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If this film is supposed to represent Generation X then we’re a pretty shallow lot. The central characters pretend to be about something more than the establishment, but in reality they’re slacker rich kids who feel they have some kind of entitlement. The film pretends to be rebellious, but in the end the Man wins because the righteous cool kids are really a bunch of posers.

Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS) is supposed to be the valedictorian, but can’t even remember her graduation speech when she misplaces a page. She is filming a documentary about her friends who are all kids of divorced parents. It’s supposed to be a deep look at her generation’s identity. Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke, DEAD POETS SOCIETY) is a pretentious fledgling rocker who dropped out of school just shy of a Philosophy degree. He’s such a rebel. Vickie Miner (Janeane Garofalo, MYSTERY MEN) is promiscuous and fears getting AIDS. She currently works at the GAP until who knows, because we never find out much more about her. Sammy Gray (Steve Zahn, HAPPY, TEXAS) is their obligatory gay friend. One day Lelaina throws her cigarette into the convertible of Michael Grates (Ben Stiller, ZOOLANDER), who happens to be a producer at the MTV-on-steroids TV network, In Your Face. When he starts dating Lelaina, Troy becomes jealous and a jerk.

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I’m going to avoid all the typical statements that accompany a new Woody Allen film, and simply say VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA is a good Woody Allen film. Unlike MATCH POINT, Allen goes for laughs and deals with his favorite topic, sexual politics. He has chosen another lovely European country, Spain, to set his story, instead of his beloved New York. He also brings back his latest muse Scarlett Johansson. The story isn’t profound, but it is very funny and contains the smart Allen-esque dialogue that makes even this lesser films a joy to watch.

Vicky (Rebecca Hall, THE PRESTIGE) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson, LOST IN TRANSLATION) are good friends who travel to Barcelona. Vicky is doing work for her Catalan Identity masters degree, while Cristina is just trying to find herself. They stay with Vicky’s relative Judy (Patricia Clarkson, THE STATION AGENT). After an art auction, the two women are propositioned by artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) to travel with him to Oviedo for the weekend. Vicky, who is engaged to the conservative and unromantic Doug (Chris Messina, TV’s SIX FEET UNDER), wants nothing to do with the playboy painter, but Cristina is intrigued. Subsequently, sexual shenanigans transpire between the trio, but things get really volatile when Juan’s passionate and unstable ex-wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz, VOLVER) comes back into the picture.

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After a week hiatus, This Weekend’s Film Festival is back. The latest lineup was inspired by CHICAGO 10, which hit DVD this week. Considering it deals with the 1968 Democratic National Convention, it seemed like an even more obvious choice with the DNC taking place this week. The four other films this week are all documentaries that deal with sensational front-page news stories. We have a four-hour epic on Hurricane Katrina. A sickening look at the Enron scandal. And the final two films deal with child abuse — one from a priest and one from a family man whose pedophilia affects his family in unthinkable ways. It’s a thoughtful and gripping group of films for the long Labor Day weekend.

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Ever see a film as a kid that so captured your imagination that you become obsessed with it for months. You went outside and reenacted it with friends over and over again. You created new grander, more fantastic adventures in your mind for the heroes to get caught up into. Now imagine you’re an imaginative 10-year-old, who due to religious reasons, has never seen a film or TV show. Think about how they would be consumed with the joy of cinema, even if that cinema is a Rambo flick.

Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner, MY BOY JACK) is that imaginative little boy. His father has past away and his mother Mary (Jessica Hynes, SHAUN OF THE DEAD) is doing her best to raise him and his little sister, while taking care of her aged mother, in their ultra-conservative faith. One day while Will sits in the hall while the rest of his class watches a videotape, he has an encounter with the school’s notorious troublemaker Lee Carter (Will Poulter). Inspired by Will’s elaborate sketchbook, Lee blackmails Will into participating in his production for an amateur film contest. To keep his older brother from taking away his video equipment, Lee makes pirated copies of theatrical releases. This is how Will gets his first taste of FIRST BLOOD. Will storyboards their entire film and soon attracts the attention of a very popular French exchange student named Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk). This doesn’t make Lee happy, because he can’t stand Didier and his hordes of clone-like followers.

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Brett Morgen’s follow-up to his captivating doc THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE, which chronicled the life of infamous Hollywood producer Robert Evans, takes an unconventional approach to the story of the trial of the Chicago 8, a group of the leading anti-war demonstrators following the riots that occurred at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Mixing contemporary protest music with motion-capture animated court re-enactments and archival film footage, the story of the demonstrations and the following trial are intercut creating drama, humor and poignancy. Including defense attorneys William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass into the group, the Chicago 10 were railroaded by a system that seems to be putting the 1960s youth culture on trial not just eight individuals.

