Author Rachel Brook

For evidence of the enduring popularity of ‘80s screen stories one need look no further than the recent plethora of remakes like Fame and Footloose, and West End musical adaptations such as Back to the...

1980s high school movies are a mixed bag, with the plethora of cult teen films ranging tonally from dick jokes to contemplations on mortality (sometimes even within the same film). Of course the high-school...

Kitschy and tediously drawn-out home video credits give way to a humorous portrait of arrested development in the vein of Frances Ha and Drifters. While stylistically closer to the latter, Say When’s...

The extreme saccharine romanticism of Pemberton’s (Cooper) first meeting with Serena (Lawrence) may cause some to wish the film had remained in the can another two years, yet brutal dramatisation of the...

While far from being critically slammed, 2011’s The Help didn’t quite achieve the kind of hype or awards success that can now be expected from Autumn/Winter releases tackling themes of racism and black...

Grant’s washed-up screenwriter is a familiar but less charismatic version of his over-the-hill musician in Lawrence’s Music and Lyrics. The Rewrite suffers by comparison; there’s nothing to rival the...

As critics map the stars of Cronenberg’s latest, the facial and vocal contortions of Moore’s transformation into the uptalking over-sharer Havana will make her a focal point - but no one in Maps puts a...

Scherfig balances An Education’s idealisation of Oxford University with this saga of undergraduate decadence and debauchery. The first act, particularly the prologue, verges into seemingly unintentional...

As we saw in Music of the Movies: John Hughes, music is never just background noise in ‘80s films; it’s also integral to story and character. And while the surprise dance scene of The Breakfast Club is an...

Joffe’s adaptation retains the premise of Watson’s novel yet recalibrates elements of the plot to keep even those who’ve read it (all four million of them) on the edge of their seats. One clever...

Heavily infused with music and relying on a flashback format, Forman’s novel seems ideal for the audio-visual medium of film. Yet Cutler’s unenergetic debut betrays the influence of the Nicholas...

In June 1985, just two months after the release of John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club, Joel Schumacher delivered an outrageously underrated spiritual sequel in the form of St. Elmo’s Fire. Sharing stars Judd...

Despite its title this isn’t a film about ‘if’, it’s about ‘when’. Yet as it progresses, sometimes ploddingly, to the inevitable conclusion the long-awaited coupling of Wallace (Radcliffe) and...

A sparing script immerses the viewer in the working-class environ of God’s Pocket, allowing impeccable editing, whiplash choreography and top-notch silent acting to take centre stage. It’s Hendricks who...

Welcome to the ‘80s is a new feature looking at the handling of various themes in ‘80s teen movies, from the classics to those less well remembered. Far from being simply the fun, frivolous romps they’re...