Teen Movies we Love
Apr. 1st, 2005 05:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousie(Inspired by the April Fools' Pretty in Pink sequel prank).
Surely I can’t be the only one on my flist who’s enjoyed teen movies now and then? They are cheesy, they are silly, they are fun. I thought it would be cool to list my faves (and not so faves) and for others to add theirs, or to say whether they think my picks are insane.
My Teen Top 10 (in order)
1 The Breakfast Club: This is, without doubt, my fave teen movie of all time. Heck, it’s in the general list of my fave movies. Maybe because it avoids most teen movie cliches (no prom in this one, as it is set during a few hours or so), or maybe because the characters start out as high-school stereotypes (jock, nerd etc) but slowly reveal their full three-dimensions in a very relatable and realistic character study. The plot (for those who don’t know): 5 bored teens: Molly Ringwald’s Claire as a spoiled Princess, Ally Sheedy as the resident weirdo (just watch her make cereal sandwiches), Emilio Estevez as a wrestling star, Anthony Michael Hall (the nerd) and Judd Nelson as Bender, the delinquent, are forced to spend a day in detention. They fight, they talk, they smoke some pot. There is a makeover, confessions and unexpected hookups. This movie goes all the way from hilarious to disturbing to off-hand cruel to rather sad. And hey, for a fan of twisted ships, there’s Bender/Claire.
2 Say Anything: Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut, I love this one because there isn’t any melodrama. It’s all understated, and realistic and still swoonily romantic. John Cusack is Lloyd Dobler, who has no particular goal in life and Ione Sky is the overachiever he falls in love with. It really captures the feel of being in love. I dare you not to like this. The famous scene with Lloyd coming to Ione’s house after the break-up and holding a boom-box playing “In Your Eyes” is one of my fave romantic scenes. And so is their making love scene, which comes across as gentle and sweet and not a bit crass. “Why are you shaking?” she asks him. “Because I am happy” he answers.
3 The Sure Thing: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger stuck together on a cross-country car ride. Or nearly. This is a teen version of those 30s screw-ball comedies. And you gotta give props to a guy who is traveling all the way to CA to get laid. But yeah, true love (and beer goggling) win at the end. And yeah, it’s still sweet.
4 Cruel Intentions: If I love my No 1 and No 2 picks for their realism, CI is completely opposite. Hey, it’s a transplantation of “Dangerous Liaisons” into a High School milieu. Plot: two amoral step-siblings (Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillipe) make a bet. If he can seduce the school virgin (Reese Witherspoon), Gellar will sleep with him. But (of course) he falls in love with the good girl. Somehow, the amorality, the cutting remarks, the social stratification, and even “rake redeemed by love of good woman” work in a High School context. The melodrama is gloriously over the top (how many teen movies are going to have a guy die for a woman he loves) and so is the snark (Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character explains she finds “strength in Jesus,” fingering her cross. Her cross is shown to be hollow and to contain cocaine). Oh, and Ryan Phillipe is hot, even if he and Reese Witherspoon should have perfect blond, blue-eyed Aryan children :)
5 16 Candles: Cheesy, silly, perfect. Molly Ringwald is about to turn 16, but her family neglects her and her dream crush won’t pay any attention to her. Never fear, it all turns out well.
6 Pretty in Pink: Will Molly go to the prom with her rich dream boy or not? This has a simple plot and awful fashions, but somehow the characters feel real. They are not the stereotypes of “nerds” or even “ugly duckling transformed” that 90s teen movies are so fond of. It’s sweet and simple, and I love the understated end.
7 10 Things I hate about you: Who’d have thought transporting “Taming of the Shrew” into a modern highschool would work? Well, it does. Not in the least because Julia Styles and Heath ledger are much better than the usual teenybopper actors and because there is funny funny fun in this flick.
8 Bring it On: Yup, it’s about cheerleading teams. I don’t care. It’s smart and it’s funny and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
9 Clueless: Yet another classic transposed. This time it’s Austen’s “Emma.” Emma+teenybopper movie=Dangermousie’s hog heaven
10 A Walk to Remember: Yeah, it’s cheesy. It’s treacly. It’s a Mandy Moore film. The heroine is perilously close to being a Mary Sue: she has the hottie fall for her, has impeccable morals and is dying, but I. don’t. care. It’s in the glorious tradition of the 50s weepies (unlike the awful Leelee Sobieski movie with a somewhat similar plot), and hey, it’s one of the few movies where teen weddings work for me.
Teen Movie that receives: “I’d rather eat sand than rewatch it” award: “Never Been Kissed.” Argh. Don’t get me started on this one. Don’t get me started on “teacher hooking up with student.” Or why a successful 20-something woman would have an inferiority complex re: snotty high-school kids. Ugh.
The “I don’t get the fuss” candidate: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: Ferris has no real feelings. Quite sociopathic, in fact. I think I was simply too old when I first saw this.
