B Movies Blog

Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping some quintessential film school movies into the ol’ VCR.

You may or may not know this, but I was actually only two classes shy of a film minor. 

I talked about the professor who was essentially responsible for my writing about pop culture when we covered Asteroid City, but I want to briefly touch on the professor who was responsible for me abandoning my film minor. 

He was a jerk. Plain and simple. 

My advisor had noticed that I was only two credits short of a film minor, so I signed up for one of the two classes I needed…and promptly dropped it after the second week. 

You see, I’d heard that the professor who taught these two classes was kind of a prick, but I really wanted my film minor, so I decided to take a chance. 

Unfortunately, it turned out those who warned me weren’t kidding. 

During the second week of class, said professor asked for an example of a traditional movie arc. 

I raised my hand and used rom-coms as an example. 

I explained the whole idea of how two people meet, fall for each other, experience conflict, and then experience resolution. 

Bing. Bang. Boom. 

Professor Prick smirked and said, “While you’re not wrong, does anyone have another example that isn’t as contrived as Ms. Perkins’s analysis seems to be?”

I was crushed. 

I was used to the encouragement of the professors I had taken film classes with before who were supportive, even if your answer wasn’t quite what they were looking for. 

I wasn’t used to being belittled in front of a class of people when my answer was correct. 

Between this encounter and the fact that he wanted us to buy really expensive equipment, I decided to drop his class…and relinquish my film minor because he was the only person who taught the last two classes I needed. 

I don’t necessarily regret dropping his classes because it was clear that he wasn’t going to change, but I do regret not fighting a little more, be it for other classes to count towards my minor, or even bringing this exchange to one of my other professors because I was close to both of the ones I had taken film classes with previously. 

I’m telling you this story for a couple of reasons: 

1. Remember to always fight for yourself. Even if the administration had said no to my request for transferable credits, I would’ve known I had done everything I could’ve. 

2. I know I’m about to list off some film school movies having never gone to film school or even minored in film. But, I promise you that I know movies, and I’ve studied film ad nauseam. And, honestly, I think I’m reassuring myself more than y’all on this one. 

Alrighty, that should do us for introductions and disclaimers. 

Without further ado, here are several of the movies I consider to be quintessential film school movies:

• Fargo 
• Rear Window 
• The Shining  
• Citizen Kane 
• The Graduate 
• The Seventh Seal 
• Breathless (1960)
• Requiem for a Dream 
• The Royal Tenenbaums 
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari