American Pie (1999)

American Pie (1999)

[6] After dying out in the late eighties, the sex comedy made a comeback a decade later with American Pie, directed by Paul Weitz (About a Boy, Little Fockers) and written by Adam Herz. Narratively, there's no reinvention of the wheel here:…
The Karate Kid (1984)

The Karate Kid (1984)

[8] Teenaged Daniel (Ralph Macchio) moves with his single mother from New Jersey to Los Angeles, where he's immediately targeted by a gang of school bullies who practice karate together. After a few beatings, Macchio is taken under the wing of Mr.…
Little Darlings (1980)

Little Darlings (1980)

[7] Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol star as teen girls competing at summer camp to see who can lose their virginity first. O'Neal's character is a rich girl trying to bed the camp's athletic coach (Armand Assante), while McNichol plays a streetwise…
Another Country (1984)

Another Country (1984)

[7] Rupert Everett and Colin Firth star in this coming-of-age period drama set in an elite 1930s English boys' school, where militaristic tradition and hierarchy seems far more important than education. There is a sense of brotherhood among the students, even though…
Maurice (1987)

Maurice (1987)

[6] James Wilby and Hugh Grant star as young lovers driven apart by oppressive heteronormativity in pre-World War I England. The two meet in college and cautiously profess their love for one another. But when a fellow gay student is put on…
Smooth Talk (1985)

Smooth Talk (1985)

[8] Future Oscar-winner Laura Dern (Marriage Story) gives her first leading performance in this adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," the story of a fifteen-year-old girl who pursues male attention without considering the potential consequences.…
Seven Minutes in Heaven (1986)

Seven Minutes in Heaven (1986)

[4] Future Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) co-stars with Byron Thames and Maddie Corman in this dramedy about three friends experiencing the pangs of adolescence. Connelly's character balances her career ambitions and academic studies while entering the dating scene. Corman plays…
American History X (1998)

American History X (1998)

[5] Edward Norton (Fight Club) plays a reformed neo-nazi trying to stop his younger brother (Terminator 2's Edward Furlong) from following in his ugly footsteps in American History X. But breaking free from the skinheads who idolize him turns out to be…
Licorice Pizza (2021)

Licorice Pizza (2021)

[8] Hollywood often waters down characters and storylines to make them universally appealing. Filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson with Licorice Pizza, or David O. Russell with Joy and The Fighter, are challenging that notion with stories of tremendous specificity -- specificity of…
A Home at the End of the World (2004)

A Home at the End of the World (2004)

[7] Colin Farrell stars as a free-spirited young man who enters into a romantic triangle with a woman (Robin Wright) and his boyhood friend (Dallas Roberts). A Home at the End of the World, based on the novel by Michael Cunningham (The…