A Geeky Guy's Guide to School Movies
A couple of days ago, I wrote a post about going back to school. When I was looking for images for the post, the old Rodney Dangerfield movie called "Back to School" kept popping up (yes I am old enough that I saw it in the theater). That gave me the idea to write about some of my favorite high school school movies. I am going to do a top 11 list of my favorites (I tried for 10 but it was way too difficult). I would then like to invite all of you to create your own top ten list in the comments.
It was hard enough for me to pare this list down to eleven titles so I certainly won't be able to put them in any order. So I am going to cop out and just go alphabetically.
10 Things I Hate About You: I'm actually kind of shocked that I couldn't kick one off the list. But for me it is one of the best modern retellings of a Shakespeare play ever made. If you aren't aware, this story is basically Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew but with a hilarious dad and a great acting job by the late Heath Ledger.
Battle Royale: When this movie first came out, it was banned in America. You had to get a bootleg copy just to watch it. Nothing can create a buzz like that. Hunger Games, which was published in 2008 is basically a ripoff of this movie and it cannot hold a candle to the action of Battle Royale. It was banned for a reason though. So if you cannot handle bloody action, you better skip this one.
Bottoms: Here's what I wrote about bottoms when I saw it for the first time last month: Bottoms is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen in my life. I will admit that the fact that I am a high school teacher may have made me incredibly biased, but there is nothing I can do about that. As a teacher, I see hundreds of teenagers every day. I know there are many different individuals, cliques and groups and they all have their own unique point of view. And I will tell you right now, I would probably laugh at any comedy that told a story from any teenager's unique point of view, but oh my god, Bottoms is in a class of it's own.
Booksmart: Booksmart is the perfect sandwich between Superbad and Bottoms. It was clearly influenced by Superbad and then inspired Bottoms. When I saw Booksmart, I was expecting it to be simply Superbad... but with girls. It was far more than that. It was one of the most clever movies I have ever seen and introduced a ton of awesome characters including the magical Gigi. If a Gigi movie ever comes out, I will be first in line to see it!
Dazed and Confused: This one has a special place in my heart as it was set during the time I was growing up. Although we did not have a town wide "freshman" hunt, it did remind me of growing up in the 1970s. The music in the movie is incredible and there are some very funny scenes and great performance by some up and coming actors like Mathew McConaughey.
Easy A: This is another movie that could watched in an English class today. It is based on The Scarlet Letter and it is absolutely brilliant. It includes one of teh best performances by Emma Stone. It is far more entertaining to watch this than to read the Scarlet Letter. Plus you get to hear Emma Stone sing.
Election: This is the first dark comedy on the list. It is also the second one starring Mathew Broderick. But it is extremely different than lovable Ferris Bueller. Instead Broderick plays the vilaain who is a complete jerk teacher who is obsessed with stopping Tracy Flick (portrayed by Reese Witherspoon) from winning the high school election. It is a crazy movie that is highly entertaining.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Here's another one that nostalgia dictates I must include. I was 11 when this came out so I must have been 12 when I was first able to rent this movie. I was way too young to watch it... but I loved. This movie features four future Oscar winners. More importantly, it features the most important pool scene of puberty. Thank you Phoebe Cates!
Ferris Bueller's Day Off: The ultimate classic. This one is still popular with kids today. The idea of playing hooky with your friends is timeless. Toss in the facts that I was in high school when it was released and I lived in the Chicago at the time make this one of my favorite movies of all time.
Heathers: Oh boy. What a turn from the other movies on this list. I was an angsty 17 year old when this movie came out. I thought I was so dark and tough. So naturally I loved this insanely dark movie. I still quote it to this day. Looking back, this movie is flat out disturbing. But it was also way ahead of its time.
Mean Girls: This one may be a surprise but this one is chock full of lessons about staying true to yourself and the importance of picking people up instead of pushing them down. It also does a great job of teaching to remember who your friends are. It manages to teach these lessons in between a lot of laughs.
Superbad: This may be the funniest movie on the list. I just realize Emma Stone pops up in this one as well. This movie makes me laugh and cringe in equal proportions. It reminded me of the ridiculous lengths my buddies and I would go to in order to get beer. This is one of those movies that I can flip on at any point in the movie and I will eave it on until the end.
