My cherished Dudeletter readers, I felt the itch for ranking things. After applying the proper powders, I looked to my Cultural Studies Class. After talking about which movies to watch, there was some interest and some confusion. I became curious in which movies students had seen and which ones they had not. Like all movie folks, there is a desire to show movies that I have deemed of value that my students have not seen. However, there were some that surprised me. All but one had seen Back to the Future, but none had seen the 1989 Batman, for example. I put it before the students, “list for me the 25 movies that you believe all people of your generation should see.” So I put it here, in two articles, the top 50 movies my high school students.
50 T- Footloose – I think this one came up because the new one came out and while both of them made the list, I believe that their parents, knowing that the students would/had seen the new one thought they should see the classic.
50 T- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Nice classic choice.
50 T- Tarzan – One of many Disney movie choices (they are only High Schools).
42 T- Back to the Future
42 T- Cinderella – Disney Classic.
42 T- Gone with the Wind – We are in Georgia.
42 T- I Am Legend
42 T- Iron Man
42 T- Spaceballs – Who said comedy is dead?
42 T- Spiderman Series – Other than the first one, this baffles me.
42 T- The Parent Trap – Still Kids.
42 T- The Terminator – Clearly a popular boy’s choice.
41 T- Finding Nemo – Another Disney/Pixar, but this one would probably be on anyone’s list.
40 T- The Sandlot – I am glad childhood has not changed much.
38 T- Friday Night Lights – A modern classic.
38 T- The Wizard of Oz – Another one I blame parents for.
32 T- Grease – Sigh.
32 T- Midnight in Paris – An interesting recent film, incredible choice.
32 T- The Sound of Music – Louder Sigh.
32 T- The Twilight Saga – I understand this as possibly one of the most important films of their age. Still terrible.
32 T- Transformers – Perfect example of technology.
32 T- Walk Hard – I think cheap comedies and teens go together well, I am surprised there aren’t more.
28 T- Deliverance – Well, Georgia again.
28 T- Due Date – Sigh. Stupid cheap comedy.
28 T- Rocky Series – Satisfying.
28 T- The Shinning – I know, right?
27 – Apocalypse Now – I wanted to show this and I was told I could not.
26 – Casablanca – Amazing Classic.
Check at the end of the week for the rest of the list.