With school having just started, Laura and Stephanie decided to look at our favorite old school Back to School movies.
First up is one of my all time favorite movies, 10 Things I Hate About You. In this movie, a new student falls for a pretty sophomore, but in order to get around her father's rule of no dating in high school, he tries to convince the school's bad boy (played by Heath Ledger) to date her moody older sister. The movie's title comes from a poem the older sister wrote near the end of the film. This movie, based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, is the movie that introduced us to Heath Ledger, and it had great one-liners ("There's a difference between like and love - I like my Sketchers, but I LOVE my Prada backpack") and was funny, charming, and sweet. It has a great cast full of actors that I still watch today such as Allison Janney and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
The Breakfast Club was my introduction to school movies. I used to catch bits and pieces on TV when I'd randomly come across them. It is about five students, each from a different clique, stuck in a full day Saturday detention. The quintessential Brat Pack film, this coming of age story focuses on how teenagers struggle to be understood, both by adults and their peers. It really resonated with people and is the best John Hughes film in my opinion. After seeing this movie, I wanted to be Molly Ringwald, and I was in love with Emilio Estevez.
A more serious film, Dead Poets Society is a true classic. The story revolves around a new students at an elite, all male boarding school in Vermont. He makes friends with a few other students, and they create the Dead Poets Society, based off a group by the same name that their new English teacher (played by Robin Williams at his best) was in back when he was a student at the same school. The movie covers a lot of serious topics that the boys must deal with, which I won't get into because I don't want to spoil the plot, but this is such an amazing movie that I cannot recommend enough. The movie won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the famous line "Oh Captain! My Captain!" is quoted often.
Another more serious film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower will forever hold a special place in my heart. The story follows Charlie who is shy and withdrawn from most things around him until he meets Sam and Patrick who take Charlie under their wing and befriend him. I remember I saw this movie in the middle of the day on a day I didn't have classes with barely anyone in the theater and I balled my eyes out because I related to Charlie and Sam so much. I'm going to put a trigger warning in here since the movie does include mental health and abuse. It is such a great story about finding friends and becoming comfortable and loving towards yourself. This is a YA book adaptation and they (the book and the movie) are both equally moving.
Take Hyster Prynne from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and add some social satirical humor and you have one of my favorite movies Easy A. It follows Olive Penderghast as rumors spread about her personal life and how she tries to manipulate the situation as the rumors grow and she finds the parallels between her life and that of Hyster Prynne. The movie has a literary references which is perfect for back to school and is filled with sarcasm which I absolutely love.
I personally love a Disney Orignal movie, and Z-O-M-B-I-E-S is one of my favorites to watch around back to school time because it usually means Fall is almost here and nothing feels more Fall than zombies and Halloween. Plus, sometimes I would feel like a zombie after a long day of classes. The story takes place at Seabrook High and follows zombie Zedd and cheerleader Addison as they work together to show how no matter the differences between people, you can get along and achieve great things. The movie is filled pep rallies, football, and classes which checks my stereotypical Disney high school movie boxes plus I love the soundtrack.
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