Graduation Day (1981)

Except for the fact Jamie Lee Curtis doesn't appear, this 1981 slasher follows the 80s teen slasher formula exactly — it could even be Scream -1 — opening on an initial tragedy at Woodsboro, I mean, Midvale High School that sets into motion a grisly series of killings of the members of the school's track-and-field team, and about the only thing that sets Graduation Day apart from the long line of identical others is a rocking film clip at the one-hour mark — Felony's Gangster Rock — which injects new energy — not a lot, but new — into the final thirty-minute lead-up to the clumsy reveal of The Fisherman, I mean, Ghostface, I mean...

★★☆☆☆

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The Fabelmans (2023)

The poster says, "Capture every moment," but a more appropriate line would be "capture just a series of moments from mostly one formative year in the life of a young schoolboy who dreams of making movies, and really wallow for most of the time in the uncomfortable matter of the boy's involvement in his mother's love, sex, and fidelity, while only treating very cursorily the much more interesting ideas of the camera's fidelity - its equal ability to tell truth and lie - leaving bemused viewers wondering why, if this is Steven Spielberg's deeply personal life story, the lead is Sam, not Steven, and why the life story abruptly ends with a shrug (and a playful wink) in the middle of Sam's teens - perhaps this was to be a Wonder Years-style TV show gone wrong; perhaps seventy other years' worth of cinematic genius are on the cutting room floor.

★★☆☆☆

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Toy Soldiers (1991)

Die Hard in 1988 launched a genre - the non-War, modern and corporate The Great Escape - and was followed by a rush of similar action adventures centred on an everyman hero taking on a team of hostage-takers from within a hostage situation, this one taking place in a private boys school where Sean Austin plays a rebellious teenaged "John McClane" leading a schoolyard group of  fellow "prisoners" who plot their escape under the watch of machine-gun wielding "Germans", and it is corny, teenage, 90s-cult film fun.

★★★☆☆

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The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941)

The comedy is of a bawdy music hall variety and a young Charles Hawtrey appears, so this 1941 comedy thriller feels like an early entry in the Carry On series with the students and staff, including bumbling science teacher Will Lamb, relocated to a haunted church in Scotland during World War II where a plot involving a ghost and murder plays out in mildly entertaining fashion.

★★★☆☆

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Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar is an Algerian refugee who lands himself a teaching position in a Montreal classroom after the previous teacher commits suicide, in this movie about boundaries - classroom boundaries, professional boundaries, national boundaries - and the duty of care teachers have for students and that nations have for refugees.

For 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.au

★★★★☆

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