Nobody wants to peak in high school, but in the football-crazed town of West Canaan, Texas, the local kids know that their teenage years are their best shot at immortality. Yearbook superlative: Most likely to tell its grandchildren about high school literally every time they visit Quintessential teen moment: A whipped cream bikini, meant to seduce the new star quarterback, embarrasses everybody involved. Sadly, the best character in this flick-Buddy (Jacoby), the horndog little brother living in a den of porno-never got his spin-off.- Brent DiCrescenzoĬast: James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight, Paul Walkerīest quote: "Playing football at West Canaan may have been the opportunity of your lifetime, but I don’t want your life!" Deviating from the cheap Shakespeare plot for a bit of Austen, Terry makes over a nerd into a hunk (Rohner), falling for him, natch. Aspiring journalist (how quaint!) Terry Griffith (Hyser) goes undercover as an eerily Macchio-esque boy for a story. Sure, we're not exactly talking Simone de Beauvoir here, but one could conceivably juice a feminist theory paper out of this '80s pulp. Even the three-decade-old gender politics are not as dated as one might expect. Required reading: Twelfth Night by William Shakespeareįrom an era of body swap comedies, this folly holds up better than its peers. Yearbook superlative: Most likely to inspire a Katy Perry video Quintessential teen moment: Terry must fend off the advances of precocious sexpot Sandy (Sherilyn Fenn). Progressing through the levels Scott (Cera) must finally leave his infantile ways behind-the journey we all face before we achieve the dubious honor of calling ourselves grownups.- Roman TagoeĬast: Joyce Hyser, Clayton Rohner, Billy Jacobyīest quote: "Where do you get off having tits?!" Based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s series of six graphic novels, the film follows hapless, perpetual teenager Scott (he’s 23 but has no job, still plays in a struggling band and dates a high schooler – we're claiming him as a teen) as he battles the seven evil exes of mysterious stranger Ramona Flowers (Winstead) in order to win her hand. the World by Bryan Lee O’MalleyĬult British director Edgar Wright’s first foray into big-budget Hollywood filmmaking may not have broken any box office records, but its unique blend of comic book visuals, computer game structure and stoner rock soundtrack combine to form a teenage dream. Yearbook superlative: Most likely to still be obsessed with video games in their 30s Quintessential teen moment: In a kinetic final battle fuelled by his newfound “power of self respect” Scott makes up with his friends, kicks his foes’ backsides into the middle of next week and delivers rapid fire quips without breaking stride. Josie uses her false persona to try to fit in, only to later explain her real story through the article she publishes.- Ramona SavissĬast: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anna Kendrick Josie is given a second chance at high school and finally falls in love along the way-the twist being that it’s with her English teacher, Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan), who thinks she’s a real high school student. But with the help of her brother Rob (Arquette), who enrolls to help her out, she befriends the cool kids, putting herself in a different social hierarchy this time around. When undercover reporter Josie Geller (Barrymore) is assigned to research teenage culture, she enrolls as a student at her former high school and finds herself reliving her high school insecurities as though she'd never left. Yearbook superlative: Best first kiss with a stadium audience Quintessential teen moment: When Sam finds out that Josie loves him and runs to the baseball field, where she is waiting on the pitcher's mound for her first kiss. And while the cultural details may differ through each decade, the feelings – and raging hormones – remain the same.Ĭast: Drew Barrymore, Leelee Sobieski, David Arquetteīest quote: "I'm not Josie Grossie anymore!" On this list of the best teen movies of all time, you’ll find raunchy comedies and big-hearted love stories, serious dramas and even some tales of horror – because after all, what’s more horrifying than high school? It stretches from Judy Garland musicals to James Dean, from the aforementioned Hughes classics to Jennifer Love Hewitt, Superbad and Booksmart. While the so-called ‘teen movie’ arguably hit its peak in the ‘80s with the work of John Hughes, movies exploring the trials, tribulations and emotional turbulence of adolescence have been huge since at least the 1950s, and remained omnipresent through the ‘90s and up to today. It’s no wonder, then, that filmmakers continue mining their high school years for inspiration. It’s the most confusing time in anyone’s life, and that’s as true in 2022 as it was in 1922. No matter how drastically the world changes, the experience of being a teenager is universal.
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