If you’ve been missing going to class, and we don’t mean online class, here are some fun school-based movies you can watch. Get a dose of the popular kids, the not-so-popular kids, the locker scenes, teachers of all sorts, and hear that school bell ring again and again.
‘Mean Girls’ (2004)
Tina Fey wrote her first screenplay based on Rosalind Wiseman’s nonfiction book “Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence,” giving the world the gift of “Mean Girls,” an iconic film people are still obsessed with (and are quoting) 16 years later.
Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), who has spent her life being home-schooled by her zoologist mother, enters high school for the first time and gets a crash course on making friends, dating and becoming popular.
The school: North Shore High School
Notable classmates: Regina George (Rachel McAdams), Gretchen Wieners (Lacy Chabert), Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried), Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett), Damian Leigh (Daniel Franzese), Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan)
The lesson: “There are two kinds of evil people in this world. Those who do evil stuff and those who see evil stuff being done and don’t try to stop it.” And also: “Ex-boyfriends are off-limits to friends. That’s just, like, the rules of feminism.”
‘Legally Blonde’ (2001)
Delta Nu president Elle Woods thinks she’s getting engaged but is instead dumped by her boyfriend. Determined to win him back, she follows him to law school.
Reese Witherspoon has had a number of great roles (she did win an Oscar for playing June Carter Cash in 2004) but to us, she will always be Elle, the pink-loving, chihuahua-carrying, smart sorority girl that people underestimated.
The school: Harvard (“What? Like it’s hard?”)
Notable classmates: Vivian Kensington (Selma Blair), Warner (Matthew Davis)
The lesson: “You must always have faith in people. And, most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself.”
‘Never Been Kissed’ (1999)
Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) is a newspaper reporter who goes undercover in a high school. Her own high school experience was a disaster—will Josie Grossy’s second time be better?
The school: South Glen South High School
Notable classmates: Rob Geller (David Arquette), Aldys (Leelee Sobieski), Guy Perkins (Jeremy Jordan), Kirsten Liosis (Jessica Alba), Jason (James Franco)
The lesson: “There is a big world out there … bigger than prom, bigger than high school and it won’t matter if you were the prom queen, the quarterback of the football team, or the biggest nerd in school. Find out who you are and try not to be afraid of it.”
‘The Breakfast Club’ (1985)
In this John Hughes classic, a group of very different high school kids are forced to spend the entire day together in detention.
The school: Glenbrook North High School
Notable classmates: Molly Ringwald (Claire Standish), Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez), Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy), John Bender (Judd Nelson), Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall)
The lesson: “We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all.”
‘She’s The Man’ (2006)
In this movie that’s inspired by Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” Viola Hastings (Amanda Bynes) pretends to be her twin brother Sebastian (James Kirk) in his boarding school.
The school: Illyria Prep
Notable classmates: Duke Orsino (Channing Tatum), Olivia (Laura Ramsey)
The lesson: “If you want to chase your dreams, sometimes you gotta break the rules, right?”
‘10 Things I Hate About You’ (1999)
While we’re on the subject of Shakespeare adaptations, here’s a modernized retelling of “The Taming of the Shrew.” Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) wants to date Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) but she’s not allowed to date until her older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) does. So he tries to get Patrick (Heath Ledger) to woo her.
The school: Padua High School
Notable classmates: Michael (David Krumholtz), Joey (Andrew Keegan), Chastity (Gabrielle Union), Mandella (Susan May Pratt)
The lesson: “Don’t let anyone ever make you feel like you don’t deserve what you want.”
‘Clueless’ (1995)
Loosely based on Jane Austen’s “Emma,” this coming-of-age cult hit (and now classic) by writer-director Amy Heckerling gives us a satirical look at the glitzy life of spoiled Beverly Hills teens including the self-absorbed, fashion-obsessed Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) who deems herself a matchmaker and makeover master.
The school: Bronson Alcott High School
Notable classmates: Dionne (Stacey Dash), Tai (Brittany Murphy), Murray (Donald Faison), Travis (Breckin Meyer), Elton (Jeremy Sisto)
The lesson: “I don’t rely on mirrors, I always take Polaroids.”
‘Pitch Perfect’ (2012)
College freshman Beca (Anna Kendrick) reluctantly joins her school’s all-girl singing group, The Bellas, and enters the crazy world of competitive a cappella. There are so many things that make “Pitch Perfect” great: the songs, the singing, the riff-off and, yes, Fat Amy.
The school: Barden University
Notable classmates: Chloe (Brittany Snow), Aubrey (Anna Camp), Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), Jesse (Skylar Astin), Bumper (Adam Devine), Benji (Ben Platt), Stacie (Alexis Knapp), Cynthia Rose (Ester Dean), Lilly (Hana Mae Lee)
The lesson: “It’s not enough to be good, we have to be different.”
For extra credit: Watch the sequels, too. INQ
