teen movies Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The world might be changing, but I have hope for our future that teens aren't. (So maybe we're not doomed!) According to The Hollywood Reporter, consumer research film OTX and the teen networking site eCrush conducted a nationwide survey of 750 13 to 17-year-olds to see how they find out about the latest movies. They found that most teens hear about about films from TV ads and in-theater trailers (just like we did back in the good ol' days), they see a flick within the first two weeks of its release (no surprise there -- I could barely wait a day or two when I was a kid to see a movie I was excited about) and that they usually rent or buy the DVDs of the films they missed. It pretty much sounds like a study that could've taken place 15-20 years ago.

The Teen Topix study also found that under 20% of kids find out about flicks online, and only 1-5% see movies through downloading. Is that an accurate statistic, or are they kids too chicken to say they love their torrent sites? All in all -- the Internet isn't a big factor in teen movie lives. But that's not all -- the teens also picked who they thought were the hot stars and films. Get ready to be anything but surprised at the list that pretty much reflects the Teen Choice Awards, that Scott so happily wrote about today. Just for sh*ts and giggles, I'm going to compare it to the teen fare that was loved 20 years ago, in 1987. Instead of barraging you in blue, follow the '87 link to get to the films:

Zac Efron -- Patrick Swayze, Dirty Dancing
Johnny Depp -- Dennis Quaid, Innerspace
Orlando Bloom -- Eric Stoltz, Some Kind of Wonderful
Shia LeBeouf -- The Coreys, The Lost Boys
Daniel Radcliffe -- Cary Elwes, The Princess Bride
Jessica Alba -- Jami Gertz, The Lost Boys
Jessica Biel -- Kim Cattrall, Mannequin
Keira Knightley -- Robin Wright Penn, The Princess Bride
Megan Fox -- Courtney Cox, Masters of the Universe
Emma Watson -- Elisabeth Shue, Adventures in Babysitting

So, 1987 was an excellent year, and I can't even include all of the flicks I wanted. Sigh. Am I just liking the films 20 years ago more out of nostalgia, or because they were better than the teen-loved flicks today? Anyhow, beyond that, today's teens are looking forward to seeing super-awesome, sure-to-be-amazing flicks like National Treasure, Fred Claus and Alvin and the Chipmunks. And, they want sequels to Pirates, Harry Potter, Transformers, Spider-Man and Shrek. I'll have to give them some credit, we had our share of sequel mania 20 years ago -- Beverly Hills Cop II, Jaws: The Revenge, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Police Academy 4... So, maybe things haven't changed too much.

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