Back to School with Cinema Wellman
Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host David, and today we’re going “Back to School” as we look at 14 movies set in and around elementary, middle, and high school.
The very words “Back to School” used to send shivers down my spine when I was teaching, but as a former teacher those words don’t even register a blip on the anxiety meter.
Grandma Lou would taunt us pretty much every Sunday dinner by announcing, “School tomorrow!” (sometimes bundled with “Lord Jesus Christ pray for us!)
The “School Tomorrow” announcement hit hard at that table since Cousin Johnny, Cousin Stephanie, Vanessa, and I were students and my Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Frank were both teachers.
I’m sure she loved us all, but that’s pretty diabolical there, Lou.
School, in and of itself, tends to be polarizing.
I think most people either love school or hate school.
Other than 9th grade, I was definitely one of those “love school” people which I guess I proved by going back to school and teaching for 33 years once my 15 years as a student were done.
Some quick math from a former English/History teacher…15 years as a student followed by 33 years as a teacher…that’s 48 of my 64 years spent in school as either a student or a teacher which is 75% of my life!
I really must have loved school!
I still hate school buses and everything about them, but maybe that’s just me.
Even if you’re “anti-school,” chances are you have a favorite “school” movie.
They tend to be packed with stereotypes of all kinds; one-dimensional characters made with the same cookie cutter depending on what group you’re a part of.
And that stereotypical cookie cutter character goes for both the students AND the teachers, not to mention the lunch ladies, custodians, and secretaries!
The 14 movies we have for you today do dip a toe into that stereotypical characterization pool from time to time, but they also do a lot more which puts them at the…head of the class.
We will be presenting today’s movies in chronological order and I will be keeping you posted on where I was at that time in my student or teaching career.
Pictures will be included, so this is going to get ugly.
I will also be keeping track of how many actual classroom scenes each movie has along with class sizes of the classes that are shown.
As a teacher, I was always so pissed off when movies and TV programs showed classes with 10 kids!!!!
No matter what the genre, those productions were part of a pure fantasy world!
The other thing I’ll be keeping you posted on is the age of some of the talent in these movies compared to the age of the students they are portraying.
I realize why this is done from time to time, but some of it can get comical.
Let’s start class by going back to 1973 and a movie about high school in the 60s.
American Graffiti (1973) I was in 5th grade @ S.H.S.
PG/110 m/IMDb: 7.4/directed by George Lucas
IMDb: “A group of teenagers in California’s central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.”
Poster tagline: “Where were you in ‘62?”
Me? Busy being born!
Did you know that George Lucas directed movies before doing that little outer space project? He did!
1973 meant 5th grade for me at Sacred Heart School in Newburgh, NY. (see attached photo!)
It was my first year without my first crush Kelly Nevins, and my first year with a new friend who would later be the best man at my wedding.
One of my favorite memories of Donny (other than him converting me from a Jets to a Giants fan on the day we met) is how we absolutely adored the soundtrack to American Graffiti!
We both had the double soundtrack album, played it constantly, and yearned for that time period.
I think a lot of people fantasize about experiencing the decade before they were born, and for me, that’s the late 50s/early 60s.
George Lucas’ American Graffiti certainly helped to fuel my fantasies of the 50s, and his use of music in this film had a lifelong impact on me.
Even though this is considered a “school movie,” there are ZERO classroom scenes since the entire film takes place over the course of one night.
Lucas also shot it in sequence which I grew up thinking was the way they shot movies, but it’s actually pretty uncommon.
He also made American Graffiti for $750k and it grossed over $115 million, so I guess I shouldn’t tease him about moving on to that space project.
This is the most Oscar nominated film on today’s back to school list as it was nominated for five Oscars; Best Picture, Director (Lucas), Supporting Actress (Clark), Writing, and Film Editing (Verna Fields and George Lucas’ wife Marcia).
And that music is constant as the scenes flow into one another with cars cruising the strip with everyone listening to the same radio station.
