With each generation there's a corresponding collection of films that helps to define the era.,”
Each generation of college students is defined by something different. For some, it was protesting the war in Vietnam. For others, it was experimenting with drugs and . politics.
With each generation there's a corresponding collection of films that helps to define the era. Films like "Animal House" and "Monty Python" will always remain college classics. So what about us? What about Generation Text? What films are defining us today? Here they are:
1. "Old School"
(2003) Directed by Todd Phillips. Starring: Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Piven
It's indeed "The Godfather" of modern college comedies – the more you watch it, the funnier it gets. Finish this sentence: "Remember that one scene in 'Old School'." Yep, pretty much anything works in there.
Why we like it is summed up by the film's tagline, "All the fun of college, none of the education."
Top Quotes:
Frank: "We're going streaking!" and "Fill it up again! Fill it up again! Once it hits your lips, it's so good!"
Beanie: "Oh, yeah. Cheeeeese. … Didn't we lock you in the dumpster one time?"
Dean Pritchard: "I got out."
2. "Swingers"
(1996) Directed by Doug Liman. Starring: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn
Remember when you rocked out to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy all the time? Neither do we, but this buddy flick captures the 90s swing era (or rather, year) to a T. Along the way we're introduced to a group of guys just trying to make it in Hollywood, but they sound like a group of guys from Anywhere, USA. Money, baby!
Top Quotes:
Mike: "Haven't you seen 'Boyz N The Hood'? Now one of us is going to get shot."
Trent: "I wish they still had fights in this game so I could bitch-slap Wayne."
Trent: "There's nothing wrong with letting the girls know that you're money and that you want to party."
3. "Garden State"
(2004) Directed by Zach Braff. Starring: Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Ian Holm
This film is our generation's "The Graduate." And each year, the movie gains more notoriety and the soundtrack looks more visionary. Braff's only script and directorial turn, it's his ode to the phrase 'you can't go home again' – a feeling many experience after living at college.
Top Quotes:
Andrew Largeman: "You know, this necklace makes me think of this totally random memory of my mother. I was a little kid, and I was crying for one reason or another. And she was cradling me, rocking me back and forth, and I can just remember the silver balls rolling around. And there was like snot running down my nose. And she offered me her sleeve and told me to blow my nose into it. And I can remember, even as a little kid, thinking to myself, this is love … this is love."
4. "Office Space"
(1999) Directed by Mike Judge. Starring: Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston
Before "The Office" became "THE Office" there was "Office Space," a heartwarming tale of Bobs, Michael Bolton and whether or not you're wearing enough "flair."
Top Quotes:
Dom Portwood: "Hi, Peter. What's happening?"
Peter Gibbons: "Well, I generally come in at least 15 minutes late, ah, I use the side door – that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh heh – and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour."
Bob Porter: "Da-uh? Space out?"
Peter Gibbons: "Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about 15 minutes of real, actual, work."
5. "Fight Club"
(1999) Directed by David Fincher. Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton
Responsible for more missing teeth than the Tooth Fairy, this film inspired thousands of testosterone-filled boys to emulate the fights they saw. Regardless of real-life violence, this film features enough pseudo-philosophical ramblings to keep any self-respecting college student analyzing it for weeks.
Top Quotes:
Tyler Durden: "Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy s— we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war … our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."
Tyler Durden: "You are not a beautiful, unique snowflake."
6. "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"
(2004) Directed by Adam McKay. Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Steve Carell
"Anchorman" finally delivered what we all wanted: a careful dissection of newsroom policies in the 70s. Oh wait, actually it delivered Will Ferrell channeling his Robert Goulet character and the directions to "Pleasure Town."
Top Quotes:
Ron Burgundy: "I don't know how to put this, but I'm kind of a big deal."
Ron Burgundy: "It's so damn hot … milk was a bad choice."
7. "Clerks"
(1994) Directed by Kevin Smith. Starring: Brian O'Halloran
Shot in black and white, "Clerks" perfectly captured the working-class angst of pretty much anyone who has ever worked in retail.
Top Quotes:
Randal Graves: "Which did you like better? 'Jedi' or 'The Empire Strikes Back'?"
Dante Hicks: "Empire."
Randal Graves: "Blasphemy."
Dante Hicks: "Empire had the better ending. I mean, Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader's his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett. It ends on such a down note. I mean, that's what life is, a series of down endings. All 'Jedi' had was a bunch of Muppets."
8. "The Boondock Saints"
(1999) Directed by Troy Duffy. Starring: Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus
Almost exclusively a hit on the college circuit, its hooks remain obvious: a powerhouse performance from Dafoe, highly-stylized Tarantino violence and a whole lot of Irish style fightin' and cursin'. Plus, outside of those 18- to 22-year-olds, nobody really knows about it.
Top Quotes:
Doc: "Why don't you make like a tree, and get the f— outta here?"
9. "Donnie Darko"
(2001) Directed by Richard Kelly. Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze
This used to be the movie you could show to all your friends, and when they didn't get it, you got to do a little 'indie-dance' and proclaim how stupid they were. Times were good then. But Kelly just released a long director's cut that clears everything up! Damn him!
Top Quotes:
Donnie: (shouts) "First of all, Papa Smurf didn't create Smurfette. Gargamel did. She was sent in as Gargamel's evil spy with the intention of destroying the Smurf village. But the overwhelming goodness of the Smurf way of life transformed her. And as for the whole gang-bang scenario, it just couldn't happen. Smurfs are asexual. They don't even have . reproductive organs under those little, white pants. It's just so illogical, you know, about being a Smurf."
Sean Smith: (pause) "Dammit, Donnie. Why you gotta get all smart on us?"
10. "Mean Girls"
(2004) Directed by Mark Waters. Starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams
As we're learning with several movies on this list, some just keep getting better and more relevant with age. A modest hit when it first came out, the sheer wit of Tina Fey's screenplay and the sheer truth behind cliques are revealed in hilarious detail in "Mean Girls."
Top Quotes:
Janis: "Gretchen Wieners knows everybody's business, she knows everything about everyone."
Damian: "That's why her hair is so big, it's full of secrets."
Janis: "And evil takes a human form in Regina George. Don't be fooled because she may seem like your typical selfish, backstabbing slut-faced ho-bag, but in reality, she's so much more than that."
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