Video
Collection at the John D. Vairo Library
Feature Films with Education Themes
March
2007
The
following titles are available at Vairo Library. Film descriptions
are from the LIAS CAT entries, most of which are copied or
derived from the film containers. For more information on any
of the titles, search the LIAS CAT by title, and limit the
material type to Video Material.
Akeelah and the bee. (2006)
Eleven year-old Akeelah Anderson's life is not easy: her father
is dead, her mom ignores her, her brother runs with the
local gangbangers. She is a smart girl, but her environment
threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a
threat by her school's principal, Akeelah decides to participate
in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences.
Much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins. Her principal
asks her to seek coaching from Dr. Larabee, an English
professor, for the more prestigious regional bee. As the
possibility of making it all the way to the Scripps National
Spelling Bee looms, Akeelah could provide her community
with someone to rally around and be proud of. First Akeelah
has to overcome her insecurities, her distracting home
life, and the knowledge that there is a field of more experienced
and privileged fellow spellers.
Blackboard jungle. (1996)
Film about life in an inner city high school in the 50's that
was the first to utilize a rock 'n' roll soundtrack. A dedicated
young teacher soon loses his idealism when he has to deal
with the tensions that threaten to destroy his classroom.
The Breakfast club. (2003)
They are five high school students with nothing in common,
faced with spending a Saturday morning detention together
in their school library. At 7 a.m. they had nothing to say
to each other, but by 4 p.m., they had bared their souls
and become good friends.
Children of a lesser god. (1987)
Love story about an idealistic special education teacher and
a headstrong deaf student.
The Class of Miss MacMichael. (1989)
A teacher of seriously maladjusted students tries desperately
to help them, but finds the school's headmaster a barrier
to her cause. Eventually the situation erupts in a serious
confrontation between the two.
Coach Carter. (2005)
Inspired by a true story, this inspirational account of a high
school basketball coach who received high praise, and staunch
criticism, for benching his entire undefeated team due to
their poor academic performances.
Dangerous minds. (1996)
When an ex-Marine becomes a high school teacher, she is assigned
to a tough class of inner-city teenagers.
Dead Poets Society. (1990)
English professor John Keating, who, in the age of the crew
cuts, sport coats and cheerless conformity, inspires his
students to live life to the fullest, exclaimimg ... "Carpe
Diem, lads! Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary!" Charismatic
teacher's emotionally charged challenge is met by his students
with irrespressible enthusiasm--changing their lives forever.
Election. (1999)
Tracy Flick (Witherspoon), a straight-A go-getter is determined
to be president of Carver High's student body. Popular teacher
Jim McAllister (Broderick) decides to derail Tracy's obsessive
overachieving by recruiting an opposition candidate. Mr.
M. never imagines that stopping Tracy is like trying to put
toothpaste back in the tube.
Elephant. (2004)
Depicts students at a Portland, Oregon high school before and
during a tragic school shooting. Follows a young boy who
takes over the wheel from his drunken dad while returning
from lunch. Then follows another student who crosses paths
with the first, then the other of the two boys in camouflage
gear, carrying heavy bags, who arrive inside the school and
begin shooting. No explaination for the shooting is given,
it simply places the audience in the interminable window
of adolescences when life is both trivial and painfully important
all at the same time.
Ferris Bueller's day off. (2006)
A high school student is determined to get a day off, but the
principal has other ideas. Contains all-new special features
and new interviews with Matthew Broderick.
Freedom Writers. (2007)
A true story about a teacher in a racially divided school who gives
her students what they've always needed, a voice. Erin Gruwell comes to a southern California
high school bubbling over with naive optimism. She quickly discovers that her unruly classroom
is not easily won over by her good intentions. After a few floundering attempts to connect with
her students, Gruwell gives them the assignment of keeping journals about their own lives,
This assignment is something that the class can bite into with relish. This eventually bonds
them together and pushes racial rivalries aside. Draws heavily from the published journals of
the real students themselves.
In & out. (1998)
When a former student tells the world that a high school teacher
is gay, the man tries hard to assert his manliness.
Kindergarten cop. (1991)
A cop goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to find a fugitive,
and the kids prove to be his biggest challenge.
Lean on me. (1998)
This is the fact-based story of high school principal Joe Clark,
who armed himself with a bullhorn and a Louisville Slugger
and slammed the door on losers at Eastside High in Paterson,
New Jersey.
Matilda. (2005)
Matilda is a super-smart little girl who's woefully misunderstood
by her parents, her brother, and an evil school principal.
But with the help of a brave best friend and a wonderful
teacher, Matilda discovers she doesn't have to get mad to
get even.
Mr. Holland's opus. (1996)
Glenn Holland is a passionate musician who dreams of composing
one truly memorable piece of music. But reality intrudes
when he accepts a "day job" as a high school music
teacher to support his family. In time, however, he realizes
that his real passion is teaching and his legacy is the generations
of young people he inspires.
Music of the heart. (1999)
A single mother with little more than talent and the determination
to make a difference teaches violin to students in a tough
inner-city neighborhood.
Napoleon Dynamite. (2004)
Napoleon is a new kind of hero, complete with a tight red 'fro,
sweet moon boots, and skills that can't be topped. Napoleon
spends his days drawing mythical beasts, duking it out with
his older brother, Kip, and trying to avoid his scheming
Uncle Rico. When two new friends enter Napolean's life -
shy Deb and mustachioed Pedro - the trio launches a campaign
to elect Pedro for class president and make the student body's
wildest dreams come true. But if Pedro is to beat stuck-up
Summer, Napoleon will have to unleash his own secret weapon.
Nijushi no hitomi. (2004)
Chronicle of a teacher and her pupils in a small Inland Sea
village from 1928 to 1948. Shows the joys and sorrows they
encounter.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. (1996)
Poignant, funny story of an eccentric teacher in an all-girls
school in Edinburgh during the 1930's.
The Principal. (1988)
A new principal and his security chief clean up a more than
normally out of control high school.
Rushmore. (1998)
A gifted, rebellious teenager finds himself in competition
with a wealthy older man for a favorite teacher's affections.
The school of rock. (2004)
When his band votes him out due to his embarrasing musical
antics, Dewey has to make the rent somehow. After intercepting
a call for his substitute-teacher roomie Ned, Dewey finds
himself in front of a class of elite elementary school students.
Dewey decides to take on the music program and makes it his
goal to teach them the gospel of rock and roll. His ulterior
motive is to get them to compete against his former band
for a cash prize.
School ties. (1993)
David Greene, a popular student at an exclusive New England
prep school, becomes the object of ridicule and scorn when
his Jewish heritage is revealed, leading him to take the
most important stand of his life.
Stand and deliver. (1988)
Story of Jaime Escalante, a math teacher at East Los Angeles'
Garfield High School, who refuses to write off his inner-city
students as losers. Escalante pushes and inspires 18 students
who were struggling with math to become math whizzes.
To sir, with love. (1987)
A teacher in England abandons the traditional curriculum of
education in dealing with a class of students rejected by
other schools.
Up the down staircase. (1994)
Sandy Dennis stars as an idealistic new teacher in the New
York's Calvin Coolidge High where there are no books, no
chalk, too many students and no discipline.
Last
Updated March 16, 2007
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