Why it's so great: Amy Heckerling's audacious teen comedy-drama created the template for basically every high school-set movie that came after it. Phoebe Cates getting out of the pool is still the highwater mark for movie hotness.

Remake-o-meter says: Heckerling went back to school successfully in 1995 with "Clueless," but she seemed to have lost touch by 2000's awful "Loser." Any film using the "Fast Times" title would likely be doing so for name recognition only; the storyline and plot turns may be timeless, but the cast (Sean Penn, Judge Reinhold, Jennifer Jason Leigh) and era-specific dialogue are the main reasons to watch the film.