25. Fame (1980)

Cast:
Irene Cara
Debbie Allen
Gene Anthony Ray
Lee Curreri
Paul McCrane

The School of the Performing Arts, where people break into song and spirited choreographed dance routines! It could happen… but probably doesn’t in real life. Coco, Bruno, Leroy and company have their fair share of real world troubles too though – it’s not all taxi top dance fun.

24. Lucas (1986)

Cast:
Corey Haim
Kerri Green
Charlie Sheen

First crushes aren’t easy when you’re a dorky, awkward teenager who gets teased endlessly at school. But you gotta give the kid credit for joining the football team to impress the girl he’s infatuated with. Plus, the nostalgia of a sweet, adorable Corey Haim versus his current washed up status lets us remember Haim in the happy 80s.

23. Carrie (1976)

Cast:
Sissy Spacek
Piper Laurie
Betty Buckley
Amy Irving

Oh shit, Carrie is all kinds of creepy, but her whack job mom doesn’t exactly help her fit in at school. And then that disgusting pig blood soaked prom scene. Kids can be so fuckin cruel, but don’t piss off a girl with telekinetic powers. Carrie exacts her revenge in the end. That’ll teach ‘em.

22. Friday Night Lights (2004)

Cast:
Billy Bob Thornton
Lucas Black
Garrett Hedlund
Derek Luke
Jay Hernandez

Friday Night Lights presents high school football as an obsession for the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas. With little else going on in this small town, Friday night football is something to look forward to, but hopes of winning the championship is a lot of pressure for these players fighting for an escape from the same dead-end lives their parents endure.

21. Dead Poets Society (1989)

Cast:
Robin Williams
Robert Sean Leonard
Ethan Hawke
Josh Charles

Dramatic and truly inspiring, Dead Poets’ English professor John Keating (Robin Williams) teaches his students to seize the day by thinking outside the confines of their prep school. Make sure you have a box of tissues nearby for this high school tale – there wasn’t a dry eye in the theater when I saw it the first go-around.

20. Rushmore (1998)

Cast:
Jason Schwartzman
Bill Murray
Olivia Williams

From the quirky mind of Wes Anderson, we get our first look at Jason Schwartzman as the eccentric over-booked prep school student who finds a father figure and nemesis in Bill Murray - as student and rich dude vie for the affection and attention of elementary school teacher Miss Cross.

19. Donnie Darko (2001)

Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jena Malone
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Mary McDonnell

It’s a cult classic - cue “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” – well, at least as teenager Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) knows, via a big burned bunny. All the sci fi coolness, while hitting the high school themes, Donnie Darko is an original, no doubt about it. We’re still scratching our head about a few things though.

18. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Cast:
Jon Heder
Efren Ramirez
Tina Majorino

Oh, awkward youth – Napoleon Dynamite has you rooting for this majorly uncool title character with Jon Heder’s brilliant performance. And we never see such energy from the low vibe Napoleon as when he performs his dance routine in front of the entire school. Vote for Pedro!

17. Risky Business (1983)

Cast:
Tom Cruise
Rebecca De Mornay
Curtis Armstrong

It launched Tom Cruise (for better or for worse) into the stratosphere of super stardom, gave us the memorable air guitar underwear scene – and oh, yeah… one of the hottest sex on a train scenes ever. This is one high school experience that takes Cruise’s straight-laced character, Joel, on a wild ride.

16. Say Anything (1989)

Cast:
John Cusack
Ione Skye
John Mahoney
Lili Taylor

He’s the loveable underachiever – she’s the class valedictorian. The star-crossed lovers in Say Anything are meant to be despite the odds. Check out Lloyd Dobler as he proves his love in that classic boom box scene. Sigh. A million John Cusack fans were born from this movie.

15. Sixteen Candles (1984)

Cast:
Molly Ringwald
Michael Schoeffling
Anthony Michael Hall

Sixteen Candles is when we fell in love with freckly Molly Ringwald – her family forgets her birthday, nerds want to see her panties, and her infatuation with Jake (ultimately) leads to a happy ending. Even nerdy Anthony Michael Hall finds love with the most popular girl in school. So, all’s well that ends well.

14. Hoop Dreams (1994)

Cast:
William Gates
Arthur Agee

The inspiring true story of two kids trying to make it out of the Chicago slums on a basketball dream, this documentary follows both the struggles and the joy, making it a must-watch on our high school film list. Hoop Dreams follows Arthur Agee and William Gates for five years, from high school to college recruitment.

