'Brats,' Hulu's Brat Pack movie, looks like a cheap nostalgia exercise. It's actually something more interesting, an unintentionally revealing self-portrait.
Andrew McCarthy really did make himself look needy and petty. I do appreciate that he was honest about it, though. Everyone else had a pretty good head on their shoulders about it. He seemed to be the only one having trouble, so it was scene after scene of watching people tell him it's him, not the article. Some of the people "hurt" by this article went on to have extremely successful careers. I kept saying to my wife, "Who cares? All he had to do was ignore it or use it." The guys before him were called fucking rats, for Christ sake, and they wore that label until they were the coolest (literal) motherfuckers on the planet.
Because of Young Guns, Emilio Estevez was one of my big three growing up (Norm Macdonald and Hanx completing the triangle). Love that dude. Your description of him appearing anxious for McCarthy to leave is dead on. They never even sit down! It was like Emilio thought, "If we sit, he'll never leave." They just stand at a kitchen counter across from one another as if Emilio's the bartender forced to listen to a whiny customer until his shifts over.
"Andrew McCarthy has a new documentary where he explores the impact of being called a "brat". He should be glad he's not a young celebrity today, why just the other day I read a Hollywood Reporter piece that called the cast of Euphoria a bunch of cum guzzlers."
But Andrew, you were in Mannequin, one of my favorite cheesy 80s movies! I'd watch that again over at least half a dozen Scorsese movies! That's not nothing!
(And to reiterate, Demi Moore, one of the biggest stars of the 90s, was part of the Brat Pack. Maybe it was a skill issue, Andrew.)
I made it all the way to the Ally Sheedy interview before bailing. McCarthy has a moment where he describes Sheedy driving him to his swanky hotel in her new Jeep back at the height of their young careers that I just couldn't stomach. It was simultaneously both so earnest and so contrived that it made me exit Hulu and think "Huh, I'd rather empty the dishwasher than spend another minute with these people.".
I actually felt bad for him during that because the audio was really bad for that one and I know he was probably crushed when he first found out. Been there, bro.
Fun fact: the mullet was named by the Beastie Boys! And here’s my theory on why it became uncool: it was almost uniformly associated with hair metal, Billy Ray Cyrus, hockey players, and pro wrestlers when pro wrestling was at the peak of its irrelevancy (CM Punk referred to Johnny Ace’s mullet as a “Kentucky waterfall”).
My nephew hoops and a couple of years back I noticed the mullet popping up on his teammates and opponents alike. It was a fun wrinkle for me at all his games.
I don't get this. Someone coined the phrase "brat pack" in the 80s as a reference to the new, hot and everywhere, group of actors based on Sinatra's "rat pack". And Andrew McCarthy is hung up on the use of the word "brat"? Holy shit. How shallow is this dude. Or desperate for contriving a situation as an excuse to make a documentary? Hard pass.
As a few other people have noted, the "Brat Pack" label stuck to him more because his career kind of stagnated, as opposed to original Brat Packers like Tom Cruise and Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage to whom it didn't, because they just kept getting new and different roles. I can't tell if he's entirely ignorant of this or if it's more a storytelling conceit, but... yeah, the problem with it as a storytelling conceit is that it doesn't quite hold water on the face of it.
The obvious parallel is someone who peaked in high school and can't let go of some slight like not winning the talent show or being elected class president. Which, as I type this, is the foundation for a lot of the Hallmark Channel movies.
Spot-on, and I've been mocking Andrew McCarthy mercilessly since watching this last week.
My one addition, though, is that the Beach Boys doc *did* get more Manson-y than I'd expected, though they skip Dennis' death and never mention the name Eugene Landy, preferring to wrap with a very abrupt "The late 60s kinda passed them by and made them uncool, then in 1974 they released the Endless Summer greatest hits album and people liked the Beach Boys again. Nothing else interesting happened afterwards and everyone is happy."
Spot on about the scrolling appeal. Its been at beginning of those hulu reco lines this whole week and my only thought was that it was interesting that my mom is slightly too old for this nostalgia and its way before my time. Im a bad hulu watcher though as most things need to get out of my so i can finish my simultaneous rewatches of X-Files and Bob’s Burgers
Andrew McCarthy really did make himself look needy and petty. I do appreciate that he was honest about it, though. Everyone else had a pretty good head on their shoulders about it. He seemed to be the only one having trouble, so it was scene after scene of watching people tell him it's him, not the article. Some of the people "hurt" by this article went on to have extremely successful careers. I kept saying to my wife, "Who cares? All he had to do was ignore it or use it." The guys before him were called fucking rats, for Christ sake, and they wore that label until they were the coolest (literal) motherfuckers on the planet.
