Better Off Dead was perhaps one of the greatest teen movies from the 80's. While there are several movies I could mention from this genre, this one is definitely my favorite. I list it as a favorite mostly for sentimental reasons, but also because it's probably one of the funniest movies I have ever seen.
Let's start with the sentimental...
Better Off Dead reminds me of my childhood, specifically Christmas Eve. It was tradition when I was younger to watch this movie with my siblings every Christmas Eve night, why? Well, we don't know either, but we just started doing it. I honestly can't think of a recent time where my family has been able to sit together in the same room without some kind of drama breaking out, so this reminds me of the days before all the drama began.
We even used to sing together or I would sing while my sister played the guitar or piano and everyone else would watch. When I was younger, I LOVED singing so much. I used to sing and dance all the time...anything to be the center of attention. I loved to make my family laugh and smile. Singing, dancing, sarcasm, making joke gifts, etc was my way of seeing happiness from them. One day, it just stopped working. My family just wasn't happy anymore and there was nothing I could really do. I felt like I failed them. That was such a hard thing for me to handle at a young age.
Anyway, that was quite the tangent, but this movie reminds me of the time when we all used to get along each other and we used to love watching movies together, especially quoting our favorites. This was one of them.
There are so many funny things about this movie. It really is probably one of the most quotable movies ever. Plus, John Cusack is so damn funny in this movie. I have run into so many random people who can quote this movie. There was a guy in my high school art class and while working on projects we used to say lines from this movie and laugh hysterically. It was even funnier when my Chinese teacher asked if I had seen it. After that, anytime we ever saw each other, we said lines from that movie.
My favorite scene from the entire movie is the math class. That entire scene really is the epitome of me in any math class. The teacher is up in the front saying God knows what, other people get what he's saying and they are oh-so fascinated and I'm sitting there lost like "What the hell is going on?" and then getting called to the board to solve a problem. I really wish I could find a clip of it, because anytime I see it I laugh hysterically. I can only find a clip of the last part of the scene with Lane's friend which is a fantastic line, by the way...
And who can forget the greatest excuse to get out of paying the paperboy?...
In case you don't know how to ski, here's a handy clip for you as well...
The mom's outfits from this movie are totally what my mom wore when I was younger. The mom in this movie is a total quack job, but she's so sweet and awkward that she's absolutely hilarious. Check out this dinner scene where she tries to introduce more ethnic foods for their french guest... her facial expressions kill me...
"Raisins, you like raisins!" Here's another scene with the mom. This scene made me laugh so hard I would cry. My mom was really big on trying new recipes when I was younger and this clip really was often the result... [1:25 on is the best part]
(P.S. My mom is actually a good cook, but she has made some rather interesting inventions in the past...)
I don't know why I can't embed the videos into my blog anymore, but it won't work. It's kind of frustrating.
Anyway, awesome movie. Check it out if you haven't. It's hilarious.
Awesome post! Awesome movie!
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