It says plenty that “The Breakfast Club” may be director John Hughes’ most iconic slice of ‘80s-era filmmaking. The Hughes Decade also delivered “Pretty in Pink, “Sixteen Candles” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” but the director’s take on teen angst, detention style, stands as his hallmark achievement. No singing on floats, forgotten birthdays or Ducky. Just five teens talking about their bruised feelings for 90-plus minutes.

And you’ll hang on nearly every word while watching the new Blu-ray release of “The Breakfast Club: The 25th Anniversary Edition.”

The story’s setting strips matters down to the bare essentials. Five disparate teens are forced to spend time together in a Saturday detention hall. Each represents a high school stereotype, from the no-account thug (Judd Nelson) to the rosy-cheeked princess (Molly Ringwald).

Naturally, they bicker from the start, but their conversations wear down each others’ defenses. They poke and prod each other verbally, their faces registering every direct hit. (more…)

“Wax on, wax off.” “He slimed me.” “Fortune and Glory, kid.” “I’ll be back.” “Don’t get him wet. Keep him out of bright light. And never feed him after midnight.”

It’s hard to believe that a quarter century has passed since that magical movie summer of 1984. The calender year of George Orwell’s dire dystopian nightmares had arrived, but instead of a nation writhing in servitude to Big Brother, America was delighting in the prosperity engineered by Big Gipper. Throughout the summer of ‘84, the greatest president of the twentieth century was cruising to the single largest electoral total ever amassed by a presidential candidate in our history, and “It’s Morning Again in America” commercials were playing on TV’s across the land to widespread approval. (more…)