So with High Schools getting back into session I figured it would be appropriate to give you my top 10 favorite high school themed films. So without further ado...
10. Napoleon Dynamite
This film surprised a lot of people and in my opinion it is one of the most underrated comedies of all-time. Napoleon (played by Jon Heder) is a carrot-topped oddball with a decidedly eccentric family that includes his llama-loving, dune-buggy enthusiast grandmother. The story centers on the local high school's race for class president. Using some nontraditional means, Napoleon is determined to help his pal Pedro (played by Efrem Ramirez) run a winning campaign and defeat popular girl Summer (played by Haylie Duff). Napoleon Dynamite has a rating of 71% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Superbad
This film is absolutely hilarious and it helped launch the careers of both Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. Operating under the assumption that by procuring alcohol for an upcoming party they will finally be able to break their longstanding losing streak with the fairer sex, socially inept high school seniors Evan (played by Michael Cera) and Seth (played by Jonah Hill) set out to secure the adult beverages that could get them off of the geek list before they even attend college orientation. Evan is a bright young student whose outward sweetness belies his suffocating fear of heading off to college without his lifelong best friend Seth -- a hormone-driven mischief-maker who wasn't accepted to the same school as Evan. But Evan and Seth both know that college is a place of personal reinvention, and that if they are able to make that first leap together they will have forged a bond powerful enough to last a lifetime. Meanwhile, Evan and Seth's friend Fogell (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse) acquires a hastily rendered fake I.D. that instantly endears him to a pair of truly irresponsible cops (played by Bill Hader and Seth Rogen). Superbad has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Dazed and Confused
This film is hilarious and it has a talented young ensemble cast whose careers were launched by the film. Set on the last day of the academic year, the film follows the random activities of a sprawling group of Texas high schoolers as they celebrate the arrival of summer, their paths variously intersecting at a freshmen hazing, a local pool parlor and finally at a keg party. Dazed and Confused has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Hoop Dreams
I truly love an underdog story and this one is on e of the best I've ever seen. Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. Hoop Dreams has a rating of 98% on rottentomatoes.com.
6.Fast Times at Ridgemont High
This film has a great cast and it is one of the most quotable films of all-time. Stacy Hamilton (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a young, innocent high-school student who, as the film opens, is asking for advice from her friend, the sexually outspoken Linda Barrett (played by Phoebe Cates). Stacy takes a liking to nebbish Mark Ratner (plyed by Brian Backer), but he is too afraid to make a move even after Stacy all but throws herself at him. She eventually hooks up with Mark's more confident best friend, Mike Damone (played by Robert Romanus). When not concerning itself with these four characters, the film spends time with stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli (played by Sean Penn) and his ongoing feud with history teacher Mr. Hand (played by Ray Walston). Fast Times at Ridgemont High has a rating of 79% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Friday Night Lights
I'm a huge football fan and I was also a fan of the book this was based off of and the film doesn't disappoint. The film chronicles the entire 1988 season of the Permian High Panthers of Odessa, Texas, with football players, coaches, mothers, fathers, pastors, boosters, fans and families struggling with ongoing personal conflicts while the team fights for a state championship. A town for sale, Odessa, Texas has seen better days--the financial bust evident in its boarded-up shops and broken lives. Yet one hope sustains the community where, once a week during the fall, the town and its dreams come alive beneath the dazzling and disorienting Friday night-lights. When the Permian High Panthers take to the field. In a city where economic uncertainty has eroded the spirit of its inhabitants, nearly everyone seeks comfort in the religion of the Friday night ritual, where the unfulfilled dreams of an entire community are shifted onto the shoulder pads of a team of high-school athletes. Friday Night Lights has a rating of 81% on rottentomatoes.com.