That’s the magic I wanted to be a part of, and as I re-watched this for this episode, I realized I’m so much like the dorky clueless guys in this movie.
Is that why I connected with this film so much?!
Let’s check some IDs!
Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, and Richard Dreyfuss were 25, Ron Howard and Charlie Martin Smith were 18, so I’ll give them a B-/C+.
I watched most of this through teary eyes because it really touched that nostalgia nerve.
That, and I’m a big, sentimental baby.
Next up, P.J. Soles and the Ramones!
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979) - I was in 11th grade @ N.F.A.
PG/93 m/IMDb: 6.6/directed by Alan Arkush
IMDb: “Ramones fanatic and delinquent Riff Randell battles it out with the strict new principal of Vince Lombardi High School, Miss Togar, with help from the Ramones.”
In 1979 I was in 11th grade at Newburgh Free Academy in Newburgh, NY.
Newburgh Free Academy sounds like a prep school, which it certainly was NOT, and I remember 11th grade being one of my more reckless phases of my life.
During “Junior Class Night”, an evening of skits performed by the junior class, I did my best Belushi for a skit titled “Samurai Substitute,” and, at the end of it (with actual Samurai sword in hand) jumped off of the stage into the second row of the crowd.
We were drinking.
Also drinking, I’m guessing, was everyone involved with Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.
Unless they were sniffing glue.
P.J. Soles (at age 28!) plays high school senior Riff Randell who is obsessed with the Ramones.
Twenty-eight is the age of someone finishing law school or med school, not high school!
Her character brags that she’s served more detentions at Rock n Roll High School than anyone else.
Probably because she’s 28.
When researching movies, I often come across stories about “this person was almost cast in this part,” and that can sometimes get silly.
For every “Tom Selleck was almost cast as Indiana Jones,” there are hundreds of “no they weren’t” examples.
I read about other bands being considered before they landed on The Ramones, and I’m not sure how much of this to believe.
Cheap Trick, Devo, and Van Halen were all supposedly considered for the band in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, and this movie with those bands just wouldn’t be this movie.
Would it?
Gabba Gabba Hey!
The budget for this film was miniscule.
P.J. Soles was the lead and she was only paid $1,200 for this and she reportedly spent ALL of that money on her wardrobe for THIS movie!
I also learned that it took Dee Dee Ramone almost 40 takes to get his one line, “Hey, pizza!” correct.
Imagine what it would take to get the line, “Hey, pizza!” incorrect!
All of the stereotypes in this film are done entirely on purpose, and the smoke in the bathrooms was a great sight gag, but I did not appreciate the abuse heaped upon the lunch ladies.
Those ladies work hard, and all food is a blessing.
The new hard-nosed principal is played by Mary Woronov, and if you’ve ever seen Mary Woronov in a movie, you love her as much as I do.
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School had a few classroom scenes, and all had realistic class sizes between 25 and 30 students.
The school in which this was filmed was set for demolition, so they blew it up at the end!
Strike the set!
“Anybody got any glue?”
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) - I was a sophomore @ B.U.
R/90 m/IMDb: 7.1/directed by Amy Heckerling
IMDb: “A group of Southern-California high school students ignore their studies in favor of indulging in their teenage distractions.”
In 1982, I was a sophomore at Boston University, and I was miserable because I had to live in the freshman dorm for another year with a person I couldn’t stand, and all I thought about all year is why I didn’t leave BU after freshman year.
Director Amy Heckerling was having a better 1982 since this was her first movie!
She said she wanted to make a movie like American Graffiti, and she really did in a lot of ways, and both movies made today’s list!
Producers didn’t think much of the film and it almost wasn’t even released on the east coast.
I guess those producers didn’t see the future they had in front of them since the young cast features three future Oscar winners and one future Oscar nominee.
The ages of the cast were a mixed bag with some being close to high school age, while others were a tad long in the teeth to be playing teenagers.
Phoebe Cates was 18, Jennifer Jason Leigh was 19, and Sean Penn was 21, but Robert Romanus, Brian Backer, and Judge Reinhold were all 25.
