Footloose (1984)

Footloose (1984)

[8] At first sight, you might mistake Footloose for just another teen rebellion movie, but Herbert Ross' (Steel Magnolias) sensitive direction and committed performances from John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest help the film transcend its genre. The story about a town…
A Christmas Story (1983)

A Christmas Story (1983)

[8] A boy growing up in 1940's middle-America tries to convince his parents to get him a Red Ryder B.B. gun for Christmas. It's hard to judge a movie that has become a holiday tradition. Growing up, I don't think…
Blue River (1995)

Blue River (1995)

[6] This ambitious coming-of-age drama stuffs its short running time with a nearly incongruous overview of Ethan Canin's novel, but at least it skims a provocative surface. The story about love and conflict between two brothers is serviced remarkably well…
Tea and Sympathy (1956)

Tea and Sympathy (1956)

[6] Vincente Minnelli sheds a bright light on gender politics in this story of a bullied teenager who finds solace with his college housemaster's wife. It is fascinating to watch a film deal with mysogyny and homophobia at a time…
Precious (2009)

Precious (2009)

[7] Precious is the kind of movie a studio exec must dread hearing a pitch about: "So, there's this girl, and she's really sad, her daddy raped her, she named her down syndrome baby Mongo, her mother violently abuses her,…
This Boy’s Life (1993)

This Boy’s Life (1993)

[6] This film, along with What's Eating Gilbert Grape, both released the same year, made young Leonardo DiCaprio a star. DiCaprio holds his own against the formidable Robert DeNiro, here playing an abusive step-father. The performances are good, but the…
The Delinquents (1957)

The Delinquents (1957)

[3] Robert Altman made his directorial debut with this inauspicious teenaged rebellion romp. Tom Laughlin stars as Scotty, a young guy who just wants to hang with his girlfriend (Rosemary Howard), but her parents intervene to keep them apart. So…
Easy A (2010)

Easy A (2010)

[7] Move over, Lindsay Lohan (or at least flail further down the gutter.) There's a new mean girl in town, and her name is Emma Stone. Easy A is the perfect vehicle for Stone, who shows natural charm and considerable…
School Ties (1992)

School Ties (1992)

[6] In this period piece set in 1950s New England, Brendan Fraser stars as a high school quarterback who gets recruited to a prestigious preparatory school where he must hide the fact that he's Jewish. School Ties feels desperate to cash in…
Call Me By Your Name (2017)

Call Me By Your Name (2017)

[10] In picturesque Italy, 1983, a seventeen-year-old boy falls in love with an older man who is working as his father's research assistant. That's it. That's all Call Me By Your Name is about. And it's marvelous. So many other…