13. Superbad (2007)

Cast:
Jonah Hill
Michael Cera
Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Raunchy and ridiculous, Superbad gave us so many things that were oh-so-wrong, yet oh-so-right. The comedy duo of Michael Cera and Jonah Hill combined with a script by Seth Rogan and his buddy struck a chord with audiences with this hilarious high school tale of two buddies. And c’mon… McLovin? It’s all good.

12. Clueless (1995)

Cast:
Alicia Silverstone
Paul Rudd
Stacey Dash
Brittany Murphy
Donald Faison

Alicia Silverstone is such a Betty in this movie! Plus Clueless put Paul Rudd on the map – so thank the heavens for that. An adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, director Amy Heckerling nailed this funny look at a rich girl who learns there’s more to her than just the superficial, shallow Cher.

11. Boyz n the Hood (1991)

Cast:
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Ice Cube
Morris Chestnut
Larry Fishburne
Angela Basset

Boyz n the Hood was a masterpiece for director John Singleton, capturing the gritty realities of high school life for three high school friends on different paths – one an athlete, one with college aspirations and one a drug dealer. Nothing is easy in this tale and Tre, played by Cuba Gooding Jr., learns hard life lessons when his friend is murdered. With guidance from his dad, he escapes the cycle of crime and violence and gets out of the hood.

10. Mean Girls (2004)

Cast:
Lindsay Lohan
Rachel McAdams
Lacey Chabert
Amanda Seyfried

Can Tina Fey do no wrong? Mean Girls was a killer script by Fey, featuring Lindsay Lohan before she had a party-girl reputation, and included turns by Rachel McAdams, Lizzy Caplan and Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia) before they were bigger names. Mean Girls confirmed that girls can be so bitchy – and cruel.

9. Grease (1978)

Cast:
John Travolta
Olivia Newton-John
Stockard Channing
Jeff Conaway

The original High School Musical… well, sorta. Singing and dancing was never so cool as in Grease, what with Sandy, Danny and the gang at 1950s Rydell High. Who doesn’t love the Goody Two Shoes/Bad Boy dynamic in Grease, but please answer this burning question – what the hell with Sandy and Danny flying off in the car at the end? Never got that one.

8. Hoosiers (1986)

Cast:
Gene Hackman
Barbara Hershey
Dennis Hopper

Everybody loves a story with heart – small-town Indiana high school basketball underdogs beat the odds and win the state championship in this early-50s tale of redemption. Gene Hackman gives a fantastic performance as a washed up former collegiate coach who has a lot to prove to the town – and himself.

7. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Cast:
Matthew Broderick
Alan Ruck
Mia Sara
Jeffrey Jones
Jennifer Grey

If you could have gotten away with the shit that Ferris Bueller did when he skipped school, wouldn’t you have done it? Matthew Broderick rocks this John Hughes classic, taking audiences along for one helluva ride – from Ferrari to Abe Froman (The Sausage King of Chicago), to riding atop a parade float. Ditching school has never been more fun.

6. Election (1999)

Cast:
Reese Witherspoon
Matthew Broderick
Chris Klein

Forget her Academy Award win for Walk the Line, Reese Witherspoon’s role as uber annoying overachiever Tracy Flick in Election was easily her best work. Ever. Throw in pathetic Matthew Broderick, his contempt for Tracy and his ill fortunes (that’s one mother of a bee sting reaction!), and you’ve got one darkly funny look at the politics of high school.

5. Heathers (1989)

Cast:
Winona Ryder
Christian Slater
Shannen Doherty

With lines like “Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw,” Heathers takes high school bitches to a whole new level. Smarmy Christian Slater has never been better and hot fingers Winona Ryder plays bitchy with precision in this dark high school tale. Heathers was a stark contrast to the feel good high school flicks of the 80s, for sure.

4. Dazed and Confused (1993)

Cast:
Jason London
Rory Cochrane
Wiley Wiggins
Matthew McConaughey

This is familiar territory, given that Dazed and Confused topped our Stoner Movies list. Dazed captures the life of seventies high schoolers, as the upcoming seniors ceremoniously haze the incoming freshmen on the last day of school in 1976. Sex, drugs and music of the day comes into play and Matthew McConaughey gives one of the best performances ever with his classic line: “That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.”

