This movie features Brad Pitt as someone who's causing trouble at a Southern California high school. A student, played by Donovan Leitch Jr., goes back to his high school near Los Angeles after being in a mental institution and attempts to reconnect with some classmates—Jill Schoelen and Pitt himself. Things quickly spiral out of control. “Cutting Class,” released in 1989, mixes the kind of teen comedy seen in …

It’s hard to pinpoint when I first learned the concept of clockwise versus counterclockwise turns—it was sometime before my teachers noticed me, before college, and when my parents had more free time at home. This movie played a small role in that early lesson. While it didn't hold up well over time, it did leave an impression. It managed to impart something useful to a young boy who watched it without adult supervis…