The end of the semester can be hectic. It can be overwhelming. Papers, projects, professors that don’t seem to understand that this is not your ONLY class. One can feel as if he or she will never get out alive. So take some time for yourself and just pop in one of these slacker flicks.
**1. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)**
A favorite ‘80s flick, this film follows Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), his unstable friend Cameron and beautiful girlfriend Sloane on one epic day off in Chicago. While his older sister Jeanie is begrudgingly stuck at school (she never gets away with anything!), Ferris, with the help of Cameron’s father’s priceless Ferrari, uses Chicago as his playground. With a healthy dose of ‘80s rebellion, Ferris is able to win over his big sister, best the high-strung principle Ed Rooney and his naïve parents and have the best “mental health day” ever.
**2. The Neverending Story (1984)**
Ok, so maybe this is a really nerdy slacker film. But hey, the kid, Bastian, skips school to read a really cool book he stole from a bookmaker and gets sucked into its world of fantasy. Bastian lives vicariously through young warrior Atreyu, meets cool creatures like The Rock Biter, rides a giant fish dog called Falkor, and finally narrowly escapes death and despair to defeat the Nothing. In the end it is only he who can save the ill princess by giving her a name. And he learns some courage along the way. Its slacker meets fantasy meets feel-good family flick.
**3. Ghost World (2001)**
While males usually occupy slacker roles, the ladies get a turn in this comic-to-film adaptation. Two anti-social teens, Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson), survive their first summer after high school When the pair have a garage sale, sparks fly between Enid and the older, awkward record-collector Seymour. We can all relate to the melancholy of growing up in a post-modern world filled with kitsch and Starbucks.
**4. National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002)**
Yeah, that’s right. A college movie on a college list about college kids slacking off. Possibly one of the pinnacles of slacking off, “Van Wilder” follows, uh, Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds) and his quest to stay in college rather than graduate into the real world. Entering year seven, his father cuts him off, forcing him to realize he has to move on. Tara Reid has something to do with it, too. Reynolds delivers the goods in this one, with over-the-top college pranks ranging from the frat boys woofing down donuts with the special cream filling from Reynold’s dog to having the film’s antagonist take a laxative right before his exams and med school interviews. No doubt this movie spawned some real-life pranks, and maybe even spawned some real-life slackers.
**5. SLC Punk! (1998)**
For many of you, this movie no doubt held a special place in your high school rotation. Nevertheless, the story of two unemployed “Ops,” as it were, in the heart of religious 1985 Salt Lake City, Utah, is the quintessential take on languorous living. Between partying, fighting rednecks and volatile punk shows, Steve O and Heroin Bob (Matthew Lillard and Michael A. Goorjian) do their best to side step their impending responsibilities, which even encompass a future at Harvard Law School. Though the anthem of youthful malaise, this classic of wasting time hits home today.
