Movies Set in a High School/Secondary School. Another nice long title to have in my post. I'm sure Mean Girls will be a popular one to pick but I'll stay away from my more obvious choices. There is also a serious lack of films from the UK set in schools, at least secondary schools. Well, 'If...' is a British film but I didn't care for the film that much and the more recent following would be a good choice but I haven't seen it yet. The film below either seem to take place, mostly at school or they are about school.
Heathers
"What's your damage Heather?"
Who would have thought that great power comes from a red hair scrunchie and being called Heather. A satire about teen suicide, does seem like an odd choice for a film subject and later an off broadway musical, that I have the soundtrack to. Winona Ryder in her heyday along side Christain Slater, again in his heyday are a couple of misfits who decide to get their own twisted revenge on the more popular students by staging their murders as suicide. It's better that this description, I assure you.
Rushmore
"I saved Latin. What did you ever do?"
This was a pick I hesitated over as it is more about Max, Jason Schwartzman in his film debut giving an award worthy performance. But the majority of the film does take place, either at the Rushmore Academy or at Max's other high school. Either way, both of the schools have truely amazing drama departments, meeting the rather intimidating Max's specifications. It really about a teenage boy falling in love with a woman far too old for him and his determination that he will win the girl, while also trying his hardest to stay at his beloved school.
10 Thing I Hate About You
"I guess in this society, being male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time"
I could have picked Clueless or Easy A but I went for the Shakespearean adaption/modern twist film. Plus, I loved and still do love this film. It was one of my first teen movies I watch when I was younger. Surprisingly, I used to watch other genres, maybe not fit for a 10 year old to watch, but hey, no matter. I love 'The Taming of the Shrew' and after seeing the film many times, I picked up on more similarities that were included. A great cast, filled with typical tropes of the genre and setting as well as adding a few great extras like, Bogey, just the character, he's a weird add on. Also Kat and Patrick are just great sparring characters who don't loose their edge. On a side note, the school that the film was shot in is amazing, its like a palace by the sea. The only thing about this film that irritated me was the title. It's too darn long. And I know we were all counting the 'hates' in the poem at the end.
Don't forget to check out the host with the most - Wandering Through The Shelves.
Unfortunately, I haven't watched Rushmore. God, what a sin!
ReplyDeleteI do love 10 Things I hate About You (the school does have an amazing location, haha), think I picked it for Teen Comedy week so I didn't pick it for this week. I've seen Rushmore, I was gonna add, but wasn't 100% it would have counted, but I guess it does. I've heard a lot about Heathers and and do want to see it.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a huge fan of Rushmore, but I love both Heathers and 10 Things I Hate About You. 10 Things is such a clever spin on Shakespeare, and Heathers was the pre-Mean Girls, and it's every bit as delicious!
ReplyDeleteI think I'd pick Grease as one of my favorites set in a school!
ReplyDeleteHeathers has such a wonderfully twisted outlook and Winona is quite marvelous in it, too bad she screwed up and deflated her career. Although I really can't stand Julia Stiles I like 10 Things so much that she doesn't ruin it for me, and JGL is the star of one of my picks for the week-Brick which looks like it's going to be quite the popular choice. I haven't seen Rushmore.
ReplyDeleteOh, Heathers. Such dark twisted piece of 80s awesome. Love it. Rushmore is one of the first movies I fell in love with as a teenager. Great sophomore effort from Wes! Pretty much perfect. 10 Things I Hate About You is another great one from my teen years. My wife's favorite movie. She loved Heath Ledger. Such a tragic loss. Great picks!!
ReplyDeleteHeathers is fantastic. Almost chose it for my own list. Great work.
ReplyDeleteCool list! Heathers and 10 Things are two of my faves. They are eternally and so easily quotable.
ReplyDeleteConstantly quoting 10 Things, Heathers not so much, depends on the crowd, sometimes they are lost on people :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Have you see/heard the musical? It's pretty good, even if its a weird choice.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I tried to have a varied group. Absolutely love Rushmore, it about Wes for me.
ReplyDeleteYES! Grease is an excellent choice, it is indeed set in highschool but for me, its more of a musical than highschool tale, if we're going by genres.
ReplyDeleteShe did! She could have continued to be great but alas no. I love Brick, its such a brilliantly crafted film, but for me I see that as a noir tale rather then straight forward highschool.
ReplyDeleteHeathers definitely paved the way for Mean Girls and I can't say no to classic adapted to highschool rules.
ReplyDeleteDamn, I forgot you can't pick things twice. Rushmore is named after the school that Max is obsessed with so it had to count :)
ReplyDeleteIndeed it is! Highly recommended watch :)
ReplyDeleteHad no idea there was a musical. That sounds...odd.
ReplyDeleteLove your first and third pick. Rushmore didn't quite win me over. I did consider some non US movies, but some of the UK ones that I came up with were set in boarding schools which was a theme I had last year and some other non English titles I did watch were movies more about teachers rather than students' school experience.
ReplyDelete