I’d put The Breakfast Club much lower on the list, and Pretty in Pink much higher. The thing that bugs me the most about Breakfast Club is how Molly Ringwald’s character forgives Bender so quickly for how he treats her- I mean, he stuck his face in her crotch (this was before they were a couple) and she acted like it was normal!
Maybe that’s what I should do next time I see an attractive woman: I’ll just sneak up and put my face between her legs and then she’ll become my girlfriend.
Right next to Porky’s II on the “Not on the Top 50 List” list, and rightfully so.
I thought Hollywood Knights should have made the lower part of the list. Like Silenus I’d have switched the #1 and #2 spots, but possibly for less noble reasons. Two less noble reasons. Both of which were glorious and deserving of more screen time.
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
Good list, but one MAJOR oversight… IF… starring Malcolm Mcdowell, should easily be top 10.
[/QUOTE]
Oooh…good one. But apparently not American enough.
I can agree with most of it, but Breakfast Club at number 1??? Better than Rebel Without a Cause? Better than Heathers? Better than Fast Times at Ridgemont High? Better than American Graffiti??? I’d move it down to ten and movie the rest of them up a notch.
[QUOTE=msmith537]
Dump the half dozen or so films I’ve never even heard of:
Gregory’s Girl?
Get Real?
High School ?
[/QUOTE]
So, if you haven’t seen it — it’s not worth seeing, right?
(P.S. I’ve seen Gregory’s Girl and High School, and yes they belong on the list.)
While Breakfast Club is nowhere near the best movie on the list, it is the quintessential High School Movie, just because of how it embrases all stereotypes. I was a bit too old when it came out (24) but not old enough to have forgotten what those teens years really felt like. Hughes may have cardboard characters, played by not very accomplished actors who deliver their lines awkwardly, but the again, teenagers often behave awkwardly and life, when you’re living thorugh those years, tend to be all black or white, all good or evil. Being nuanced and insightful is not part of being 16. I think this is why the movie works so well and deserves being #1.
The list makers don’t seem all too critical about their definition of ‘high school movie’. Anything that takes place in a high school seems fine to be fine by their standards.
For me, a high school movie is where the scenario being a high school fills an important *point *or part of the plot (as in Breakfast Club) and isn’t just where the story happens to take place (as in Carrie).
[QUOTE=msmith537]
Did I say that? No. I simply said there are other high school movies which might make a better choice for top 50.
[/QUOTE]
Nah, Gregory’s Girl deserves its place - top ten probably. I was pleased to see Dazed and Confused, American Graffiti and Clueless up there. Very good films.
[QUOTE=cactus waltz]
The list makers don’t seem all too critical about their definition of ‘high school movie’. Anything that takes place in a high school seems fine to be fine by their standards.
[/QUOTE]
I know what you mean, but as a starting point for the list it’s hard to see what else they could have done.
[QUOTE=cactus waltz]
The list makers don’t seem all too critical about their definition of ‘high school movie’. Anything that takes place in a high school seems fine to be fine by their standards.
For me, a high school movie is where the scenario being a high school fills an important *point *or part of the plot (as in Breakfast Club) and isn’t just where the story happens to take place (as in Carrie).
[/QUOTE]
Actually, it’s quite important that “Carrie” be set in a high school; the coming-of-age and high school outcast themes are rather central to the story.
[QUOTE=msmith537]
Did I say that? No. I simply said there are other high school movies which might make a better choice for top 50.
[/QUOTE]
If the High School the list is referring to is the Frederick Wiseman documentary, then there is no film you can think of that deserves to be on that list more (even the very good Blackboard). In fact, #13 is too low.