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Here's a new independent US film starring two lovely young actresses, Alexis Bledel from Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (among other more grown-up things) and Schuylar Fisk, who you may recognise as Kristy from the Babysitters Club Movie! It's a meeting of teen book-to-film stars old and new, but which one will get the guy? We'll just have to watch and see.

Posted by Jessica at 8:31 PM | | | Permalink

If you're a fan of the fabulous teen cheerleading movie Bring It On, you may have seen it's even tackier and so-bad-it's-almost-good follow-up Bring It On Again. Well, it seems that wasn't enough for the original film's cult following and there's another follow-up just come out on DVD in America with again completely new stars. The 2nd film stars Haley from One Tree Hill (in which she seems to be putting her cheer skills into use at the moment) and Luke from The OC, so I look forward to doing some star-spotting (if you can call them that) in the new one if it ever comes out here. I already know it has Solange Knowles in a lead role and Rihanna doing a cameo, so it should be fun!

Posted by Jessica at 6:40 PM | | | Permalink

Being a big fan of Garden State I'm looking forward to this new film which seems to be along the same lines, also directed by and starring Zach Braff with an ace young female co-star, this time Rachel Bilson aka Summer from The OC.

Posted by Jessica at 2:16 PM | | | Permalink

Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp? You can keep them. I'd choose Daniel Bruhl any day, and he's at his most adorable in this amazing German cult hit. There are few films more moving and it's very funny too. The whole idea is so cleverly thought out with endearing characters and a real sense of unstoppable familial love - Bruhl's character Alexander will do quite literally anything for his ill mother. When she has a heart attack and falls into a coma for 8 months, during which the Berlin wall falls and East and West Germany are reunited, Alex shows the extent of his dedication by making sure his socialist mother doesn't find out that capitalism and the West is rapidly taking over her beloved East Germany, to protect her from the shock which may cause her illness to worsen.



At first his plan is simple. He ensures that her bedroom looks exactly like it did before the coma and hopes that she will be better by the time she finds out what's happened. However, as capitalism takes hold in the East it becomes more and more difficult to hide, with a Coca Cola sign being displayed outside her window, Eastern brands of food becoming nearly impossible to find and a walk outside while Alex is sleeping leads his mother to see the old statue of Lenin being taken away by helicopter! Alex creates many schemes to protect his mother and explain these strange events, even employing his co-worker Denis to pretend to be a newsreader and the first German in space, Sigmund Jahn (who is now a taxi driver, but not in real life) to pretend to be the new German president!



If you're not used to foreign-language films this is a great starting point because it's just so lovely with humour and emotion which in fact transcends language and culture barriers. It's also a great insight into German culture and modern history. If you enjoy this you should also look for similar German films The Edukators (also stars Daniel Bruhl) and What To Do In Case Of Fire (Was Tun, Wenn's Brennt? in German), which is another fun and thought-provoking film set in Berlin.

Posted by Jessica at 12:41 PM | | | Permalink

• For those of you who like me were obsessed with the Nancy Drew book series in the olden days, you'll be excited to hear that 2007 will bring us a new film version! Emma Roberts (niece of Julia Roberts and star of Aquamarine) will play Nancy with other stars including Tate Donovan from The OC and Rachel Leigh Cook who played the lead in the fabulous film Josie and the Pussycats.

• If you enjoyed the documentary Spellbound you might want to book your tickets for a new film released in the UK this month (the 18th to be precise) called Akeelah and the Bee. It looks like a really sweet feel-good film as much for adults as kids, so if you've got some babysitting to do over the summer this film might just save the day!

• While looking up what Mandy Moore's been up to lately I found a very interesting film project starring a huge list of ace people including Mandy, Amber Tamblin (Tibby from Travelling Pants), Paul Dano (the Nietzsche fan from Little Miss Sunshine), Michelle Williams, Kelli Garner (Rebecca from Thumbsucker) and even the highly amusing singer Nellie McKay. All I know so far is that it's an 80s-set teen movie named Safety Glass which follows a group of students whose teacher commits suicide - I'll certainly keep you updated!
  

Posted by Jessica at 3:16 PM | | | Permalink

One of the acest movies I've ever seen is Ghost World, the unique and thought-provoking teen comedy starring Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch, based on Daniel Clowes super-cool comic of the same name. Now Mr Clowes has teamed up with the same director for a new movie called Art School Confidential starring John Malkovich and Jim Broadbent as well as several lesser known younger actors playing the students who are the main focus of the film. I'm doubtful that it will be anywhere near as brilliant as Ghost World but I still think it will be very much worth seeing. It was released to US cinemas a while ago and will be out on DVD in October so hopefully there will be a cinema or DVD release at some point this year in the UK.

Posted by Jessica at 3:16 PM | | | Permalink

You may wonder why I'm reviewing a children's film, but if it is acceptable and in fact almost expected for adults to have read Harry Potter, then there's no reason I can't read the Traveling Pants series and of course see the film. Although the film is not entirely faithful to the book, it was very enjoyable, having at least the same light-hearted fun-loving spirit. It's cheesy but in a very endearing, heart-warming way. If I was 5 years younger it would be my fave film of the year but as it is I still loved it.



The story focusses on four teenage girls who've been best friends since before they were born (their mums met at a pre-natal aerobic class) and each girl has their own story. Lena (played by the lovely Alexis Bleidel) is visiting her grandparents in Greece but ends up spending the time with someone far more interesting, Carmen (America Ferrera) feels neglected when she visits her dad and new step-family, Bridget (the highly annoying Blake Lively) heads East for football camp, although sports are the last thing on her mind, while poor Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) is stuck at home working at Wallmans and making a documentary about the town's biggest losers.



The stories are tied together by their interactions by letter and sending the pair of jeans they share (which magically fit all of them, but clearly they just bought 4 pairs the same in different sizes) between them so they can all wear them at important moments during the summer. Although the story centres around a supposedly magical pair of jeans, it's still a fairly realistic storyline, compared to finding out you're a princess or switching bodies with your mother, for example. The girls all look 16, the age I think they're supposed to be, even though they actually range from 24 (Lena) to 18 (Bridget), although must have been about 2 years younger when it was filmed. Overall, there were no amazing effects, no award-winning performances, just a simple, fun film that really can't be disliked.

Posted by Jessica at 7:37 PM | | | Permalink