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Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 11:54 am
by domino harvey
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IT'S THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE THAT MAY LAST A LIFETIME.

In his debut film as writer-director, John Hughes immediately cemented himself as the king of teen cinema with Sixteen Candles, and in the process also introduced one of the most iconic faces of ‘80s Americana: Molly Ringwald.

For high schooler Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald), her 16th birthday might be the worst day of her life. Her entire family has forgotten about it due to her older sister’s impending wedding; her biggest crush, high school hunk Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling) has discovered an embarrassing “sex quiz” filled out by Sam in which she details how she is saving herself for him; and to make matters worse, she is hounded by a relentless nerd (Anthony Michael Hall) who won’t take no for an answer. But Sam’s sweet sixteen isn’t over yet, and before the end of the night, all her birthday wishes could still come true…

Taking the rude and crude humour of the teen sex comedies that came before it and placing it within the intimately portrayed perspective of a girl's mid-teenage-life crisis, Sixteen Candles is a bombshell of 80s pop culture that continues to be debated and beloved over three decades after its release.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
  • New restoration by Arrow Films from a 4K scan of the original negative
  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the Theatrical Version of the film (92 mins), plus Blu-Ray world premiere Extended Version (94 mins), featuring the additional “cafeteria” scene newly remastered in high-definition
  • Original lossless mono audio, plus 5.1 DTS-HD MA surround option
  • Original English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Alternate “home video” soundtrack prepared for VHS and laserdisc releases
  • Option to watch additional scene from the Extended Version separately
  • Newly-filmed conversation between actors Gedde Watanabe and Deborah Pollack
  • All-new audio interview with casting director Jackie Burch
  • Newly-filmed interview with composer Ira Newborn
  • Newly-filmed interview with supporting actor John Kapelos
  • Newly-filmed interview with camera operator Gary Kibbe
  • Newly-filmed interview with filmmaker Adam Rifkin, who shadowed John Hughes while working as an extra on set
  • All-new video essay written and narrated by writer Soraya Roberts, looking at the film from a contemporary feminist perspective
  • Celebrating Sixteen Candles, an archive documentary featuring interviews with cast, crew and admirers, including stars Anthony Michael Hall, Paul Dooley, Haviland Morris and Gedde Watanabe, among others
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Nikki Baughan and Bryan Reesman

Production Year: 1984
Region Code: B
UK Rating: 12
Running Time: 92 mins
Number of Discs: 1
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: 1.0 mono
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Colour: Colour

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:21 pm
by swo17
Criterion:

"We can't release this film in the current cultural climate."

Arrow:
SpoilerShow
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Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:25 pm
by domino harvey
#MeToo outrage may also just not be as big a deal in the UK as it is right now in the states, or as you jest, Arrow may not give a shit either way

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:49 pm
by rapta
domino harvey wrote:
Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:25 pm
#MeToo outrage may also just not be as big a deal in the UK as it is right now in the states, or as you jest, Arrow may not give a shit either way
They released a majority of Woody Allen's output, so I'm definitely thinking the latter.

Anyway, some John Hughes from Arrow is good news indeed. Uncle Buck is in need of similar treatment, and maybe they can snipe The Breakfast Club before Criterion consider porting theirs over here too!

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:51 pm
by Morbii
Arrow’s trashy side (ie Arrow Video) is one of those kinds of entities that I think will benefit from the controversy.

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:52 pm
by swo17
rapta wrote:
Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:49 pm
domino harvey wrote:
Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:25 pm
#MeToo outrage may also just not be as big a deal in the UK as it is right now in the states, or as you jest, Arrow may not give a shit either way
They released a majority of Woody Allen's output, so I'm definitely thinking the latter.
They released a majority of Woody Allen's output before it became a bold thing to do so (the last set came out in early 2017)

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:59 pm
by Calvin
They're prepping a Jodorowsky box set and there has been some controversy surrounding him too.

I would be surprised if the Sixteen Candles booklet doesn't at least broach the subject, which would be the correct way of addressing it - contextualising and critiquing.

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:04 pm
by HJackson
Can't wait to upgrade this one. Not sure what kind of controversy people are expecting over yet another blu-ray release of a very well known and beloved film. I doubt your typical low effort woke thinkpiece is even possible here - "Sixteen Candles is problematic" is a bit like saying grass is green, but I'm sure an intern at some blog will have a punt at it.

