Sixth Annual San Diego Women’s Film Festival

Rachel Getting Married is the opening night feature for this year's San Diego Women's Film Festival (Sony Pictures Classics)

There's something of a festival bunch up this weekend as the San Diego Women's Film Festival and the San Diego Italian Film Festival (more on this later) compete for audiences this weekend. The San Diego Women's Film Festival kicks off its sixth season today with two youth outreach programs at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. Then the festival goes into full swing tomorrow at the Reading Gaslamp Theaters downtown with the San Diego premiere of Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married starring Anne Hathaway and written by Sidney Lumet's daughter Jenny. The festival is Southern California's longest running women film festival and this year plays host to fifty films including five features. The goal of the Festival is to empower young women through positive film media and promote women filmmakers and their films. This year the festival also boasts a new curator, Citizen Video's Holly Jones. You can also listen to this morning's These Days discussion of this year's festival with Holly Jones and I.

The Rocker

Rainn Wilson's Fish -- Reliving the dream in The Rocker (Fox Atomic)

Expectation can have a lot to do with whether or not you like a film. I had low expectations for The Rocker (opening August 20 throughout San Diego) based on trailers that made it look entirely stupid. So I was surprised to find that the film is actually only partly stupid, or to paraphrase Robert Downey, Jr.'s line from Tropic Thunder, they didn't go "full" stupid - just halfway. The other surprise is that Peter Cattaneo, the man who created the sweetly charming Brit-com The Full Monty, directed the film. But the main draw for The Rocker will probably be to see Rainn Wilson stepping out of his Dwight character from the American TV show The Office to take on the role of an aging rocker getting his second chance at fame.

Drillbit Taylor

The terrors of high school in Drillbit Taylor (Paramount)

I was going to leave Drillbit Taylor (opened March 21 throughour San Diego) to the Teen Critics, who did a fine job dismissing the film as "more stupid than funny" and not "completely horrible." But then I came across this item in Variety: "Thanks to the prolific Judd Apatow, the reclusive John Hughes has made an under-the-radar return to the movie business." The article went on to reveal that one of the people credited with conceiving the film's story, Edmond Dantes, is none other than John Hughes. That's right, John Hughes, the king of teen comedies from the 1980s who slipped into oblivion before the new millennium. But Hughes had written a treatment years ago for Paramount that was given to Apatow and developed into Drillbit Taylor, a film about a trio of high school freshmen targeted by a bully and forced to hire a bodyguard for protection. In his heyday, Hughes created such popular teen comedies as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. His films also gave birth to the Brat Pack of young Hollywood stars and influenced people like Apatow and Juno’s Diablo Cody who grew up loving his comedies. So in an odd way this proves somehow appropriate but it may also explain why I didn’t like Drillbit Taylor as much as Apatow’s other films.

SDLFF Highlight: La Zona

La Zona screens Sunday March 9 at the San Diego Latino Film Festival. (Wild Bunch)

By Carlos Sepulveda

La Zona (screening March 9 at 10:00 as part of the San Diego Latino Film Festival) opens with a mysterious outlook that we later understand and grieve. The movie takes place in Mexico City, in a community inside the city that is purposely isolated from the poor slums by its rich inhabitants. The community is called La Zona, a place where the rich and the high middle class live. La Zona is separated by towering walls and protected by cameras intended to keep the petty out.

During a storm three young thieves manage to break into La Zona. Things become complicated once they are on the other side of the wall. In their attempt to steal, they murder a woman and are later caught by her neighbors. Two of the burglars are shot and killed. The third one manages to escape but is still trapped inside La Zona. So the manhunt begins for this burglar whom we later learn more about. This film's message, ideas and originality make it worth watching.

The director, Rodrigo Pla, does a great job as he shows how people change and act in times of fear and terror. The members of the community become very scared and alarmed when they realize that one of the burglars is still inside the premises. In times of fear and confusion people lose trust and turn against each other.

The film succeeds in portraying a real and present time Mexico -- a Mexico that is inundated with corruption and crime. In this film you can see what the country is really like and how business is handled. When thinking critically of the film, I realized that La Zona is very similar to the United States in the present time of war and terror. Fear and confusion have also grown in the U.S. after 9/11. People have become scared and alarmed. Some have lost trust in the Government and also turned against each other as they believe that the "enemy" is within us, just like in the movie. I feel that the U.S., like La Zona, is slowly isolating itself from the outside world. The fear pressed on its citizens by the government have made it a country that doesn't welcome people anymore as it used to before 9/11 -- a country that is gradually becoming more hostile and violent. La Zona is a great movie to go see. It is very real and relevant.

The San Diego Latino Film Festival was a great experience. It was my first time attending and I had the honor to meet, Julio Bracho, a well known Mexican actor. I had the opportunity to speak to him about the festival and his thoughts about the Latino Community.

"The Latino Film Festival permeates the Latino Community with its ideas as well as those who want to learn more about the culture," Julio Bracho said as he signed many autographs. The festival had many works of art displayed that were created by Latino artists. At the festival you have the chance to meet with some of the actors and directors in the movies showcased. It was a great opportunity to learn about movies being made outside the U.S. Instead of going to your regular movie theatre, consider going to the Latino Film Festival and experience a film from a different point of view. 

  -- Carlos Sepulveda is a senior currently attending Mount Miguel High. Carlos enjoys reading in his spare time and running. He is most interested in history, politics and world issues. Carlos likes to watch foreign films, comedies and dramas.

