Perhaps no movie better chronicles the dissolution of the upper middle-class than Robert Redford’s Oscar-winning 1980 drama. Following the death of eldest son Buck and the attempted suicide of youngest son Conrad, the Jarrett family of suburban Illinois struggles to keep it together. Donald Sutherland's patented hangdog stare -- coupled with the reincarnation of America's sweetheart, Mary Tyler Moore, as a shrill, castrating harpy -- made the film a highbrow hit -- and exposed countless chinks in the armor of the classic American family.

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Finally -- a comedy! Turns out sex, drugs, teen pregnancy, and general malaise can be hilarious after all. This 1982 film shows the lighter side of suburban teen life, as seen from the always-inspiring vantage point of the local mall.

The film's director, Cameron Crowe, spent a year undercover at a high school in San Diego, California, to collect the material on which the film is based. Perhaps that's why the characters' travails -- from losing a coveted job at All-American Burger to being caught... pleasuring oneself by Phoebe Cates -- still rings so true.