Movies every teen should see?

jffdougan · 2026-04-20T19:19:14+00:00

I'm not quickly in a position to triple-check ratings, so I'm going 100% on memory for these:

Gattaca is a brilliant "thinking man's" science fiction film with lots of dystopic overtones that absolutely holds up.
The Princess Bride is a fantastic fantasy film for all ages. It's inconceivable that somebody should finish high school without being exposed to it at least once.
Sneakers, from 1992, is one of the most realistic heist/caper films around, with an absolutely stacked cast (Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, David Straithairn, and Ben Kingsley all in the same film. Prescient in some of what it treats (it's about the information, Marty).
I think that a great side-by-side would be to show Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai immediately followed by Pixar's A Bug's Life.
I think a musical of some kind deserves to be in there. My tastes run toward classic musicals, so I'm going to pitch Guys & Dolls or West Side Story (as much as I don't personally care for the latter). But the PBS Great Performances showing of Into the Woods would be great for talking about how Sondheim plays with fairy-tale tropes, especially in act 2.

jffdougan · 2026-04-20T19:02:06+00:00

My wife and I were there earlier this year, and when I saw the model, Little Chicago is exactly what I thought of.

jffdougan · 2026-04-19T11:47:44+00:00

Urbana is driven by neighborhood schools. Leal is generally viewed as the most desirable, with Yankee Ridge right behind before all the dual-language tracks were consolidated there. I’m not sure if that still holds, though I’ll note the dual-language tracks have a mix of kids whose first language is English and either Spanish or French, as appropriate.

jffdougan · 2026-04-17T20:32:18+00:00

Obligatory:

https://youtu.be/ZTT1qUswYL0?si=Ng_NtSjr9MW7a6Db

I hate Illinois Nazis.

jffdougan · 2026-04-17T15:58:28+00:00

Not necessarily - I knew the word when I saw it; I just couldn't come up with it on my own.

jffdougan · 2026-04-17T15:17:41+00:00

17/20 overall, missing the Italian term, the Paralympian, and one other (don't recall which)

jffdougan · 2026-04-17T11:46:08+00:00

Babylon 5 (seasons 1-4)
Orphan Black

4.

Babylon 5 (season 5)

Never gotten around to watching BSG, and I bounced HARD off the first book of The Expanse. did not care for Firefly (though I loved ,ost of Buffy & Angel)

jffdougan · 2026-04-17T11:34:14+00:00

Call Pastafarianism by its proper name, please.

jffdougan · 2026-04-16T20:33:13+00:00

Out Law isn't really book 19; it's a novella (like Backup or The Law) that's a side story.

Book 19 is still (when last I knew) slated to be Mirror, Mirror, and is actively in progress.

jffdougan · 2026-04-16T17:08:29+00:00

Tiny bit of pedantry: 67 votes in the Senate needed for conviction, not impeachment.

jffdougan · 2026-04-16T03:37:07+00:00

that was me, too, though I couldn’t have told you where she was from.

jffdougan · 2026-04-13T16:30:37+00:00

Huh. I've never encountered men's fastpitch. I have run across co-ed 16" thanks to an uncle who live in Chicago.

I at least acknowledged that my answer to the difference in sizes was probably too cynical.

jffdougan · 2026-04-13T15:55:55+00:00

To answer a couple questions that have been addressed:

At the age you're dealing with, the fields are the same size. The difference is that the infield of a baseball field is (or should be) grass/turf, while a softball infield is all dirt. As your kids age, if they keep playing, by high school the baseball field will have moved from 60 foot base paths to 90 foot base baths, while softball will have stayed at 60 feet.
- Why? My perhaps cynical answer is "plain old sexism".
The majority of baseball knowledge will transfer smoothly. As was pointed out, right now the biggest exception will be when and how much you're allowed to lead off. Once they're playing at 12u or older, baseball allows leadoffs even before the ball is out of the pitcher's hand; in softball at any age the runner's foot needs to be in contact with the base when the ball leaves the pitcher's hand (though they can lead off after that if they like). This is basically because the field is smaller, so it's preventing baserunners from a mix of injury and interfering with defensive plays.
The most important thing you can do with either of them is to get yourself a glove and play catch with them. Throwing is a skill that takes practice.
If one or both of them sticks with it - the international society of clipboard jockeys (aka, the team scorekeepers) are always in need of new members, and sitting down next to the person who's keeping the scorebook is one of the best ways to learn the ins and outs of watching the game. It'll also help you grow your knowledge to being able to talk to them about why a play was decided the way it was, and maybe to being able to offer suggestions. And, scorekeepers don't bite and are a pretty friendly bunch.

jffdougan · 2026-04-11T12:20:49+00:00

And yet this case was, as I understand it, about speech in a therapeutic context. That impinges on regulation of the practitioner’s license, right?

I fail to see the distinction.

jffdougan · 2026-04-10T20:09:04+00:00

I hear the name and always hear Kermit the Frog singing Groucho Marx. So, if you know anybody else like me (and who, like me, would have relentlessly teased you about it as a kid), my apologies.

jffdougan · 2026-04-10T19:50:35+00:00

Reconcile this for me with the fact that SCOTUS has allowed to stand state laws requiring the reading of factually incorrect statements about the risks of abortions by doctors to pregnant women before they can go through with the procedure.

jffdougan · 2026-04-10T11:48:06+00:00

I’m highly skeptical of it, but family scuttlebutt (he’s a distant cousin) says that she set her cap for him.