City of Men

Darlan Cunha and Douglas Silva of City of Men (Miramax)

If the title of the new Brazilian film City of Men (opening February 29 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) sounds familiar, it should. It's the spin off of Fernando Meirelles' 2002 film City of God, and the follow up to Meirelles' 2002 Brazilian TV series City of Men. Meirelles also serves as the producer of City of Men, which is directed by his long time collaborator Paulo Morelli. The new film isn't a sequel because there's no continuation of plot or recurring characters from the first film. (Some actors do reappear but playing different roles.) But City of Men does return to the same Rio de Janeiro slums and to similar themes about coming of age amidst violence.

Charlie Bartlett’s Message: Be Yourself

Anton Yelchin stars as Charlie Bartlett. Does the teen comedy appeal to teens? (MGM)

By SAMANTHA MELLO 

Charlie Bartlett was a really great film. It was very interesting and funny to watch. I liked how it was about fitting in and trying to be popular. For some kids that's what high school is all about. Everybody wants to be the captain of the football team or the head cheerleader or geting the part in the big school play or just trying to fit in anywhere. But what I think -- and what the movie was trying to say -- was that you just have to be yourself and accept who you are.

I think the movie did a good job showing how teens really are today because I think it's true that some teens will do anything to try to fit in.

--Samantha Mello is a senior at Mount Miguel High School.

Charlie Bartlett

Hope Davis and Anton Yelchin in Charlie Bartlett (MGM)

Charlie Bartlett (opening February 22 throughout San Diego) had been scheduled to open last August. Now it’s definitely not a great film but it certainly isn’t bad enough to merit being put on the shelf for almost a year gathering dust. Considering the crap the studios have been releasing recently, Charlie Bartlett at least displays some appealing spunk and an energetic attempt to be original.

Dysfunction might be the operative – or is that non-operative – word for the world of Charlie Bartlett. Nothing works well here, especially not people and relationships. Charlie’s family is seriously dysfunctional -- father is M.I.A. and his mom (Hope Davis) doesn’t quite inhabit this world. Charlie’s been thrown out of all the private schools his mom has paid top dollar to try and keep him in. And the public school he’s being sent to is run by an alcoholic principal who can’t control the student body or his rebellious daughter. Plus, the students are all out of whack over the security cameras being installed in the student lounge.

Persepolis

Marjane with her uncle in Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classics)

It's pretty rare to have a year in which two animated films make my top ten and another couple are worthy of mention. But in 2007, Japan's Paprika and France's Persepolis made my 10 Best List, and the American Ratatouille and Surf's Up got honorable mention. Those films not only represent the best of last year's animation but also its growing diversity. Persepolis (opening January 18 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) is based on the autobiographical graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi.

Marjane Satrapi was born in Iran. She witnessed the fall of the Shah, the early regime of the Ayatollah Khomeni and the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war. Her parents sent her to Vienna to escape Iran's repressive regime. The film Persepolis takes the perspective of the older and exiled Marjane sitting in a French airport and contemplating returning home. As she waits in the airport she reflects back on her life, beginning in 1978 Teheran. Even at a young age, Marjane exhibits signs of independence and freethinking, both of which are encouraged by her family. Her parents are progressive and socially conscious, and some of her relatives were outspoken enough to be imprisoned for their beliefs. In addition, she has a strong-willed grandmother who tries to give Marjane a moral core and a sense of self-reliance.

Persepolis/Interview with Marjane Satrapi

Writer/filmmaker Marjane Satrapi and her self-portrait (Sony Pictures Classics)

Matjane Satrapi was born in Iran to progressive parents. She was educated from a young age at French schools. She currently lives in Paris. Her autobiographical and brilliant graphic novels Persepolis chronicle about sixteen years in her life beginning in 1978 Teheran. She has now brought the graphic novels to the screen as a black and white animated French feature. Vincent Paronnaud co-directs and co-writes the film. I had a chance to speak with Satrapi last year when she was promoting the film during its qualifying run for the Oscars. The film didn't make the short list for Best Foreign Film but it may nab an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film. Satrapi proved to be as engaging and animated as her film.

Persepolis (opening January 18 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) made my Ten Best list for 2007.

BETH ACCOMANDO: Tell me why you chose to call your graphic novels, Persepolis?

MARJANE SATRAPI: To understand the situation in any country of the world, you have to know a little about the history of that country. Unfortunately for Iran, everyone knows about after 1979, and everybody forgets this is this big country with 4000 years of history. So Persepolis is the name the Greeks gave to the ancient capitol of Persia, and in Greek it means the city of the Persians. So for me it gave a historical perspective to the story. Plus this one word is a nice word, easy to remember. So for all these reasons I chose this title.

Rocket Science

Many schools are about to start up on Monday and I have the perfect film for all those teens agonizing over the end of summer vacation -- Rocket Science (opening August 17 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas). Listen to my film chat with KPBS News' Alan Ray.

Rocket Science focuses on a teenager named Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson). He suffers from all the usual teenage angst about fitting in, meeting girls, and just surviving high school but then he has the added problems of his parents splitting up. Then to make matter worse, he suffers from a bad stutter. When we meet Hal, he seems to have set his survival standards pretty low: just get by and try to stay under everyones radar. Then he meets Jinny (Anna Kendrick) from the school's debate team. She's desperate for a new debating partner and she unexpectedly sets her sights on Hal. She then corners him on the school bus to recruit him for the team.