Coming of Age #BackToUnspooled

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

Thought I'd move the discussion from the 'upcoming episode' thread

What are your favorites from this genre we should check out?

I think it is not totally clear if these have to be school-based or just coming-of-age films in general?

I googled last night some lists of best coming-of-age films and a lot didn't seem to quite fit this upcoming set of movies, so I'm not sure what the boundaries are exactly. I guess we could ask Paul or Amy.

I'm throwing my hat in the ring for Rushmore though, my favorite movie ever

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

I also love Rushmore and would love to discuss it, but I feel like most people now consider that a lesser Wes Anderson movie (behind Grand Budapest Hotel and Royal Tenenbaums).

It does seem like they're supposed to be school-related in some way. In that case I also like Dazed and Confused because I love to talk about Linklater. Or if we really want to get wild, School of Rock.

[grudlian. 4725]

Maybe it's just because they are very recent films, but I like Lady Bird, Eighth Grade, Booksmart, and Edge Of Seventeen. I think Superbad does this list but I've kind of soured on it over the years. I'm kind of surprised their list doesn't include The Breakfast Club.

The Diary Of A Teenage Girl is a great coming of age movie but significantly less school focused than it seems Unspooled is going for right now.

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

Yea, looking at the image they posted, they're asking for simply a "high school movie"

Hopefully they get some more international selections too. Do you guys know any good ones there? 

[grudlian. 4725]

Since we're opening up to foreign films now, I'll also throw in Only Yesterday and Ocean Waves. They are two lesser known Studio Ghibli movies that are worth your time. Only Yesterday is in contention for best Ghibli movie in my mind.

[grudlian. 4725]

This isn't a coming of age high school movie but it's set in high school. The Browning Version is one of my favorite movies and I don't see any other way to slip it in here unless they do "understated, emotional dramas" as a category.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

That's interesting that "high school" movie is specified, because The 400 Blows is definitely not that.

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

6 minutes ago, sycasey 2.0 said:

That's interesting that "high school" movie is specified, because The 400 Blows is definitely not that.

hmm oh yea. i'm gonna see if i can get a reply from Paul about this

[Vincent Van Ghoul 1]

I'm not sure it belongs on a 100 greatest films list, but I'll shout out Carrie. (That scene where the guys pick and rent their tuxes is a real wacky left turn, and the use of split screen during the prom massacre is uh... interesting, but when it works, it works very well). Moving from "Love Among the Stars" to "Enchantment Under the Sea," I'm a little surprised that Back to the Future isn't one of their six picks since it was brought up as being a better Robert Zemeckis movie that could replace Forrest Gump. I guess it's more of an adventure movie that's high school adjacent than a proper high school movie though.

For an international film, I'd suggest 1931's Mädchen in Uniform (I haven't seen the 1958 remake). It's set in a boarding school, so it also might not be quite what they're after. I mean, technically the Harry Potter films (also international!) are a coming of age series set (mostly) in a boarding school for 11 to 17-year-olds, but as much fun(?) as it might be to discuss eight movies in one episode, I don't really think they fit this theme either.

[bleary 333]

I'm inclined to say that an 80s John Hughes film is a must to at least consider here, particularly with how often his films have come up during other discussions on the podcast.  Although I enjoy Ferris Bueller's Day Off more, I think The Breakfast Club is the better choice (and perhaps more relevant to this theme since the entire movie takes place at a school).

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

There's a big thread in the FB group about people suggesting nominations for the 7th movie

I compiled them all in one big list if anyone wants to use it to watch things

https://letterboxd.com/almostaghost/list/unspooled-school-movie-suggestions/

[grudlian. 4725]

On 7/27/2020 at 9:58 PM, AlmostAGhost said:

There's a big thread in the FB group about people suggesting nominations for the 7th movie

I compiled them all in one big list if anyone wants to use it to watch things

https://letterboxd.com/almostaghost/list/unspooled-school-movie-suggestions/

I just scanned this list but a ton of these movies aren't even remotely related to back to school or coming of age. I'm not going to formally argue against Josie And The Pussycats being canonized in some way but this ain't the category for it.

The correct answer is Hoop Dreams though. If they are looking at foreign films, might as well look at documentaries (which should have been included anyway). So, Hoop Dreams, Hoop Dreams and maybe Hoop Dreams.

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

6 minutes ago, grudlian. said:

I just scanned this list but a ton of these movies aren't even remotely related to back to school or coming of age. I'm not going to formally argue against Josie And The Pussycats being canonized in some way but this ain't the category for it.