In re-enactments of the trial, an all-star cast voices the key characters. Hank Azaria (TV’s MAD ABOUT YOU) voices Abbie Hoffman, who eagerly steps into the spotlight as the key character. The curly longhaired iconoclast was as much a showman as he was an activist. He viewed the entire political system as a carnival fueled by mass media’s desire for big ratings. He never lets an opportunity slip by to provoke the aged conservative judge Julius Hoffman (Roy Scheider, JAWS). At one point in the trial when Bobby Seale (Jeffrey Wright, CASINO ROYALE) demands that his rights be recognized, the judge has him gagged and strapped to his chair. Despite only being at the Convention for one day, the Black Panther founder was charged with the rest as a conspirator to riot. Highlighting even more what was really on trial, prosecutor Thomas Foran (Nick Nolte, 48 HRS.) calls poet Allen Ginsberg (Azaria) to the stand and asks him to recite his poem about wet dreams. What did that have to do with the riots?

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After debuting at this year’s Sundance Film Festival followed by a TV premiere on Showtime, this true-life crime tale comes to DVD. Based on court transcripts, this story of child abuse looks at the conditions that lead to an adult babysitter torturing the teenage girl under her care, while allowing her own children, along with neighborhood kids, to continue a serious of sadistic attacks.

Sylvia Likens (Ellen Page, JUNO) had parents who were members of the carnival circuit. Upon moving to a new town, her parents don’t want to take her and her younger sister Jennie (Hayley McFarland) on the road again, so they leave her in the care of single mother Gertrude Baniszewski (Catherine Keener, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH), who they only recently met. With seven children of her own and the promise of $20 every week from the Likens, Gertrude doesn’t think twice about adding two more kids to her care. But when her eldest Paula (Ari Graynor, MYSTIC RIVER) gets pregnant and has a misunderstanding with Sylvia, Gertrude’s harsh punishment tactics come out.

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Here’s a new experiment. I’m putting together a list of the 30 fall releases that I’m most excited about. This of course could greatly change as they get screened and other films pop into my radar. I plan to post updates when it’s appropriate. For instance, when a firm release date comes out for other fall films - like Clint Eastwood’s GRAN TORINO, Steven Soderbergh’s CHE, or Rod Lurie’s NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH - I might add them. The same can be said if Laika and Focus Features decide to sneak CORALINE out for an Oscar qualifying run. The purpose of the piece is to gage buzz and to peak interest in upcoming movies. I’d also like to hear from readers about what they’re excited about seeing this fall. So here we go.

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Rick’s Flicks Picks will be on hiatus while I’m vacationing with my parents for their 40th wedding anniversary. This Weekend’s Film Festival will return next week and later this week I’ll have a new feature previewing my picks for the most anticipated films of the fall “Oscar bait” season.

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Going back to its serial roots, this new STAR WARS adventure feels like a chapter in a continuing story while standing on its own as an individual story. Unlike PHANTOM MENACE it stands on its own. Not only the animation moves this installment into a new direction. The light blue “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” is still present, but the signature text crawl has been replaced by a Gary Owen-ish announcer, filling us in on what has preceded this story. Big on action and pun-filled banter, this film reminded me of the fun I had with SKY CAPTAIN more than any of the STAR WARS prequels.

The Clone Wars are raging. Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter, HEROES first season) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor, TV’s DRAWN TOGETHER) are battling the Separatists droid army, led by Count Dooku (Christopher Lee, LORD OF THE RINGS). Yoda (Tom Kane, TV’s KIM POSSIBLE) has assigned Anakin a padawan learner named Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein, TV’s THAT’S SO RAVEN), a snippy young girl who is desperate to prove herself. Anakin resists having a pupil at first, but takes to the brash young Jedi quickly. They are given the mission to rescue the kidnapped son of Jabba the Hut (Kevin Michael Richardson, TV’s THE BATMAN), whose help is needed by the Republic in their war effort. But Count Dooku sends his assassin Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman, TV’s MY GYM PARTNER’S A MONKEY) to thwart their efforts.

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I like myself a good genre film. Recently I read a report that proposes that there is a gene that makes certain people react more positively to horror films. As a kid I always watched classic horror films on Sunday mornings. I particularly loved monster movies. So this week, I’m looking at five of the best creature features of the 21st century. To qualify the films have to have monsters. Some have monsters that are heroes. Some have monsters that are misunderstood. Some have ancient monsters. Some have monsters that come from another dimension. Some have monsters from another planet. So come along my genetically prone and enjoy some scares, adventures and even a few laughs.

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