Better Off Dead / One Crazy Summer

BETTER OFF DEAD, 1985, Hollywood Classics, 97 min. Savage Steve Holland's directorial debut is an inventive, hilarious comedy that features the first noteworthy performance by a then-unknown John Cusack. Cusack plays Lane Meyer, a teenager who becomes despondent when his girlfriend dumps him for a jock. Convinced he has nothing to lose, he embarks on a suicidal ski run, but finds a reason to live in the form of French foreign exchange student Diane Franklin.

ONE CRAZY SUMMER, 1986, Warner Bros., 89 min. Director Savage Steve Holland and John Cusack reunite for another portrait of an endearing outcast. Cusack is a misfit cartoonist who finds romance during a summer in New England; Demi Moore is his love interest. Even more so than in BETTER OFF DEAD, Holland beautifully applies animation techniques to a live-action feature, making for a playful, one-of-a-kind comic adventure.