“Mean Girls” meets “The Maltese Falcon” in “Brick,” a thriller set in a high school where all the kids are tough, jaded and talk like adults from the 1930s. Preposterously world-weary Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the kid from the TV show “Third Rock from the Sun”) is trying to solve the murder of his ex-girlfriend while navigating a complex world of film noir and high school stereotypes – a femme fatale, a young drug kingpin who still lives with his mom and rides in her minivan, jocks, insiders and informers.
In this nifty genre mash up, the Sam Spade-styled hero gets hauled into the principal’s office rather than the police station. Enjoying this film was really just a matter of whether you bought into it or not. I spent the whole time trying to decide if the director did. You can appreciate the conceit as clever and funny or take it seriously. The latter would be absurd.
In a way, the movie that this most reminds me of is that teen version of “Dangerous Liasons,” “Cruel Intentions.” Like that silly film, “Brick” gives young people grown up things to do and say, and it can be fun to pick up on the noir references and admire the wit of the writer who subverted them into this situation. However, to think that the characters were realistic and believable, you’d have to be in high school yourself.
“Brick” is currently available to rent.
An interesting and ambitious program of films gets underway Saturday, Sept. 2 at the Moorer/Springhill Branch of the Mobile Public Library. “The World According to Sesame Street” kicks of the Community Cinema Program at 2 p.m.; this is the first film in a series of documentaries and dramas from Independent Television Services that we get to see at the library before they air on public television.
Following the film will be light refreshments and an open forum discussion. This program, sponsored by Spoken Word of Mobile and the Mobile Public Library, seeks to open a dialogue in the community through screenings of these films and discussion of the films’ issues. “The World According to Sesame Street” follows three of that show’s producers to Bangladesh, Kosovo and South Africa where they localize the world’s most-watched children’s television program with indigenous songs, puppets and curricula that reflect the challenges of each country.
The program consists of nine films altogether and will continue the first Saturday of every month through May 2007. The line-up is diverse with films like “Democracy on Deadline,” which tracks the independent media in Afghanistan, Israel, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Sierra Leone, and the U.S. and “Shadya,” which tells the story of a 17-year-old Muslim World Karate Champion who is also a girl.
Other films include “Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in Hip-hop Culture,” to be shown in January and “Black Gold,” about the dark side of the $55 billion coffee industry, coming in March. The program ends in May with “Knocking,” which reveals the unsung contributions of some Jehovah’s Witnesses. Those are just some of the films that we have an opportunity to check out and discuss.
So if your thirst for knowledge isn’t quenched by watching the “E! True Hollywood Story of Shannon Doherty,” take advantage of the many opportunities to experience and participate in this worthwhile film series. For more information contact Nancy Anlage at the Mobile Public Library at (251) 208-5865 or CJ Denson at Spoken Word of Mobile at spokenwordofmobile@hotmail.com.
Contact Asia Frey at afrey@lagniappemobile.com.
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