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:11 pm
by swo17
The only sensible option is to commission a Lena Dunham essay

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:13 pm
by domino harvey
“These are our candles...”

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 4:06 pm
by FrauBlucher
I guess a Molly Ringwald commentary track was out of the question.

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 4:17 pm
by 371229
Yeah... strange that there is no new interview with the two main stars, Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald.

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 6:27 am
by furbicide
I enjoyed Sixteen Candles as a teenager, but as the years passed my appreciation of it kind of diminished in hindsight, much of it to do with half-remembered recollections of all of the cringeworthy, "problematic" content. And yet, when I revisited the film recently, what struck me most is just how funny it is. On that front, Sixteen Candles actually stands up pretty well – and for all the legitimate critiques of the film's open racism and sexism, it's still groundbreaking for the way it centres its (actually complex and interesting) teenage female protagonist's perspective. When you consider the way women are treated in Hollywood romantic comedies even in these supposedly forward-thinking times, Sixteen Candles starts to seem a lot less regressive than people will tell you it is.

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 8:02 am
by tenia
I think the issue is that many people are conflating the movie indeed containing regressive and problematic content with the movie being regressive and problematic as a whole. I do think the movie is quite funny, and I do think it's probably better than tons of other stupid Hollywood rom-coms, but I also understand how some plot points aren't actually that much better.

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 1:31 pm
by Feego
I posted about Sixteen Candles here a few years ago for our 80s list, but to sum up, I think the main problem is the amount of time Hughes spends away from Ringwald's character. After the school dance and Ringwald's scene in the garage with Anthony Michael Hall, the film switches over to Jake Ryan's house party for an extended period that culminates with Hall taking the passed-out popular girl home. Except for that great scene with Ringwald and her dad, she doesn't show up again until the wedding the next day. This is where many of the "problematic" elements lie, and I wonder if there would be less focus on this material today if it had been better integrated with her story. While some of this sequence is funny, Hughes just doesn't have it in him to make a good raunchy comedy, and Jake Ryan as written and as performed by Michael Schoeffling is just never a compelling character. He remains too generic a prince charming, and I think Emilio Estevez's character in The Breakfast Club the following year is a much better version of the popular guy who's also nuanced and human.

With all that said, the scenes that are actually headed by Ringwald are great. She's not just the plucky girl next door, as she brings to her role a perfect amount of frustration and insecurity. The scenes with her grandparents that could easily go too far to the goofy side are grounded by her relatable discomfort. We also get some of Hughes' fun observational moments with smaller characters (Joan Cusack's water fountain scene never fails to put a smile on my face). I gave away my barebones DVD after the 80s list, but I am tempted to pick up this edition for all of the bonus features, and I would genuinely like to see the conversation between Gedde Watanabe (Dong) and Deborah Pollack (Lumberjack).

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 7:55 pm
by DavyGallagher
swo17 wrote:
Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:52 pm
rapta wrote:
Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:49 pm
domino harvey wrote:
Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:25 pm
#MeToo outrage may also just not be as big a deal in the UK as it is right now in the states, or as you jest, Arrow may not give a shit either way
They released a majority of Woody Allen's output, so I'm definitely thinking the latter.
They released a majority of Woody Allen's output before it became a bold thing to do so (the last set came out in early 2017)
Would you think they'd refuse to release them now? I think with the ambiguity over Allen - with his son saying Mia Farrow coached his sister to lie - it's very much a harder case to come down on than the Weinsteins or Spaceys with mutiple accusers. Weinstein's name is on many, many big films of the 90s.Would Arrow refuse those? He may not have directed them but ask a LOT of directors of the Miramax era and Harvey is very much the auteur on many of those. Usually against the director's will.

This set having the piece on feminist perspectives interests me greatly. I'm very much in the camp that we should see it all...in context.

Re: Sixteen Candles

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 10:49 pm
by cmeola
So did Criterion ever say anything about abandoning this? Or did it get confirmed by this release?
Either way, I'm depressed. This was one of the clues I freaked out about, one of my favorite films no matter what. Personally I think that Pretty in Pink is better and should have been on the table instead. I just want to know what the Cri cover art would have been. Sigh!