Because of Young Guns, Emilio Estevez was one of my big three growing up (Norm Macdonald and Hanx completing the triangle). Love that dude. Your description of him appearing anxious for McCarthy to leave is dead on. They never even sit down! It was like Emilio thought, "If we sit, he'll never leave." They just stand at a kitchen counter across from one another as if Emilio's the bartender forced to listen to a whiny customer until his shifts over.
Norm McDonald voice:
"Andrew McCarthy has a new documentary where he explores the impact of being called a "brat". He should be glad he's not a young celebrity today, why just the other day I read a Hollywood Reporter piece that called the cast of Euphoria a bunch of cum guzzlers."
Sounds like he's trying to retcon his way into the Brat Pack.
But Andrew, you were in Mannequin, one of my favorite cheesy 80s movies! I'd watch that again over at least half a dozen Scorsese movies! That's not nothing!
(And to reiterate, Demi Moore, one of the biggest stars of the 90s, was part of the Brat Pack. Maybe it was a skill issue, Andrew.)
Most of the Brat Pack didn’t transition into adult stardom which is really common for teen heartthrobs but also what I think makes McCarthy bitter.
Nic cage, Tom cruise, Sean Penn, Demi Moore, matt Dillon - lots of them did just fine, seems like?
So basically this is a full length documentary of "Who said we're wack?" by The Lonely Island.
I made it all the way to the Ally Sheedy interview before bailing. McCarthy has a moment where he describes Sheedy driving him to his swanky hotel in her new Jeep back at the height of their young careers that I just couldn't stomach. It was simultaneously both so earnest and so contrived that it made me exit Hulu and think "Huh, I'd rather empty the dishwasher than spend another minute with these people.".
I actually felt bad for him during that because the audio was really bad for that one and I know he was probably crushed when he first found out. Been there, bro.
Fun fact: the mullet was named by the Beastie Boys! And here’s my theory on why it became uncool: it was almost uniformly associated with hair metal, Billy Ray Cyrus, hockey players, and pro wrestlers when pro wrestling was at the peak of its irrelevancy (CM Punk referred to Johnny Ace’s mullet as a “Kentucky waterfall”).
My nephew hoops and a couple of years back I noticed the mullet popping up on his teammates and opponents alike. It was a fun wrinkle for me at all his games.
I live in Los Feliz and noticed it making a comeback with hipsters. No thanks, I’ll stick with a pompadour
Hipsters in Los Feliz in the ‘00s were wearing it, too. Did it ever really go away?
I don't get this. Someone coined the phrase "brat pack" in the 80s as a reference to the new, hot and everywhere, group of actors based on Sinatra's "rat pack". And Andrew McCarthy is hung up on the use of the word "brat"? Holy shit. How shallow is this dude. Or desperate for contriving a situation as an excuse to make a documentary? Hard pass.
As a few other people have noted, the "Brat Pack" label stuck to him more because his career kind of stagnated, as opposed to original Brat Packers like Tom Cruise and Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage to whom it didn't, because they just kept getting new and different roles. I can't tell if he's entirely ignorant of this or if it's more a storytelling conceit, but... yeah, the problem with it as a storytelling conceit is that it doesn't quite hold water on the face of it.
The obvious parallel is someone who peaked in high school and can't let go of some slight like not winning the talent show or being elected class president. Which, as I type this, is the foundation for a lot of the Hallmark Channel movies.
Spot-on, and I've been mocking Andrew McCarthy mercilessly since watching this last week.
My one addition, though, is that the Beach Boys doc *did* get more Manson-y than I'd expected, though they skip Dennis' death and never mention the name Eugene Landy, preferring to wrap with a very abrupt "The late 60s kinda passed them by and made them uncool, then in 1974 they released the Endless Summer greatest hits album and people liked the Beach Boys again. Nothing else interesting happened afterwards and everyone is happy."
Spot on about the scrolling appeal. Its been at beginning of those hulu reco lines this whole week and my only thought was that it was interesting that my mom is slightly too old for this nostalgia and its way before my time. Im a bad hulu watcher though as most things need to get out of my so i can finish my simultaneous rewatches of X-Files and Bob’s Burgers