Seattlest: 7 Astounding Yet True Facts About Say Anything...

edes

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:01:11 -0800

As much as I love Lloyd Dobler, for me there's no sweeter, more hilarious, or earnest a boy than Duckie in Pretty in Pink. I pose the "Duckie or Lloyd" question to my friends all the time, though, and Lloyd normally cleans up.

TroyJMorris

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:00:50 -0800

Yeah, I was just talking with a friend about his new one coming out. Which seems 'dumb' according to his lady, but that's what I like. Dumb movies based around a kick ass music. The movie is titled, "Endless Playlist" or something like that. Far too lazy to use google.

Katelyn

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:04:43 -0800

Superbad! I think Michael Cera's bringing back the teen movie, seriously.

ruffhauser

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:57:13 -0800

The 80's was a great era for "teen movies". No wonder todays teens are so screwed up. What do they have for date movies now?

TroyJMorris

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:37:25 -0800

Really, rent it now and watch it before Happy Hour. It's just... amazing.

James Callan

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:36:41 -0800

@thesoze: The IMDb only says "a song by Fishbone." Here at Seattlest, we went the extra mile to tell you which song by Fishbone. Kim, don't let the less-than-stellar trailer throw you off. It's a great movie.

Katelyn

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:20:42 -0800

Kim, you should rent it. I think you have to have seen it during a certain psychological developmental stage in order for it to have full Dobler Effect on you, so you'll be safe.

Kim Ruehl

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:14:38 -0800

i've actually never seen that movie. does that mean i'm fired? or just that i have to move back to florida?

thesoze

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:04:25 -0800

one of my fave movies...unfortunately all of the shots involving the actors were in around in LA - yep...it's true... the facts seems "borrowed" from IMDB.com another factoid...the couple walking in "bell square" was Nancy Wilson and the Director... "I gave her my heart, and I she gave me a p-p-pen"

Katelyn

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:27:02 -0800

@GroundedGirl: The point of the Klosterman chapter was that stories like "Say Anything" set us up for Ultimate Romantic Disappointment, which I think is true -- however I don't, in my heart of hearts, agree with his final conclusion that therefore we are not able to love or receive love. It's a funny book, though. Sidenote: even as a straight lady myself, I honestly think Joan's sexier than John. And Maggie's hotter than Jake, on the Gyllenhaal side of things. Charles, you're on... I must hear that story! James: amazing post, I love these 7 Astounding Facts concoctions of yours!

James Callan

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:25:41 -0800

Great quote that I didn't include because jesus, this was long enough already: Cusack and Crowe were out promoting Say Anything.... A woman came up to Cusack and asked, "Aren't you Lloyd Dobler?" "On my better days, I'm Lloyd Dobler," he replied. And Crowe stole that line for Almost Famous: "On my better days I'm Russell Hammond from Stillwater." And I can see Klosterman's point. On the other hand, I've been married for ten years, so part of me wants to say Chuck, Why can't you be in love? How hard is it to decide to be in love and stay in love for a while? On another note, much as I love this movie -- and I love it a lot -- I can't help but think it might have been just a teensy bit better with Jennifer Connelly as Diane. Then again, she did The Hot Spot around the same time. Silver linings...

Charles Redell

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:22:57 -0800

You know, I just re-watched that trailer... The boombox scene put me right back in that place of believing in true, perfect, everlasting love with some magical person. I realized that at a certain point in life, Klosterman was right: That movie did make real love impossible. In high school through my mid 20s, it was all about that magic, perfect love you find out there. That Girl. But in HS until you're 25, things are much more black and white and a relationship is either perfect or not. There is no in between. After a few heartbreaks and a few good but not great relationships, life really does become shades of gray and letting go of that perfect ideal is not only possible, it's welcome. Lloyd and Diane are likely still together and probably really happy about it, but I doubt the fire still burns as intensely for them as it did in high school. They've grown up, life has moved on and they've changed. They're still in love, but it's not the end all be all of life. And being that in love now (in my mid-30s) sounds exhausting to be honest. I desperately love my wife, but not to the exclusion of all else. Nor would I want to. So I wonder what Klosterman's life was like when he wrote that. How old was he? Does he still think like that? If so, and he's past 25 or so, I find it kind of sad that he thinks real love has to be Lloyd and Diane for most people. Because most people I know now, they don't want or need love like that.

GroundedGirl

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:09:48 -0800

'Cause we all want to marry a Lloyd Dobler and that's unrealistic? I just re-watched "Say Anything" and, you know what? That obessive mono-focus on being Diane Court's Boyfriend (oh, and kickboxing, the sport of the future) is too ambition-less for me. Lloyd Dobler is a broad sketch of a romantic ideal, a blank canvas-- would you really want to have a conversation with the man, though? That said, John Cusack is HOT. Always was, always will be.

Charles Redell

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:07:48 -0800

Awesome post. Say Anything was the first movie that attracted me to Seattle as well. Though it was a tour of Singles' sites I took when I first came out to visit that girl (no Diane Cort, she) prior to moving here. I've always loved it, Diane Cort and Lloyd Dobbler. I read that chapter in Klosterman's book, only one I did read as I got sick of his tone, and actually tend to agree. Or did. Till I found actual, real love. Klosterman's so damn cynical. Really, is life that bad? I think not (though I did when that girl did what she did. Buy some drinks tonight and I'll tell ya the story.

Katelyn

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:57:53 -0800

Have you read the first chapter of Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, And Cocoa Puffs? Klosterman uses John Cusack/Lloyd Dobler, and by extension "Say Anything," to explain (sort of) why our media-saturated generation will never be able to truly love. It's depressing.