Back to School!

Ah, summer is winding down, the air is getting a little crisper and the school bell is ringing. It's that time of year again when the little kidlets head back to school for some higher education. Now there are a MILLION school movies out there so it was hard to narrow down the "school" genre I wanted to focus on. Sure I could do inspirational and you already know I love a musicals but the thought of a miserable little teenagers out there brings a big smile to my old bitter face.

Okay class, let's begin with Rushmore. This is a movie that people either absolutely love or absolutely hate (which is the case with most Wes Anderson's movies) This is a very dark comedy about love and after school activities (Not those kind-get your mind out of the gutter). Max Fischer is a precocious 15 year old trying to make it through Rushmore private school. The only problem is Max is exceptional at writing plays and bee keeping but horrible in actual learning part of it. . Throw in a crush on a teacher and Bill Murray and you have a dark touching comedy.

Now for all you misunderstood art class dropouts, I have the movie Heathers. Remember when Christian Slater was cute and dark and the next big thing, yeah well, it never happen. Oh and Winona Rider was totally kick ass-remember-I miss her smart ass humor and big doe eyes. Why? Why? Why? did they have to have such egos...oh wait, we are talking about movies here...Veronica is surrounded by her "in crowd" of Heather 1, 2 and 3 but isn't 100% sure she fits in. This is where JD shows up and the Heathers start dropping like flies. This is another dark comedy that has a lot of sass and great one liners. It was a great contrast to the other 80's feel good teen movies that were coming out at the time.

Last, a little indie movie that burst onto the scenes and quickly won over the mass market without destroying it's indie street cred. Napoleon Dynamite. I will fully admit that I love this movie! It is so painfully awkward that you can't help but to giggle and cringe at the same time. The one thing about underdog Napoleon Dynamite is that you didn't fall in love with him at the end. He was still somewhat of a jerk through and through. You knew nothing was going to change at the end of the movie yet, you were okay with that. Napoleon is a social outcast who goes through his daily life lying about hunting wolverines, catching delicious sea bass and helping his friend try to win the student body presidency. It is a very sweet awkward movie that spun out of control with t-shirts, dolls and lunchboxes.

Well there you have it class, three little indie movies that will get you that cute little indie boy or girl's phone number and maybe even a date to the local filmfest. You can thank me later that night when you write you daily diary entry.