Top ten teen films

It is true what they say, youth is wasted on the young, the world is literally our
oyster and every time we walk out of the door were instantly stuck with a barrage
of endless possibilities. Yet only when we are passed it by can we really appreciate
how both traumatic as well as magical adolescence can actually be. But if you cant
remember that, then the 10 films below will happily give you a visceral and poetic
reminder of that flawed perfection known as being a teenager.

MVP (Most Valuable Player) SOM (Stand out moment)

10. American Pie

While the rest of the films on the list most likely have a poignant comment to make
on the point at the end of adolescence, when your suddenly shell-shocked by the
painful realization of knowing that your childhood is coming to an end. They may
also consist of profound friendships to last a life time or even just might be a
nostalgic poem on the beautY of youth. While on the other hand the better or for
worse, all American Pie and director Paul Weitz were concerned with was trying to
cram in as much tits, penis jokes, mother jokes and cringe worthy scenes into a film
much as they can. The outcome would go on to make for a historic laugh out loud,
gross and hilarious moment in the cinematic legacy of teen films. As great as the
other films are on the list, American Pie remains still the most quoted and
referenced teen film in my generation. Im sure not a day goes by in the world, when
some man alone in his house doesnt see a freshly baked apple pie and contemplate
doing certain things to that apple pie that definitely dont involve eating it.

MVP: This one was tough; on one hand I would love to give it to Jims dad Noah,
whose parenting style is basically embarrassing your children so much, that they are
always constantly looking around for holes to crawl into and die. But you cant spell
American Pie without the Stifler; hes ignorant, obnoxious, narcissistic and
perverted, but still every friendship group needs a Stifler, just to add a little spice to
the mix as well as making everyone else around him look like the perfect gentleman.

SOM: for American Pie there has to be two. Are there any film scenes in the last 15
years that defines a generations sexual hang ups better than the ones were Jim
unfortunately has his penis stuck in a apple pie just when his father walks in to the
kitchen, only later to pre-ejaculate when he has the hottest girl in school naked in his
room while the rest of the school watches on the internet.


9. Dazed and confused

You know when a film legend like Quentin Tarantino lists a film 10th best film of all
time, that there has to be something really special about it! But dont worry; it
unequivocally lives up to all the hype. Its the year 1976 and we find ourselves at the
last day of the school year, meaning the end of mind numbing algebra, utterly
useless gym class and the man continually telling what to do. Instead now its time to
dump the texts books in the trash and lean back because the days of joyful beer
guzzling, pot smoking and paddle hitting are truly upon us. But if your freshman you
best watch out, because the senior class of consisting of Jason, Don, Benny and
Melvin, only love one thing more than beer and girls and its the pleasure of hazing
on the backsides fresh meat.

MVP: it has to be Matthew McConuaghey as Wooderson, purely for the fact that he
went from a minor role as sleazy loser bordering on sex offender, who famously said
Thats what I love about these high school girls, I get older and they stay the same
age to becoming one of the biggest names in Hollywood with a super hot wife, killer
abs and a Oscar to his name.

SOM: Staying pretty much consistent with the rest of Linklaters filmography, Dazed
and Confused lacks that signature defining and memorable scene, however instead
Linklater compensate for this by making the whole film a stand out moment.


8. Almost famous

With its larger than life characters, great sound tracks and compelling story line; like
a fish in the river, Cameron Crowe hooks you by the gills and reels you into a
nostalgic memoir come poem for the greatest period in Rock and Roll history,
through the perspective of a starry-eyed teen in awe at the presence of his godly
heroes. Meet the enemy he writers for Rolling Stones, but he isnt your usual run of
the mill jet setting, blood thirty, merciless journo type. On the contrary he looks so
sweet he could make honey seem sour, his voice hasnt dropped yet and he is
completely hopeless with women.

While everyone dreams of being a rock star, destroying hotel rooms, standing in
front of millions of adoring fans and being around more women than a sale at New
Look, 15 year old William Miller isnt quite a Rockstar but he still gets almost all the
perks when touring with the fictitious 1970s rock band named Stillwater. Along the
way with William, we experiences threesomes, first heart breaks, great music and
finally fighting to gain independence from an over bearing mother.

MVP: Penny lane is a constant breath of fresh air anytime she swans onto screen,
but as much as she likes to delude herself into thinking she is more mature that her
years, perpetually in with the band and has lead singer Russell wrapped around her
little thing, the truth is she is as clueless and nave as the rest of the groupies
constantly banging at Stillwaters front door.

SOM: The point when William went from being clueless in regards to the opposite
sex, to doing what most men always dream of doing and never quite achieve it like
finding the Holy Grail; William just has two girls at the same time just practically,
throwing themselves onto his lap. I need to write for Rolling Stones!