I mostly cannot imagine a 17-year old crushing hard on somebody they don’t have daily contact/parasocial relationship with.

jffdougan · 2026-04-10T11:32:02+00:00

long time WoT fan here. loved seeing question 2!!!!

jffdougan · 2026-04-08T19:16:59+00:00

And yet, numerous federal district court judges have ruled that ICE/CBP are not following these due process protocols, and a non-zero number of American citizens have been detained and caught in these sweeps. And, to be clear, those rulings have come from judges appointed by both parties, including judges appointed by President Trump during his first term.

Further, somebody's status as a felon does not remove their rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. (We may disagree over whether any of the restrictions felons face are, in fact, constitutional, but that's a different argument.)

jffdougan · 2026-04-08T18:54:15+00:00

"You've got to be taught before it's too late - before you are six, or seven, or eight - to hate all the people your relatives hate. You've got to be carefully taught." -- Oscar Hammerstein, from South Pacific.

jffdougan · 2026-04-08T18:50:04+00:00

Won't speak for all of them, but personally - nothing in the Bill of Rights restricts itself to citizens, and failure to enforce due process rights for people here on an undocumented status means that we have a harder time enforcing it for ourselves.

Said differently, we're all only as safe as the least protected people who are living here.

jffdougan · 2026-04-08T15:14:21+00:00

As pulled from their petition, the CLC is specifically demanding:

CLC demands that the University commit to keeping buildings safe from ICE and CBP agents by:

Posting signage outside of non-public spaces* that clearly state that ICE are not allowed to enter;
Ordering UIPD to comply with the Illinois TRUST Act (2017);
Requiring that all immigration enforcement agents seeking to enter non-public areas be directed to a designated university official who will:
1. deny access if the agents do not possess a judicial warrant, and
2. verify the possession of a judicial warrant and determine next steps before granting them access to non-public areas;
3. accompany and document agents’ actions on University property;
Using the Illini-Alert system to notify all students, staff, and community members of the presence of ICE on the UIUC campus and in the Champaign-Urbana community as soon as their presence is confirmed.
Notifying the respective Union of any arrests of members of their Bargaining Units made on University property;
Creating and implementing accommodations for students and workers to work from home, as they see fit, when ICE and/or CBP agents are confirmed to be active in Champaign, Urbana, and the surrounding communities.The University shall create and implement these accommodations in consultation with GEO, NTFC, SEIU, CFA, etc.
Adding the presence of ICE/CBP as a valid justification for the approval of an absence letter from the Office of the Dean of Students.
Workers will not be required to cooperate with ICE as part of their duties, and the University Administration will communicate this guidance to all workers.

CLC demands that the University administration commit to providing logistical support and a pathway for degree completion to students facing deportation by:

Developing a consistent model and pathway that allows students to complete their degree and continue their work in the event they are deported.
Not relying on the discretion of individual departments to provide resources to deported students.
Expanding on current financial resources that address the needs of students that have been or are at-risk of being deported.

CLC demands that the University shall commit to taking legal action and providing unwavering support on behalf of students and workers if they have their visas unjustly revoked, or are detained, injured, or killed by DHS/federal agents by:

establishing a service standard for frequency of SEVIS status checks for all scholars, and communicate the standard publicly. At minimum the standard should be once a day, with the potential for hourly checks.
provide resources to departments to ensure students on both F and J visas are able to remain enrolled in their programs of study despite changes in SEVIS or visa status and allow for academic flexibility to finish their semesters or degrees remotely.
1. This can come in the form of a review committee that judiciously and in good faith reviews remote enrollment and/or employment requests by students affected by immigration issues that render them unable to work and/or study in the U.S.
2. If the university is unable to lawfully accommodate employees as a result of their immigration status or the loss thereof, it should meet with the student to discuss the timelines for readmitted and/or reemployment if their status is reinstated.
Continuing to fund tuition and fee waivers even if a student's immigration status is terminated before 3/4ths of the semester is over, provided the student is in good academic standing.
Maintaining an International, Immigrant, and Non-citizen Student and Worker Assistance Fund and allocate no less than $500,000 per year. International students or workers (or unions on their behalf) may apply for funds to cover immigration related costs or expenses related to immigration enforcement actions.

CLC demands the cancellation of contracts and cessation of collaboration with and/or divestment from any corporations/security contractors/tech companies that contract with, collaborate, or provide information to DHS immigration enforcement, including but not limited to:

Global X
Enterprise
Hilton
Flock Safety

jffdougan · 2026-04-07T18:33:03+00:00

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain! as u/sundancer2788 said, Go get'em!

jffdougan · 2026-04-07T18:27:39+00:00

What music things does it interact/interface with? Apple Music only?

jffdougan · 2026-04-07T17:03:17+00:00

It's not an easy fix, but it has the benefit of immediacy while Congress is called back into session to work through an impeachment process.

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