was listening to 610 a couple of months ago (not sure if it was that long) and they had some kind of question that went something like... name two people each in the rat pack, brat pack, and frat pack. i had heard of the first, but not the second and third. well... i knew, but i didn't know. i mean, if these people were placed on a platter or something, i would have known how to group them. anyway, here are some people from the... rat pack: frank sinatra, sammy davis, joey bishop, dean martin, and peter lawford. brat pack: emilio estevez, molly ringwald, ally sheedy, rob lowe, anthony michael hall, robert downey jr., jon cryer, jami gertz, etc. frat pack: ben stiller, vince vaughn, sean william scott, adam sandler, rob schneider, ben affleck, owen wilson, luke wilson, janeane garofalo, will ferrell, etc. my choice is the brat pack. maybe because it's the first decade i lived through. sixteen candles, fast times at ridgemont high, revenge of the nerds, breakfast club, and pretty in pink will always be my favorite movies. maybe it's because i think "the molly ringwald dance" is bad arse. btw, i didn't know that anthony michael hall turned down the ferris bueller role.
that's something i forgot to add... it's debatable (sp?) as to which group a person belongs to... or whether they belong to any group at all. yes... janeane garofalo. in mystery men, romy and michelle's high school reunion, half baked, reality bites.
Of these, Brat Pack. I don't know if I'd put Adam Sandler and Rob Schnieder in the frat pack though, they seem to have their own clique in the Happy Madison productions (Drew Barrymore, Henry Winkler, Christopher Walken, David Spade, Steve Buscemi...). All-time though, I'd have to with the Not Ready For Prime-Time Players (Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Dan Aykroyd), even though they don't have a snappy "pack" name.
I think the frat pack is just : the Wilson bros., Stiller, Vaughn, and Ferrell. Jason Bateman might be in there, since he's done 2 of their movies now. I think David Koechner is like a pledge, I'll bet dollars to donuts he'll ben in Ferrell's NASCAR movie. Steve Carrell is another possibility. You also forgot the "new" rat pack- P Diddy and Ashton Kutcher. Personally, I like the frat pack, because I bet they'd party with you while the rat pack would slap you silly for trying to hang with them.
Well none of these 3 really excite me but if I was forced to choose one, I would choose the Brat Pack since I was growing up in the '80s to their movies.
Something to think about... Right now, we think the "frat" pack is on top of the world... but keep in mind that every single member of the "brat" pack has basically faded away, as their careers slowly (but surely) died (or if it didn't die, they definitely weren't the big stars anymore that they once were). In the year 2015, will we be looking at Will Ferrell and the Wilson Brothers the same way we look at Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael-Hall, and Judd Nelson today??? (highly doubtful, but still something to think about).
i think the frat pack has always consisted of and no one else: Stiller Vaughn Ferrell Black L. Wilson O. Wilson
No. Pop-culture today is too self-sustaining with all kinds of instant media at its disposal now for that to happen. Not a knock on any Frat Pack guys, but that's why all the late 90's pop stars that would have lasted just fifteen minutes in previous decades are still churning out their stuff.
oooh... forgot about them. trading places, great outdoors, parenthood, etc... they're "my" second after the brats.
that's what I thought too. Zoolander: Stiller, Owen, Ferrell Starsky and Hutch: Stiller, Owen, Vaughn Meet the Parents: Stiller, Owen Meet the Fockers: Stiller, Owen Dodgeball: Stiller, Vaughn Anchorman: Luke, Stiller, Vaughn, Ferrell, Black Old School: Luke, Ferrell, Vaughn Envy: Stiller, Black Royal Tenenbaums: Stiller, Luke, Owen
Rob Lowe still has a career (the West Wing), and Anthony Michael Hall is on a reasonably successful television show (the Dead Zone). This is 15-20 years after their heyday, so I would say the brat pack has some staying power.
The likes of Sinatra, Dean, and Sammy Davis Jr. will be remembered for years to come because they were all around entertainers : actors, singers, dancers, comedians, etc. I doubt most people will be looking for Rob Lowe films 20 years from now. This isn't even close... the Rat Pack. They've got the women, the gangster persona, the cool, the smooth, and anything else.
i was wondering if "frat pack" referred to the guys it did or the "not ready for primetime guys" when i opened this thread. i think i'd have to take the "not ready for primetime" gang over the frat pack, especially after watching stripes and ghostbusters yesterday (which means harold ramis needs to somehow make it in the group). add in candy and aykroyd teaming up for one of my all time favorite movies, The Great Outdoors, and then planes, trains, and automobiles, and you've got a great set of movies from them to start with. while the breakfast club was a great movie, ferris bueller is far and away my favorite "john hughes makes a movie about young kids in the 80's" movie and with no brat pack stars i can think of (at least with major roles) in it i can't elevate them on top. and the rat pack, even with it's star power, is way too distant from me for me to pick them. and Manny, you shocked me by not picking the more critically acclaimed, prestigious rat pack. perhaps there is hope for you yet young padawan.
I don't know if I'd call this "staying power." Sure, they still get on tv somehow (btw, Rob Lowe is not on the west wing anymore, and his own show he left it for got canceled)... but never anything close to what they once were. Hell, Emilio will probably be remembered most for being in The Mighty Ducks, rather than being a brat-packer. I'm sure some of the current "frat" pack will go on to be even BIGGER than they are now, but face it... some of them are going to fade into obscurity within the next 10 years.
I'd pick the frat pack for the people "in" it. I like most of its members on an individual basis. I think most of the movies that the frat pack has put out are just mildly funny, if at all. I'd pick the brat pack for the movies they put out. I still like the people in the brat pack, but I just like their movies more....
OMG! The "brat" and "frat" pack are not in the same world as the Rat Pack. Forget world; they aren't in the same f****n galaxy! You can pick anyone from the Frat Pack or the Brat Pack and they would be solidly inferior to the worst person in the Rat Pack. Bottom line, Ben Stiller can't hold on to Sinatra's prostate. End of rant
I will always have an affinity for '80s things since that was the decade I remember the most in growing up (compared to the '70s). Besides I just recently ordered the greatest hits for Squeeze and Erasure, so that should tell you what I think about the '80s.
I think the Brat Pack's reaches don't quite bring in Ferris Bueller. What are considered to be Brat Pack Movies? Breakfast Club Sixteen Candles Pretty in Pink St. Elmo's Fire Weird Science what else? I mean it'd be a pretty close decision on who gets 2nd place (behind the original Rat Pack) if the media grouped Matthew Broderick into it. I think the 80s SNL alumni kills them all (even the Rat Pack in terms of movies) Ghostbusters Caddyshack Stripes Trading Places Animal House Blues Brothers The Great Outdoors
