Teen Critic Enjoyed Hanging with Nick and Norah

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Columbia)

By Rachel Landrum

In the new film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (opening October 3 throughout San Diego), Michael Cera plays Nick and Kat Dennings is Norah. A month after his big break up with Tris, Nick has to go and play a show with his friends and their band The JerkOffs. At the show he sees his ex Tris with her new boy toy. While debating whether or not he should go and talk to her, Nora -- in an act of desperation -- asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend for five minutes. This is the start of one crazy night filled with music, drunken antics, and one really gross piece of gum.

I found the movie very funny, cute and rather enjoyable. I really liked the friends how they care about Nick and want to help him get over Tris, his ex. It really captured the whole teen view of how we can sometimes get caught up in one thing or one person until they become all we see. As a teen I find we tend to do things in an all or nothing manner, with no real in between. The actors portraying the characters in this film did a really good job of showing this and how they went through a lot just to find where a band was playing and to have a good time.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including teen drinking, sexuality, language and crude behavior.

--Rachel Landrum is a senior at Mount Miguel High School. She loves movies and thought being a KPBS Teen Critic would be a good learning experience. She's always eager for a good ghost story or period film. Among her favorite movies are Across the Universe, Pan's Labyrinth, and House of Flying Daggers.

Hamlet 2 / Interview with Steve Coogan

When a high school threatens to cut drama from the curriculum, a teacher puts on a show to save the department. Unfortunately, the play involves Shakespeare and a Jesus who dances like Elvis. If that sounds politically incorrect, it is in the new comedy Hamlet 2 (opening August 22 in select San Diego theaters). You can listen to my interview with British comedian Steve Coogan and director Andrew Fleming about pushing the envelope in comedy. I spoke with them right after they presented a panel on the film at Comic-Con.

Water Lilies

The three young stars of Water Lilies (Fox Lorber)

Water Lilies (opened August 15 at Landmark's Ken Cinema) opens against the fitting backdrop of the summer Olympics. As athletes compete in the oft-ridiculed synchronized swimming (remember the Martin Short SNL skit?), Water Lilies uses the sport as a focal point in its tale of sexual awakening among a trio of teenage girls. The film marks the feature-directing debut of France's Céline Sciamma.

American Teen

The 1985 poster for The Breakfast Club and the initial poster designed for American Teen (Paramount Vantage)

The new documentary American Teen (opening August 8 at select theaters) is something of a real life Breakfast Club (you remember that John Hughes film about "a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel, and a recluse..."). American Teen focuses on five teens representing such school cliques as jocks, geeks, and the popular set. I spoke with director Nanette Burstein about capturing contemporary teen life for her film. You can listen to my radio feature or read the extended interview.

The Wackness Crosses the Generation Gap

The Wackness appeals to KPBS' Teen Critic (Sony Pictures Classics)

By Candace Kavanagh

Pot movies have been a part of the film culture for decades. Of course in earlier years they were a little more ambiguous about it than these days with movies like Pineapple Express and Harold and Kumar supporting our green little plant friend. Now The Wackness (opened July 11 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) can be added to this legacy -- although it is lacking any colorful scenes of flying or adventurous trips to famous fast food joints. Instead The Wackness looks a little deeper as it follows a pot dealer, Luke Shapiro (played by Josh Peck of Drake and Josh). Yes I know, I was surprised as well. Luke  is beginning his first summer as a high school graduate. As he looks down from a balcony at one of his client's parties -- watching all the people he had gone to school with for four years and not knowing a single one of them -- he realizes that he is virtually alone in this world. His only "friend" is his almost insane psychiatrist, played by Ben Kingsley, who accepts weed as a payment.

This movie takes us through the sincere journey of two unlikely friends finding salvation in each other. With the Doc teaching Luke about women, and Luke saving the Doc from himself and the illusion of his life being over. Accompanied by tales of finding first loves and failing at old ones, the Doc finds that it's not the end of the world. As we see Dr. Squires falling out of love with his wife, played by Famke Jansen, and Luke falling in love with Doc's step-daughter, played by Juno's Olivia Thirlby, you realize how hard it was for any of us the first or third time around in this crazy thing we call love, and how it feels as if it's the end of our lives. But of course they don't do this without giving us a real sense of hope in the end for both of our heroes.

And then of course, what is an indie film without a few stabs at politics. This movie set in New York in 1994, Rudolph Giuliani plays the part of a faceless villain named Party Pooper. So the audience gets a couple of laughs about the trouble with the cops that the Doc and Luke face as lovers of weed. But of course like the drugs, this political context is simple background music that gives humor to the almost heartbreaking coming of age story for both our heroes.

The Wackness (rated R for pervasive drug use, language and some sexuality) may follow the formula of recent "original" films, using the freedom of sex scenes and drug use to qualify themselves as "different," but it still gives you a feeling of connection that most mainstream films lack. This movies sucks you into its world and lets you resonate in it. It crosses the generation gap, not subtly, but definitely effectively. So this movie has found a place in my heart and I expect will find a place many other hearts as well. But if you expect a Cheech and Chong adventure with the mention of weed, this movie will leave you wanting.

-- Candace Kavanagh just graduated from Mount Miguel High School. She spends her life absorbing celluloid images. She loves every type of film from so-called "chick flicks" such as My Fair Lady and Legally Blonde, to mind bending thrillers like Mulholland Drive and Hard Candy -- with every zombie movie, action flick, musical, and comedy in between.