Cates and Leigh both appear nude in the film, which required them to be over 18, and I want to talk about that for a moment.
The Phoebe Cates “swimming pool/bikini scene” has become more famous than Eisenstein’s Odessa Steps sequence.
Amy Heckerling had to talk Cates into doing it and told her it was just a few seconds of screen time, and not a big deal.
And then that scene ended up being one of the most paused VCR spots of all time.
Paused so much, in fact, that video store owners complained that copies had flashes or glitches because the film was paused at that point so often.
So much for a few seconds of screen time.
And I’ve also read that Jennifer Jason Leigh’s nude scene was the first time she had ever been naked with a man.
Ever.
What are we doing to young people in this industry?!
That’s just wrong and creepy and exploitative.
Can you imagine being nude with another person for the very first time and the room is filled with other people?!
When Brooke Shields made Endless Love in 1980 she was 15 and still a virgin.
In order to get the right “expressions” from here during the sex scenes, director Franco Zefferelli would grab and twist her toe to provoke the reaction he was looking for.
That’s just disgusting, and shit like that should never be done to young people for the sake of a movie.
Shields said that it hurt, it humiliated her, and it traumatized her so much that she, “really shut down after that.”
She was only 15 years old.
And Brooke Shields is considered a ‘survivor’ in this industry!
To Heckerling’s credit, the teenage sex in this film is anything but titillating; it’s awkward and uncomfortable.
In other words, it’s like most teenage sex.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High was shot at Van Nuys High School while classes were in session! How cool is that?!
My favorite part of this film is probably the fact that all of the “expert” kids with all of the life experience doling out advice to other kids were absolutely full of shit.
Those kids knew NOTHING, they just acted like they did, which I believe is 100% accurate when it comes to high school and college.
“What are you people, on dope?!”
Ray Walston as Mr. Hand is always a treat. There are a “handful” of classroom scenes in Fast Times, and most have a realistic number of students in them.
But “Kashmir” is on “Physical Graffiti,” not “Led Zeppelin IV.”
They couldn’t get the rights to “Led Zeppelin IV,” but I didn’t know that the first time I saw this and called them out on it immediately.
Next up is a film that I like less every time I watch it, and I may have watched it for the final time.
The Breakfast Club (1985) - I was OUT of school
R/97 m/IMDb: 7.8/directed by John Hughes
IMDb: “Five high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.”
In 1985 I had graduated from BU and not yet enrolled in grad school, so when The Breakfast Club came out, I was in a kind of “school limbo.”
There are zero classroom shots in this movie since it takes place in the school’s library over the course of one day in Saturday detention.
A “library” that didn’t exist because it’s amazing and it’s a set that was built inside a high school gym.
Our five protagonists (all extreme stereotypes in a movie that’s against stereotypes?!) are played by Molly Ringwald & Anthony Michael Hall (both 16), Ally Sheedy & Emilio Esteves (both 22), and Judd Nelson (25).
Judd Nelson is one of those method actors that piss me off more every time I read about them.
Nelson’s character, Bender, is your stereotypical high school punk/delinquent with no regard for authority or respect for anyone or anything.
He is abusive, condescending, purposefully hurtful, and obnoxious during the entire film.
And to think that Judd Nelson also behaved that way off camera, bullying Ringwald and others during this shoot just aggravates me.
I sometimes think that being a “method actor” is an excuse to treat people poorly all the time and get a pass for it since you’re an “artist.”
Bullshit.
A 25 year old man bullying a 16 year old girl on a movie set in order to get into character is so ridiculous.
Ringwald was not happy with Nelson’s harassment, but she stands by the message of the movie.
The mere thought of those five kids being left unattended for even a minute in that school is utterly preposterous, and one of the reasons I like this film less and less every time I see it.
And John Hughes wanted the kids to interact with a female gym teacher that included a nude scene?
What the hell was John Hughes all about, and why did we let him make all those teen movies?
