THE BREAKFAST CLUB
Even if I didn't love THE BREAKFAST CLUB, there just isn't any way you can have a list like this without it present. Of course, it's the kind of movie that everyone spouts praise for, but I was a little apprehensive myself at first, considering the anticipated levels of teen angst, griping and social clique critiquing, but even with its 1980s calling cards, it remains an enduring and insightful film that handles its characters and themes with honesty and enough realism, while also indulging in a little dream fulfillment.
SUPERBAD
This just might be my favorite film on this list. It was one of the first R-rated movies that I ever saw, and when I first saw it, I thought it was hilarious and was shocked at its brazenness, but I didn't fully appreciate it until a couple years later. It's not a terribly original concept, a few high school senior dorks on an epic quest to lose their virginity, in this case involving said dorks' pursuit of booze with which to impress their female interests at a party while subsequently inhibiting their judgements; but its heartfelt undercurrent, which blossoms up in the third act, is about lifelong friends reaching the end of a high school experience after which they'll be forced separate ways, and finding fulfillment in honest relationships. Plus it's really funny and twisted.
ANIMAL HOUSE
The original National Lampoon movie, ANIMAL HOUSE ushered in a new era of film comedy, with the "Film Brats" generation behind the wheel. I suspect its reputation soars more heavily on nostalgia and a couple of the performances (from a cast of rising stars) than quality, it's pretty funny at times and clearly has something going for it for how enduring it's proven to be. There's not much of a concrete story, as the shabby fraternity Delta Tau Chi at Faber College, fights for their existence against the conniving Dean Wormer, and get into all kinds of frat-boy hijinks. As loose a story as it is, it been played out time and again in subsequent imitators, most recently in this past summer's MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, but the real reason to see it is John Belushi in the role of definitive college badass, John "Bluto" Blutarsky.
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| Life in its prime. |
This 2004 high school laugh riot was somewhat mismarketed (if not necessarily ill-served) as a chick flick, but to note that 30 Rock creator Tina Fey penned the screenplay and co-stars reveals more about what this film really is. Already, it's something of a minor classic, especially amongst the past few high school student bodies, although it's certainly unfortunate how a large portion of its most enthusiastic fan-base are among those the film satirizes, but I guess that says something about how most teens feel about themselves. The story is simple and not very original, as Lindsay Lohan (remember when she wasn't crazy?) plays a new student, previously home-schooled in Africa, and climbs the social hierarchy, stepping on unfortunates as she turns from nice new girl to queen bee, but the film soars on its comedy.
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| "Why are you dressed so scary? |
Sharp-tongued girl-next-door Emma Stone carries Will Gluck's salute to John Hughes up and out from what may have been a decent but forgettable teen comedy, using her considerable charisma and charm as Olive Penderghast, a well-behaved and under-the-radar young woman who inadvertently starts a rumor about herself having an active sex life, which she then uses to her social and financial advantage, like a strictly word-of-mouth prostitute. It also has a great moral that is so often rejected in favor of the exact opposite in teen movies, that, as one character says, "Let your freak flag fly. Just make sure you have an exit strategy." Be yourself, but don't f*** up your options.
ELECTION
While refusing to conclude with simplicity, ELECTION indulges us in a little bit of revenge fantasy, as high school teacher Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick) locks horns with obnoxiously chipper and overachieving student and student body president candidate Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon). We've all known a Tracy Flick or two; the classmate or colleague with so much ambition layered over with thick, saccharine goody-goodness, and that darker side of us would love to see them crushed. This black comedy knows well enough not to play as dream fulfillment, but it allows the viewer to handle these feelings comfortably and harmlessly with brazen hilarity.
FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH
One of the best movies ever made about the high school experience, even in the midst of the high school movie-defining 1980s, the script was Cameron Crowe's film debut, based off his book which he wrote as a Rolling Stone magazine writer, reportedly undercover as a student in a San Diego high school. The film follows the experience of several Ridgemont High students as they experience first loves, sex, breakups, academic obstacles and prepare to be thrust into the adult world. It's one of the more realistic and heartfelt films about high school, while also milking such life experiences for gut-busting comedy.
HEATHERS
After the Columbine shootings, and other prominent school massacres since, HEATHERS, a 1998 black comedy, soared to a whole new level of disturbing. It's the story of Veronica (Winona Ryder), a high school student who's fed up with the school's nasty clique, "the Heathers," just as she becomes acquainted with J.D. (Christian Slater), a psychotic student and social outsider, whose solution begins with scaring the hell of bullies (i.e. firing blanks at them in the cafeteria), but quickly escalates into murder and full-blown massacre. Tonally inconsistent, it shifts jarringly between dark comedy and very dark thriller, but Slater's performance is intensely riveting. Over the years, it's become a cult classic, but be careful about the mental stability of those you let watch it.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
A genuinely feel-good film if there ever was one, and the definitive time travel tale of modern times, BACK TO THE FUTURE is an American classic that reminds us the 1950s were fun and a little bit dirty, and that without a comeback for the DeLorean, time travel will never be worth our time. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), a rock-and-rollin' lad of 1985 who just doesn't get his dorky parents, is accidentally sent back in time to 1955 while assisting eccentric scientist Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in an experiment, then accidentally alters history, threatening his existence. In the midst of his efforts make amends before returning to 1985, Marty discovers how much in common he has with his parents, and the similar urges and insecurities they went through as well.
AMERICAN PIE
Other films may have done it better since, and the merciless barrage of sequels (especially the shoddy straight-to-video cash-grabs) may have soiled its reputation some, but the 1999 film the breathed new life into the raunchy teen comedy was funny and heartfelt prototype for the Judd Apatow hits that were yet to come. The story about four high school chums who make a pact to lose their virginity before graduating may be an unsettling concept, and yes, there's lots of disgusting shock humor and raunch, but deep down, it has a sweet and gooey center.
