7. Mean Girls

Mean Girls is a 2004 comedy written by Tina Fey and produced by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels. It stars Lindsey Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and making her film debut Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!). It’s about a new girl in high school named Cady who joins the most popular girl’s group at school. Cady soon falls in love with group leader Regina’s ex boyfriend Aaron. When Regina finds out about Cady’s crush, she gets back with Aaron just out of spite and jealousy. Cady vows to get revenge by sabotaging Regina’s relationship with Aaron, tricking her to eat “nutrition” bars that make her gain tons of weight and turning Regina’s best friends against her. The movie was loosely based off the New York Times Best Seller, Queen Bees and Wannabees: which discusses high school girl cliques and the hurt they can cause girls.

6. 10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 teen romantic comedy starring Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon Levitt. It’s about a new kid in high school named Cameron who wants to ask out the pretty and popular sophomore named Bianca. But Bianca’s father has a strict dating policy that Bianca can only date when her older sister Kat dates someone. The problem is that Kat is an angry and anti social girl that no one wants to be around. So Cameron hires the “bad boy” Patrick to pursue Kat to date her so Cameron can ask Bianca out. It’s a modernization of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The film was breakout roles for Ledger, Stiles and Gordon Levitt all of which went on to be very successful actors.

5. American Pie

American Pie is a 1999 teen sex comedy about a group of Highschool friends who make a pact to all lose their virginity before they graduate. It chronicles their lives up until the big night at the post prom party, where everyone attempts to get laid. It stars Sean William Scott, Jason Biggs, Eugene Levy, Tara Reid, Natasha Lyonne and Eddie Kaye Thomas. American Pie is considered a modern day comedy classic and spawned a series of films; three theatrical sequels and four straight to DVD films.

4. Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite is an indie-comedy about the life of a funny, socially awkward, sixteen year old who lives in a small town in Idaho with his Grandma and brother. After his Grandma has a dune buggy accident, Napoleon’s uncle Rico comes to stay with them and tries to get Napoleon in on one of his get-rich-quick schemes. Napoleon makes a new friend at school named Pedro and the two of them start a campaign to get Pedro elected as class president. It stars Jon Heder, Tina Majorino, Haylie Duff and Efren Ramirez. Jon Heder and Jared Hess (the director) met at the film program at Brigham Young University where they made the short film called Peluca which did well at Slamdance Film Festival. They decided to turn the story into a feature movie which became Napoleon Dynamite. The film budget was only $400,000 and has since developed a strong cult following.

3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a 1986 teen comedy written and directed by John Hughes. It’s about the day in a life of a high school trouble maker named Ferris who pretends to be sick to take a day off from school. He also convinces his friend Cameron, who is actually sick to join him for a day out in Chicago. The two take Cameron’s dad’s Ferrari without him knowing. Before they set out Ferris gets his girlfriend out of class by pretending to be her father saying that her grandmother died. It stars Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck and Mia Sara. Broderick was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1986 for Best Actor-Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2014 the film was put into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress because of its cultural significance.

2. 21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street is an action comedy film about two cops named Schmidt and Jenko who go undercover as high school students to stop the supply and distribution of a new dangerous synthetic drug. Schmidt is nervous to go back to high school because in his class he was unpopular while Jenko was a cool jock. However, with the times changed Schmidt fits in with he cool “sensitive” crowd while Jenko bonds with the science geeks. Their relationship and mission become compromised once they start drifting apart. The film stars Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Brie Larson, Rob Riggle and Dave Franco. It is an adaptation of the late 80’s to early 90’s television show by the same name that starred a young Johnny Depp.

1. The BreakFast Club

The BreakFast Club is a drama/comedy, coming of age story also written and directed by John Hughes. It’s about a group of high school students, all from different cliques who have to spend a day together in Saturday detention. There’s the weird girl, the rich and pretty girl, the bad boy, the jock and the nerd. At first they argue with each other but as the day goes on and they bond because they all realize they have similar problems. Although they probably won’t hang out with each other ever again, the experience changes their outlooks about each other. It stars Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy. It is considered one of John Hughes best works and one of the best high school films of all time. In 2016 it was put into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress because it was historically significant.

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