3. American Pie (1999)

Cast:
Jason Biggs
Seann William Scott
Shannon Elizabeth
Alyson Hannigan
Thomas Ian Nicholas
Tara Reid
Chris Klein

When American Pie hit theaters, no one could have guessed how an actual pie would be so affectionately regarded by a horny high schooler. Pie was like the Porky’s of the 90s, with four friends making a pact to lose their virginity by graduation. Plus, American Pie gave us classics like MILF and the ever popular “this one time?… at band camp?”

2. Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)

Cast:
Sean Penn
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Judge Reinhold
Phoebe Cates

Penned by Cameron Crowe and directed by Amy Heckerling, Fast Times introduced us to Sean Penn as ultimate stoner Spicoli and a host of other interesting characters, including Jennifer Jason Leigh and Phoebe Cates (which led to Judge Reinhold’s infamous bathroom scene – yikes). Fast Times was a coming-of-age story that hit all the right notes with audiences.

1. The Breakfast Club (1985)

Cast:
Judd Nelson
Molly Ringwald
Emilio Estevez
Anthony Michael Hall
Ally Sheedy

We’ve got the classic high school types (jock, princess, brain, basket case, criminal) locked together for Saturday detention in this John Hughes’ classic. They each learn that they’re not so different after all… and The Breakfast Club became the quintessential high school movie, but seriously? Saturday detention?

There is no one who can touch Jaa. The actions is SPECTACULAR! Of 90 minutes. There is 30 minutes story, 60 minutes action. He shows the martial arts on film in a way not seen since Chang Cheh and Shaw Brothers film of the '70s. ...

[...]

If there were any debates that Jet or Jackie was the next Bruce Lee. Then you gotta give Jaa his props. He pays an homage to Jackie Chan's drunken master and crushes Chan's performance. One scene that impressed me was his Kung Fu Fist and Muay Thai fist vs 2 opponents. He switches styles back and forth throughout the fight.

Other elements, the music score is really fitting. Head banging right along with the action. Even the [khon] dance, that I thought would be a drag, they scored it just right and was great to see. Cinematography, thankfully, the camera pulls back and doesn't chop up the acting or the fighting.

Proper martial arts film - it's the hard, raw, kick ass ma film we have been waiting for since the days of Bruce Lee.

Ong-Bak 2 picked up very slowly, and spent significant time developing the back story of Jaa's Tien. And unfortunately, I do admit unabashedly that I was waiting for action sequence one after another, and those in the same boat will have to be patient. For action junkies, your appetite will only be satiated in the last act of the film, where it's vintage Jaa as he dishes out punishment, and receives much of the same in return. I detested the ending which wrapped everything up so conveniently (I don't buy the Karma bit), or left subplots such as the romantic angle as something to be dwelled upon later (though I believe romance never really was an issue at all in Jaa's movies), leaving doors wide open for another film.

The story for Ong-Bak 2 felt like it was just an excuse to get from one fighting sequences to another ... in the same manner as video games. Ironically, when the film tried to instill emotions, it became a drag as it’s neither convincing nor given the enough time to create the required sentiment.

The action sequences, which generally are what people pay for in a Tony Jaa movie, were a mixed bag. There are still some splendid trademark flying knee and elbow moments, but other than that, there are a lot to nitpick.

[...]

There’s also the “homage” to the previous kung-fu classics and other fighting methods that didn’t really go well with this Thai action movie. Personally, I would prefer to watch more of Muay Thai style of fighting in this Thai action movie than to see Tony Jaa mimic moments from Drunken Master and Game of Death. It would be interesting to see how Tony Jaa uses Muay Thai style against the various martial arts but instead we get a chunk of Tony Jaa doing a Chinese style of fighting which looked more silly than impressive.

Overall Ong-Bak 2 looked great visually but didn’t provide enough memorable fighting moments to hook viewers into the third part. It also makes one wonder if they are going to do a movie that is not related to the first one, wouldn’t it be better to rename this two-part movie so that the part two wouldn’t have to be named as part three instead?