The correct answer is Hoop Dreams though. If they are looking at foreign films, might as well look at documentaries (which should have been included anyway). So, Hoop Dreams, Hoop Dreams and maybe Hoop Dreams.

Yea, people can't read. Kate in the Facebook made it very clear what the prompt was and there were so many that were like 'How about Boyz N The Hood?' 

I told her on twitter I hope she culls it down and removes all those, so when we vote on the final choice it's out of just school-based things. But that's up to her. I also think she should lose some of the things like Carrie, which fits, but may be better served saving for a horror set.

Amy called it "Unspooled's school-movies miniseries" on twitter if that's any extra guidance. 

My main point was to just compile everything so there's a nice big overview of the genre (even if it has a wider focus than intended or necessary).

Having read through all the suggestions on FB and on twitter, the ones that come up most frequently seem to have been Eighth Grade, Elephant, Book Smart, something by Linklater, any of the Hughes films, and Hoop Dreams

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

On 7/24/2020 at 11:01 AM, bleary said:

I'm inclined to say that an 80s John Hughes film is a must to at least consider here, particularly with how often his films have come up during other discussions on the podcast.  Although I enjoy Ferris Bueller's Day Off more, I think The Breakfast Club is the better choice (and perhaps more relevant to this theme since the entire movie takes place at a school).

I absolutely agree with you that a John Hughes film should be considered. While The Breakfast Club does indeed take place in a high school, consider Ferris Bueller's Day Off as the ultimate expression of high school-ness in the director's oeuvre: the right of passage of ditching the confines of school and making the ultimate day of it.

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

On 7/23/2020 at 2:46 PM, sycasey 2.0 said:

I also love Rushmore and would love to discuss it, but I feel like most people now consider that a lesser Wes Anderson movie (behind Grand Budapest Hotel and Royal Tenenbaums).

Really? I feel that Rushmore is one of Anderson's strongest films, and the one that all of his films since have followed the narrative framework of (parental issues, self-destruction, redemption, etc). It's easily one of his more relatable, less precious movies, as it doesn't feel like it's taking place in a dollhouse but rather in a real world setting. Also, this film features one of the director's best film soundtracks.

Isle of Dogs has to be, in my opinion, Anderson's weakest work. It feels like he phoned it in by retreading Fantastic Mr. Fox's stop motion technique (the culturally-appropriated film takes place in a futuristic Japan, but he didn't think to go with Manga style animation, instead?)

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

10 hours ago, Blast Hardcheese said:

Really? I feel that Rushmore is one of Anderson's strongest films, and the one that all of his films since have followed the narrative framework of (parental issues, self-destruction, redemption, etc). It's easily one of his more relatable, less precious movies, as it doesn't feel like it's taking place in a dollhouse but rather in a real world setting. Also, this film features one of the director's best film soundtracks.

Isle of Dogs has to be, in my opinion, Anderson's weakest work. It feels like he phoned it in by retreading Fantastic Mr. Fox's stop motion technique (the culturally-appropriated film takes place in a futuristic Japan, but he didn't think to go with Manga style animation, instead?)

Oh, for me personally Rushmore remains his best, but I don't see it showing up on other people's best-of lists as often as those others I mentioned.

[hahmstrung 12]

Rushmore continues to be my favorite Anderson film and one of my favorite films in general. I still have yet to see Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs, but of rest of his films I'd say that Life Aquatic was my least favorite. I actually did not like it much which was pretty disappointing since on paper it's got so much that I should love. I don't know why but it just didn't click with me, though it may be one of those films where on a rewatch it would for some magical reason.

Anyway, Rushmore was actually the first film that popped into my head when I first read about the coming-of-age/back-to-school theme. The film, for better or worse, really was an influence on me when I was coming-of-age myself. I was 15 when I first saw it in 2000 and shared many traits with Max such as being in the theater and caring more about extra-curricular activities than my actual schoolwork. I even ended up taking Latin in high school because of this film, which sounds so silly now that I'm typing it out .

And since Ghibli films were brought up, I'd like to suggest Kiki's Delivery Service. It's such a lovely and positive film and it would be nice to have an animated film on the list. It doesn't hurt that it's foreign and has a girl protagonist, either!

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

Here's a note from Paul, fyi:

"We wanted to focus on school films and school films and coming of age go hand in hand. So it's a bit loose. I will say that Wes Anderson could be its own miniseries. So anything that might seem like a glaring omission might be due to a plan to eventually incorporate it under another umbrella."

[GrahamS. 803]

I know it’s too late to make an official suggestion for Unspooled, but The Spectacular Now is really good, if you haven’t seen it.