‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it’ - Ferris Bueller (1986).
Attention boys and girls: It's that time of year again... back to school! Whether you're a parent, student, teacher or student-teacher, a new school year is often one of the most exciting (and highly stressful) times of the year. In my household, it's not so much as 'back to school' as it is 'first day of school.' My 4-year-old daughter begins a new chapter in her life this week: Pre-K. Naturally she has tons of questions; (who's my teacher? what will I learn? will there be toys? can I watch Goosebumps when I come home?) you know, the usual stuff.
So being the sentimental, but also topical, person I am, today's film discussion is going to be back-to-school adjacent. It also doesn't hurt that my last podcast episode was about Grease 2. (Y'all remember that not-so-classic-song 'Back to School Again'?) Check it out! My podcast, I mean. The song too, while you’re at it, it’s aged well.
Now then, it’s time to grab those Scantrons, #2 pencils, and walk in a single-file line over to my 15 favorite High School Films made during my lifetime.
Before I get to my list, let’s first set some parameters. Why? A few reasons:
- I want you to think of this entry the same way you would for a food recipe blog. I’m gonna give you 1000 words before I actually show you how to cook that delicious looking low-calorie, chicken chipotle enchilada-lasagna you googled just now. You need to earn it and I’m gonna make you work for it.
- Defining a high school film isn’t quite as easy as you might think. There’s caveats and layers, and even some disqualifiers. Though, if you had to define required criteria you'd usually find most of the following:
- love or loss
- someone graduating
- overbearing adults
- sex, drugs and rock & roll
- scenes in a classroom, cafeteria or hallway
- A particularly important, although often overlooked, caveat is that a high school film must have a hero who's actually a high schooler (whether the actor playing that role is not - I'm looking at you Rizzo from Grease). A film like American Beauty, for example, while technically fits each of the criteria above, isn’t really about teenagers themselves, but about family life as a whole - that and the story is being told to us via Lester Burnham.
Ready for my list? Good, but I’m not quite there yet. Instead, lemme address some some criteria-fitting, yet disqualifying films that didn't (and more importantly couldn’t) make my list.
- Horror Films
Don't get me wrong - I love horror films. I'm just not entirely sure horror movies can also count as high-school movies? Take films like Friday the 13th, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and even I Know What You Did Last Summer - we can all agree that those films are literally told through the eyes of high school students. They even have scenes taking place in a high school. All great films, yet nobody really thinks of them as high school films. To audiences they're horror films. And all horror films are rated, judged and discussed by their horror content and themes alone. The same applies to even horror comedies, like Zombieland, Freaky and Scream.
But what about a film like Carrie? That one's especially tough, because it might very well be the most high school-ish high school film ever made... other than the pigs blood and burning everyone alive stuff at the end - oh, and the period stuff in the beginning. Conundrum. Fortunately Carrie came out before I was born so this all seems highly irrelevant anyway. More than anything, I think my subconscious just wanted me to sneak a Carrie reference or two in there.
- Action-Adventure Comedy Films that may or may-not star Michael J. Fox
This one really hits hard as I really want to include Back to the Future on this list. It would likely be #1 too. It's essentially #1 on all my other lists. However, the simple truth is this is not a 'high school' film to me. 'But wait,' you say, 'Andrew, Back to the Future is literally about a high school student whose band gets rejected from putting on a concert at school, only to go back in time, meet his high-school-aged parents, and then help them fall in love... by doing what? That's right - putting on a concert at school.' I get it. I do. I really do. It's an incredible movie! But to me it's more of an action-adventure film that transcends the term 'high school movie.' I imagine younger audiences might feel the same way about the new Spider-Man films coming out these days. For those wondering, I feel similarly to Teen Wolf, but less convincingly so. Oh! That brings me to...
- Documentaries (Sports or otherwise)
While I'm sure there are tons of other great teen-inspired documentaries, I'm really making this disclaimer because of Hoop Dreams. Do not mistake me - Hoop Dreams is a damn great film. but doesn't make the list because it's a documentary. If I did count it, it'd likely fit in the top 10 - as it's incredible.
Alright, you're right! I've ranted on long enough. Let's get on with the list. For the sake of word counts, I won't get into detailed reasoning for my rationale, but will instead offer some bite-sized blurbs. If you want to know why I feel a certain way about a film just ask in the comments section.
My 15 favorite High School movies
- 15. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- I'm not gonna lie, this film only made it because of Heroes by David Bowie and it took place in Pittsburgh. It's still cute though.
- 14. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
- This also took place in Pittsburgh, but was also a really damn good film too. I wish I was half as creative as these kids are.
- 13. Stand & Deliver
- Based on a true story - and flawlessly acted.
- 12. Lean on Me
- Like the film above, also based on a real story - but only slightly better.
- 11. Dead Poets Society
- Who was your high school Mr. Keating? Mine was Mr. Giles.
- 10. Can't Hardly Wait
- It's all about Seth Green's Kenny. We all knew a Kenny in high school.
- 9. Better off Dead
- Rejection, suicidal thoughts, a shitty job, an insane paperboy - comedy gold.
- 8. Dazed & Confused
- The soundtrack, the cast, the writing, the direction - absolutely flawless.
- 7. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- Same as above... but also had that Phoebe Cates scene, you know the one.
- 6. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
- Who didn't want to be Ferris when they were in high school?
- 5. Election
- While it may seem odd that this ranks higher than Matthew Broderick's other feature on this list, Election is just a better film. And Reese Witherspoon crushes it!
- 4. Mean Girls
- I'm dreading the day my daughter becomes a teenager. Wait, is this actually a horror film?!
- 3. Heathers
- To call this film underrated would be an insult. But also, Winona forever.
- 2. Clueless
- 'As if' this film, inspired by Jane Austin's Emma, wouldn't have made the list.
- 1. The Breakfast Club
- John Hughes' high school masterpiece. They don't get any better than this.
(honorable mentions - Ladybird, Easy A, Superbad, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science, Never Been Kissed, Say Anything, Lucas, House Party, Euro Trip, Friday Night Lights and Hoosiers)
There you have it. What are your thoughts? Lemme know in the comments section. And If you enjoyed this, you should check out my podcast.
***no commas were hurt in the writing of this blog-spot***
