Teacher Movies

My rule of thumb about teacher movies is Feel Good Teacher Movies, bad. Edgy and Sardonic Teacher Movies, good. I mean watching some inspirational wonder transform a group of unformed disadvantaged kids into sparkling members of society, well that just wounds this teacher. I mean maybe because it's I'm in the trenches every day pushing the rock up the hill, but come on. I'm not going to inflict that upon myself. I had the opportunity to go to Freedom Writers (Hilary Swank transforms inner city kids through journaling) for free and I thought you couldn't pay me to sit through that drivel. Other especially heinous feel-good teacher movies: Mr. Holland's Opus, and Dangerous Minds. Ok, I liked the inspirational Stand and Deliver and Dead Poet's Society, even if they did leave me with a feeling of unworthiness.
Edgy and Sardonic ones? Half Nelson with Ryan Gosling. Yikes how did that guy make it through the day? Notes on a Scandal, mmm, Judy Dench's bitchy narrations about the horrible brats at school is hilarious. (Thanks Deb for reminder) And I hope a new movie just out Chalk, which looks at the world of teaching through a cynical eye, is going to be good. I found School of Rock to be worthy of this category. I enjoyed seeing a teacher use his class to further his own ambitions. I can't think of any others now, but hope to see more in the future.

The Squid and the Whale

I can find lots of DVDs at my local Carnegie Library where I found The Squid and the Whale, one of the best movies of last year. Was it last year? This movies has one of my favorite actresses, Laura Linney. It's about couple of New York writers who are getting a divorce and get their two boys involved. Lot's of head games are played and the two boys get seriously messed up in the process. One caveat, there is a really weird scene about one of the boys displaying some really odd behavior for a boy of 11? played by Owen Kline, son of Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates. Well worth seeing, although some founded it depressing. I enjoyed the zingers.
If you are into mean and funny dialogue another movie you might enjoy is Notes of a Scandal where Judy Dench brings verve to the art of insulting someone.