Now it is your turn. What are your top 11... or whatever high school movies?
So many on that list I haven't ever seen. Even Fat times if you can believe that. I'm glad to see dazed and confused made it. Lean on me would be high on my list as well as stand and deliver. Breakfast Club of course and can't buy me love as well. Like you said, far too many to count. I know I am missing a ton. That one with Seth Green too. Oh and Napoleon Dynamite.
I think school-based movies are not only entertainment but also reflect the thoughts of the generation and society equally. One movie is Battle Royale. This movie shows the dark side of our teenage mentality. Again, if you watch Mean Girls or Booksmart, it teaches lessons about friendship, self-identity and growing up. I think these remind us of our teenage years. I enjoyed reading your blog and wish you all the best.
Putting together a list like this of high school movies and movies about classes in general is complicated for me because I honestly don't remember the names, but I completely agree with your comment about Mean Girls on your list. I remember seeing it a few years ago and I really liked it.
Your post sent me on a hunt. I saw this movie eons ago and just about died laughing. When I had my video store I tried like crazy to remember the title though I doubted the guy who supplied me my videos had it. I remembered the lady in the show, at least her face, as I watched several television shows with her in it when I was younger. So I plugged in a few names until I finally came across her name, Julia Duffy, and if you've never seen Kidz In The Woods, you'll want to put it on your list to find somewhere.
"A high school history teacher takes a group of students with academic and behavioral issues on a two-week trip recreating the Oregon Trail in attempt to help them graduate. The film follows the students and teachers as they grapple with personality issues and forces of nature." If you don't absolutely get a kick out of this movie, I'll seriously start to doubt your sense of humor.
Great list! It brought back old memories and made me want to see something new.
I really liked the way it brought together classic and modern school movies. It was fun to read the short descriptions of each movie, some of the movies make me want to watch them again.
Booksmart felt so fresh, I didn’t expect to love it that much!
That's such a fun ideal movies, movies in school is like a reflection, like it's still connected from schools lessons
Can you do a review on a Series Called SANDMAN
@hanshotfirst Reading through your guide instantly brought back memories of my own school days and how certain movies shaped the way we thought about growing up. Ferris Bueller’s carefree energy always felt like a secret wish every student had, while the darker tones of Battle Royale push the imagination into a completely different space. It’s crazy how these films, though so different in mood, still connect to that universal experience of navigating youth. Your mix of titles made me smile because it shows school life is never just one thing, it’s fun, chaos, fear, and discovery all rolled together
Great list
I totally agree with you on Ferris Bueller's Day Off and 10 Things I Hate About You, both are movies you can never get tired of. And I also agree that Battle Royale was way ahead of its time.
I'm not one to watch many movies, and even less so student movies, but I imagine the important thing for you is to return to your daily work, giving classes as well as teaching.
I have many memories associated with the films I used to watch in my childhood and I remember that the dramas that were played were Son Parishi Shah Ka Rahaan Bomb Bomb and all those kinds of things. We used to watch them regularly and we also used to watch films once a week on weekends when we had holidays
Solid list, although I haven't seen Bottoms, Heathers, or Booksmart yet. There are so many good movies that are set during the school days, maybe because this is such an interesting and intense time for most people in their own lives. When I thought of back to school movies, I couldn't help but think of Donnie Darko and The Faculty, both kind of out there movies, but they are both fun plays on the whole teenagers just trying to survive highschool dynamic.
Thats a good story in movies though! Thanks for the recommendation.
Really enjoyed your list, it brought back a lot of memories. Ferris Bueller and Mean Girls are definitely classics, My own list would probably have a mix of old favorites too. Fun idea to share these.
All the movies we have seen about peace are not just movies, they are telling us how to maintain friendship and how to respect our teachers and this is where we learn all these things from these movies. I have also seen a lot of such movies in my childhood and I have learned that a student who did not respect his teacher could not succeed and the one who did respect him is successful today and we have remembered many incidents from our childhood when we students and teachers used to laugh together.