Jolt Country

One of the three classes I'm taking this semester is Writing the Screenplay, and over the next four months I'll be writing one. My assignment this weekend is to decide on a genre.

According to "Save the Cat," there are ten film genres:

Monster in the house (monster, house, sin)
Golden Fleece (road, team, price)
Out of the bottle (wish, spell, lesson)
Dude with a problem (innocent hero, sudden event, life or death battle)
Rites of passage (life problem, wrong way, acceptance)
Buddy love (incomplete hero, counterpart, complication)
Whydunit (detective, secret, dark turn)
Fool Triumphant (fool, establishment, transmutation)
Institutionalized (group, choice, sacrifice)
Superhero (special power, nemesis, curse)

Each of these genres have subgenres (for "Monster in the House" there's pure monster, domestic monster, serial monster, supernatural monster, and nihilist monster). If you want to see all the genres, subgenres, and examples of each one, here.

After reading the list, I have decided on Rites of Passage > Adolescent Passage. These can be summarized as a group of kids going through a time period together. Examples from that genre on the list include Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dead Poet's Society, and The Breakfast Club. You could classify these as "group coming of age" films.

Other examples include: Risky Business, Stand by Me, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dazed and Confused, Almost Famous, Superbad, Clueless, Juno, The Sandlot, Mean Girls
Napoleon Dynamite, and American Graffiti.

Do you have any favorite films from this genre that you would recommend? I've found several lists of them on Google, but I'm looking for personal recommendations. Over the next two months I'll have to watch 10-15 of them and write a paper on what they have in common with my planned project.

Been a long time since I saw it, but "Breaking Away" would fall into the category. I liked when I saw it (which was like 1985, so take with a grain of salt etc).

Are you sticking with American films? If not, "Gregory's Girl" was good.

Goonies??

gsdgsd wrote:Breaking Away

Breaking Away was listed as one of the examples, but I didn't include it because I've never seen it. I'll add it to my list!

gsdgsd wrote:Are you sticking with American films? If not, "Gregory's Girl" was good.

Maybe? Probably? If I can't find 10-15 others I might branch out. I'll add it to the back of the queue.

pinback wrote:Goonies??

I'm glad you mentioned this one. I had this listed as a "rites of passage" movie too, but I found one website that says it's "institutionalized" (which is wrong) and "golden fleece" (which I think is right). But I'm glad you mentioned it for two reasons; one, because I think a lot of films may not fall into a single description, and two, because whether or not it's technically a "rites of passage" movie, it definitely has some things I can takeaway from it for my own screenplay.

1. DUDE WITH A PROBLEM.
What it is: Our hero (male or female) is in a serious situation and needs to find a solution RIGHT. NOW.

2. GOLDEN FLEECE.
What it is: Our hero is on a quest to find or do something (aka a “golden fleece”). And note that the golden fleece can be either something specific and tangible, something abstract, or both.

3. BUDDY LOVE.
What it is: any film that’s primarily about a relationship, including romantic comedies.

4. INSTITUTIONALIZED.
What it is: a story about how a place, group or community has a huge impact on an individual, and how membership in that group benefits or costs that person.

5. RITES OF PASSAGE.
What it is: our main character goes through a crucible to discover something really valuable about him or herself.

6. SUPERHERO.
What it is: Whereas “Dude with a Problem” is about an ordinary person people in an extraordinary situation, “Superhero” films tend to be about extraordinary people coping with ordinary situations.

7. OUT OF THE BOTTLE.
What it is: someone makes a wish and ends up getting much more than s/he bargained for.

8. WHYDUNNIT.
What it is: A mystery needs to be unraveled, but in this case the WHY is more important than the WHO. In other words the criminal’s motives are more important than his/her identity.

9. MONSTER IN THE HOUSE.
What it is: there’s a “monster” (an evil someone or something) and a “house” (a confined space) and the main characters have to escape from or kill the monster, either literally or metaphorically.

10. FOOL TRIUMPHANT.
What it is: the “unlikely hero” story in which a normal (or unqualified) person gets in over his or her head and ends up achieving something awesome.

Based on those descriptions, I think Goonies could qualify as two or three different ones.

Ha, I was going to say "Breaking Away," too.

I personally like "The Way, Way Back" and "Adventureland" for similar reasons (to eachother, I mean- they have nothing to do with "Breaking Away"). I don't think I'd call either of them great films, but they do a good job of capturing how these weird summer jobs become your life for this small but memorable window.

I also enjoyed "Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist", although I don't think I've seen any of these movies (with the exception of "Breaking Away") more than once.

"White Water Summer" - First degree Kevin Bacon.

Three O Clock High. This would probably fall under the Dude With A Problem more than Rite Of Passage category though. Still, I liked it.

The Poseidon Adventure. That's another good one.


The Thing. DIng Ding Ding Ding, winner!


THE
HOT WIRE
AND BLOOD
AARDVARK

KIDS, Aardvark. Kids.

I mean, at our age, Kurt Russell seems like a kid now, but...

There aren't any kid movies dealing with upsidedown ships, just saying. Besides, all the good ones are already on this list.

Adventures in Babysitting? Forget I said that.

Sixteen Candles? Breakfast Club Prequel.


THE
THAT'S ABOUT IT
AARDVARK

Peter Pan

I'm not sure if the Disney animated version would count for your course, but there are probably 30 different live action films as well. Just pick whichever version has an actor that you enjoy. "Hook" for example since everyone like Robin Williams.

Peter Pan is the definitive right of passage story, and all of my college profs loved that movie, it didn't matter what their field was.

I liked Breaking Away too, especially when the old man gets mad at his son: "I should have killed him when I had the chance. He'd be dead now."

Where would you classify post-death fantasies? Robin Williams "What Things May Come," Warren Beatty "Heaven Can Wait" and Albert Brooks "Defending Your Life" or "The Matrix"?

What I am surprised is nobody remembered was was probably the biggest coming of age film of the 1970s, "Summer of 42."

Tdarcos wrote:I liked Breaking Away too, especially when the old man gets mad at his son: "I should have killed him when I had the chance. He'd be dead now."

There is only one other reference on the internet to this being a quote from Breaking Away, and that is from you, on Caltrops, three years ago.

I've never seen it, but there is no way that is a quote, or even remotely a quote, from that movie.

pinback wrote:

Tdarcos wrote:I liked Breaking Away too, especially when the old man gets mad at his son: "I should have killed him when I had the chance. He'd be dead now."

There is only one other reference on the internet to this being a quote from Breaking Away, and that is from you, on Caltrops, three years ago.

I've never seen it, but there is no way that is a quote, or even remotely a quote, from that movie.

Actually, I have it wrong. The actual quote is "I should have hit him when I had the chance. He'd be dead now."

Willing to bet ten bucks that (corrected) quote is not in the movie Breaking Away or are you willing to admit that you're wrong, and it is in the movie?

Put up or shut up.

I'm willing to admit that what you originally quoted was not in the movie, as I just stated correctly.

pinback wrote:I'm willing to admit that what you originally quoted was not in the movie, as I just stated correctly.

Okay, I had it wrong, originally, as I said.

Now, yes or no, is the sentence, "I should have hit him when I had the chance. He'd be dead now." spoken in the movie Breaking Away?

It appears so.