The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

[8]

Logan Lerman (from the Percy Jackson movies) stars as Charlie in this coming-of-age drama/romance about a socially awkward high school boy who finds solace among the ‘freaks’ while overcoming a past trauma that left him hospitalized. Emma Watson (Hermione from Harry Potter) and Ezra Miller co-star as Sam and Patrick, Charlie’s newfound friends. Together, the trio bond over music and star in a production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show — very much the counter-culture sort of kids. Things go swimmingly until Charlie starts to fall for Sam, and Patrick’s secret relationship with a member of the football team is exposed to the whole school. As these and other dramatic entanglements threaten to destroy his new friendships, Charlie also begins having painful flashbacks surrounding the death of an aunt.

Disturbing Behavior (1998)

Disturbing Behavior (1998)

[7]

After suffering the suicide of his older brother, Steve (James Marsden) and his family relocate to Cradle Bay, where some of the kids at school aren’t quite themselves these days. With the help of new-found friends Rachel (Katie Holmes) and Gavin (Nick Stahl), Steve discovers that a local doctor, Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood), is conspiring with parents to lobotomize their teens in order to create “good boys and girls”, all of whom become members of the school’s Blue Ribbon elitist clique. Caldicott’s experiments stymie the Blue Ribbons’ sexual impulses and mold them into academic achievers that spend a great deal of time trying to recruit others to “the program”. Unfortunately, the experiments don’t always work.  As someone comments in the film, “Whenever one of these kids gets a hard-on, they want to beat someone over the head with it.”  But this doesn’t stop Caldicott or the town’s parents from expanding Blue Ribbon membership.  When Steve’s parents enter him in Caldicott’s program, he plans a desperate escape, not just from Cradle Bay, but from school, his parents, and the past — the archetypal plight of just about every teenager that ever lived.

The Blue Lagoon (1980)

The Blue Lagoon (1980)

[6] There's no denying the pervasive corniness of Randal Kleiser's adaptation of The Blue Lagoon. Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins play teenagers who have grown up in isolation on a remote island after being shipwrecked as children. The film half-asses…
Margot at the Wedding (2007)

Margot at the Wedding (2007)

[5] Two volatile sisters reunite for the younger one's wedding, causing secrets to be revealed and relationships to fray. This Noah Baumbach (Kicking and Screaming, The Squid and the Whale) flick is very character-centered as you might expect -- a…
The Last Starfighter (1984)

The Last Starfighter (1984)

[7]

For a movie that was no doubt jumping on the E.T. and Star Wars bandwagon, The Last Starfighter manages to carve a niche for itself. Teenager Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) wins the high score on a mysterious video game and is suddenly recruited by an alien to defend the universe from some cosmic bad asses. What counts here is charm. The Last Starfighter oozes with the stuff, and it’s not forced. I love the trailer court setting and the depiction of the tight-knit community that live there. Casting “The Music Man” himself, Robert Preston, as a charlatan recruitment officer named Centauri is a stroke of genius. You can’t help but love Preston, even when he’s peddling bullshit. Dan O’Herlihy also does a commendable job acting through heavy prosthetics as Grig, Alex’s lizard-like trainer and shipmate.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

[8]

Maggie Smith took home the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Jean Brodie, a charismatic school teacher who dedicates herself to a class of impressionable young women. The film may sound like an all-girl precursor to Dead Poets Society, but it’s a far more nuanced and provocative take on the ‘inspirational teacher’ story. Brodie may begin as the hero of the story, but her tenacious influence and overly-romanticized world view end up having a devastating effect on some of her students. In her (subconscious?) attempt to live vicariously through her “girls,” she ends up creating a monster in her own image.

Mud (2013)

Mud (2013)

[9]

Two Arkansas boys discover a wanted man (Matthew McConaughey) hiding out on an island who needs their help to find his girlfriend and escape a small army of bounty hunters. There’s a resounding echo of Shane here, with McConaughey putting in another fine performance after his career-turning appearances in Magic Mike and Killer Joe last year. (Welcome back, Matthew!)

Fly Away Home (1996)

Fly Away Home (1996)

[9]

Admittedly, I’m a bird fan, but don’t let the marketing fool you. This is not just a kid’s movie — it’s an incredibly moving, gorgeously made film based on an inspirational true story, and I blubber every time I see it. After losing her mother, young Amy (Oscar winner Anna Paquin, The Piano, True Blood) goes to live with her eccentric inventor father (Jeff Daniels). They’re estranged from one another, but they bond over a common cause: a gaggle of orphaned geese. The hatchlings imprint on Anna, believing she is their mother. Since the geese can’t learn their migratory path unless their mother teaches them, Dad builds a pair of ultra-light planes so he and Amy can lead the geese on an amazing journey to their winter grounds.

Angus (1995)

Angus (1995)

[9] It may look like just another silly high school comedy, but Angus is more than that. It's about a fat kid named Angus (Charlie Talbert) who refuses to let the "normal" kids write him off. After the school's most…
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

[9]

It may be steeped in sentiment and nostalgia, but Fried Green Tomatoes doesn’t need to use them as a crutch to elicit a powerful emotional response.  It’s got bigger guns than that:  character and storytelling.  It’s one of the rare movies that successfully captures the importance of real, honest-to-God friendship, whether its reflected in the toned-down affection between Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker (whose characters are lesbians in Fannie Flagg’s novel), or in the budding friendship of Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy.  It’s a marvel that the movie can cut back and forth between the two story lines and keep both equally interesting.