8/28/08

Bob's Big Screen

Back-to-school choices on DVD

by Bob Connally

The start of a new school year was never a happy time for me. But there are so many great films and TV shows about school life that it almost makes the whole miserable experience worthwhile. Here is a look at some of my favorite movies and shows about school. There are certainly some things I’ll miss but when there are so many great entries that’s bound to happen. I have placed all entries in chronological order by subject. Time to go back to class.

Elementary and Middle – There are many films about childhood but few truly about those kids at school. Here are just a few.

The 400 Blows (NR): Francois Truffaut’s 1959 tale of young Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) is a seminal entry of the French New Wave as well as being one of the most heartbreaking tales of youth on film.

The Sandlot (PG): There isn’t a single classroom scene in this 1993 gem, but Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) making friends while learning about baseball showed him that there was more to life than getting good grades. Though I suspect that at the end of that summer he started getting straight A’s again.

Billy Madison (PG-13): I put The Sandlot in as a buffer because to go from 400 Blows immediately to this might have caused the universe to implode. Adam Sandler’s first starring role is highlighted by his excursion through third grade that includes a surprisingly sweet scene. To save a classmate from a lifetime of humiliation, Billy (Sandler) convinces the other kids that “you ain’t cool unless you pee your pants.” 

High School – From almost nothing to an embarrassment of riches.

Sixteen Candles (PG): The eighties gave us a flood of high school tales, many of which were written and/or directed by John Hughes. This 1984 entry was his directorial debut and Molly Ringwald’s portrayal of a girl whose parents forgot her birthday forever made her an icon.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (PG-13): There are other worthy Hughes films I’m leaving out but I couldn’t ignore Ferris because, of all of his high school pics, this is far and away the most fun. Everyone wants to be Ferris (Matthew Broderick) but it’s Cameron (Alan Ruck) with whom we can truly relate.

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (PG): I re-watched this one recently and not only does it hold up, it actually reveals itself to be a much smarter film than you initially realize. Just try not getting goose bumps when Lincoln tells you to, “Be excellent to each other, annnnd…PARTY ON, DUDES!”

Heathers (R): High school comedy has never been so dark. The stylized dialogue of Daniel Waters puts Juno to shame.

Say Anything (PG-13): Much more than the iconic “boom box scene,” Cameron Crowe’s tale of Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) remains a melancholy and realistic look at being a teenager. Shot in and around Seattle.

Scream (R): It spawned a trend that brought about some truly awful teen slasher flicks, so it’s easy to forget how witty Wes Craven’s 1996 film really is. You can skip the sequels, but the first one still works.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”: Joss Whedon’s brilliant TV series took the phrase “high school is hell” to another level. The first three seasons took place while Buffy, Willow, and Xander were students at Sunnydale High. They also happened to be easily the three best seasons of the show.

Rushmore (R): Wes Anderson’s tale of Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) getting kicked out of his beloved Rushmore Academy is not only a great high school movie, it’s one of my favorite movies, period.

The Virgin Suicides (R): Sofia Coppola’s directorial debut is bleak (as the title suggests) but is so hauntingly beautiful that it will stick with you for years to come.

Election (R): A hilarious and dark film that only gets better with each viewing. The campaign speech scene is one of the most accurate and squirm-inducing moments in any high school movie.

 “Freaks and Geeks”: In the world of film and television this may be my very favorite thing, well… ever. Besides unleashing an incredible amount of talent on the world, Paul Feig and Judd Apatow’s look at life at a Michigan high school in 1980 is funny, painful, and absolutely real. I cannot recommend this short-lived series highly enough.

Ghost World: Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson star as two disaffected girls graduating high school and finding they don’t have as much in common as they’d thought. Features Steve Buscemi’s best performance.

“Veronica Mars”: Veronica (Kristen Bell) is a brilliant private detective who often puts herself in dangerous situations. Still it’s nothing compared to surviving Neptune High.

Superbad (R): One of the funniest films of this decade also happens to be a very believable examination of the last days of a friendship against the backdrop of one crazy night.

College - “TOGA!”

American Graffiti (PG): There’s a high school dance scene but this movie’s really about one last night of innocent fun before heading of (or not) to college. A classic in every sense.

Animal House (R): Thirty years on, it remains the ultimate college film.

PCU (PG-13): Behold the best and most truthful line in any college movie. “These, Tom, are the Causeheads. They find a world-threatening issue and stick with it for about a week.”

“Undeclared”: Feig and Apatow’s hilarious foray into college was even more short-lived than “Freaks and Geeks.”

Art School Confidential (R): So many of the kids I went to college with didn’t know how to laugh at anything, let alone themselves. It’s no wonder this brilliant skewering of college pretentiousness is so thoroughly hated.

Coming to DVD:

9/2

“The Office”: Season 4

Then She Found Me (R)

“Eli Stone”: Season 1

Married Life (PG-13)

The Promotion (R)

Outsourced (PG-13)

9/9

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”: Season 3

“Smallville”: Season 7

The Forbidden Kingdom (PG-13)- 3.5/10

Baby Mama (PG-13)- 6.5/10

How the West Was Won (Ultimate Collector’s Edition and Blu-ray)