Favorite College Movies

I didn’t really enjoy high school, but man, I loved college. The freedom, the ability to take classes that actually interested me, the parties, living with my best friends — I was seriously tempted to stay more than four years, but nobody was willing to pay for it. Which I think is pretty selfish.

Now that fall is in the air (that means it’s been less than 100 degrees here for the last few days), students are back in school, and college football has started back up, it seems like the perfect time to share my favorite college movies.

Animal House
This is the one that started it all, and even though it looks fairly dated now, it still holds up as one of the funniest and best of the bunch.

Back to School
Of course any movie with Rodney Dangerfield has tons of quotable lines, but the one I always come back to is this: “Bring us a pitcher of beer every seven minutes until somebody passes out. And then bring one every ten minutes.”

Dead Man on Campus
Okay, this movie is not going to be on a lot of lists, but it came out while I was in college, so I have a soft spot for it in my heart.

Good Will Hunting
Hey, a movie that isn’t all about toga parties and keg transportation logistics made the list. How da ya like them apples?

Kicking and Screaming
I couldn’t really decide on an order for this list, so I, you know, didn’t bother ordering it. But if I had, Kicking and Screaming would have been number one with a bullet. And no, it’s not the Will Ferrell movie. It’s a Noah Baumbach film that’s not so much about college life as it is about becoming institutionalized by college life.

This movie sums up exactly how I felt about being forced to enter the real world. If you haven’t seen it, and many people haven’t, I highly recommend it.

National Lampoon’s Van Wilder
See, Van Wilder knew that staying in college as long as possible was the right way to go.

Old School
Of course, if you can’t do that, the next best thing is to go back when you’re in your 30s.

PCU
PCU didn’t get a lot of love when it was released (except from me, because I think it’s hilarious). But then Comedy Central decided to start airing it no less than once a week there for a while. And I watched at least part of it every time I saw that it was on. Bonus: you get to see Jeremy Piven and John Favreau before they made it big.

Real Genius
This is a classic, and I will brook no argument on that. Val Kilmer at his finest (okay, maybe he was better in Tombstone).

Revenge of the Nerds
Since I’m a nerd, I enjoy the premise of this movie. And the characters Booger and Ogre.

Road Trip
I still find Tom Green funny. There, I said it.

The Sure Thing
Wow, that’s two movies in a row that are also in my Road Trip Movies post.

Wonderboys
This is about college, but also about writing, so I especially like it. It’s a great book, too.