7. Boy n the hood

When youre freshly out of film school at 24, youre general raw, unpolished and
rather inexperienced, but for John Singleton this fact turned out to be a great assist
to Boy n the Hood. This fresh approach allowed the film to be gritty, fearless and
uncompromising. While the rest of the teens of the other films on the list, will only
have to worry about getting prom dates, battling against acne outbreaks or just
trying to be accepted by the popular kids. The teens of Boyz n the Hood on the other
hand, will certainly have rather less frivolous concerns and far more pressing issues
to contend with, i.e. trying to survive in a concrete jungle where at anytime you
could lose your life or the life someone who you hold dear to you. It was the year of
1991, when a little none film written by a black man, featuring an all black cast, and
helmed by a black director, that finally broke up the white monopolized film
industry, and to great acclaim opened their eyes to a whole new world they could
imagine being apart off. His pioneering vision eventually resulted in John singleton
earning himself a Best director and Best Original Screenplay nomination to his name;
making him the first African American to do so and the youngest ever regardless of
race to achieve such a feat.

MVP: Larry Fishburne as Jason "Furious" Styles, who throughout the film is a
constant voice of reason, helping to be a guardian angel and a ominous moral
compose to his son, when all alround him drugs, violence and crime threaten to take
his soul.

SOM: The soul destroying moment when Tre cradles best friend Ricky's corpse in his
hands, as he mourns his friends death, after being caught up in a gang war. The
scene provokes so many intense questions about what is the necessity of these
pointless gang wars when there is nothing substantial to gain, when at the end of
the day the people who get hurt are the ones who werent even involved in the first
place.


6. Rebel without a cause


The film that sent a seismic wave all around the world, due to the high amounts of
women dropping to the ground with a bad case of swooning; you wonder why
women of the west are so obsessed with blonde hair and blue eyes, well just blame
Nicholas Rays Rebel Without a Cause and that damn James Dean! The title pretty
much gets straight to the point and tells all you really need to know about Jim Stark
(James Dean), which is a good thing because you will certainly never get a word out
of him, he takes silent brooding to whole new level. Jim is new to town and instantly
catches the attention of every girl and a few guys in a half mile radius, naturally as
you would expect it pisses off a few people and he soon become public enemy
number one, unfortunately sending every one into a down would spiral leading to
knife fighting, speed racing and ultimately someones death.

MVP: undoubtedly the man who changed the filmic landscape forever, James Dean
was a revelation in this film, delivering a fantastic performance that completely
deserved all its acclaim and plaudits, making even more of a pity that he died so
young, because where his career was heading, he would have continued to inspire
and wow audiences for many more years and generations then he had the
opportunity to in his brief time on this planet.

SOM: The first moment we saw him in that famed red jacket, blue jeans and white T-
shirt that went on to cement his name forever as cinematic icon.


5. Juno

The story of an ex-stripper who goes on to win a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for
her debut script, sounds in itself like the type of story just begging to be converted
into a Oscar bait Hollywood film. Ex stripper and writer Diablo Cody personifies how
some of the best story ideas can come from the most unlikely of places. I challenge
anyone to sit and watch the whole of Juno and not either laugh hysterically or fall in
love with Ellen Pages portrayal of Juno; an adorable oddball teenager who finds
herself pregnant by the hands of the hopelessly perpetually awkward Paulie
(Michael Cera). Resulting in early in the film Juno trying to contend with the dilemma
of; does she keep the baby, abort it or put it up for adoption. It is plain to see from
the first minute that Juno tackles serious and prevalent issues with an unparalleled
sharp wit and feisty flare throughout and like a Jamaican sprinting team, never drops
that baton.

MVP: Ellen and Michael share that privilege anytime we have the blessings of having
both actors on screen at the same time. They are the Romeo and Juliet of our time;
thats if Juliet was perpetually sarcastic pregnant teen and Romeo is always
constantly wearing such tight yellow shorts that you start to count down the seconds
until the inevitable embarrassing moment when a testicle casually drops out half
way through a conversation.

SOM: The hilarious scene where prospective adoptive mother Vanessa Loring
(Jennifer Garner) questions whether her parents would be wondering where she
was, Juno calmly replies Nah Im already pregnant, so what other shenanigans
could I get into

4. Karate Kid

Just as James Dean for all female kind was the poster boy of the 50s with his whole
rebel disillusioned with the adult world and what it has to offer, type of aura. Then
you had Marlon Brando the epitome of a bad boy, alpha male which he exuded
greatly from the late 50s to the early 70s driving women wild. But when you talk
about the 80s only one name on every girls lips and that was Ralph Macchio as the
unlikely hero Daniel Larusso; he wasnt the sexy silent type, or the leather glad bad
boy, but women loved him because he was completely different to anything they
seen before, he was scrawny, weak and had bad dress sense, but he had a charming
smile, a heart the size of elephant and the insatiable drive to keep it pumping.

Wax on or wax off, ether way I cant stop waxing lyrical over this film, a truly classic
underdog story about a skinny new kid arrives in a big city in the shape of California.
However instantly due to his size he is seen as easy prey by the school bullies, and
see it as an idle opportunity to make his life a living hell. But in retaliation instead of
turning to guns and violence, under the guidance of a Japanese Rambo,
masquerading himself as an old age pensioner called Mr Miyagi, he teaches Daniel to
overcome the bullies using his mind rather than his fists.

In a decade dominated by muscle pumped actions heroes in the shape of The
Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), for me the
most badass dude of the decade will always be the Karate Kid!

