Weird Science and Other John Hughes Tales

I'm not going to give you the full run-down on my day. I spent most of it inside, and a great deal of it on the phone or in front of a TV. I am going to say that I got a lot done, and I watched a couple of interesting movies.

First, I called the Union to find out what's going on with my orthodontics and why they took so long. They didn't give me much of a answer to the hold-up, but they did say they were on their way. I also called about the counseling. Mixed feelings here. Turns out, they handle Behavioral Health, not Independence Blue Cross, and they only have certain counselors in this area. The co-pay is only $20 for the less-expensive counselors and $30 for higher-end ones, which isn't bad. The closest, though, is in Haddonfield. I'll have to see what I can do with the transportation. I can't put this off; I need to talk to someone.

Second, I called Mom to give her an update. I was still frustrated about not being able to use the counselors I'd originally planned on, and I must have gone on about it too much, because she got upset. She did apologize, but she had a point. I have been difficult lately. I know I've been a pain, but I was scared, overwhelmed, and probably in shock. I've sprained and chipped my ankle, lost my uncle, and discovered I'm dirt poor and can barely afford food in the space of a little over a week. That's a lot to take in. It's a bad excuse for behaving like a child, but I'm not good with stress. I don't really have a lot of people I can talk to about this, either. I did call her back later in the afternoon, but I haven't heard from her yet - something might have come up with my sister Anny and her boys or my stepfather.

I called the doctor after calling Mom. I forgot to ask him if this meant I'd have to call out of work, or if I could stand on it for a few hours a day. I called Urgent Care around 1:30-2...and they didn't get back to me until past 4PM! Verdict wasn't good. No, there was no way I could stand on it for a long amount of time for a couple of weeks. No work, no bike. And I have to get a get a note from my doctor to get out of work. I forgot I had her address and they'll be sending the x-rays to me. I don't know how I can get them to her that quickly - she's in Westmont. I'm almost afraid to talk to anyone about anything after yesterday and making such a mess with the doctors, but I think I'm going to have to.

Finally called the Acme around 4:30. Note or no note, they deserved to know that something is up. In fact, I probably shouldn't have held off as long as I did. I told Jade at the customer service desk about my ankle and that I probably wouldn't be able to come in on Friday and Saturday, and possibly for several weeks, and wanted to know about sick pay. She switched me to our new head manager Sebastian...who is too new to answer my questions. I'll call back tomorrow morning and talk to Donna, the head front end manager.

Ran two lesser-known John Hughes comedies from the 80s and early 90s between phone calls. Weird Science is...well, as strange as its name indicates. Two nerdy 14-year-olds who are desperate for dates (Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith) decide to create one via a very fancy-for-the-time computer, a fashion doll hooked up to wires, and bras on their heads. (Don't ask.) Thanks to a series of coincidences involving lightning and somehow hacking into a government computer, it works, creating a gorgeous woman named Lisa (Kelly LeBrock) with a mind of her own.

Lisa takes the boys on a wild ride, ranging from a blues bar where the boys get drunk and try to learn hipster speak to a wild party that gets even crazier when she makes insane bikers dressed like a cross between Tarzan extras and Hell's Angels and missiles appear. She only wants her creators to come out of their shell and prove that a girl can like them for what they are, not what they can make appear, but her methods are...sometimes rather unorthodox. Not helping matters is the obnoxious Chet (Bill Paxton), the older brother from down below who is determined to blow the whistle and get a little money in the meantime.

This was really crazy, even for John Hughes in the mid-80s. It was based after a comic book story from the 50s according to TV Tropes, which does explain things a bit. Paxton and LeBrock (the latter's awful 80s wardrobe and hair aside) steal the show as the older brother who lives to make his siblings' lives as frustrating as possible and the tough-minded "creation" who uses her own magic to take control of her situation and the boys'.

Career Opportunities was created during the latter half of Hughes' career, when he was transitioning into "family" films like Home Alone and Curly Sue. Jim Dodge (Frank Whaley) lives in a perpetual lie. Those lies keep catching up with him, and he ends up fired from job after job, until there's nothing left for him but night janitor at the local Target. Locked in on his first night, he discovers Josie (Jennifer Connolly), the rich girl of his dreams. Turns out neither of their lives are as pleasant as the other thinks...and they get even less so when two scheming thieves find their way in and hold up the store.

A big disappointment. Though the premise has some things in common with The Breakfast Club (young people in confined space go through bonding rites), it's really boring. Whaley is obnoxious and unlikable. His perpetual fibbing grows wearying after a while, even though it does get them out of a jam with the thieves. Connolly's character isn't much better - she's a spoiled little rich girl who wants to escape Daddy, but her back story comes too late to make us like her. The thieves sort of seemed to be dropped in from another story to give the duo something to do besides talk and roller skate to cassette music. Recommended only for major fans of Connolly or John Hughes nuts who have to see everything he wrote or directed (he only wrote and produced this one).