Carla Silver

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Episode 13: Sixteen Candles

In this episode of Heads Down Two Thumbs Up, Carla and Bill discuss the iconic film Sixteen Candles.  This movie launched the career of John Hughes who quickly became known for his portrayal of teenage angst through the ubiquitous experiences of unrequited crushes, embarrassing parents and a punishing social hierarchy.

Samantha Baker is turning 16, but in the chaos of her sister’s wedding, her family has forgotten her birthday.  To make matters worse, she spends the day pining over her out of reach crush, Jake Ryan, Michael Shoeffling, and being stalked by the kind of the geeks (Anthony Michael Hall).   As the tagline suggests “It’s the time of your life that may last a lifetime.”

How has Sixteen Candles stood the test of time?  Is it still relevant today? Who was this movie for?  Why are there only white people at this high school and what does it say about sexual misconduct?  Carla and Bill discuss all of the joys as well as the cringy, problematic aspects of this 1984 classic.

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Episode 9: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Travel back to 1988 with Bill and . . . Carla, as we have a MOST excellent adventure together taking about another favorite movie that talks about school. When two disengaged high school students, Theodore Logan and William S. Preston, Esquire, are faced a failing grade in history class, they have just one option left – to do one kick-ass final project. But they know nothing about history. Just when they are about to give up hope and wallowing in despair at the Circle K, they are visited by a surprise guest from the future. And with the help of a handy phone booth as their vehicle, they travel through time, kidnapping historical figures along they way as they try to save their history grade and

Will Bill and Ted pass their history final? Is this movie the single greatest example of experiential learning ever made? How does time traveling in a phone booth compare to travel in a DeLorean? Is Missy the hot stepmom, just an excuse for Oedipal humor? Are Bill and Ted dumb or just totally bored? How did Jane Wiedlin from the GoGos get cast as Joan of Arc? We will discuss these essential questions and so much more. You won’t want to miss this episode! It will be most excellent!

Check out this trailer before you begin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3fx6TugN7g

For those listeners who may have little experiences with phone booths, here is one that Carla runs by very frequently. Perhaps Bill and Ted visited Vasona Park, in Los Gatos.

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Episode 00: Trailer

Greetings, and welcome to Heads Down, Two Thumbs Up, a new podcast. We like to talk about movies that talk about schools, and we bet you do too. Take a listen to our trailer to hear what it’s all about. We’ve picked an iconic school movie to kick off Episode One about one young man’s heroic effort to avoid school on one beautiful spring day in Chicago. We bet you can guess which movie we picked. In the meantime, enjoy the trailer and stay tuned for Our very first episode, coming soon!
Episode 00: Trailer
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Welcome to “Heads Down, Two Thumbs Up!”

Hey there! It’s Carla Silver and Bill Selak and we like to talk about movies that talk about school. So, we started a podcast that does just that! This podcast is for anyone who works at a school, goes to school, or ever went to school – so basically, YOU!  Movies about school have shaped our national narrative about what school is like, about relationships between teachers and students, students and students, and the role of school as both friend and foe. Our favorite school-related movies reflect the reality of school – often perceived by students as boring, tedious and pointless.  While often generating feelings of nostalgia – even for the misery of school – might they also reinforce stereotypes of school and  even serve as an obstacle to reimagining what school might be? 

Join us in this new adventure where we talk about some of your favorite movies that talk about school.  Listen to the trailer and get ready for Episode One where we relive the obvious choice to kick off this podcast – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off!

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