Most people know the name of football player Jim Brown. But not even sports fans may be familiar with the name of Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. The new film The Express (opening October 10 throughout San Diego) chronicles his brief, bright career.You can listen to my radio feature or watch a video of my interview with Dennis Quaid who came to San Diego last month to talk about the film.

Gael Garcia Bernal stars in Blindness (Miramax)

By Darrin Buchanan

Blindness (opened October 3 throughout San Diego) is a film like no other. It's not a horror film but it's scary to see what life would be like if every single one of us was blind. In Blindness, Julianne Moore plays "the doctor's wife;" she lives in a world were everyone becomes blind but her. At first it's just a select few and they are taken to a building and are held essentially captive. Most of the movie takes place inside the builing. In the building the blind seperate into four differnt groups; each group has their own goverment. They stuggle with food between the groups and due to frustration, things descend into chaos. Eventually the whole world turns blind, but for some reason the doctor's wife still isn't blind. I didn't like how you don't know how people are becoming blind and where the illness is even coming from, or even why she doesn't go blind. If you want to see a movie like no other then this will be a great movie to watch. I really enjoyed this film and the creativty it has. It's a film like no other.

--Darrin Buchanan is a seventeen-year-old senior at Mount Miguel High School. His main hobbies are theater and speech. He's also a member of the varsity speech team and a part of all the theater productions at school. He loves going to movies and is looking forward to sharing his views with others.

With a talking Chihuahua topping the box office this past weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to look to another talking animal film scheduled for holiday release. Rodents have always been a popular choice for animation -- besides the venerable Mickey we've had mice and rats in Ratatouille, Stuart Little, The Rescuers, The Secret of NIHM, Flushed Away and Charlotte's Web. Arriving this Christmas is a mouse described as too big for his small world, Despereaux (voiced by Matthew Broderick). Based on the award-winning Kate DiCamillo book, The Tale of Despereaux promises adventure as we follow the big-eared Despereaux who defies the mousy tradition of being scared of everything. As with Ratatouille, the film offers the pairing of a rodent and a chef. Also providing voice talent are Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullmann and Dustin Hoffman. And once again you will find multiple directors at the helm (I still don't know why animated films alsways seem to need multiple directors): Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen and writer Gary Ross are all credited as directors in the early press materials. Fell comes from Aardman Studios, which is a plus. The trailer is courtesy of Universal.

Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo in Blindness (Miramax)

By Nick Alva

The film Blindness (opened October 3 throughout San Diego) is a thriller/mystery movie. The story proposes that everyone in the world goes blind except for one person (played by Julianne Moore). It starts off with one person and spreads through the whole world. When it begins, the government assumes that the blindness was contagious and so they quarantined everyone that was blind in an abandoned mental hospital. A woman whose sight is unaffected by the virus follows her afflicted husband (Mark Ruffalo) into quarantine because she does not want to leave him. They are left there with no guidance at all but are told not to leave or they will be killed. There are three wards, each containing only a limited number of beds. Days pass and and the hospital fills up with more and more blind people. After a couple weeks, people from the third ward take the food rations for themselves and basically hold them for ransom. People from the first and second wards have no choice but to abide by their rules and do what they ask. Later some of the people escape and Moore's character guides seven people through the destroyed streets of the city and then to safety.

Blindness (R for violence including sexual assaults, language and sexuality/nudity) wasn't all that great. I found it kind of stupid and with no point. i didn't like how the plague/virus came so unexpectedly and random and for no apparent reason. I think this film is not worth spending money on. I guess if you like these kind of movies where you have to keep guessing about what happens after then go ahead and see it. But I would not recommend it. It also has lots of nudity and sexual scenes.

--Nick Alva is a senior at Mount Miguel High School. He wanted to be a teen critic because he loves movies and thought it would be a good stepping stone to becoming a better writer. His favorite movies are Pulp Fiction, Pineapple Express, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Gangs Of New York, and The Departed.

Julianne Moore stars in Blindness (Miramax)

By Janeane White

The movie Blindness (opened October 3 throughout San Diego) is a sci-fi type film where almost everyone in the country goes blind with out any medical explanation. The government tries to keep the numbers down by creating a type of quarantine where the blind stay without any control or rules other than the fact that they are not to leave. From this they create their own rules and try to get by as best they can. One man's wife (Julianne Moore) doesn't want him to go into quarantine alone so she claims that she is blind just so she can go with him. Because of her, the different wards are able to get by and get what needs to be done, done. She is the one who holds everything together. She is the anomoly in this strange epidemic..