Next up…. another John Hughes teen movie.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) - I was OUT of school
PG-13/103 m/IMDb: 7.8/directed by John Hughes
IMDb: “A brash, cocky, high school senior, tired of skipping school to spend a boring day at home, is determined to enjoy an epic day roaring around his favorite Chicago sites, enlisting his best friend and girlfriend to join him on the adventure.”
1986 was important to me for two reasons; my niece Megan was born, and the New York Mets won the World Series (for what I’m convinced is the last time).
I hadn’t made the decision to go back to school yet, so this was around the time that I was working at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston as a security guard (blazer/no gun).
Let’s begin by saying that I think Ferris is kind of an asshole.
He’s very manipulative and selfish and I don’t think I could have been friends with someone like that.
Matthew Broderick was 23 when he played Ferris Bueller, and Alan Ruck was 29 playing Cameron, but 17 year old Mia Sara was cast as Sloane Peterson, and, if you realize it, that age difference in the actors makes some of this interaction kind of creepy.
Mia Sara later referred to director John Hughes as a, “strange guy,” and I’m starting to get it.
There are three or four classroom scenes, but it’s difficult to get an idea of class size since Hughes preferred close ups of the students as opposed to wide shots of the entire class.
Principal Rooney’s secretary Grace (played by Edie McClurg) may be the best part of this movie.
Ferris’ parents were played by Cindy Pickett and Lyman Ward who met on set, fell in love, and actually got married!
They divorced seven years later, but still!
The sequence at the Art Institute of Chicago is one of my favorites since I’ve been there and admired much of the art the trio sees on their field trip.
And the parade scene featuring the song “Twist and Shout” took several days to shoot and it was all worth it.
Next is another film from 1986.
School of Rock (1986) - I was OUT of school
PG-13/109 m/IMDb: 7.2/directed by Richard Linklater
IMDb: “After being kicked out of his rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher at an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn his class into a rock band.”
Big fans of Richard Linklater here at Cinema Wellman, as you probably know, and this is always one of his films that I forgot he directed.
In a typical Linklater move, he insisted that all of the kids sang and played their own instruments. He wasn’t going to do this film if that wasn’t the case, and it paid off in a big way.
I’m not a big Jack Black fan, but he is fantastic with the kids in this film, and some of the strategies I saw him employ as a teacher made it into my bag of teaching tricks over the years.
I love Sarah Silverman, and I always wanted her to be my girlfriend even though the girlfriend she plays in this film is the worst girlfriend in the history of girlfriends.
The classroom scenes are almost constant in School of Rock, and it’s a private elementary school with class sizes of around 15, so I’m good with that.
The “Battle of the Bands” at the end is so wonderful, and the guitarist from No Vacancy telling principal Joan Cusack she’s hot cracks me up every time.
This film features one of my all-time favorite closing credits sequence with the kids playing AC/DC.
“The movie is over….”
Dazed and Confused (1993) - My 6th year of teaching
R/103 m/IMDb: 7.6/directed by Richard Linklater
IMDb: “The adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.”
One of the reasons I love this film so much is that it takes place on May 28th, 1976, the last day of school in Austin, Texas.
On May 28th, 1976 I was anxiously awaiting the end of my own 8th grade school year.
So the first time I saw Dazed and Confused I was 31 years old and I remember marveling at how much of 1976 Richard Linklater got right.
1993 was also a huge year in my personal life with Lysa and I welcoming Dakota to the world, and me in my 6th year of teaching at the Hudson Memorial School in Hudson, NH.
Favorite students from that class include; Joy Scotina, Julie Heller, Jon Jarry, Erica Moncada, and Lina Schlieiffer who, believe it or not, was the ONLY student I EVER taught in 33 years who shared my birthday.
Statistically, that just doesn’t make sense.
My 6th year of teaching and also the year we caught two kids together in the shower on the D.C. trip which I did NOT have on my “Career BINGO Card” when I began in 1988.
Getting back to Dazed and Confused, there are half a dozen classroom scenes, but classroom sizes are in question since it’s the last day of school and nobody is where they are supposed to be on the last day of school.