The Wackness

Drugs for therapy... The Wackness (Sony Pictures Classics)

It's 1994, and Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) is spending his summer before college listening to hip-hop and selling drugs from an ice cream cart in New York City. His shrink, Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley), lets him trade dope for therapy, but Luke's more interested in the doc's sexy step-daughter than any psychobabble. Writer-director Jonathan Levine serves up a funny, sharp, and ultimately compassionate coming of age tale with his sophomore feature The Wackness (opening July 11 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas). Liste to the KPBS Film Club of the Air Discussion of The Wackness.

When Did You Last See Your Father?

Jim Broadbent and Matthew Beard in When Did You Last See Your Father? (Sony Pictures Classics)

Just in time for father's day, a new film that explores a troubled father-son relationship. Based on Blake Morrison's book of the same name, When Did You Last See Your Father? (opening June 13 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas), the film travels some rocky emotional terrain but ends with a son's guarded appreciation for his difficult parent. So the positive resolution makes this a safe choice to celebrate the holiday with.

Midnight Movie: Friday the 13th

"But if we have sex Jason will kill us." Being a teen in a slasher film can suck. Friday the 13th (Paramount)

How exciting to be able to have Friday the 13th screen Friday June 13 at midnight at Landmark's Ken Cinemas (it also plays on Saturday June 14 at midnight but that just doesn't sound as fun). Friday the 13th is one of a handful of films (also Halloween and Nightmare on Elma Street) to launch the slasher genre. Some may not consider this a cause for celebration but if you are a teenage horror fan who grew up in the 70s and 80s, these were the films that you wanted most desperately to see. And parents shouldn't have worried, after all the films served up a veiled message that doing drugs or having sex was punishable by death. Directed by Sean S. Cunningham and written by Victor Miller, Friday the 13th may seem a stale formula now but it had a certain freshness when it came out. Its masked serial killer was more boogeyman than human and that was something of an innovation. The film -- which was a low budget effort -- was such an unexpected hit that it spawned nine sequels, a spin-off (Freddy Vs. Jason) and an upcoming remake. The first film is also notable for having a very young Kevin Bacon in it. So if a goalie mask or the mention of Camp Crystal Lake makes you nostaligic, then head on out this Friday the 13th for a very appropriate midnight screening of the cult classic.

Companion viewing: Saturday the 14th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween (John Carpenter's)

Third Annual San Diego Student Shakespeare Festival

High Tech High performers at the first San Diego Student Shakespeare Festival (Beth Accomando)

Technically this is not a film event but I have to highlight the Third Annual San Diego Student Shakespeare Festival that takes place this Saturday April 26 in Balboa Park. I have been helping with this event since its inception because it combines two things I'm passionate about: Shakespeare and young people. Now in its third year, this is the dream project of the San Diego Shakespeare Society, a group of fabulous volunteers who work long and hard to bring the Bard to schools, young people, and San Diego in general. The Festival brings together kids from elementary through high school and even some home schools to perform Shakespeare in the park. There will be four stages this year along the Prado with the Festival kicking off at 12:30 pm in the Organ Pavillion. Performances run until about 3:30pm. And it's all free. The event is an absolute delight and I guarantee that you will be impressed by the student performers, many of whom are too young to be afraid of Shakespeare so they dive in with a gusto that is truly amazing. The energy level is high and it's a wonderful way to celebrate the Bard. But the Society is quick to point out that this event also provides a great educational experience for the students involved, and with so many schools reducing their focus on arts and literature, this proves how valuable both can be to a child's education. So come and join the celebration and enjoy some fine performances as well.

For more information visit the Festival website.

Library Screening: San Diego’s Homeless Youth

A free screening of documentaries on homeless youth will be presented at the Central Library on Sunday April 20. (MACSD)

On Sunday April 20, the San Diego Public Library will screen a pair of films dealing with San Diego's homeless youth. The first film is Telling the Streets: True Urban Legends, and the second is Shadow Children: Five Stories from the Street. The films will screen at 2:00 PM in the Central Library 3rd floor auditorium located at 820 E Street in downtown San Diego. A discussion with the youth and the filmmakers will follow the screening. This event is free.

Telling the Streets: True Urban Legends is the culmination of a 15-week after-school video production, education and training program designed to document powerful stories that surround homeless youth in San Diego. The film is described as: "Stories of individual personal experiences become legends when they are of value to the community. These narratives often communicate essential information on how to survive, and even thrive, on the streets: what dangers to avoid, what services are available; what works and what does not." The program was available at no cost to students participating. It was funded by the California Council For the Humanities with support from The Media Arts Center San Diego. Ellen Delacruz, Language Arts teacher at Toussaint Academy of the Arts and Sciences, worked with Antone Minard Ph.D., folklorist, and humanities scholar, on writing the narratives, which the youth created.

Shadow Children was produced in The Production Center for Documentary and Drama at SDSU. Alex Farnsley, the writer-director will be present to answer questions after the Sunday screening. Farnsley (whose work has consistently impressed me and I have highlighted it at Film School Confidential, a showcase of local filmmakers that I curate) is a writer, photographer, and documentary filmmaker. His work has focused on the problems children and young people encounter on the road to adulthood. Shadow Children received a 2003 Southwestern Student Emmy Award, Honorable Mention in the International Broadcast Educators Film Festival, and a finalist berth at the prestigious international Angelus Awards.

The Media Arts Center San Diego describes its Teen Producers Project as "having been working with underserved youth in the community for the past five years and has dedicated itself to educating youth in the media arts and emerging technologies for use in self-expression, community building and social change. Using video production to preserve important community stories, these students address community issues and gain inclusion in our technology based society." I have included a number of Teen Producers Projects' short films in Film School Confidential, and have frequently been inspired by their work. It's great to have a program that allows teens (and even younger kids) to present their perspectives on stories from their own communities. For more information about the Teen Producers visit the Media Art Center San Diego website. And kudos to the Library for providing a venue for screening locally produced work.