The movie had many twists and turns with unexpected outcomes. The nation is forced back to primal life as people fight to survive. People need to learn to not take life for granted. These people learned this important lesson the hard way unfortunately, but they eventualy did learn it.

If you are into films such as The Happening, The Mist or other paranormal movies in which the life and future of humanity are threatened, and which teach us lessons, then this is a movie for you. There are a few graphic scenes but they are relating to the basic needs of people to survive in a world with no sight, and where all basic ground rules and guidelines crash.

Blindness (rated R for violence including sexual assaults, language and sexuality/nudity) is a good example of how much we take for granted and how much our economy needs to change.

--Janeane White is a senior at Mount Miguel High School. She enjoys movies and spends all her time at the theater. She is also interested in special effects makeup done in the movies.She is an honors student and is currently working towards early graduation. Some of her favorite movies include Queen of the Damed, Hellboy, The Descent, the Underworld series, and the Saw series.

Simon Pegg in his glory in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (MGM)

I have made no secret of the fact that I love Simon Pegg. He won me over with Shaun of the Dead, a rom-zom-com that he wrote and starred in. Then secured that place in my heart with the Brit-com TV series Spaced (which was made before Shaun but was hard to track down in the U.S.), which is also wrote and starred in. His creative efforts reveal a fine attention to detail and a savvy sense of pop culture. But in the films where he's had less creative input, he's been less good (Mission Impossible 3, Run Fatboy Run). But now he has a project that seems a bit more worthy of his talents - How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (opening October 3 throughout San Diego), based on British journalist Toby Young's memoirs about his failed five-year attempt to make it as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine.

Greg Kinnear stars as Dr. Robert Kearns in Flash of Genius (Universal)

After seeing the film Flash of Genius (opening October 2 throughout San Diego) you may never look at your windshield wipers in the same way. In the film, Greg Kinnear plays Dr. Robert Kearns, a Detroit engineer who invents the intermittent windshield wiper and then has the idea stolen by Ford. It's based on a true story and on a New Yorker magazine article by John Searbrook. It's a classic David versus Goliath as Kearns decides to take on Ford in their town of Detroit. Greg Kinnear says that the film is resonating with audiences.

Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna (Touchstone)

Spike Lee has made his mark delivering films that deal mostly with African Americans in contemporary urban settings. Beginning with She's Gotta Have It and Do the Right Thing and continuing through Clockers and Malcolm X, those thematic concerns have been a constant. So the fact that his latest project is a World War II drama set in Italy and involving a miracle may be surprising. But Miracle at St. Anna (opening September 26 throughout San Diego) does provide the socially conscious filmmaker with an opportunity to highlight the Buffalo Soldiers and the contribution African American soldiers made to the fighting in World War II.

Keira Knightley stars as The Duchess (Paramount Vantage)

By Rachel Landrum

The Duchess (opening September 26 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas), starring Keira Knightley, was an interesting film and it had an amazing wardrobe. I loved all the detail in the costumes especially Georgina's clothes. It was very much a tragic romance, one of epic emotional tests. I found myself trying to see things from a point of view lost to our generation. The whole thing about wanting a son to carry on the family name was not something kids of my generation can relate to. Or the only job being available to a womans was to bear this son and to marry for that sole purpose without love and to have to endure the callousness of a relationship that is called a marriage is completely unfair to the women of this time period. To find love but be unable to go and receive that love and to watch your husband find love and take that love and keep you too is really unfair.

--Rachel Landrum is a senior at Mount Miguel High School. She loves movies and lists Across the Universe, Pan's Labyrinth and House of Flying Daggers as her favorites.

Brad William Henke and Sam Rockwell in Choke based on Chuck Palahniuk's book. (Fox Searchlight)

Choke (opening September 26 at select theaters including Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas, AMC La Jolla, Edwards Mira Mesa, and Regal Parkway Plaza) is a new film based on a novel by Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk. So right off the bat, you know it's bound to be provocative. Throw in the fact that the main character played by Sam Rockwell is a sex addict and it only gets more interesting. I spoke with actor Clark Gregg about making his feature writing and directing debut with challenging material like Choke. You can listen to my KPBS Radio feature or read the review.