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Life Moves Pretty Fast
- The Lessons We Learned from Eighties Movies (and Why We Don't Learn Them from Movies Any More)
- Narrated by: Cassandra Harwood
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
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Life Moves Pretty Fast
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It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. In the beginning, almost every name and address was listed in a phone book, and everyone answered their landlines because you didn’t know who it was. By the end, exposing someone’s address was an act of emotional violence, and nobody picked up their new cell phone if they didn’t know who it was.
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- By: Andrew McCarthy
- Narrated by: Andrew McCarthy
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 127
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Story4 out of 5 stars 123
Most people know Andrew McCarthy from his roles in movies like Pretty in Pink and St Elmo's Fire, and as a charter member of Hollywood's Brat Pack. That iconic group of ingenues and heart throbs, including Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore, has come to represent both a genre of film and an era of pop culture.
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Those 80s were fabulous
- By Anna Le Merle on 11-08-2021
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The Great Book of 1980s Trivia
- Crazy Random Facts & 80s Trivia (Trivia Bill's Nostalgic Trivia Books, Volume 1)
- By: Bill O'Neill
- Narrated by: Mike Alger
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Take a fantastical journey through the 1980s as we uncover every riveting storyline that dominated the "decadent decade". Revisit, or explore for the first time, the big stories and the forgotten facts of 10 fast-paced years that would reshape the world and lay the foundation for the way we live today.
-
Surrender
- Bono Autobiography: 40 Songs, One Story
- By: Bono
- Narrated by: Bono
- Length: 20 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 383
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 352
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Story5 out of 5 stars 351
In Surrender, it’s Bono who picks up the pen, writing for the first time about his remarkable life and those he has shared it with. In his unique voice, Bono takes us from his early days growing up in Dublin, including the sudden loss of his mother when he was 14, to U2’s unlikely journey to become one of the world’s most influential rock bands, to his more than 20 years of activism dedicated to the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Publisher's Summary
Hadley Freeman brings us her personalised guide to American movies from the 1980s - why they are brilliant, what they meant to her, and how they influenced movie-making forever.
For Hadley Freeman, American moves of the 1980s have simply got it all. Comedy in Three Men and a Baby, Hannah and Her Sisters, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, and Trading Places; all a teenager needs to know in Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Say Anything, The Breakfast Club, and Mystic Pizza; the ultimate in action: Top Gun, Die Hard, Young Sherlock Holmes, Beverly Hills Cop, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; love and sex in 9 ½ Weeks, Splash, About Last Night, The Big Chill, and Bull Durham; and family fun in The Little Mermaid, ET, Big, Parenthood, and Lean On Me.
Born in the late 1970s, Hadley grew up on a well-rounded diet of these movies; her entire view of the world, adult relations, and expectations of what her life might hold was forged by these cult classics.
In this personalised guide, she puts her obsessive movie geekery to good use, detailing the decades key players, genres and tropes, and how exactly the friendship between Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi influenced the evolution of comedy. She looks back to a cinematic world in which bankers are invariably evil, despite this being the decade of Wall Street, where children are always wiser than adults, and science is embraced with an intense enthusiasm, and the future viewed with excitement.
She considers how the changes between movies then and movies today say so much about pop culture's and society's changing expectations of women, young people and art, and explains why Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles should be put on school syllabuses immediately.
Critic Reviews
"Reading this memoir-cum-conversation is like sitting in a pub with a group of girlfriends, setting the world to rights and suddenly becoming aware of another group talking about the same issues - hair removal, abortion, the tyranny of tiny knickers, the state of female sexuality - only they are more raucous, cooler, ruder and more intellectually engaged" ( Sunday Times)
"Freeman writes with real passion and cold fury … and she writes warmly and kindly about dating, sex and how to cope when all your friends suddenly disappear into the baby-making void … it's good to know you have someone that fearless, funny and - yes - awesome in your corner" ( Stylist Magazine, Book Wars)
"Though angry she is rueful, though witty she admits her complicity. Fiercely she recommends books, films, female role models, sexual attitudes and nutritional advice to women marching along the high road towards redemption" ( The Times)
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Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elouise
- 04-04-2018
A must-listen!
I loved listening to this interesting the way to work everyday, it made me so happy
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Beccameriel
- 16-12-2015
Funny and insightful
This book really resonates with me as someone who grew up in the 80s. It's funny and sometimes moving - finally meeting Wesley! - and mostly spot on although not including The SureThing, aka the greatest John Cusack film of all time, is a glaring omission.
Her analysis of Dirty Dancing was a bit of a revelation; I hadn't thought about it in those terms before.
I wish Hadley was narrating her own book as she was great on Be Awesome. However Cassandra Harwood does a fine job.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Eastendelle
- 16-04-2016
As fun as title makes it sound and yet insightful
Would you consider the audio edition of Life Moves Pretty Fast to be better than the print version?
