Disney’s Camp Rock will soon delight tweens and teens with tuneful summer fun. The cable network hopes to re-capture the success of High School Musical…but is this movie truly the pinnacle of cinematic high school fun? Isn’t it possible to strive for higher in the high school movie genre? Check out my list of the Top 5 High School Movies, and find out if your favorite made the cut.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Sean Penn as a stoner and Jennifer Jason Leigh as a budding young slut - what says high school quite like that? This uproariously funny cult classic will absolutely never go out of style (I think it has something to with Judge Reinhold). The music and fashion might be dated, sure, but certain truths always remain despite the years that pass.

Hairspray
Whether you watch the original or the remake, you’ll be tapping your feet and singing along before the second scene is over. While the flick couches some of the touchier issues in lighthearted comedy, at its heart it addresses some of the more serious problems teens face - body image problems, the pressures of society to fit in, even interracial dating. That’s a whole lot for one musical to take on, but Hairspray handles it remarkably well.

Grease
It’s hard to say just a little bit about how perfect this movie is. Sure, some of the actors look like they haven’t seen the inside of a high school for ten years and it’s difficult for modern teens to identify with any period piece, but Grease is a classic flick that will never, ever fade. Cross-cultural romance, rollicking tunes and John Travolta in leather - what else is there to say?

Fame
This gritty, R-rated flick takes a look inside a performance arts high school, following a group of students for four years as they struggle not just with class work but with their chosen career paths. Fame brutally shows the pain of rejection, blossoming young romance, the trials of homosexuality and the shame of being used by older, wiser adults - all set to a truly great soundtrack.

The Breakfast Club
This John Hughes masterpiece is truly the end-all, be-all of all high school movies - and I’m warning you in advance that I’ll brook no argument to that statement. Members of the Brat Pack make this movie absolutely delightful. For the most part, the entire flick takes place in one room and offers only one costume change, yet somehow it lacks absolutely nothing. This truly deep film delves into the pathos of becoming an adult in a real, and really compelling, way that you won’t want to miss.