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The X-Files: I Want to Believe (The X Files 2)

2.5 Stars

I wanted to believe, but alas, I couldn't. The Truth Is Out There...this film is a huge disappointment. It's a slow boring piece that reeks of a bad episode of the popular series. I was hoping this film would offer something intriguing, something dealing with earthshaking or otherworldly concepts, as the best tv episodes did; instead I got a dull, slow-paced kidnapping story with poor acting by the series' stars. They should have hung it up years ago, instead they tarnished a great show's memory. Stay Home.


Alyn Darnay
Chaos Films

AMERICAN TEEN

Starring: Colin Clemens, Hannah Bailey, Jake Tusing, Megan Krizmanich, and Mitch Reinholt

Directed by: Nanette Burstein

Rated PG-13 for some strong language, sexual material, some drinking, and brief smoking all involving teens

By John Delia

Summing up American Teen in a few words I would have to say ‘unrealistic, yet interesting.’ It’s a documentary about teens attending high school and letting everyone watch their lives play out over a school year, but without the cameras in their faces, I don’t know if director Burstein would have achieved the same resulting responsiveness of her characters. It’s the chance you take when you document any subject, but I think she missed the mark in American Teen as to the teen’s believability and sincerity.

The documentary follows the lives of five high school teenagers of different popularity and aspirations who in some way or another affect each other. There’s Colin a jock and star of the basketball team with a college sports scholarship on the line who’s being pressured by his team and his family to perform; the attractive and smart Hannah who happens to also be an outcast; then there’s the school nerd Jake who seems to have a set future even if he can’t seem to fit in with his fellow classmates, but the most popular is Megan who as student council VP who on top of smarts has wealth and beauty; and rounding out the final five is Mitch another member of the basketball team, his popularity is clouded by the choices he makes, especially his attraction to Hannah. During the school year we see their trials and tribulations, as they get involved with school tasks, events and their private lives.

To me it was like having the students in a fishbowl and being an outside observer of five persons coming of age and living out their goals and aspirations. Even in their daily lives, the camera follows some of their most intimate moments forcing the viewer to become a spectator to their private world. It is hard to explain, that even though the film is interesting, it is also disturbing in that the teens were not ‘movie stars’ playing out a script but ‘guinea pigs’ in an experiment that for some of them should not be repeated.

And actually I really don’t know what Burstein accomplished with her documentary other than a possible teen audience that may or may not ‘see themselves’ in the characters on the screen. Was it entertainment, maybe, in a dull voyeuristic kind of way?

If you’re a teen and are forced to take your younger sibling along, please note that there is some strong language, drinking and sexual material in the film.

FINAL ANALYSIS: American Teen is an interesting experiment that may be fun for high school teens. 2 of 5 stars

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Alyn's Pick of the Month
Alyn Darnay - Chaos Films

Step Brothers
4 Stars

Hilarious and raunchy, this film filled with over-the-top performances by fearless actors is a fun fest of bad taste. Will Farrell and John C. Reilly comfortably join together again, this time to explore the relationship of first time 40 year old step brothers who have never grown past the age of 12, and they do it to perfection without a single misstep.

Every character is a comic gem in this wild romp, especially Kathryn Hahn (The Last Mimzy) as Ferrell's brother's wife. If you like Ferrell/Apatow style humor, you'll love this film.


Pineapple Express
4 Stars

A classic stoner comedy mixed with a buddy film and a touch of action/adventure. Seth Rogen is generating big laughs again only this time there's a constant joint hanging from his mouth and a buddy, James Franco, attached to his hip. On the run from everyone including themselves, these two likable losers are barely able to stay straight long enough to keep ahead of the bad guys. Great comic performances all around with stand out Danny McBride (Foot Fist Way) as the indestructible drug dealer Red. If you like this kind of stoner humor, the film was made for you. It's very well made and at times hysterically funny.

THE WACKNESS
(Running Time: 95 min; Rated: R)


FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS

Reviewed by Denise Castillón

GROWING UP’S “THE WACKNESS” IN THIS ‘DOPE’ COMING-OF-AGE FILM

In Jonathan Levine’s uniquely moving and very funny sophomore film, The Wackness, an awkward drug-dealing teenager, (JOSH PECK) is mentored through his education on love, sex, and adulthood by his equally depressed shrink, (SIR BEN KINGSLEY).

Set nostalgically in the summer of 1994, the emerging Hip Hop music movement permeates throughout the New Yorks’ city streets, as does Mayor Giuliani’s radical crime prevention campaign.

Among his high school peers, Luke, a drug dealer, is more popular for his merchandise than his personality. Through bartered services with Dr. Squires, a pill-popping, weed-smoking psychiatrist, Luke works out his feelings of isolation and frustration. His is disappointed by his childish parents, (TALIA BALSAM and DAVID WOHL), and has a crush on Dr. Squires’ step-daughter, Stephanie (OLIVIA THIRLBY), a girl out of his league. Meanwhile, Dr. Squires attempts to resuscitate his loveless marriage with his wife, (FAMKE JANSSEN).

Their strong friendship transforms both drug dealer and shrink, to the point that their roles merge, and then reverses.

The brilliant performances between Ben Kingsley and Josh Peck, as well as amongst Josh Peck and Olivia Thirlby, are both amusing and profoundly touching.

The films’ superb acting is further sustained by cast members Method Man (Garden State), Luke’s Jamaican drug supplier, Mary-Kate Olsen (Factory Girl) and Jane Adams (Little Children), as troubled dopers.

Written and directed by Jonathan Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane). Produced by

Keith Calder, Felipe Marino and Joe Neurauter. Edited by Josh Noyes. Cinematography directed by Petra Korner. Distributed by Sony Picture Classics.

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