MVP: Wax on. Wax off, enough said!

SOM: Literally on his last legs, Daniel puts to practice all he learned from those hard,
grueling days at the beach which seemed pointless at the time, now finally coming to
fruition as he delivers a killer front kick to win the karate tournament against his
worst enemy.

3. Ferris Bueller's Day Off

John Hughes wacky, zany, outlandish masterpiece personifies exactly what every
teen, and secretly every adult would love to be; and that it being Ferries Bueller as
he lives out the greatest day in human history. Imagine a day where you skip school,
and still managing to outsmart your head teacher, not just once but multiple times
all on the same day. Where you can also drive a Ferrari, do an epic rendition of the
best Beatles song ever in twist and shout whilst stood upon a giant parade float.
Whilst most importantly topping it all off youre doing all that with your best friend
and high school sweet heart - can life get any better? But its not just all madcap fun,
there is a real moral message at the heart of the film, which is why grow up when
you can stay young forever!

MVP: absolutely no contest, this race was as close run as Usain bolt racing against a
12 year old girl on crutches; there is a reason why the film is named after him,
because if you are what you eat, then Ferris Bueller must have eaten an absolute
legend! Every guy wants to be him and every girl also wants to be him.


SOM: without a shadow of a doubt, the moment when the world seems to be in slow
motions, as Cameron watches his dads most beloved possession in the form of his
Ferrari, crashing through the glass wall of his father gauge and plummets to its death
in the ravine below.

2. American Graffiti

American Graffiti is George Lucass perfect nostalgic film gem, which is undoubtedly
his second best directing exploit after the first Star Warz film. AG interweaves
seamlessly and effortlessly between the four simultaneous stories of four young
teens trying to enjoy their last night of their childhoods in different ways; Terry
spend its trying to get laid, Curt Henderson endeavors to meet the beautiful women
in the white dress, John Milner tries to spend the night getting rid of a annoying 13
year old girl, while Steve Bolander tries to reconcile with his high school sweetheart.
Although they are all different, each in its own rights becomes eventful, full of
outrages twists turns that leave your head spinning.

MVP: The adorable live wire that was the annoying teenybopper Carol, who plays
the role with such verve, that makes our hearts warm up to her as much as John
Milners did, even though he constantly tried to hide it under his cool boy racer
facade

SOM: The hilarious scene as the socially inept Terry tires adamantly to find a way to
get some Old Harper (alcohol) in hopes of impressing the flirtatious, beauty Debbie.
After failing to get it in the shop faux nonchalant, then bottling it when it comes to
asking a stranger on the street, third time is the charm when salvation comes when
an unassuming gentleman offers to do it for him as he casually strolls into the store.
Only for the guy to come running out, tossing the bottle of old Harper to Terry, as he
continues to leg it whilst trying to evade guns shot sailing past his head from the
shop clerk he just robbed.

1. Breakfast club

Serving detention on a Saturday morning is a teens absolute worst nightmare, but
then also having to do it with your natural born enemies, makes medieval torture
seem rather tame. But only when their worlds collide could they find out they have a
lot more common then they originally might have thought; whilst also finding out
that the grass isnt always greener on the other side.

It should come as no surprise to find out that the king of teen films, had to be
helmed by John the king of the 80s Hughes, who with the most seminal of all teen
and coming of age films ever in the Breakfast club, single handedly brought a fresh
teen view and perspective to the adult masses. The American high school experience
is generally always coupled with the notion of clicks, your cheerleaders, nerds, geeks
etc. but when you see Breakfast club with its jock, popular girl, rebel, geek and the
weird girl, it is plain to see where the archetypes and labels come from. It wasnt just
the outstanding pioneering accomplishments Hughes brought to BC, but it was the
uncompromising honesty and heart he brought to the film as well, which is its true
selling point.

Throughout BC 97 minute run, it never once degrades itself into the realm of
pandering to cheap stereotypes and gags just to raise a few laughs and fill screen
minutes, instead it chooses to explore the painful truth of adolescence; the never
being able fitting in, never seeming to be good enough or never being able to comply
with your parents ideals and their suffocating high expectations no matter how hard
you try. Being a teenager can at times be about struggling to find self when you
dont know what self is and being crushed by the weight of endless possibilities.
Whilst at the other end of the spectrum it can be about having the world at your feet
inviting you desperately to explore it in its entire splendor, as well allowing you to
become the very definition of care free. So it was this fine exploration of the
paradoxes and delicate balance of adolescence that Breakfast Club was so effectively
able delve into, leaving a profound after effect on not only me, not even a whole
generation, but on cinema itself.

MVP trying to choose a favorite amongst the five main characters, is like trying to
choose your favorite child, because each of them has found an equal place in my
heart.

SOM the heart wrenching closing scene when despite everyone objections,
popular girl Claire bursts everyone bubble by telling the painful truth, that no matter
how strong they thought they bonded with each other, the fact remained that
because they are all from different clicks at school, come Monday they would go
back to being merely passing strangers in the school halls again and just to save face
in front of each of their friends.