Kate P - I tried to offer that one up to my team, but they are liking Mona Lisa Smile even though that doesn't quite fit what we need. I am trying to influence them back to Mad Hot Ballroom or Take the Lead.

The questions we need to answer are Does the movie/book realistically reflect the impact of art education on adolescents? Does it realistically reflect the struggle the humanities subjects face in light of educational budget cuts? If a school curriculum prefers to maintain sports programs over programs related to the arts, who will ultimately be responsible for children’s exposure to the humanities? Who will pay for arts education? Plus come up with a couple of more questions of our own.

That's a good question, Suzi. It's been an ongoing bone of contention within the school systems forever. I like it when classes take on the tough questions. For this one, I think that Meryl Streep movie would be awesome.

Does the movie/book realistically reflect the impact of art education on adolescents?

Mad Hot Ballroom is about 5th graders, so not quite adolescents. Don't know how important that distinction is.

They just want to leer at Dominic West, I suppose. That's why I rented it. What? But there's only two or three scenes in it about art. Honest.

Sail - which one has Meryl Streep? Sorry, so darned confused.

Music of the Heart? I'm bad at remembering movie titles.

IMdb confirms it. Not so bad a memory after all.

Dead Poets is a little old, but I think it's a way better movie than MLS, Although I think it was aiming at "Dead Poets For Chicks"...I just don't think it hit it.

Mona Lisa Smile is about college students, right? So not quite adolescents. What about Rock School?

School of Rock? Jack Black? Hmmmmm...now that is interesting.

Nope, Rock School - a documentary about a school that teaches kids how to be rockers. School Of Rock works too, though.