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The hardest kind of movie to make may be the coming-of-age story, something that everyone can relate to, unless you've got some kind of magic potion that either makes you skip your formative years or stop aging when you're ten. Let's just assume that you're able to age normally and can appreciate the nostalgia inside most great coming-of-age movies. Of course, because this kind of movie is so hard to make, because we all can relate to the experiences of teenagers realizing who they are, meeting that special someone, becoming adults, growing more mature, or, in the case of one of the films I'll talk about, blowing up a space station.

The coming-of-age movie isn't the most common to show up at the weekly box office, certainly not as much as a horror movie, or a simple romantic comedy. I say "simple" because most coming-of-age movies have some romance and comedy in them, but usually aren't the same as a movie like When Harry Met Sally... or Sleepless in Seattle. A good chunk of coming-of-age movies, such as The Squid and the Whale, are based very much on the lives of the people who write and direct them, which also limits the amount of these stories in theaters.

However, this Friday, we will get another entry in the coming-of-age genre, the 1980s-set Adventureland, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart (and from what I hear, no vampires appear). The movie, written and directed by Superbad helmer Greg Mottola, is based on Mottola's teenage years, but as we'll see in the A-List, not all coming-of-age movies have to be based on the writer's life. Though we've yet to see if Adventureland will be thought of fondly in years to come, let's take a look at the A-List of coming-of-age movies and hope that it will one day be worthy.

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Yes, I know that when we think of the Star Wars sextet of films, the phrase "coming-of-age" doesn't jump to mind. No, terms such as "action-packed," "epic," and "soul-killing" are what we think of, especially if the Star Wars prequels come up in conversation. Despite that, the first...or fourth Star Wars film, A New Hope, is a quintessential coming-of-age film with a main character who's unsure of himself, an unattainable woman (forget for a moment that she turns out to be the main character's sister), a helpful mentor, wisecracking sidekicks of human and robotic form, and a seemingly insurmountable villain. Though writer-director George Lucas couched the story of young Luke Skywalker becoming a man with plenty of science-fiction space battles, mythology about a mysterious Force, and effete robots, there's no question that A New Hope, specifically, is about Skywalker growing up. By the time The Empire Strikes Back begins, Luke is already a respected member of the Rebel Alliance; at the beginning of A New Hope, he's a hopeless farmer-in-training who dreams of being a fighter pilot. Mark Hamill, as Skywalker, may not have been the best actor, but for kids everywhere, he personified the down-on-his-luck kid who wants to be whisked away into a world of adventure.

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