another alpha male.

"Angus" is still one of my favorite movies, and hokey as his speech at the end is, I still cheer and howl, "Take THAT, Van Der Beek!" if I happen to catch a rerun.

HOLY SHIT SAM FROM FREAKS AND GEEKS!! This movie looks fantastic. I am there.

Some day someone will make a decent little flick about the travails of high school with a fat teenage girl as the heroine and not the punchline or the makeover or the funny friend.

And on that same day monkeys will fly out of my butt.

I envy all you menfolk and your geeky film protagonists.

That's the first trailer I've seen for this movie, and I'm definitely going to see it. I hope it's not going to be one of those movies you can't find playing anywhere.

My high school English teacher had me watch Angus and read a completely similar story as part of a grade 9 course. At that point, I'd already dropped out and started on independent learning courses - she was tutoring me from home out of the goodness of her heart.

At first I was doubtful, but I ended up enjoying it for the most part. Not that it's something I've ever admitted to.

Angus is one of my favorites... Came out while I was in college, but I was that fat kid through all of middle & high school. Even had a skinny friend with whom I did everything. You hit the nail on the head, with this one. I can think of no other movie in the high-school genre that was just so damn... IT for me...

I haven't seen it in years, due to the aforementioned lack of DVD availability, but damned if the eyes didn't get misty just at the mere mention of the Peter Gabriel tune... When he lays down that chess piece, I am a fucking puddle on the floor...

I remember Angus. Enjoyed it a fair amount, but I am ashamed to admit that one of the things I remember about it is that both Angus and Rumble in the Bronx, released pretty near the same time I think, had songs on the soundtrack by Ash Names the Planets, a band I had never heard of before or since. I think it might have even been the same song. Can't remember that, and I'm not even sure of the name of the song. Come to think of it, this is a pretty lame comment.

does.. Does anyone know what the last song in that trailer is?

Oh my god, haha love that trailer.

ps. jaap that song is jon brion's knock yourself out, it was in I Heart Huckabees.

Lola, that story about your teacher made me so misty.

I truly can't handle people who are mean to fat people, especially fat kids. We weren't even allowed to comment on somebody's weight in my house growing up. I must admit to being worried that my little daughter will be heavy, solely because kids are such assholes about it.

Strangely, I had a very fat friend in high school who was among the popular crowd. Guys wouldn't really go near her, but she was pretty revered by women. She was a cheerleader, too. People said some shitty stuff to her, but she was actually kind of a bitch herself and, at least outwardly, seemed to handle it okay.

I loved, loved, LOVED Angus!! I watched it in high school, bought the soundtrack and tried to use "screw 'em" as my personal motto. James Van der Geek did a spectacular job at playing the asshole. Great Weezer song on the soundtrack, one of my all time favorites!! Glad you brought this out of from the dusty shelf. It truly is a gem!

Thanks for the Charlie Talbert update. Didn't he grow up nicely!

I think we may have touched on this discussion before, but I just don't have that whole "high school is hell" memory. Granted I didn't go to school in the US, but even people I know who grew up here (such as Mr. PaddyDog) don't have that issue either (and he was fat and unathletic in High School). Is it a phenomenon confined to a type of school (Mr. PDog went to an all-boys Catholic School)? I'm serious in asking this because my whole life I've looked at these films and thought how unrealistic they are but then I see commentary to the contrary on sites I respect such as Pajiba. It really intruiges me.

Both of these films look good - When does 5-25-77 come out?

I totally love Angus! I always make my friends who have never heard of it watch it. I also always cry when Angus pushes the chess piece over. It breaks my heart.

I've only ever seen this movie in bits and pieces and always liked what I saw. Would love to put it on my Netflix queue, but I see from the above that it's not on DVD. Grrr. . .I'm sure when I finally see it I'll cringe with remembrances of high school pain and suffering. College was such a blessed relief.

My husband is going to love 5-25-77. He is a Star Wars nut (I swear we own every piece of fan fiction ever published).

