Reely Bernie Faves: School of Rock (2003)

Would you tell Picasso to sell his guitars?!

Love him or hate him, Jack Black exudes a ferocious passion for rock music that is so infectious, it’ll make your grandma pick up a guitar and shred. Put him up in front of a classroom of fifth graders, and it’s just too easy—like kids in a candy store watching the “responsible” Kool-Aid Man burst through the wall. That’s Jack Black. That’s School of Rock. And, yes, that’s teaching music.

I’m a teacher. All I need are minds for molding.

School of Rock came out during my first year teaching high school music, and I remember thinking to myself I could do no worse than Jack Black. Yet, I also knew that there is nothing wrong with absolutely loving the subject you teach to the point of wild animal. And, although Mr. “Schneebly’s” methods are beyond unorthodox, he is still able to create “musical fusion” with his students, wholesome lesson plans on teamwork, and one heck of a hilarious movie.

Cellooo! You got a bass!

Instead of going too far down the brat lane, the kid actors and actresses are likeable, and they supposedly aced the music talent auditions to be Jack’s fellow instrumentalists and singers. The cast continues to get together for reunions and jam out like it’s 2003.

And there used to be a way to stick it to The Man. It was called rock ‘n roll, but guess what, oh no, The Man ruined that, too, with a little thing called MTV.

I like Jack Black. He cranks up the voltage in everything he’s in, and some of my other faves wouldn’t be the same without him: Jesus’ Son (1999), High Fidelity (2000), and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017). Just watch him uncage when he first forms his fifth grade rock band. Or, when he rips out Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” in his ’86 Dodge Ram van.

It may sound easy, but nothing could be harder. It will test your head, and your mind, and your brain, too.

Screenwriter (and the real “Mr. Schneebly”) Mike White and Director Richard Linklater somehow resurrect the gods of rock in a preppy elementary school, and the results are radical. Scoring a gross income of $131 million worldwide, School of Rock remains an inside-joke kind of movie that makes me feel like a kid again. The only sad part is that all my graduating music classes stopped quoting it about fifteen years ago. Maybe the dormancy is strengthening this beloved movie’s status as a cult classic. I’m okay with that.

What are your thoughts on School of Rock?

Reely Bernie Faves:

1. Amadeus (1984)

2. Magnolia (1999)

3. Poltergeist (1982)

4. Pulp Fiction (1994)

5. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

6. The Godfather Part II (1974)

7. Weekend at Bernie’s (1989)

8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

9. Goodfellas (1990)

10. Nosferatu (1922)

11. Pollock (2000)

12. Kicking and Screaming (1995)

13. Jaws (1975)

14. Fargo (1996)

15. Citizen Kane (1941)

16. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

17. The Endless Summer (1966)

18. Back to the Future (1985)

19. Angel Heart (1987)

20. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

21. The Goonies (1985)

22. Trainspotting (1996)

23. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

24. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

25. Bambi (1942)

26. The Paradise Lost Trilogy (1996-2011)

27. Psycho (1960)

28. Parenthood (1989)

29. Swingers (1996)

30. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

31. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

32. Smoke (1995)

33. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

34. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

35. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

36. City of God (2002)

37. 1917 (2019)

38. Black Swan (2010)

39. School of Rock (2003)

40. Mulholland Drive (2001)

41. Groundhog Day (1993)

42. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

43. The Greatest Showman (2017)

44. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)

45. The Florida Project (2017)

46. Cinema Paradiso (1988)

47. So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)

48. Shadowlands (1993)

49. Steve Jobs (2015)

50. ¡Three Amigos! (1986)