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
The quirky independent sleeper hit that gave Idaho an identity and revised junior high-high school lingo for a few years, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is too quirky for some, but for many, its representation of high school life in a rural area, where farmers abound, llamas are pets and local industry is scant and necessarily innovative, is honest and relatable, and very funny to boot.
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU
Although it barely manages to stay afloat, this decent high school rom-com is well-recognized as the teen chick flick that was adapted from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Kat (Julia Stiles) is the resident bitch at her high school, but her younger sister, Bianca, is not allowed to date until Kat does, so Bianca's suitors arrange for Patrick (Heath Ledger), a sullen teen rebel, to seduce her. It plays a lot of the cliches and strains credulity at moments, but Stiles and Ledger (his breakout American role) make for magnetic leads with strong chemistry. If you need a date movie, you could do much worse.
21 JUMP STREET
The 1980s television series from which this film was adapted had a shaky credibility as a drama to say the least, in which baby-faced cops went undercover at a high school through infiltration as students, so when the comically-brilliant directing team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (previously known for the family animated feature CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS) turned it on its head as an R-rated comedy, it works better than ever before. Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill play the buffoonish cops who are assigned to take down a synthetic drug ring in a local high school, but while Tatum was the popular jock and Hill the picked-on nerd during their 1990s school years, they find the social hierarchy switched around, with Tatum's image-conscious brutishness making him an outcast and Hill's awkward savvy puts him in the in-crowd. And the results are gut-bustingly hilarious.
FERRIS BEULLER'S DAY OFF
THE BREAKFAST CLUB's main contender for most popular John Hughes film, FERRIS BEULLER takes a more fantastical route by indulging bad behavior fantasies and an overall fluffier and funnier tone, as Ferris (Matthew Broderick), the paragon of the high school senior's dream, lives a carefree life with his hot girlfriend and uptight best friend while taking an epic day off from school, while the obsessed vice principal, Mr. Rooney (Jeffery Jones) pursues him to no avail.
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| Some people have high school-related nightmares where they forget their locker combination; I have nightmares about sitting through another teacher's "Bueller? Bueller?" imitation. |
While it's strongest claim to fame is for popularizing the Bill Haley and His Comets song "Rock Around the Clock," thus marking the cultural introduction of rock and roll for the cinema (reportedly, certain theaters cut the song from their prints), it was also an early hit for Sidney Poitier and the screen debut for Vic Morrow. Mostly though, it's a super over-the-top shock drama stuck in the 1950s, and good for laughs, especially a switchblade fight that plays out between a teacher and a crazed student in the film's climax.
DEAD POETS SOCIETY
Some movies are so sincere and ambitious in their desire to inspire that society will inevitably love it so much that the film eventually suggests farce, and DEAD POETS SOCIETY is one such. If you can block out your cynicism and cultural awareness, it is still a well-crafted and thought-provoking film. If you've ever been subjected to the words "carpe diem" by a peer consumed with self-grandiosity, you can blame DEAD POETS SOCIETY, which brought the phrase into mainstream popularity, and if you've ever seen a hokey drama about young people coming of age in their school uniforms (produced post-1980s), it's undoubtedly on of the many imitators. Believe it or not though, the original is not quite so annoying, and even powerful at times, although I'm sure it was more actually "inspiring" in 1989. It's not like it didn't inspire hundreds of people to become teachers the way RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK inspired future archeologists, after all.
GREASE
This really is much more a movie for the ladies, which is fine and all, but guys like myself aren't nearly as likely to connect. It's the kind of story to give parents cold sweats; a high school romance between a good girl and a greasy guy, with an overall moral that if it's true love, the lady will give up her prudish standards, the queen bee's pregnancy scare will prove false and lover's will drive away into the clouds in a flying T-Bird; and all of this accompanied by catchy, high-energy, innuendo-laden musical numbers. It's astonishingly politically-incorrect, enormously popular and seductively energetic. On a side note, ironically, this is a musical wherein an unredeemed character is ridiculed with anti-gay slurs for comedic effect... in a musical.
MATILDA
It may star the insufferably saccharine and lispy 1990s child star Mara Wilson, but do not be fooled; this fantasy comedy directed by co-star Danny DeVito is another excellent showcase for his talent for black humor, and it has a delicious mean streak, even if its nerve softens by the end. Matilda Wormwood is a hyper-intelligent little girl in a family of unscrupulous morons, and when she goes to school, she faces a ridiculously sadistic principal who hurls children by their pigtails and forces fat kids to eat grotesque amounts of chocolate cake at school assemblies. If your a sappy parent with concerns for your impressionable children though, fear not, there's a benevolent teacher and a happy ending.
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| It's too awesome that "elements of exaggerated meanness and ridicule" was an official reason for the PG rating. |
Richard Linklater is best known for a formidable career in independent filmmaking, but in 2003 he teamed up with ORANGE COUNTY-writer Mike White to foray into the mainstream scene (or, at least, more mainstream) and made comedian Jack Black a household name, starring as burnt-out rocker Dewey Finn, who finds a way to make ends meet by intercepting a substitute teaching gig from his roommate. While teaching cynical and inappropriate lessons to the private school class, he devises a plan to win the Battle of the Bands with his new students. The film was a huge surprise hit, and critically acclaimed by critics. Its PG-13 rating, primarily for a couple comic dialogue references to drugs and some sparse crass phrases, may be misleading, given that it's more appropriate for elementary school kids than some of the PG-rated tripe that's frequently marketed at them.
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| "Get off your 'ath,' let's do some math!" |
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