As a high-school teacher, I can say that high school can be a great time, or it can be truly miserable. I think that for most kids, it's a little of both. I remember having a lot of fun with my friends but feeling pretty isolated and lonely at times. Lunch was (and still is from what I see in the student cafeteria) HELL if you didn't get lucky and have close friends in the same lunch shift. Mr. Pug (also a high-school teacher) and I often argue about whether or not we'd want to go back in time and relive the experience if we could. I say never, no way, not on your life, but he says he'd like to try it again. I think it's just being a teenager that sucks at times, and the high school is the center of the teenage world and as a result becomes the center of all things good and bad about the experience. All but the most self-assured kids have a little Angus inside them, I think. We all have moments when we feel ugly, unappreciated, friendless, etc.

I'm going to try my damnedest to find this and watch it. I don't know how I missed it the first time around.

I can honestly say that most of the long term friendships I enjoy now came from high school. Most of whom also were with me during BA studies. From post-graduate on, and the people I work with in my profession are closer to acquaintances/potential enemies than "friends." Although I suspect that has more to do with the legal profession being populated almost completely by assholes. (including me)

Seconded, Alabamapink. I can't help but think that were the genders reversed, this, Superbad, Knocked Up and a lot of other other beloved movies on Pajiba simply wouldn't fly. When the geeky girl gets the cute guy it's written off as girlish fantasies, how is this any different?

Correction insertclevernamehere....you CAN get monster squad on DVD. The special 20th anniversary edition (and first DVD release) came out a few months ago. You should pick it up...there is an awesome interview with Frankenstein (Tom Noonan) on the 2nd disk where he's in character the whole time talking about being in film for more than 50 years and what he plans to do after retiring and how he wants to finally get the girl etc. etc. Priceless really.

So....I wonder if at any point in the movie, Pat will do the Brain, the Abe Lincoln, or the Goat...

I'm ashamed to say that it took me a second to recognize him, at first I thought he was Tony/Doucheny from Skins (also known as the cute kid in About A Boy)

Wolfman's got nards. And I've got a copy of Monster Squad coming. Thank you, Pissboy. That's a phrase I never thought I'd find myself uttering sober or outside of a Mel Brooks film.

Thank you for including this in the amazing Underappreciated Gems column. It is truly just that.

And for people above me that probably wont read this, Monster Squad is out on dvd. It got a spiffy anniversary edition that came out months ago.

Hey, what is the Peter Gabriel song they use in Angus? I'm dying to know!

man, that trailer just screams indie movie. like the "vague statements summing up life in general" over random quirky images set to some indie song that wasn't even out when the movie is supposed to be set. mmm.....avoid.

Wait. Seriously? The kid from "Angus" grew up to be attractive? Like, really damn hot? Shit. That's all I need. Another damn crush on an D-list ex-child-star. Shit.

Fenchurch, it was "Washing of the Water"... And that combination of the song with that scene...

I wonder if at any point in the movie, Pat will do the Brain, the Abe Lincoln, or the Goat

"Oooooh, da Brain! Dat's . . . two kicks!"

Don't forget the bat wing. That's three kicks.

PaddyDog,

Yes, high school really was that bad for some of us. I was the fat girl most of my life. I went to a really small school, so even when I lost weight in high school I was still seen as the "fat girl." I didn't stand a chance of getting a date until I started going to a community college my senior year.

Man, I've been keyed up for 5-25-77 for months... can't wait to see it.

I have vague but fond memories of Angus, but certainly loved the soundtrack... I suppose it's worth a re-watch for all that.

Pattydog:
Ditto what Miss Erin said, but I wasn't the fat girl- I was a "between the cracks" girl.

Your fate in my high school was determined in the 5th grade- our Jr. High was the largest feeder school into the High school and from there, the cliques just expanded, NEVER changed. I was the band geek who played basketball, the girl with a perpetual bad haircut that had a nice rack, the honors kid who still had to cheat her way through math, the journalism writer who pissed off the football team. I think at times I would have rather been a full-fledged geek than what I was- an in-between girl who didn't fit in anywhere. I would not relive those years of abject torture, of loneliness and self doubt if you PAID me. Even with the "knowledge you have now" I don't think I could do it. I am afraid for my kids, but work like hell to make sure my hang ups don't become theirs.

I really really got my groove on in college, though, and more than made up for it in friends and experiences. I have 1 high school friend I am close to, about 12 I would consider very close friends from college.

my whole life I've looked at these films and thought how unrealistic they are but then I see commentary to the contrary on sites I respect such as Pajiba.

