Brats, a Documentary Film About the 80s Hollywood Brat Pack
I was a little too young (and culturally sheltered — like I’d never heard of New York magazine) in 1985 to really understand what the heck the Brat Pack was (not to mention what the name was referencing), but as a child of the 80s, I obviously grew up watching movies and TV shows that featured these actors. According to Wikipedia (which is a good read if you’re unfamiliar with the whole thing), here are some of the actors that were in the Brat Pack (or Brat Pack-adjacent): Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Tom Cruise, Charlie Sheen, James Spader, Robert Downey Jr., John Cusack, and Matthew Broderick.
The Brat Pack moniker was coined in a 1985 New York magazine article and it stuck. And according to some of the members, it ruined lives, careers, and friendships. Now one of the group members, Andrew McCarthy, has directed a documentary about the group: Brats. From Deadline:
Brats looks at the iconic films of the 1980s that shaped a generation and the narrative that took hold when their young stars were branded the “Brat Pack.” McCarthy reunites with his fellow Brat Packers — friends, colleagues and former foes, including Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Jon Cryer, Lea Thompson and Timothy Hutton, many of whom he had not seen for over 30 years — to answer the question: What did it mean to be part of the Brat Pack? The actor-filmmaker also sits down for a first-time conversation with writer David Blum, who fatefully coined the term Brat Pack in a 1985 New York Magazine cover story.
That trailer definitely hooked me in. Brats will be available on Hulu on June 13.
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Ooof. That trailer wasn't a gut-punch--but a gut-bump, it was. "How do they look so old?" asks the 18 year old residing inside my grey-haired late-50s self. The Brat Pack served a classic projection function for my white, rural New Hampshire GenX existence: who was most like me? who was my cautionary tale? who would I want as a boyfriend? Today's question: Do they still sell Bartle & James wine coolers and can I buy some before June 13?
Bartles and Jaymes, cause of some truly awful hangovers.
If you can't lay hands on a bottle, try a 1:1 mix of $2.99 grocery store wine and off-brand 7-Up.
Oh Dirk! A deep bow to your correct spelling. That "s!" That "y!" And the fallibility of memory.
I mean, I did have to google it to be sure.
Is there a link to this on Hulu yet? Like, something you can mark as "want to watch"?
Weirdly, not that I can find. 🤷♂️
The video reinforces my belief that one of the secrets to male eternal youth is a full beard to hide all the age-related morphological changes at the sides of the mouth and under the chin. Well, that and sunscreen.
I used to wonder what I'd look like without the beard I've been wearing for thirty years, but lately I don't want to know.
What's interesting to me is that only Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall Gen-X'ers. All the others in the Wikipedia list are Boomers. Not sure why it's interesting because Hollywood always casts people older than their characters but as the exact age of many of John Hughes's characters (I turned sixteen a few months before Sixteen Candles came out and graduated HS around Ferris Bueller's release) I just find it odd. I mean, Judd Nelson was playing a HS JR or SR when I was a HS JR in Breakfast Club and he is almost nine years older than me.
can't wait for this but yeah, makes me feel old 🥹
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