4.Dead Poets Society
This is an inspiring film and it has one of the most underrated performances by an actor of all-time. In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and rather dull affair. Several of the students, however, have their thoughts on the learning process (and life itself) changed when a new teacher comes to the school. John Keating (played by Robin Williams) is an unconventional educator who tears chapters of his textbooks and asks his students to stand on their desks to see the world from a new angle. Keating introduces his students to poetry, and his free-thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students, especially Todd (played by Ethan Hawke), who would like to be a writer; Neil (played by Robert Sean Leonard), who dreams of being an actor, despite the objections of his father; Knox (Josh Charles), a hopeless romantic; Steven (played by Allelon Ruggiero), an intellectual who learns to use his heart as well as his head; Charlie (played by Gale Hansen), who begins to lose his blasé attitude; unconventional Gerard (played by James Waterston); and practical Richard (played by Dylan Kussman). Keating urges his students to seize the day and live their lives boldly; but when this philosophy leads to an unexpected tragedy, headmaster Mr. Nolan (played by Norman Lloyd) fires Keating, and his students leap to his defense. Dead Poets Society was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay while winning 1 (Best original Screenplay) and it has rating of 85% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Remember the Titans
Like I said before I love football and this film doesn't disappoint. Based on actual events that took place in 1971, a white southern high school is integrated with black students from a nearby school. Both schools are recognized for their football programs which are now unified. The black coach is chosen to be the head coach of the integrated team, leaving the previous white head coach with feelings of animosity at having to be an assistant under a black man. Remember the Titans is a rating of 73% on rottentomatoes.com.
2.American Pie
I love this film and I absolutely love the entire franchise. a group of friends at the end of their senior year make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night. In their outrageous attempts to fulfill this mission, they come to some surprising, hilarious and often touching realizations about themselves, their friendships, their notions of love, romance and their relations with the opposite sex. American Pie has a rating of 61% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. The Breakfast Club
This film really helped me in high school and it's one of my favorite films of all-time. Trapped in a day-long Saturday detention in a prison-like school library are Claire, the princess (played by Molly Ringwald); Andrew, the jock (played by Emilio Estevez); John, the criminal (played by Judd Nelson); Brian, the brain (played by Anthony Michael Hall); and Allison, the basket case (played by Ally Sheedy). These five strangers begin the day with nothing in common, each bound to his/her place in the high school caste system. Yet the students bond together when faced with the villainous principal (played by Paul Gleason), and they realize that they have more in common than they may think, including a contempt for adult society. "When you grow up, your heart dies," Allison proclaims in one of the film's many scenes of soul-searching, and, judging from the adults depicted in the film, the teen audience may very well agree. The Breakfast Club has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
10. Napoleon Dynamite
This film surprised a lot of people and in my opinion it is one of the most underrated comedies of all-time. Napoleon (played by Jon Heder) is a carrot-topped oddball with a decidedly eccentric family that includes his llama-loving, dune-buggy enthusiast grandmother. The story centers on the local high school's race for class president. Using some nontraditional means, Napoleon is determined to help his pal Pedro (played by Efrem Ramirez) run a winning campaign and defeat popular girl Summer (played by Haylie Duff). Napoleon Dynamite has a rating of 71% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Superbad
This film is absolutely hilarious and it helped launch the careers of both Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. Operating under the assumption that by procuring alcohol for an upcoming party they will finally be able to break their longstanding losing streak with the fairer sex, socially inept high school seniors Evan (played by Michael Cera) and Seth (played by Jonah Hill) set out to secure the adult beverages that could get them off of the geek list before they even attend college orientation. Evan is a bright young student whose outward sweetness belies his suffocating fear of heading off to college without his lifelong best friend Seth -- a hormone-driven mischief-maker who wasn't accepted to the same school as Evan. But Evan and Seth both know that college is a place of personal reinvention, and that if they are able to make that first leap together they will have forged a bond powerful enough to last a lifetime. Meanwhile, Evan and Seth's friend Fogell (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse) acquires a hastily rendered fake I.D. that instantly endears him to a pair of truly irresponsible cops (played by Bill Hader and Seth Rogen). Superbad has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Dazed and Confused
This film is hilarious and it has a talented young ensemble cast whose careers were launched by the film. Set on the last day of the academic year, the film follows the random activities of a sprawling group of Texas high schoolers as they celebrate the arrival of summer, their paths variously intersecting at a freshmen hazing, a local pool parlor and finally at a keg party. Dazed and Confused has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Hoop Dreams
I truly love an underdog story and this one is on e of the best I've ever seen. Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. Hoop Dreams has a rating of 98% on rottentomatoes.com.