I don't get it either, and I DID go to HS in the US. It just wasn't a big deal. I wasn't popular, which I was happy with as they were largely fake anyway, but I wasn't a miserable loner. I was happily in-between.

Anyway, I haven't seen Angus, but if it ever hits DVD, I'll be sure to check it out.

I saw this movie several years ago and it was fine, of it's genre, but a perfect example of a frequent motif in movies and TV that I find exasperating wherein everybody else is an asshole for being superficial, but the conventionally unattractive kid who is equally superficial is somehow a hero. Angus, as I recall, was particularly egregious in this regard in that they made a sort of vague stab at suggesting his reasons for liking the girl were not merely appearance based (something about "It's more than just her little stomach muscles" or some shit like that), but it was so transparent, perfunctory and unconvincing as to border on insulting. I'm all for movies railing against the superficial values that make life a torment to so many, but when the so-called hero shares those values it seems to undercut the message rather.

I, for one, had a least a couple of crushes in high school that went beyond that physical attraction, yet I couldn't then even begin to describe what those feelings were, other than to say "it's just more than physical"... Just a gut-wrenching, every time you see her your whole body just goes numb type of feeling as you pass her in the hall, without being able to even saying a word of hello...

Vastly different from the purely physical attraction to other girls that was also part and parcel of being that age (hell, I'm not sure that ever goes away, either)... So, as this movie is from Angus' point of view, I can fully understand not being more than vague about his "other reasons" for being attracted to his girl.

Contrived, possibly, but not that far off the mark, either...

Oh, Angus. This movie came out when I was a plump middle schooler. My aunt had a video store, so we got to watch preview copies of movies, and Angus was one of them. My sister and I watched it a dozen times at least, loving it and hating it at the same time for its umcomfortable familiarity. We even loved and hated James Van Der Beek, just the way we did the real-life handsome football quarterback assholes. *Sigh* I don't think I ever want to see Angus again.

It's a damn shame that the Angus soundtrack was released with "Fade Into You." It ended up not having a few great songs from the film, but it's still one of the better film soundtracks out there.

Never mind Angus or 5-25-77; this was the director and child star that gave us Spaced Invaders!

I have fond memories of renting that on video many years ago. As I recall, my brother and I thought it was one of the funniest films we'd ever seen.

I'm not sure whether I should seek it out again or just leave those rose-tinted memories intact...

I haven't seen Angus but I intend to, I'll get around to it at some point.

I think PaddyDog it's largely a "non-American" thing. As for my high school experience: I can't remember there being a higherarchy amongst cliques, there weren't any that were "better" than the others, just separate and kind of equal. There were the non-clique girls (yep, single sex school) but it was mainly because they just didn't really care. There was no sense of "aspiring" to be in any crowd different than your own.... unless my apathy was such that I just didn't notice what everyone else was feeling. Which, let's face it, is fairly likely.

I was the anti-popular girl, the "cool kids" reeeeeeeeeeally didn't like me and I responded by shrugging my shoulders, living in the computer lab, skipping out on whatever lesson didn't seem like fun, doing the Times crossword with my friends in the foyer and removing the power cable from the common room CD player whenever Justin Timberlake got put on.

It was pretty much just dull.

College was better but the post college years are rocking so hard it's almost unbearable.

OH, IT'S SAM! I'm so glad he's in something I want to see again.
My love for Sam is equal to my hatred of Van Der Beek.

good review, i couldn't agree more. definitely one of my all time favorites for capturing some of the trials of high school.

To those girls who said a fat heroine in a serious role would never fly-- right on. We have endless TV shows and movies about the poor geeky boy, the fat geeky boy, the under appreciated diamond in the rough male anti-hero. Unattractive girls really are the lowest class of citizen, left out of even the underdog category. I mean, I occasionally have found myself really liking Beauty and the Geek, but it pulls the same garbage. The inclusion of an alleged female geek this last season doesn't make up for it either. She's not that bad.
I've got a very personal and very painful story of an unattractive, undesirable HS girl who loved a guy from afar. And having gone to film school, I could probably work it into a decent script. It might become the only decent thing I will have ever written. Wish I could bring myself to do it.
Ugh, I just got rather personal with myself, but Alabamapink brought up a point I have been trying to make, albeit quietly, for years.