Never Surrender Your Sunglasses...at Night

Watched "About Last Night"...last night. It is one of those wonderful Big 80's movies, a time capsule if you will, of all that was the 1980's. The movie revolves around Debbie (played by Demi Moore) and Danny (Rob Lowe) and their rocky love vs sex relationship. The film holds all that I hold dear about that New Wave Era.

It has gigantic sweaters – prints so large you look like wallpaper and sizes so large that Debbie and Danny could have moved all her stuff into her sweater and still had room for his stuffed Chicago Bear. And gigantic hair. Elizabeth Perkins, as Debbie's best friend, rocked the poodle-do while snapping scathing comments at Danny and his friend play by...

James Belushi, he went by James then – not Jim, was the semi-drunk side-kick. All good 1980's movies co-starred at least on Belushi, or Murray or that Andrew McSomthing guy. You remember him. He was the guy who dated a mannequin and that other 80's chick fried green tomatos.

Debbie was an artist, her friend a kindergarten teacher. Danny and his bud were sales guys in the same warehouse in which Kevin Bacon decided to be a writer later in the 80's. It must have been an inspiring warehouse. Danny decided to follow his dream there as well. They all hang out at the neighborhood bar, drinking pink wine. ( I am pretty sure John Hughes invented pink wine JUST for the 80's.) And they eat peanuts from those red baskets and throw the shells on the floor of the bar where the bartender cheerfully buys them drinks.

On dates the couple goes to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game, stand around outside Wrigley Field throwing each others hats into the air and of course, tour the art museum in Chicago. Did I mention the movie is set in Chicago? (I am pretty sure John Hughes also invented Chicago just for these movies.)

I don't really know why I love this movie. It drives me crazy that the couple central to the story are pretty flat, the angstyness is pretty contrived and the comic relief is painful. But I do love it. Maybe its because I wore most of the clothes or maybe because I was at the beginning of that BIG relationship myself.

But my love of the movie is most likely based on that feeling of hopefulness and endless possibility brought on by ripping the sleeves off your t-shirt, wrapping a red bandana around your head and cranking up your Corey Hart soundtrack – the Official Soundtrack Singer of the Big 80s.

Talking to one of the Ninja Turtles while rocking my own poodle-do in my Radical khaki jumpsuit. I always wore my sunglasses at night.