Guilty Pleasure: Sugar and Spice: Cheerleaders rob a bank, wearing Nixon masks. Really. Watch it.
Surely I can’t be the only one on my flist who’s enjoyed teen movies now and then? They are cheesy, they are silly, they are fun. I thought it would be cool to list my faves (and not so faves) and for others to add theirs, or to say whether they think my picks are insane.
My Teen Top 10 (in order)
1 The Breakfast Club: This is, without doubt, my fave teen movie of all time. Heck, it’s in the general list of my fave movies. Maybe because it avoids most teen movie cliches (no prom in this one, as it is set during a few hours or so), or maybe because the characters start out as high-school stereotypes (jock, nerd etc) but slowly reveal their full three-dimensions in a very relatable and realistic character study. The plot (for those who don’t know): 5 bored teens: Molly Ringwald’s Claire as a spoiled Princess, Ally Sheedy as the resident weirdo (just watch her make cereal sandwiches), Emilio Estevez as a wrestling star, Anthony Michael Hall (the nerd) and Judd Nelson as Bender, the delinquent, are forced to spend a day in detention. They fight, they talk, they smoke some pot. There is a makeover, confessions and unexpected hookups. This movie goes all the way from hilarious to disturbing to off-hand cruel to rather sad. And hey, for a fan of twisted ships, there’s Bender/Claire.
2 Say Anything: Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut, I love this one because there isn’t any melodrama. It’s all understated, and realistic and still swoonily romantic. John Cusack is Lloyd Dobler, who has no particular goal in life and Ione Sky is the overachiever he falls in love with. It really captures the feel of being in love. I dare you not to like this. The famous scene with Lloyd coming to Ione’s house after the break-up and holding a boom-box playing “In Your Eyes” is one of my fave romantic scenes. And so is their making love scene, which comes across as gentle and sweet and not a bit crass. “Why are you shaking?” she asks him. “Because I am happy” he answers.
3 The Sure Thing: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger stuck together on a cross-country car ride. Or nearly. This is a teen version of those 30s screw-ball comedies. And you gotta give props to a guy who is traveling all the way to CA to get laid. But yeah, true love (and beer goggling) win at the end. And yeah, it’s still sweet.
4 Cruel Intentions: If I love my No 1 and No 2 picks for their realism, CI is completely opposite. Hey, it’s a transplantation of “Dangerous Liaisons” into a High School milieu. Plot: two amoral step-siblings (Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillipe) make a bet. If he can seduce the school virgin (Reese Witherspoon), Gellar will sleep with him. But (of course) he falls in love with the good girl. Somehow, the amorality, the cutting remarks, the social stratification, and even “rake redeemed by love of good woman” work in a High School context. The melodrama is gloriously over the top (how many teen movies are going to have a guy die for a woman he loves) and so is the snark (Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character explains she finds “strength in Jesus,” fingering her cross. Her cross is shown to be hollow and to contain cocaine). Oh, and Ryan Phillipe is hot, even if he and Reese Witherspoon should have perfect blond, blue-eyed Aryan children :)
5 16 Candles: Cheesy, silly, perfect. Molly Ringwald is about to turn 16, but her family neglects her and her dream crush won’t pay any attention to her. Never fear, it all turns out well.
6 Pretty in Pink: Will Molly go to the prom with her rich dream boy or not? This has a simple plot and awful fashions, but somehow the characters feel real. They are not the stereotypes of “nerds” or even “ugly duckling transformed” that 90s teen movies are so fond of. It’s sweet and simple, and I love the understated end.
7 10 Things I hate about you: Who’d have thought transporting “Taming of the Shrew” into a modern highschool would work? Well, it does. Not in the least because Julia Styles and Heath ledger are much better than the usual teenybopper actors and because there is funny funny fun in this flick.
8 Bring it On: Yup, it’s about cheerleading teams. I don’t care. It’s smart and it’s funny and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
9 Clueless: Yet another classic transposed. This time it’s Austen’s “Emma.” Emma+teenybopper movie=Dangermousie’s hog heaven
10 A Walk to Remember: Yeah, it’s cheesy. It’s treacly. It’s a Mandy Moore film. The heroine is perilously close to being a Mary Sue: she has the hottie fall for her, has impeccable morals and is dying, but I. don’t. care. It’s in the glorious tradition of the 50s weepies (unlike the awful Leelee Sobieski movie with a somewhat similar plot), and hey, it’s one of the few movies where teen weddings work for me.
Teen Movie that receives: “I’d rather eat sand than rewatch it” award: “Never Been Kissed.” Argh. Don’t get me started on this one. Don’t get me started on “teacher hooking up with student.” Or why a successful 20-something woman would have an inferiority complex re: snotty high-school kids. Ugh.
The “I don’t get the fuss” candidate: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: Ferris has no real feelings. Quite sociopathic, in fact. I think I was simply too old when I first saw this.
Guilty Pleasure: Sugar and Spice: Cheerleaders rob a bank, wearing Nixon masks. Really. Watch it.
