It’s all about alphabet blocks and reading circles this week, as Dale at Smurfin the Web’s son starts nursery school. This week’s Monday Movie Meme makes me want to take a fun trip to the local parent/teacher store and buy some Thomas The Engine puzzles for my nephew. Dale says to share some of your favorite movies where the story is set in a school or a classroom. Here are my selections, not in any particular order, for the classroom theme.



Bad Teacher
Cameron Diaz stars in this comedy about a gold-digging middle school teacher named Elizabeth who really should not be able to step within five miles of anybody’s child. Elizabeth’s idea of a lesson plan is playing movies during the entire classroom session, while she sleeps and does drugs.

She is also verbally abusive to students, yet never gets fired for her inappropriate behavior and manages to exploit an academic incentive, in pursuit of breast enlargements. Yes, I am aware that this movie may seem absurd based on the description, but it IS funny -- so long as she isn’t teaching any of your kids!

Mona Lisa Smile
Oh, how I love this movie, starring Julia Roberts, Maggie Gyllenhal, Julia Stiles and several additional leading ladies in Hollywood! Set in the 1950s, “Mona Lisa Smile” is about an art history teacher who causes a lot of ruckus at an all-women’s college, when she challenges her students to go against the grain of what society expects of their future and strive for more than the role “wife” and “mother.”

Damn, I feel like watching this movie right now! -- If only I had a working DVD player. The computer just won’t do my “Mona Lisa Smile” DVD the justice that it deserves.

Lean on Me
What I find most interesting about “Lean on Me” is not the fights, teen pregnancies, drug use nor funny politics that plague an inner-city school -- it’s the soundtrack. This movie has one of the most unforgettable soundtracks ever, featuring soulful voices combined with some smooth R&B melodies that make you forget that the Eastside High School principal named Joe Clark almost got himself stabbed to death while trying to encourage students to work toward a better future for themselves.

Still, it is a classic drama film that shows the dangers of what happens not only when adults give up on children but also when children give up on themselves. Morgan Freeman gives an excellent performance as the principal, demanding excellence from teachers and parents, in an effort to show how while it does takes a village to raise a child -- that village must be able to lay a positive and solid foundation first, in order to make a difference.

“Lean on Me” also has some of the best movie quotes ever, I mean, who can forget those crazy Joe Clark one-liners -- “Get the chains off the doors...the enemy is here!” and “They used to call me ‘crazy Joe.’ Now, they can call me ‘Batman’!”

Higher Learning
To sum it up, racism and social inequalities collide on campus! Tyra Banks, Lawrence Fishburne, Jennifer Connelly, Michael Rapaport -- and the list goes on and on -- all star in this film about three University students who are trying to find their way but get tangled up in racial, political and social tension at their school -- As if freshman year isn’t already hard enough without all of this extra drama!

I have “Higher Learning” on VHS somewhere in my movie collection and am not sure if I’m going to buy the movie on DVD but I liked it when I watched it several years ago. Still, the explosive ending can easily make anyone disappointed in how we all fail to view our fellow man as just another human being like ourselves. No less, no more, no better, no worse -- just different.

Finding Forrester
Ok, half of this movie takes place in a school and the other half takes place in an apartment, so does it still count? I mean, Jamal was being taught in both places, so maybe Willam’s apartment could serve as some sorta homeschool for the purpose of this list. Yeah, I like that -- “Finding Forrester” representing for all of the private school and homeschooling folks out there! This is a great movie about a teenager who finds guidance in an unlikely source, to hone his writing talents. Sean Connery did well. All you Gus Van Sant fans will love this.

And an Honorable Mention, because it is on my Rental List:

Half Nelson
There’s nothing like a high school teacher with a drug habit!

Do you find the fact that the main character in “Bad Teacher” plays movies in her classroom, quite a coincidence for this week’s Monday Movie meme?

What are your favorite Classroom/School Movies?

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