I have not used the print version - its bit idiotic to ask on an audiobook website?
What did you like best about this story?
It was a non fiction book - it was also the first I bought upon the recommendation of another Audible user (whose review you can also find on the page) and I am glad I did - It was entertaining, mood uplifting and thought provoking as well.
Which character – as performed by Cassandra Harwood – was your favourite?
The book is divided in chapters that more or less focus on one or two movies at the time - it makes more sense when you have either seen the movie or used to it being a reference, even if only in jokes. The narrator is very good, it makes you feel like having a good chat in a pub rather than a monocord recording.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I was struck by how considerate the building of women characters were in 80s movie and how that element was what made me feel good or like them in a way that current movies seldom do. the author presented a convincing case on this particular topic, not just opinion based.
Any additional comments?
Great book on movies and women in movies for everyone interested in either of those. One of the gem I found as an audiobook that I might not have picked up in print.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- allyblue
- 02-03-2016
Outstanding!
I'm the same age as Hadley Freeman and so much of this book resonated with me. It's a wonderful love letter to a cinema age that has gone for good, and also a fascinating insight in to some of the issues covered by these films. I highly recommend this.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- papapownall
- 18-04-2020
Revisionist history of 80s movies
Most of my teenage years were in the 80s and I look back fondly at the weekly trips to Blockbusters to rent a VHS tape of the latest Hollywood films, sometimes having to put my name on the "wait list" until the call came through telling me that someone had returned St Elmo's Fire early and they would reserve it for me if I managed to get to the shop in the next hour.
When we think about 80s movies today, many of us think they were, well, a bit rubbish really. They weren't as bad as we remember and Guardian journalist Hadley Freeman has written this fantastic book about 80s movies, not from the viewpoint of a chin stroking movie critic, but as a fan, an obsessive fan who has watched Ghostbuster dozens of times and can quote lines verbatim from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Her enthusiasm is catchy and she speaks with delight about her love for Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club, the best songs, the best lines, the best soundtracks, Eddie Murphy, Ricky Moranis, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Rush. There are also some interesting sections about how the film industry works, the impact of globalisation, the role of women in movies and the independent sector.
If you don't stop and look around once in a while you might not realise that the 80s really were the best decade ever for movies.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
- Brother Seamus
- 20-08-2019
"Abortions happen. And that's okay." ?
From the word go this work was far too politically charged. Celebrating Dirty Dancing's take on abortion was one thing; the author's soft attack on the fact that Juno keeps her baby after a pro-lifer's comment, is quite another. The author assumes I agree with her morals and ethics.
Nonetheless, some chapters were fun. The author loves her 80s flicks and enthusiasm is contagious (then again, I already had this particular bug). The book is a collection of personal reflections on the films listed. This isn't an academic work, nor does it try to be. It's merely a fun little textual ride with somebody engrossed in nostalgia. There are occasional bursts of interesting trivia and quotes from the players involved. It's a fun piece of fluff, albeit one written by someone who assumes we agree with her controversial moral slant. In fairness to the author, her ideology, I *think*, was listed on the product description.
I end on a quote from The Breakfast Club: "When you grow up, your heart dies."
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-12-2018
Insightful, funny, thought provoking
Get transported back to your formative years.
If you like 80s movies at all (which you do) this answers every question you forgot you had and then some. Slightly autobiographical which only makes it better. It gives it a personal touch rather than just a reference book. I was worried there were movies I had not seen or could not remember but it was still funny and thought provoking for the one or two movies I had not seen.
You will definitely take loads away from it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jenny546
- 23-09-2018
This book is awesome!
This book has made me fall back in love with film criticism. The 80s is also my favourite decade for film but I've felt guilty for this at the same time. I should love current progressive cinema right? well I do...... but as this book says.... 80s films are fun and make me happy. That counts for so much. Hadley Freeman also goes deep into representation of race, class and gender. It's so accessible, informative, entertaining and so well written. Highly t recommend!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kizza
- 23-04-2017
Wow! Loved it
If you could sum up Life Moves Pretty Fast in three words, what would they be?
Funny and brilliant
Any additional comments?
It was like she was reading my mind with the films she loves; Ghostbusters, BTTF, Trading Places, Dirty Dancing. Funny and surprisingly informative. Also includes Intelligent analysis of many issues in the film industry between the 80s and now.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- LV
- 29-03-2017
Constantly Misquoting Top Gun aside.....👍
Bit frustrating to hear a classic movie misquoted due to taking someone else's quote at face value.
That said, this was really enjoyable. A real passion for those films shines through and a deeper analysis from a social and sexual point of view makes for an interesting listen. Some pronunciations are a little off but made me think of Steven Toast, so no real loss there.
Im a man of 46 and it really hit the spot for me.
Recommended!
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