There’s a lot of American Graffiti in Dazed and Confused including the attention to music.
This is the film where Linklater brought producers the list of songs he needed for the film and they laughed at him.
No way they could afford the songs on that list.
Which is when Linklater told them to use his salary to get the rights to all of the songs since this film isn’t this film without these songs.
The ages of the talent are high school-ish for the most part.
Sasha Jensen is 27, and Joey Lauren Adams is 24, but Parker Posey and Matthew McConaughey are 22, Shawn Andrews and Rory Cochrane are 21, Jason London and Ben Affleck are 20, and Milla Jovovich and Wiley Wiggins were 16.
Wiley Wiggins with that nose grabbing!
Once you notice it, it’s all you can see.
Thirteen times in one scene!
Richard Linklater was concerned that Universal might go for a PG-13 rating by cutting all of the weed scenes, so he made sure he put weed in as many scenes as possible.
“Alright, alright, alright.”
Clueless (1995) - My 8th year of teaching
PG-13/97 m/IMDb: 6.9/directed by Amy Heckerling
IMDb: “Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school’s pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.”
1995, my 8th year of teaching at the Hudson Memorial School in Hudson, NH.
Some standout students from that year include Caitlin Anderson, Katie Brouillette, Jessica Browning, and Nick Petroules.
This also the year I took a test down to a student serving an in-school suspension.
When I put it on his desk in the room, he slid it back to me and said, “Maybe later, right now I’m watching Aladdin.”
One of my all-time favorite stories.
As I mentioned, I rewatched all of these films to prepare for this episode and here are some early takeaways from Clueless.
*They make a joke about Cher’s mom dying during a liposuction procedure!
*A period joke?!? More than one period jokes?!?
*The “R” word?!?!
This is Jane Austen’s “Emma” for teens although I’m pretty sure she never used the “R” word.
But, and this is too good of a setup to pass up, you SHOULD see the short film Jane Austen’s Period Drama from 2024 which I have mentioned before.
There are three classroom scenes with class sizes around 25, so no issues there.
Alicia Silverstone and Brittany Murphy were 18, but Stacey Dash was 28, and Paul Rudd was 26 (and he still looks it).
I read that the 63 outfit changes for the girls cost “only” $200,000.
Only $200,000? That’s almost $3,000 per outfit!
Alicia Silverstone was allowed to keep all of her outfits and she gave them all to charity.
Makeover Montage Alert in this one!!!
I thought it was funny that the stoners in Clueless are referred to as “Loadies.”
“As if!”
Matilda (1996) - My 9th year of teaching
PG/98 m/IMDb: 7.0/directed by Danny DeVito
IMDb: “A girl gifted with a keen intellect and telekinetic powers uses both to get even with her callous family and free her kindly schoolteacher from the tyrannical grip of a sadistic headmistress.”
In 1996, I’m in my 9th year of teaching, still at the Hudson Memorial School in Hudson, NH.
The HMS Class of ‘96 was one of my favorites; Angelo Girginis, Crystal Heino, Jenn Leclerc, Katie Tarbox, and Angela Dupont, who wrote the following in my yearbook:
“Hey, thanks for being an awesome teacher and friend. Next year I suggest you don’t send any 7th graders out to your car if you have beer cans in your trunk. They probably won’t be able to handle it. Anyway, thanks again. I love you, man.”
I still read those yearbooks from time to time, and I’m stunned by some of the stuff the kids felt comfortable enough writing in mine.
Back to Matilda who was played by 8 year old Mara Wilson.
Mara’s mother was dying of cancer during filming, and Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman (who play her terrible parents in the film) were so wonderful and loving to Mara, even having her stay with them at times to allow her father to attend to her ailing mother.
Director DeVito even made sure Mara’s mother got to see a rough cut of the film before she passed, which is an example of how young people should be cared for and protected on movie sets.
This is a sweet, sweet fantasy movie, and don’t we all wish Miss Honey was our teacher?!?!
