Did you think that Sean Penn would be where he is today when he played Spicoli in "Fast Times..."?

[WI_DEM]

"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" was my favorite movie as a teen. Loved Ray Walston as Mr. Hand, too.

[tridim]

1. No, but I also thought Phoebe Cates would be a bigger star now.

[WI_DEM]

3. Wow, she was pretty spectacular in that film.

[tridim]

5. Or parts of her at least.

Sorry, I was 13 when I first saw Fast Times. :)

[TexasObserver]

10. That fantasy scene with her best exemplifies the way teen boys dream of such.

And the sudden, unhappy ending yet another part of the dreams and nightmares of teen years.

That's a great little film, and it had many other stars-to-be mixed in:

Judge Reinhold
Anthony Edwards
Nicholas Cage
and
Eric Stoltz

to name four.

Who would have thought Jennifer Jason Leigh would be the female star to break out?

[tridim]

12. Fast Times is one of those movies I watch almost every time it's on TV.

It's so much more than a typical 80's teen sex romp. They don't make em like that any more.

[TexasObserver]

15. Yes, it's a true gem.

The two main male characters (besides Brad) were played by actors we never saw again. I mean these two guys disappeared!

[Kolesar]

2. Penn was good in "Taps", the film from that era with Tim Hutton

...about the military prep school. Penn stunned me in Dead Man Walking. That film was deep.

[Warpy]

4. I thought he should have won for "Dead Man Walking"

His portrayal was genius. He took a completely evil character and still made us see his essential humanity.

I haven't seen "Milk" yet, but fully expect Penn's performance to be flawless.

[peacetalksforall]

6. I haven't seen many movies lately, but saw Milk, Reader, Slum Dog.

All awards deserved.

Interesting - it appears costs were cut last night - it was appropriate to gear down and it was one of the best, I think. Less is more seems to be our direction.

[muntrv]

7. About as much as I thought that Tom Hanks would be where he is

today when he was in "Bosom Buddies."

[Forkboy]

8. No, but I suspected he might be a year later after seeing Bad Boys.

[priller]

9. And what about Keanu Reeves in "Bill & Ted"?

Oh, never mind...

[tridim]

11. Bill & Ted was Keanu's best work

That speaks volumes.

Actually he was pretty good in "My Own Private Idaho" too, but IMO it's been all downhill since then.

[closeupready]

13. I wasn't old enough to get in.

So I can't say. :D

[Seeking Serenity]

14. I certainly didn't think so after seeing "Shanghai Surprise"

I figured he'd be on the D-list circuit doing bits for change on game shows, and "I Love the 80s" type shows after that monstrosity of a movie.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

16. Hell no

Though when I was a teenager I knew a guy just like Spicoli, but in Minnesota you don't surf much. If it had ever occurred to Ben to have a pizza delivered to him in class, he'd have done it in an instant, no questions asked or second thoughts whatsoever.

We smoked the reef a little in those days.:P