• Ong-Bak 2: A dissenting view

Cleon “Slammin” Salmon (Michael Clarke Duncan), the former Heavyweight Champion of the World, is a tough, crazy bull of a man and the celebrity owner of a high end Miami, seafood restaurant, The Slammin’ Salmon. He generally rules by fear, but on this night he raises his leadership style to a new level.  On this particular night, the Champ reveals that he owes money to the Japanese Yakuza and needs to pay up asap. So he institutes a contest to “inspire” his wait staff to sell more food than they ever have: The night’s top selling waiter gets $10,000, the lowest selling waiter gets his head punched in by the Champ.  And the game is on…

The contest sets into motion a series of events which complicates the lives of each of the staff members. Mia (April Bowlby) is the sexy, cocky, ballerina who relies on her beauty to sell food until her face gets scalded by boiling soup.  Now, her appearance is turning her customers off and sending Mia toward the dreaded last place. Guy (Erik Stolhanske) is the sleazy waiter whose best table is occupied all night by the Lone Diner (Will Forte), a man reading War & Peace and not ordering any food. Connor (Steve Lemme) is an actor who quit one year ago to be the star of CFI: HOTLANTA, only to be fired from the show. Now he’s back at The Slammin’ Salmon and find himself waiting on the entire cast of CFI: Hotlanta. Nuts (Jay Chandrasekhar) is an incredibly subdued, heavily medicated English teacher with both multiple personality and obsessive compulsive disorders, who has forgotten to take his meds and is slowly descending into insanity. Tara (Cobie Smulders from “How I Met Your Mother”) is a down to earth med school student who, in the midst of the mayhem, remains the voice of reason, until she gets a 0% tip on her biggest check. Rich (Kevin Heffernan) is the spineless manager who accidentally swallows the engagement ring of a famous celebrity who is about to propose to his girlfriend. Donnie (Paul Soter) is the brand new busboy whose been thrown into the contest by Rich. He’s two hours behind the other waiters in sales and will do anything to avoid the looming beat down at the hands of Cleon Salmon.

As the hours pass, the action becomes more chaotic as Cleon shows up to supervise the contest and changes the rules on a minute to minute basis. Greed and fear push the waiters towards the finish line, and the contest ultimately ends with sabotage, bribery, indecent proposals and, of course, a heavyweight championship caliber pummeling by the Champ!”

The movie premieres at the Slamdance Film Festival this month and will hopefully secure a theatrical release sometime soon after.  Check out the rest of the pictures over at Collider.

"Donnie Darko" comes to Blu-ray on Feb. 10, in a dual-version release from Fox Home Entertainment. The next month sees a 50th anniversary Blu-ray edition of "South Pacific."

As for "South Pacific," who knows what high definition will do with the bizarre themed color scheme that has clouded this high-spirited musical over a half century.??

The Robe -- Arising March 17 on a Fox Blu-ray. Richard Burton, Victor Mature and Michael Rennie star in this tale of the Christ and the soldier who made off with his garments. The 1953 epic was a pioneer of CinemaScope and was directed by Henry Koster ("Harvey"). Complete set of extras on the Blu-ray version only. They examine the film as well as the 'Scope format. 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.

The Passion of the Christ according to Mel Gibson gets a Fox Blu-ray release Feb. 17. Includes the bloody original and a toned-down version. Extras are repeats from the "Definitive Version" DVD.??

Raging Bull -- Martin Scorsese's dissection of prize fighter Jake LaMotta joins the select group of black-and-white classics released on Blu-ray, as of Feb. 10. Extras on MGM's disc all appear ported over, but they're terrific. Can't wait to revisit the work of cinematographer Michael Chapman and editor Thelma Schoonmaker in high def.??

Gandhi -- Spinning onto Blu-ray on Feb. 18 via Sony Pictures. Ben Kingsley stars and Richard Attenborough directs this Oscar-gobbling movie about the man who kicked Britain out of India, nicely. Dolby TrueHD 5.1.

GENRE: Christ, fuckin... all of em
SOURCE: DVD (STORE RENTAL)

The reason I have been skipping over Dark Floors as I made my way through the Ghost House Underground set is, as usual for me, a lame one: it had the most extra features. Since I’m still not completely caught up from the madness of October, I have been avoiding movies that have extensive features, due to my OCD need to watch them all before I write the review (especially for rentals, as I won’t have a chance to catch up on them later on). But had I known about the awesomeness of LORDI, I would have probably watched it first. Hell I may have bought it on principle.

Variety reports Gigandet stars as a young man who embarks on a journey of self-discovery after he loses everything he has and decides it's time to find out what's most important in his life.

Malone is on board playing his girlfriend, while Will Yun Lee stars as Gigandet's reasonable friend.

Gigandet most recently starred in "Never Back Down." He will next be seen as James in "Twilight," which opens this weekend. The actor will also appear in David S. Goyer's "The Unborn" and Christian Alvart's "Pandorum."

As for Jena Malone, whose known for her roles in "Donnie Darko" and "Saved!," she recently starred in "Into the Wild" and "The Ruins." Lee's credits include "Die Another Day" and "Bionic Woman."