The classroom scenes were accurate when it came to class sizes, but I’m hoping they were very inaccurate when it came to the “chokey!”
And Bruce Bogtrotter and that chocolate cake.
That poor bastard.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999) - My 12th year of teaching
PG-13/97 m/IMDb: 7.4/directed by Gil Junger
IMDb: “A high-school boy, Cameron, cannot date Bianca until her anti-social older sister, Kat, has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy, Patrick, to charm Kat.”
1999, my 12th year, and I believe last at the Hudson Memorial School in Hudson, NH, where I was sent off by memorable students like Genevieve Benoit, Frank Gilmore, and Katie Robinson.
Clueless gave us Jane Austen for teens, and this is Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” for teens.
We have at least five classroom scenes in 10 Things I Hate About You, and all have “acceptable” class sizes of 20 or more. As a matter of fact, all of these films today pass my class size scrutiny.
This was shot entirely on location with no sets, and the school where it was filmed was first built as a chateau style railroad station hotel, and it is something to behold.
On the negative side, one of the teachers is an absolute asshole!
He is smug, insulting, condescending, and everything you wouldn’t look for in a teacher.
Also negatives were two more period jokes (lazy and inexcusable), and more use of the “R” word, also inexcusable.
On the plus side, the performances (and age appropriateness) of the three leads; Julia Stiles (17), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (17), and the late Heath Ledger (19).
We love Julia Stiles, especially since she’s a die-hard Mets fan, but I’m not sure she’d be allowed back in school after flashing a teacher.
I’m also glad she wasn’t 18 when it was filmed, or that scene would have been shot differently.
It was fine this way.
Perfectly fine.
Mean Girls (2004) - My 16th year of teaching
PG-13/97 m/IMDb: 7.1/directed by Mark Waters
IMDb: “Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of Alpha Plastic Regina George.”
2004 was my 16th year of teaching and by this time I was at the Comprehensive Grammar School (C.G.S.) in Methuen, MA.
I loved teaching in Methuen, and I had so many favorites in this class; Justina Alfano, the Cairnie sisters, Alyssa Coughlin, Kierstyn Donnelly, Mallary Forzese, Danny Higgins, Matt Joyal, Laura Moriarty, Jackie Moska, Jake Mulligan, and Emily Sullivan.
Such a great bunch of kids, and I wish them all well in wherever life has taken them.
As for Mean Girls, to begin, thank you, Tina Fey, for the writing.
There are so many memorable lines in Mean Girls. Everyone has their favorites, but some of mine are:
“I love seeing teachers out of school. It’s like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs.”
“You smell like a baby prostitute.” “Thank you.”
“There’s been some girl on girl crime here.”
And, of course, “You GO Glen Coco!”
There are at least seven classroom scenes, all with believable class sizes, but some of the cast is on the older side.
Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried were 17 and 18, Lizzy Caplan and Lacey Chabert were 21, but Daniel Franzese and Rachel McAdams were both 25.
I love how the Plastics are referred to as “Teen Royalty,” because the class system certainly exists in school.
More use of the “R” word, which was alarming, but I guess it is school, and kids can be insensitive idiots at times in what they say.
The cafeteria montage in this is a favorite of mine.
I did lunch duty for more years than I care to remember, but I must admit that many of my favorite memories took place in the cafeteria.
Next up is our the only sci-fi movie on our list.
Sky High (2005) - My 17th year of teaching
PG/100 m/IMDb: 6.3/directed by Mike Mitchell
IMDb: “Set in an era where superheroes are commonly known and accepted, young William Stronghold, the son of the Commander and Jetstream, tries to find a balance between being a normal teenager and an extraordinary being.”
My 17th year of teaching remains my all-time favorite, and I could talk about that class for hours and hours.
I don’t even want to mention any of them by name because I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out.
Other than Becky. I have to mention Becky since I think she watches this now and then.
I headed into this school year on a four person team with two first time teachers and a permanent sub, and the class coming to us had the reputation as being the worst the C.G.S. had ever seen.
