Shimmer
Well-known member
50. Splendor in the Grass 1961
Young love — especially when it's with the star of the football team — can make a girl crazy. Literally. In pre-Depression, small-town Kansas, good-girl Natalie Wood is so tortured by her sexual urges for beau Warren Beatty and conflicting pressure to be moral that she attempts suicide after a school dance and ends up in a sanitarium. It's the ultimate depiction of overwhelming first love, and — sorry, religious right — a chilling PSA against the dangers of teen abstinence. — Josh Wolk
49. Sixteen Candles 1984
It's tough to turn 16. But when your entire family forgets your birthday, it only makes that day worse. Molly Ringwald puts on a brave face as her character endures basically the worst week of her life, whether it's having her panties taken by Anthony Michael Hall or getting groped by her grandma (''Fred, she's gotten her boobies!''). The awkwardness is all hilarious, though, especially watching a young Joan Cusack attempt to use the water fountain in orthodontic head gear. — Tim Stack
48. Just One of the Guys 1985
Every generation has its variant on the girl-dresses-as-boy, girl-as-boy-falls-for-boy, boy-freaks-out tale. And this immensely fun, if minor, romp from the '80s perfectly captures the decade's raunch-lite spirit and funky fashion sense. As the cross-dresser caught in the middle, Joyce Hyser's aspiring journalist learns the hard way that there's more to being a dude than just stuffing a tube sock down your pants. — Michelle Kung
47. Napoleon Dynamite 2004
The plot is insignificant, the lead character (Jon Heder) is a petulant spaz, and the pace creeps along just barely faster than a John Deere. Still, this sleeper hit succeeds because it manages to mock and celebrate high school geekdom with a bone-dry, unsentimental tone. The inane one-liners, absurd non sequiturs, and sheer stupidity of the characters don't just bring back memories of adolescence, they make you feel like a teenager again, giggling at something idiotic without knowing exactly why. — Michael Endelman
46. Flirting 1992
She's a Ugandan beauty in a prep school populated by blond Aussies (including young Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts); he's a gawky stutterer obsessed with Camus. Given their shared outsider status at their respective institutions, is there any doubt that Danny (Noah Taylor) and Thandiwe (Thandie Newton) end up falling for each other? Wryly tender and respectfully told, director John Duigan's coming-of-age romance is a warm and fuzzy confection that stops short of being icky. — Michelle Kung
45. My Bodyguard 1980
There's something timeless for everyone when new kid Clifford ''Peachy'' Peache (Chris Makepeace) enlists the mysterious, tortured class psycho (Adam Baldwin) to protect him from the school bully (Matt Dillon). Lifelong scapegoats will cheer the underdogs' triumph, while former home-room villains of all generations will shed a nostalgic tear at Dillon's showcase of evergreen bully tactics: the locker prison, the wet toilet-paper bomb, the bathroom surprise attack. Ahhh, high school: good times, good times. — Josh Wolk
44. Can't Hardly Wait 1998
It's the last night of high school and the only thing left to do is party — and face the skeletons in the closet. By the end of this crazy bash, everyone succeeds: The nerd gets revenge on the jock, the nice guy snags his prom-queen crush, and a pair of unlikely old friends reunite. It may be a typical teen comedy, but the underlying message always rings true: Don't let fate pass you by. — Lindsay Soll
43. Stand and Deliver 1988
Any grandiose ''O Captain! My Captain!'' speech would only invite a Dead Teacher's Society beatdown at dilapidated Garfield High in East L.A. Instead, Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos) teaches in a fast-food-worker uniform and inspires with math problems about gigolos. He gives extra textbooks to a studious gangbanger (Lou Diamond Phillips) in exchange for protection, and turns a mathematical truth, ''A negative times a negative equals a positive,'' into a social one. That's ganas, jefe. — Jeff Labrecque
42. Fame 1980
By today's standards, this Oscar-winning musical is downright gritty, with its frank and often bleak depiction of arts-inclined teenagers. Sure, they sing and act and turn lunchtime into a funk jam, but they also have abortions, fend off predatory pornographers, experiment with drugs, and contemplate suicide. High School Musical, it isn't. The potent shot of authenticity is sweetened by the memorable, soul-drenched musical numbers, which inspired millions to try and pirouette on a taxi. — Michael Endelman
41. Can't Buy Me Love 1987
Before he was Dr. McDreamy on Grey's Anatomy, Patrick Dempsey won us over as the lovable lawn-mowing nerd Ronald Miller. After a failed attempt to buy his way into the cool clique, Ronny goes from totally chic right back to a total geek. Lesson learned: Sometimes performing the ''African Ant Eater Ritual'' at the school dance isn't enough to get you a spot at the right lunch table. — Lindsay Soll
