2008 Movies : Teen

With Ellen Page • Slim Twig • Maxwell McCabe-Lokos • Ari Cohen • Bruce McDonald • Paul Barkin • Sarah Timmins • Kryssta Mills

Fifteen-year-old Tracey Berkowitz is naked under a tattered shower curtain at the back of a bus, looking for her little brother Sonny, who thinks he's a dog. Tracey's journey leads her into the dark underbelly of the city, into the emotional cespool of her home, through the brutality of her high school, the clinical cat and mouse games with her shrink and her soaring fantasies of Billy Zero--her boyfriend and rock 'n' roll savior. Her travels also put her in contact with the seedier inhabitants of the city. Like Lance, her would-be savior who ultimately puts her life in jeopardy. Tracey's stories begin to intertwine truth with lies, hope with despair as she moves closer to the truth of Sonny's disappearance.

With Ben Kingsley • Josh Peck • Olivia Thirlby • Jonathan Levine • Method Man • Famke Janssen • Felipe Marino • Mary-Kate Olsen • Keith Calder • Joe Neurauter

It's the summer of 1994, and the streets of New York are pulsing with hip-hop and wafting with the sweet aroma of marijuana--but change is in the air. The newly-inaugurated mayor, Rudy Giuliani, is beginning to implement his anti-fun initiatives against "crimes" like noisy portable radios, graffiti and public drunkenness. Set against this backdrop, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) spends his last summer before college selling dope throughout New York City, trading it with his shrink (Ben Kingsley) for therapy, while crushing on his step-daughter (Olivia Thirlby). Famke Janssen, Mary Kate Olsen,and Method Man round out the cast in this edgy, bittersweet, and funny coming of age story.

With Mitch Reinholdt • Hannah Bailey • Colin Clemens • Jake Tusing • Megan Krizmanich • Nanette Burstein • Nancy Dubuc • Elisa Pugliese • Molly Thompson

"American Teen" is the touching and hilarious Sundance hit that follows the lives of five teenagers - a jock, a popular girl, a heartthrob, an artsy girl and a geek – in one small town in Indiana through their senior year of high school. We see the insecurities, the cliques, the jealousies, the first loves and heartbreaks, and the struggle to make profound decisions about the future. Filming daily for ten months, filmmaker Nanette Burstein developed a deep understanding of her subjects. The result is a film that goes beyond the enduring stereotypes of high school to render complex young people trying to find their way into adulthood. Hannah Bailey is smart and beautiful, but a misfit in her high school. She is a liberal, atheist living in a traditional, Christian, conservative town and dreams of moving to California after graduation. Colin Clemens is the star of the high school basketball team - and in Indiana, basketball is everything. Colin is under enormous pressure this year playing not only to make his town, his school, and his father proud, but for a college scholarship. Jake Tusing is considered to be a nerd in high school. Though quite funny and charming one-on-one, he is painfully shy in group situations and crushed with self-doubt. In his senior year he vows that nothing will stand in the way of him finding a girlfriend. Megan Krizmanich is the student council Vice President and the youngest daughter of a prominent local surgeon, anxiously awaiting word from Notre Dame University admissions. Wealthy, pretty, smart and popular, she rules her high school - just don't get on her bad side. When Megan's peers challenge her authority, she can't help but take action, even if it means risking her future. Mitch Reinholdt is an attractive and charming Varsity basketball jock with a soft side. When he puts his social status on the line, avoiding his popular friends for dates with artsy Hannah Bailey, he strains to maintain his reputation while discovering a new side of himself. With extraordinary intimacy and a great deal of humor, "American Teen" captures the pressures of growing up – pressures that come from one's peers, one's parents, and not least, oneself.

With Blake Lively • America Ferrera • Kira Davis • Amber Tamblyn • Alexis Bledel • Sanaa Hamri

Lifelong friends embark on separate paths for their first year of college and the summer beyond, but remain in touch by sharing their experiences with each other as they always have--with honesty and humor. Discovering their individual strengths, fears, talents and capacity for love through the choices they make, they come to value more than ever the bond they share and the immeasurable power of their friendship.