High School Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Just a month ago, we learned that Adrien Brody and Michael Chiklis were heading back to High School -- a rather unique comedy about a high school valedictorian (Matt Bush) who gets high with the school stoner (Sean Marquette), and then tries to use his smarts to get out of an upcoming drug test. Rather then messing with his own results, he schemes to get the entire school stoned to beat the system. Brody's the drug dealer, Chiklis is the principal, and now The Hollywood Reporter posts that Lisa Simpson, aka Yeardley Smith, will play a homeroom teacher while Luis Chavez (Crash) plays a druggie friend of the valedictorian.

Meanwhile, Variety reports that Navy NCIS actress Cote de Pablo is making the jump to the big screen with Scott Speedman's The Last Rites of Ransom Pride. The Calgary Herald describes it as "a violent ransom about a woman trying to bring her lover -- a murdered outlaw -- home for burial." I've no idea how this will turn out, but it's got an interesting cast that also includes the V-loving Lizzy Caplan (True Blood), Jason Priestley, Peter Dinklage, Kris Kristofferson, and Dwight Yoakam.

And Richard Jenkins is putting aside his Burn After Reading gym ways to board Lasse Halstrom's Dear John, according to Variety. More dramatic romance from Nicholas Sparks, the film will follow a soldier who falls for a conservative college student while on leave. There's no word on Jenkins' role.

And: CSI:NY's A.J. Buckley is entering Skateland.

I already like the sound of this one: After taking a puff alongside the school stoner, a high school valedictorian decides to get the whole student body stoned, enough so for them to collectively fail the same drug test he finds himself up against.

That's the thrust behind the new comedy High School, which looks to begin production in early November, and according to this Variety notice, Adrien Brody (The Brothers Bloom) has signed on to play a drug dealer, while Michael Chiklis (Eagle Eye) will take up the role of principal, a move that'll likely play to his stoic strengths. (Bruce Willis worked wonders with a similar part in the still unreleased Assassination of a High School President; a greater pity because it's a fairly fun little flick overall.)

There is only so much else left to say about the project. It'll be directed by John Stalberg Jr., who co-wrote the screenplay with Stephen Susco (of the Grudge films) and... that's really about it for now, though -- dare I suggest -- Stalberg and Susco still have time to throw the word 'Musical' into that title somewhere and simply wait for the money to roll in. Either way, it sounds like a shortage of green will be the least of their worries.

Remember that time in high school when you ditched school, stole a Ferrari and sang "Twist and Shout" on a parade float? Or the time you busted out your super-sweet dance moves at the school assembly when your best friend Pedro ran for class president? Or how about when you stood on your desk and saluted your English teacher with the phrase "O captain, my captain"? No?

Oh wait, none of those things actually happened to us -- but they did happen in some of our favorite high school movies of all time. No offense, youth of today, but High School Musical 2 can't hold a candle to movies like Clueless, Pretty in Pink and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. So in honor of summer's end and the imminent approach of the start of the school year, we at Moviefone have compiled our list of the 25 best high school movies ever made.

Now, a word before you start ripping our choices to shreds. (And we love you for it.) It was nearly impossible to narrow the list -- what differentiates a high school movie from a movie that happens to be about high schoolers? -- so we applied some basic, yet important criteria: Each movie we chose had to be set mostly at a high school (which left off movies like Rebel Without a Cause, American Graffiti and Boyz N the Hood) and had to, in some fundamental way, BE about high school (there went most sports movies). How successful were we in the end? Well, there's the fun of it. Take a look at our list and then let us know: Which one's your favorite? Here's a tease ...

25. The Girl Next Door (2004)
The premise -- high school nerd (Emile Hirsch) falls for porn star with a heart of gold (Elisha Cuthbert) -- smacks of 'Risky Business,' but this flick is much funnier and truer in its depiction of the gruesome battle that is getting into college. Plus, as said porn star, Cuthbert has never been sexier (or less annoying).

See the rest of the list

Reason #4,526,397 why France is different than the USA: I don't remember watching any abortion dramas as part of the curriculum when I went to school. The Guardian is reporting that 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days -- about a woman seeking an abortion in dictatorial Romania, circa 1987 -- will be screened in French schools. But don't worry: even the French had reservations about whether it was appropriate to do so.

To put things in their proper perspective, 4 Months is no sensationalist film exploiting its subject matter. It garnered sensational reviews at Cannes, where it won the Palme d'Or, but critics like our own James Rocchi pointed out that, though it's definitely "not 'fun' ... it's incredibly affecting, magnificently acted and superbly made." James said the film moved and challenged him, made him feel and think as it "demonstrated the personal and political challenges of a heartbreaking choice that, in many ways, is no choice at all."

4 Months also won the National Education Prize, which entitled it to receive government funding to produce a special educational DVD that would then be shown to French students aged 15-18. The education minister thought the film was so "incredibly hard to watch," he announced last Friday that the project would not be funded. Reportedly he wanted "to protect a vulnerable audience" and said his decision had nothing to do with the subject matter. No matter: Laure Tarnaud, a member of the "French society of French directors," noted that Gus Van Sant's Elephant was screened in schools and claimed that "the censorship ... appears to be motivated by the desire not to talk about abortion." The education minister "vehemently denied" the charge, but nonetheless reversed his decision the following day. Now I'm curious: are films with such serious subject matter being shown at your local high school?

While I wouldn't usually post about a story like this, it cracked me up so much that I couldn't resist. Turns out a teacher from Lexington, Kentucky was suspended after showing his Spanish class The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Although no one seems to know why he did this or what it had to do with teaching Spanish, he broke the rules and let these underage kids watch an R-rated flick.

At first, I thought maybe the teacher was out partying it up the night before, had a little too much sangria, and figured he'd throw on a fun movie to entertain the youngsters while he caught up on some rest. However, perhaps he was trying to send some sort of message about men, women and relationships. Perhaps he was providing his own course on sex-ed without the boring plastic human body models. Still, what's Spanish about that?

Yet, it does make me wonder whether or not films like The 40-Year Old Virgin can actually help high-schoolers, to not only appreciate sex and women, but also coerce the shy kid in the corner (Yay for me!) to break out of his shell. Thoughts? Opinions?