Young love — especially when it's with the star of the football team — can make a girl crazy. Literally. In pre-Depression, small-town Kansas, good-girl Natalie Wood is so tortured by her sexual urges for beau Warren Beatty and conflicting pressure to be moral that she attempts suicide after a school dance and ends up in a sanitarium. It's the ultimate depiction of overwhelming first love, and — sorry, religious right — a chilling PSA against the dangers of teen abstinence. — Josh Wolk
49. Sixteen Candles 1984
It's tough to turn 16. But when your entire family forgets your birthday, it only makes that day worse. Molly Ringwald puts on a brave face as her character endures basically the worst week of her life, whether it's having her panties taken by Anthony Michael Hall or getting groped by her grandma (''Fred, she's gotten her boobies!''). The awkwardness is all hilarious, though, especially watching a young Joan Cusack attempt to use the water fountain in orthodontic head gear. — Tim Stack
48. Just One of the Guys 1985
Every generation has its variant on the girl-dresses-as-boy, girl-as-boy-falls-for-boy, boy-freaks-out tale. And this immensely fun, if minor, romp from the '80s perfectly captures the decade's raunch-lite spirit and funky fashion sense. As the cross-dresser caught in the middle, Joyce Hyser's aspiring journalist learns the hard way that there's more to being a dude than just stuffing a tube sock down your pants. — Michelle Kung
47. Napoleon Dynamite 2004
The plot is insignificant, the lead character (Jon Heder) is a petulant spaz, and the pace creeps along just barely faster than a John Deere. Still, this sleeper hit succeeds because it manages to mock and celebrate high school geekdom with a bone-dry, unsentimental tone. The inane one-liners, absurd non sequiturs, and sheer stupidity of the characters don't just bring back memories of adolescence, they make you feel like a teenager again, giggling at something idiotic without knowing exactly why. — Michael Endelman
46. Flirting 1992
She's a Ugandan beauty in a prep school populated by blond Aussies (including young Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts); he's a gawky stutterer obsessed with Camus. Given their shared outsider status at their respective institutions, is there any doubt that Danny (Noah Taylor) and Thandiwe (Thandie Newton) end up falling for each other? Wryly tender and respectfully told, director John Duigan's coming-of-age romance is a warm and fuzzy confection that stops short of being icky. — Michelle Kung
45. My Bodyguard 1980
There's something timeless for everyone when new kid Clifford ''Peachy'' Peache (Chris Makepeace) enlists the mysterious, tortured class psycho (Adam Baldwin) to protect him from the school bully (Matt Dillon). Lifelong scapegoats will cheer the underdogs' triumph, while former home-room villains of all generations will shed a nostalgic tear at Dillon's showcase of evergreen bully tactics: the locker prison, the wet toilet-paper bomb, the bathroom surprise attack. Ahhh, high school: good times, good times. — Josh Wolk
44. Can't Hardly Wait 1998
It's the last night of high school and the only thing left to do is party — and face the skeletons in the closet. By the end of this crazy bash, everyone succeeds: The nerd gets revenge on the jock, the nice guy snags his prom-queen crush, and a pair of unlikely old friends reunite. It may be a typical teen comedy, but the underlying message always rings true: Don't let fate pass you by. — Lindsay Soll
43. Stand and Deliver 1988
Any grandiose ''O Captain! My Captain!'' speech would only invite a Dead Teacher's Society beatdown at dilapidated Garfield High in East L.A. Instead, Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos) teaches in a fast-food-worker uniform and inspires with math problems about gigolos. He gives extra textbooks to a studious gangbanger (Lou Diamond Phillips) in exchange for protection, and turns a mathematical truth, ''A negative times a negative equals a positive,'' into a social one. That's ganas, jefe. — Jeff Labrecque
42. Fame 1980
By today's standards, this Oscar-winning musical is downright gritty, with its frank and often bleak depiction of arts-inclined teenagers. Sure, they sing and act and turn lunchtime into a funk jam, but they also have abortions, fend off predatory pornographers, experiment with drugs, and contemplate suicide. High School Musical, it isn't. The potent shot of authenticity is sweetened by the memorable, soul-drenched musical numbers, which inspired millions to try and pirouette on a taxi. — Michael Endelman
41. Can't Buy Me Love 1987
Before he was Dr. McDreamy on Grey's Anatomy, Patrick Dempsey won us over as the lovable lawn-mowing nerd Ronald Miller. After a failed attempt to buy his way into the cool clique, Ronny goes from totally chic right back to a total geek. Lesson learned: Sometimes performing the ''African Ant Eater Ritual'' at the school dance isn't enough to get you a spot at the right lunch table. — Lindsay Soll