Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
The weather’s getting cooler, the day’s are getting shorter, and every child wears a matching expression of vague existential dread. Yes, it must be just about time for school to start up again.
And Two Cents is more than happy to mark the occasion. Our “Back to School” series features four films over the course of the next four weeks, leading off with the cultishly adored Rock ’n’ Roll High School.
In the late 1970’s Roger Corman was looking to create a new teen film in the vein of some of the lighthearted fare he’d put out earlier in his career. Allan Arkush had already conceived of just such a film, and he worked with Joe Dante, Richard Whitley, Russ Dvonch, and Joseph McBride to flesh out the story of an anarchic teenage girl joining forces with her favorite band to conquer her restrictive high school.
Surprisingly, Arkush’s biggest hurdle was locking down a band for such a showcase. Todd Rundgren, Cheap Trick, and Van Halen were all bandied about as possibilities but either contract disputes or the band’s infamy for bad behavior resulted in deals falling through.
Ultimately, it was the gangly, New Yawk squawks of the Ramones that headlined Rock ’n’ Roll High School. The film stars PJ Soles as Riff Randell, a fledgling songwriter and all-purpose troublemaker in a battle of wills against new, fascist principal Evelyn Togar (Mary Woronov). Togar wants to clamp down on the free-wheeling fun and mayhem enjoyed by the students, but Riff just might end up blowing the roof off the joint.
Next Week’s Pick:
We’re continuing our new series to coincide with the opening of a new school year! Class is in session with a lineup of school and student-themed comedies from ranging 1979 to 2017. Next up is the most recent pick of our series, last year’s indie charmer Don’t Talk to Irene, about a misfit teen whose troubles at school inadvertently set her out on a new adventure: starting a dance troupe with members from an unexpected source.
9/07 — Don’t Talk to Irene
9/14 — Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
9/21 — Back to School
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
Our Guests
Rock ’n’ Roll High School is Allan Arkush’s best film (yes, even better than Deathsport). Its vibe is kind of a throwback to an earlier era of teen movie (not entirely different from Grease — released a year earlier) but filtered through the chaos and insanity one might expect from a late ‘70s Roger Corman production. It is anchored by charming, sincere performances by the Ramones-obsessed Riff Randell (P. J. Soles) and her best friend Kate (Dey Young), and as you move from those leads to the supporting cast the actors and performances get wilder and zanier. Clint Howard is impressively sleazy as a car salesman-esque teen matchmaker, and Corman regular Paul Bartel makes an appearance as the music teacher. And of course since it’s a Corman production (with a co-story credit for Joe Dante!) that guy Dick Miller shows up as the police chief. Thankfully Arkush realized that the Ramones were not actors and kept their speaking roles in the film to a functional minimum. But their music is perfectly suited to the rebellious nature of this anti-authoritarian teen movie, and it gives the film much of its personality. There are certainly elements of Rock ’n’ Roll High School that have not aged well, but when that soundtrack kicks in I can’t help but enjoy myself. They really don’t make them like this anymore. (@T_Lawson)
The Team
Growing up, I watched 1991’s Rock ’n’ Roll High School Forever, the sequel to the iconic Ramones-fueled punk rock high school film many, many times. It played on local TV and cable quite often. I remember loving it and, to me, it was the only Rock ’n’ Roll High School that I knew. A few years later, in my later teens, I had all but forgotten it and a friend mentioned the original film. Their description, however, was far different than the film I knew. In fact, I was quite confused when he began talking about The Ramones being in the film. This, of course, meant that I was forced to watch and discover the original gem soon thereafter.
These days, I love the original and am afraid to go back and watch the sequel starring the Coreys. I know it’s likely “actual trash” (as our own Liam O’Donnell would say), but I’d like to preserve its memory as a fun and enjoyable little film. Instead, I’ll just keep revisiting the ACTUAL Rock ’n’ Roll High School and continue to enjoy all of its greatness. (@thepaintedman)
What a wonderful surprise this turned out to be! I honestly knew nothing about Rock ’n’ Roll High School other than the title and the fact that it starred PJ Soles and the Ramones, but it turns out that it’s a gleefully silly and self-aware little comedy, one much closer in style and tone to Airplane than Animal House. I almost wish the film had come into being a little bit after Airplane, if only so Arkush and his team could have seen just how far you can stretch a cartoon reality so long as the jokes are good, which many of these really, really are. And beyond just being consistently clever and charming, Rock ’n’ Roll High School has a sweetness to it that is vastly out of step with other high school/college films that were getting cranked out during this time (an era where ‘wacky date rape’ was an all-too-often used comic occurrence). Rock ’n’ Roll High School is cheerfully non-judgmental about the pastimes of the youth, and it never judges its ensemble of teenagers for being horny and shallow and more interested in smoking weed and listening to rock albums than studying.
Rock ’n’ Roll High School sort of trails off in its second half, as the Ramones show up and the clever dialogue and gags fade away in favor of endless sequences of the Ramones playing music. And while that’s something of a shame…I mean…it’s the Ramones. It’s never, like, a ‘bad’ thing to watch them perform. None of the Ramones look remotely comfortable on camera, but all seem to be having a perfectly good time goofing around, which is just about the exact right vibe for this particular movie. (@theTrueBrendanF)
My introduction to Rock N Roll High School was a 35mm screening at the Alamo Drafthouse. The color-faded print was practically pink, but that didn’t matter — it was one of the most infectiously joyful movie experiences of my life.
The film is on a crazy wavelength that radiates anarchy in a ludicrously fun way, celebrating rock & roll as the voice of a generation — it’s crazy to think this was conceptually Disco High at one point, which couldn’t possibly achieve the same lasting impact as the final product.
The Ramones are the perfect musical ambassadors for this venture. I can’t think of a single band that better embodies punk sensibilities, street cred, rock & roll spirit, and the commercial accessibility of multiple hits — all necessary requirements for this to work — together in one package.
There are a few moments where the anarchy gets too mean-spirited and betray the overall tone (most notably when students line up cafeteria workers in a firing squadron and pelt them with food), but if anything it’s refreshing that a teen movie of this vintage lacks the usual toxicity, de-emphasizing (while still acknowledging) the sex and drugs and focusing on the rock & roll. Anyone who can not love this movie, after watching Paul Bartel’s stuffy music teacher join the rockin’ student rebellion after being won over at a Ramones show, has no soul. (@VforVashaw)
Next week’s pick: