Teen Movies Send Parents Back to School

Teen Movies Send Parents Back to School

DALLAS, July 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Many parents send their teens to school with ideas of simple, carefree days ahead for their kids. Clearly they've forgotten everything about their own school years.

Watching "Mean Girls," "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" or "Animal House" will tell you a lot more about high school and college than going over what you learned in algebra class. In a recent survey by BLOCKBUSTER Online(R), movie lovers chose the best of these school films and the characters they would have most identified with in their own school years.

Men chose Jim Levenstein in "American Pie," the awkward teen played by Jason Biggs who's consumed by hormones and constantly humiliated in front of friends and family. Embarrassment is also the most common emotion felt by the Samantha Baker, played by Molly Ringwald in "Sixteen Candles," chosen by women as the character they resembled most in school.

"We identify with teenagers in the movies, because they're embarrassed, insecure and inexperienced - and so were we," says Shane Evangelist, general manager for BLOCKBUSTER Online. "Everyone, even the prom queen and the quarterback, feels like that in school."

Crushes are one of the biggest culprits of causing anxiety - a lot more so than any classroom chemistry test. Jim has a crush on exchange student Nadia in "American Pie," and Samantha pines for Jake in "Sixteen Candles." And who can forget the problems John Travolta and Olivia Newton John had sorting out their relationship in "Grease."

Bullies are another source of discomfort, and no one personifies their nasty tactics more than Biff Tannen, the thick-headed jock who picks on George McFly in "Back to the Future." Biff, along with clique-ruling Regina George in "Mean Girls," were selected in the BLOCKBUSTER Online survey as the people movie lovers would have hated most at their school.

"The Breakfast Club" was chosen as movie fans' all-time favorite school flick. In this film, the Jock, the Prom Queen, the Geek, the Recluse and the Rebel all have little in common on the surface, but underneath they share an every-teen angst that no amount of popularity, good grades or denial will cure.

So, give the kids a break. If you think school is just fun and games, check out one of these classic school flicks to remember the real-life joy and pain.

Top 10 School Days Movies
(Selected in a survey of movie fans by BLOCKBUSTER Online.)

* "The Breakfast Club"
* "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"
* "Grease"
* "American Pie"
* "Dazed & Confused"
* "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"
* "Sixteen Candles"
* "Mean Girls"
* "Animal House"
* "Clueless"

About BLOCKBUSTER Online

With more than 55,000 movie titles to choose from, BLOCKBUSTER Online(R) delivers DVDs right to subscribers' mailboxes to be viewed at their convenience without due dates or late fees. Plans start as low as $7.99 a month, with the $17.99 three-movie-out plan being the most popular. Rental plans include free in-store movie rentals at participating BLOCKBUSTER(R) stores (the number of free rentals varies by plan). Visit http://www.blockbuster.com/ for details.

About Blockbuster

Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE:BBI)(NYSE:BBI.B) is a leading global provider of in- home movie and game entertainment, with approximately 9,000 stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. The company may be accessed worldwide at blockbuster.com .

Source: Blockbuster Inc.

CONTACT: Tami Cannizzaro of Blockbuster Inc., +1-214-854-3190

Web site: http://www.blockbuster.com/

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