American Teen

Last night the film society held an early screening of American Teen.

The doc recorded the senior year of high school for five teens -- including the good, the bad, and the very ugly. No airbrushing here, audiences catch the teens at their highs and lows, yet their actions are very identifiable. Peer pressure, parental pressure, the hope for a miraculous change in status -- it's all there.

And so were the teens. The audience met with all five for a Q&A following the show (on the "heartthrob"'s 21st birthday, no less).

Grow those claws

In honor of tonight's Drama Queens film, The Women (1939), below are a few juicy lines. Practice your catty one-liners and be sure to grab a seat at CSUSB!

Sylvia: "Then let the story ride; it'll be forgotten in the morning. You remember the awful things they said about what's-her-name before she jumped out the window?"

Peggy: "I think Sylvia's a perfectly dreadful woman and I'm gonna tell her."
Edith: "Oh darling, she can't help it. It's just her tough luck she wasn't born deaf and dumb."

Maggie: "The first man that can think of a good explanation of how he can be in love with his wife and another woman is gonna win that prize they're always giving out in Sweden."

Countess DeLave: "My way, your marriage may not last 'til death, but it's fun while it hangs together."

Countess DeLave: "Isn't it wonderful to see all of our lives so settled...temporarily?"

Mary: "I've had two years to grow claws, Mother. Jungle red."

Crystal: "There's a name for you, ladies, but it isn't used in high society...outside of a kennel."

Animation: Not just for Saturday mornings

As they should be, animation is hitting the theatres again.

Mike Judge ("King of the Hill," Office Space) takes the Animation Show on the road (coming to San Diego & LA on June 13), featuring films that have graced the Palm Springs ShortFest (such as 2006's Hard C Hi Five to Lo-Fi Award for Best Low Budget Short, "Angry Unpaid Hooker" and Bill Plimpton's "Hot Dog" -- the animator who held a special demonstration at the 2007 fest). Where else would they mine for the best short films?

If you miss the live show, grab a DVD and get comfy with animated good stuff (the latest features ShortFest faves "Everything Will Be OK" and "Rabbit").

Madonna gets tossed

...out of her Beamer* by Clive Owen, courtesy of Guy Ritchie. Scorsese develops 3.5 pages of a mystery Hitchcock script, preserving a film that was never made (and selling a little wine in the process).

If all commercials were this much fun we wouldn't use the fast-forward button on the Tivo.

*"The Hire" series, branded entertainment by BMW Films, also featured shorts by John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Woo, Joe Carnahan and Tony Scott. Not bad.