6.Fast Times at Ridgemont High
This film has a great cast and it is one of the most quotable films of all-time. Stacy Hamilton (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a young, innocent high-school student who, as the film opens, is asking for advice from her friend, the sexually outspoken Linda Barrett (played by Phoebe Cates). Stacy takes a liking to nebbish Mark Ratner (plyed by Brian Backer), but he is too afraid to make a move even after Stacy all but throws herself at him. She eventually hooks up with Mark's more confident best friend, Mike Damone (played by Robert Romanus). When not concerning itself with these four characters, the film spends time with stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli (played by Sean Penn) and his ongoing feud with history teacher Mr. Hand (played by Ray Walston). Fast Times at Ridgemont High has a rating of 79% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Friday Night Lights
I'm a huge football fan and I was also a fan of the book this was based off of and the film doesn't disappoint. The film chronicles the entire 1988 season of the Permian High Panthers of Odessa, Texas, with football players, coaches, mothers, fathers, pastors, boosters, fans and families struggling with ongoing personal conflicts while the team fights for a state championship. A town for sale, Odessa, Texas has seen better days--the financial bust evident in its boarded-up shops and broken lives. Yet one hope sustains the community where, once a week during the fall, the town and its dreams come alive beneath the dazzling and disorienting Friday night-lights. When the Permian High Panthers take to the field. In a city where economic uncertainty has eroded the spirit of its inhabitants, nearly everyone seeks comfort in the religion of the Friday night ritual, where the unfulfilled dreams of an entire community are shifted onto the shoulder pads of a team of high-school athletes. Friday Night Lights has a rating of 81% on rottentomatoes.com.
4.Dead Poets Society
This is an inspiring film and it has one of the most underrated performances by an actor of all-time. In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and rather dull affair. Several of the students, however, have their thoughts on the learning process (and life itself) changed when a new teacher comes to the school. John Keating (played by Robin Williams) is an unconventional educator who tears chapters of his textbooks and asks his students to stand on their desks to see the world from a new angle. Keating introduces his students to poetry, and his free-thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students, especially Todd (played by Ethan Hawke), who would like to be a writer; Neil (played by Robert Sean Leonard), who dreams of being an actor, despite the objections of his father; Knox (Josh Charles), a hopeless romantic; Steven (played by Allelon Ruggiero), an intellectual who learns to use his heart as well as his head; Charlie (played by Gale Hansen), who begins to lose his blasé attitude; unconventional Gerard (played by James Waterston); and practical Richard (played by Dylan Kussman). Keating urges his students to seize the day and live their lives boldly; but when this philosophy leads to an unexpected tragedy, headmaster Mr. Nolan (played by Norman Lloyd) fires Keating, and his students leap to his defense. Dead Poets Society was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay while winning 1 (Best original Screenplay) and it has rating of 85% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Remember the Titans
Like I said before I love football and this film doesn't disappoint. Based on actual events that took place in 1971, a white southern high school is integrated with black students from a nearby school. Both schools are recognized for their football programs which are now unified. The black coach is chosen to be the head coach of the integrated team, leaving the previous white head coach with feelings of animosity at having to be an assistant under a black man. Remember the Titans is a rating of 73% on rottentomatoes.com.
2.American Pie
I love this film and I absolutely love the entire franchise. a group of friends at the end of their senior year make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night. In their outrageous attempts to fulfill this mission, they come to some surprising, hilarious and often touching realizations about themselves, their friendships, their notions of love, romance and their relations with the opposite sex. American Pie has a rating of 61% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. The Breakfast Club
This film really helped me in high school and it's one of my favorite films of all-time. Trapped in a day-long Saturday detention in a prison-like school library are Claire, the princess (played by Molly Ringwald); Andrew, the jock (played by Emilio Estevez); John, the criminal (played by Judd Nelson); Brian, the brain (played by Anthony Michael Hall); and Allison, the basket case (played by Ally Sheedy). These five strangers begin the day with nothing in common, each bound to his/her place in the high school caste system. Yet the students bond together when faced with the villainous principal (played by Paul Gleason), and they realize that they have more in common than they may think, including a contempt for adult society. "When you grow up, your heart dies," Allison proclaims in one of the film's many scenes of soul-searching, and, judging from the adults depicted in the film, the teen audience may very well agree. The Breakfast Club has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite high school themed films and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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