Outside In: Rebellion vs. Conformity

This is just the feature films, but if you want the complete list including documentaries, clicky the linky!

Breakfast Club. Universal Studios. 1985. DVD. R. $19.98 When Saturday detention started, they were simply the Jock, the Princess, the Brain, the Criminal and the Basket Case, but by that afternoon they had become closer than any of them could have imagined.

Breaking Away. Twentieth Century Fox. 1979. DVD. PG. $9.98 Four friends come to terms with life after high school. When top-notch cyclist Dave learns that the world’s bicycling champions are always Italian, he attempts to turn himself into an Italian, driving his parents crazy. But everything changes after he meets the Italian racing team—an encounter that ultimately leads him and his friends to challenge the local college boys in the town’s annual bike race.

Dead Poets Society. Touchstone Pictures. 1989. DVD. PG. $14.99. Robin Williams portrays English professor John Keating, who, in an age of crew cuts, sport coats and cheerless conformity, inspires his students to live life to the fullest, exclaiming “Carpe Diem, lads! Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary!” The charismatic teacher’s emotionally charged challenge is met by his students with irrepressible enthusiasm–changing their lives forever.

The Devil Wears Prada. Twentieth Century Fox. 2006. DVD. PG-13. $14.98. An aspiring journalist recently graduated from college lands a job in a trendy fashion magazine where she doesn’t fit it, but she learns to conform to the demands her job because it could be the stepping stone in her career, but at what cost?

Donnie Darko. Twentieth Century Fox. 2001. DVD. R. $19.98. An edgy, psychological thriller about a suburban teen, who struggles to figure out where he fits in, and comes face-to-face with his dark destiny. Donnie Darko is a delusional high-school student visited by a demonic rabbit with eerie visions of the past and deadly predictions for the future.

Drive Me Crazy. Twentieth Century Fox. 1999. DVD. PG-13. $9.98. A popular high school senior Nicole, planning her schools centennial prom, has her life turned around when her “perfect date” dumps her for the cute cheerleader; to save her reputation she pretends to be in a relationship with Chase, the boy-next-door, who has a reputation as a trouble-maker, who by coincidence was also dumped and wants to make his ex jealous too. Nicole tries to change Chase’s image, and changes her mind about fitting in with the “in-crowd” instead. Based on the book How I Created My Perfect Prom Date by Todd Strasser.

Edward Scissorhands. Twentieth Century Fox. 1990. DVD. PG-13. $14.98 Once upon a time in a castle high on a hill lived an inventor whose greatest creation was named Edward. Although Edward had an irresistible charm, he wasn’t quite perfect. The inventor’s sudden death left him unfinished, with sharp shears of metal for hands. Edward lived alone in the darkness until one day a kind Avon Lady took him home to live with her family. And so began Edward’s fantastic adventures in a pastel paradise known as Suburbia.

Freedom Writers. Paramount Pictures. 2007. DVD. PG-13. $29.99 A true story about a teacher in a racially divided school who gives her students what they’ve always needed, a voice.

Girl, Interrupted. Sony Pictures. 1999. DVD. R. $14.94 Susanna is depressed and directionless after finishing high school in the late 1960’s. A suicide attempt lands her in Claymore, a mental institution. She befriends the band of troubled women in her ward but falls under the hypnotic sway of Lisa, the wildest and most hardened of the bunch. Will Susanna “drop anchor” at Claymore and perpetually act out like Lisa, or will she finally pull her mind together and leave institutional life behind?

Good Will Hunting. Miramax. 1997. DVD. R. $14.99 A young working-class genius is hauled back from the brink of self-destruction by a gifted counselor.

Heathers. New World Ent. 1988. DVD. R. The group at Westerbergh High are three girls named Heather and Veronica. When charismatic anarchist J. D. becomes friends with Veronica, things start happening to the Heathers.

Gridiron Gang. Sony. 2007. PG-13. DVD. $14.97 Based on a true story, Sean Porter, a former football star and now a juvenile detention center counselor takes a group of inmates and turns them into successful football team.

Into the Wild. Paramount Pictures. 2007. DVD. R. $19.99 Freshly graduated from college with a promising future ahead, Christopher McCandless walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people, a fearless risk-taker who wrestled with the precarious balance between man and nature. Based on a true story, written by Jon Krakauer.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Republic Pictures. 1956. DVD. NR. $14.98 Plant-like extraterrestrials have invaded Santa Mira, a small town in California, replicating the villagers in giant seed “pods” and taking possession of their souls while they sleep. In a race for his life, Dr. Bennell escapes to warn the world of the deadly invasion of the pod people.

Matrix. Paramount Pictures. 2001. DVD. R. $12.98 A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against the controllers of it.

Mean Girls. Paramount Pictures. 2004. DVD. PG-13. $14.98 When a young girl who has lived in Africa and been homeschooled moves back to the United States, she must enter a public high school. Survival of the fittest takes on a whole new meaning when she falls for the ex-boyfriend of the most popular girl in school. Based on the book Queen Bees and
Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman.

Milk. Universal Studios. 2009. DVD. R. $29.98 His life changed history. His courage changed lives. Harvey Milk is a middle-aged New Yorker who, after moving to San Francisco, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States. The following year, both he and the city’s mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White, who blamed his former colleagues for denying White’s attempt to rescind his resignation from the board. Based on the inspiring true story of Harvey Milk.

Napoleon Dynamite. Twentieth Century Fox. 2004. DVD. PG. $14.98 A listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.

On the Waterfront. Sony Pictures. 1954. DVD. NR An ex-fighter gets a job working on the gang-ridden waterfront under a crooked gangster boss.

The Outsiders. Warner Bros. 1983. DVD. PG. $12.98 When two poor greasers, Johnny, and Ponyboy are assaulted by a vicious gang, the socs, and Johnny kills one of the attackers, tension begins to mount between the two rival gangs, setting off a turbulent chain of events. Based on the novel by S.E. Hinton.

Pleasantville. New Line Home Video. 1998. DVD. PG-13. $14.98 A brother and sister are magically transported through their television set and into the black-and-white world of a 1950s sitcom called Pleasantville. Soon they affect this environment with their worldly sensibilities, and people and things slowly begin to acquire color, and their complacent world is profoundly changed.

Say Anything. Twentieth Century Fox. 1989. DVD. PG-13. $14.98 A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.

Some Kind of Wonderful. Paramount. 2002. DVD. PG-13. $12.98 A young tomboy finds her feelings for her best friend run deeper than just friendship when he gets a date with the most popular girl in school.

Step Up 2. Touchstone. 2008. DVD. PG-13. $19.99 Andie is on the verge of being being sent to Texas to stay with another relative due to her behavior. As a last resort to stay in town a friend arranges an audition at arts school. Much to her surprise she gets in but all the rehearsal interferes with her time with her neighborhood dance “crew.” As Andie tries to fit in at her new school, she finds fitting in with her old friends difficult.