Long story short, we treated them with respect and supported them from the start and they responded.
It was a magical year for me in the classroom, and a year I’ll never forget.
Sky High is your typical high school movie other than it takes place in a high school populated by students who have super powers.
Even though that’s the case, a lot of the regular high school stuff still happens at Sky High.
Michael Angarano was 17 during filming and Mary Elizabeth Winstead 20, and class sizes don’t matter because this is a fantasy high school.
They’re expected to have manageable class sizes!
I loved that the students are classified as either “heroes” or “sidekicks,” and you can’t have a popular kid without them having sidekicks.
Also, Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston play the superhero parents, and they are terrific.
Russell’s suit featured a cooling system that would pump ice water through tubes to keep him cool.
Preston’s costume didn’t have that because it was too tight.
Sigh.
Superbad (2007) - My 19th year of teaching
R/113 m/IMDb: 7.6/directed by Greg Mottola
IMDb: “Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.”
2007 was one of those “dark years” during my teaching career.
I moved from MA to NJ with a Master’s Degree in Education and 18 years of teaching experience and yet I couldn’t get certified to teach in NJ.
It took me two years, and it’s one of the many reasons my time in that state was nothing but misery.
So no fun stories to tell about 2007 or names of kids I remember.
Back to Superbad…this was two-time Oscar winner Emma Stone’s film debut at 18, Michael Cera was also 18, and 17 year old Christopher Mintz-Plasse was given an “and introducing” credit in his film debut as McLovin!
Jonah Hill was the elder statesman of this class at the age of 23.
Superbad follows in the footsteps of American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused in that it’s pretty much another one nighter movie.
Because of this, we get only one classroom scene with a believable class size.
The high school party in this film will most likely remind you of a high school party you yourself attended back in the day.
Although I doubt the cops that broke up your party were as insanely clueless as Bill Hader and Seth Rogan.
The late scene with Cera and Hill sleeping on the floor in Cera’s basement telling each other how much they love each other is so very sweet.
We need more high school boys in touch with their feelings.
Nothing wrong with telling your bud you love him.
Our last film today has been described as the female version of Superbad.
Booksmart (2019) - My 31st year of teaching
R/102 m/IMDb: 7.1/directed by Olivia Wilde
IMDb: “On the eve of their high-school graduation, two academic superstars and best friends realize they should have worked less and played more. Determined not to fall short of their peers, the girls try to cram four years of fun into one night.”
I wish I had some fun stories about teaching in 2019 and how much I enjoyed the kids, but 2019 was one of those “COVID” years, and I honestly can’t tell you a damn thing about that year.
I think that year was remote, or hybrid, or…oh, I just don’t remember. That was all one big blur.
I still don’t remember much about those years.
I do remember seeing Booksmart for the first time and loving pretty much everything about it.
Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut stars Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein (Jonah Hill’s younger sister) as the academic superstars who feel “cheated” by doing the right thing during high school.
Dever was 22 and Feldstein 25 during filming, but most of the movie takes place outside of the classroom. There’s only one classroom scene (another last day of school movie), and again, I had no problem with the 20+ class size.
The relationship between Dever and Feldstein’s characters is so wonderful and supportive.
They are there for each other at all times no matter what.
No surprise Booksmart is compared to Superbad since the films have so much in common, including a lot of situations that are uncomfortably familiar.
Chances are the uncomfortable portions of these 14 school movies may be the most relatable for a majority of us.
Well, that is a wrap from here at Cinema Wellman as we went back to school as students and teachers across the country also did recently.
If you are a student or a teacher, we wish you the best this year.
Students: Never stop asking questions, never stop questioning authority (respectfully), always keep learning, and NEVER use AI.
Teachers: Cut them some slack. They’re just kids.
We hope you’re with us next time for either our hockey movie episode “Cinema Wellman’s Original Six,” or “September’s Best & Worst” episode.
Honestly not sure which one you’ll be getting next, but in any event, we hope you’re here.
And until then, take care.
