FanFare

It's bad enough that boarding school students Samantha and Clara can't go home for the holidays, but things take a deadly turn when a murderous gang arrives on their doorstep - just in time for Christmass.
posted by kittensyay on Dec 10, 2023 - 4 comments

[TRAILER] Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1991. High school freshman Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a wallflower, always watching life from the sidelines, until two senior students, Sam (Emma Watson) and her stepbrother Patrick (Ezra Miller), become his mentors, helping him discover the joys of friendship, music and love. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 6, 2023 - 0 comments

16-year-old Henry has been regularly abducted by aliens since he was 13. But now they've given him a job. The earth will be destroyed in 144 days unless Henry pushes a button to stop it. It seems like an easy choice, but Henry hasn't been digging life lately. His boyfriend committed suicide last year, his best friend dropped out of his life too, his dad left years ago without saying goodbye, and his mom is an alcoholic chain smoker trying to get by on a waitress' income. His brother is a sadistic bully who just dropped out of college and moved back home because his girlfriend is pregnant. School is no better. Henry is doing poorly and is a target for the bullies there too, including the popular "straight" kid who he is secretly hooking up with on occasion. Henry isn't seeing any reason that the world should continue on in 144 days. He might be doing the world a favor by putting everybody out of their misery. Will he find a reason to push the button? The book gets into big issues of depression, mental health, self-worth, friendship, relationships, and bullying as Henry navigates the 144 days of his life before the world lives or dies on his command.
posted by COD on Apr 6, 2023 - 1 comment

Moth is a teen grieving the loss of her parents and brother in a car accident that only she survived. She feels unseen at school and home. Sani is the new kid in town stuck with a stepdad that has no use for a Navajo stepson. Moth grew up schooled in Hoodoo traditions by her grandfather. Sani is schooled in Navajo customs by his Medicine Man father. Together they decide to ditch their Virginia suburban town and head west on an epic road trip of self-discovery and healing. This outstanding YA debut novel is written in free verse and touches on grief, depression, family, self-identity, and first love; while weaving Hoodo and Navajo mythology throughout the story. The ending will make you want to go back to the first page and re-read it immediately. The book was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for young people's literature.
posted by COD on Apr 5, 2023 - 0 comments

Honor's sole focus is getting into Harvard. Willing to do whatever it takes, Honor concocts a plan to take down her top three competitors, until things take a turn when she unexpectedly falls for her biggest competition. [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on Oct 22, 2022 - 1 comment

Kurt is an outcast in a conservative town who dreams of moving to the city to be a famous drag queen. When he is kidnapped by a predatory old vampire and killed, he is rescued just in time to be resurrected by a gang of rebellious vampires who feed on bigots and abusers. As a vampire he finally knows empowerment and belonging, but his killer is still out there: creating new minions with their own rotten hatred and threatening all that he loves. Until Kurt faces the monster, he will never truly be free, but this time he need not face it alone. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 23, 2022 - 4 comments

Honor student Tracy Freeland (Evan Rachel Wood) has a troubling home life, but she is close to her mother, Melanie (Holly Hunter). While trying to conceal her inner turmoil by excelling academically, she befriends the calculating Evie (Nikki Reed), her school's queen bee. Evie talks Tracy into experimenting with drugs, exploring her sexuality, and pickpocketing strangers to finance shopping sprees. Before long, Melanie realizes she must step in and stop her daughter's destructive lifestyle. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 23, 2022 - 5 comments

For teenage misfits Hunter and Kevin, the path to glory is clear: Devote themselves to metal. Win Battle of the Bands. And be worshipped like gods. [more inside]
posted by COD on Jun 14, 2022 - 5 comments

After joining forces with a veteran bounty hunter, sixteen-year-old fraternal twin sisters Sterling and Blair dive into the world of bail skipping baddies while still navigating the high stakes of teenage life. (Netflix) [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Aug 16, 2020 - 9 comments

Rewatch! In this corner: weighing in at 5.97 sextillion tons, the source and home of all life in the universe, the planet Earth! In the other corner, weighing in at a respectable one ton for its phyla, "the" Spider! Fight! It's one of those 50s black-and-white sci-fi monster movies, this time involving teens and a sadly eaten father. Also has the short Speech: Using Your Voice. Remember: you must be heard, you must be understood, and you must be pleasing! Previously
posted by JHarris on Jul 23, 2020 - 0 comments

A rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies. [more inside]
posted by MoonOrb on Jul 17, 2018 - 2 comments

Last week (at one remove)....

• Trump reacts to outrage over his policy to separate the children of illegal migrants to the US from their parents, first by insisting he couldn't change it, then when the outcry became too great, changing it. Because he LIES.
• 7-11 courts controversy in Norway by advertising condoms on television and in train stations there a defense against chlamydia, which has especially high incidence rates there. The spots called Norway the "Land of Chlamydia."
• And Now: Local News Is Concerned About Teens
• Main story: Mexico, and their upcoming (well, yesteray's) elections, the largest in that nation's history. The approval ratings of their current President, Enrique Peña Nieto, went down to 12% from public anger over corruption. The show looks at a number of competitors for the top job, and their issues, sometimes considerable ones. The main story can be watched on YouTube (20m).
• And Now: Kathie Lee and Hoda Are Slowly Becoming One.

[more inside]
posted by JHarris on Jul 1, 2018 - 1 comment

"WEIRD Atomic Beasts Who Live Off Human BLOOD!!!" "The First Horror Monster Musical!" Suspeciously old teens gyrate while radioactive waste dumped off-shore creates mutant monsters, in what appear to be laughable costumes, that lumber ashore to eat straggers from their barely-clothed herd, until their special weakness is found: SODIUM. Another of those laughable 60s monster movies, with particularly ineffective monsters. In the subplot, the guys arrive in ancient Rome to spend a few episodes bumping around. YouTube (1h32m) Premiered September 6, 1997. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Sep 20, 2017 - 6 comments

Philip and Lukas find proof that the killer's alive. Helen tries not to let the case affect her marriage. A new head of the FBI task force is introduced.
posted by DevilsAdvocate on Oct 23, 2016 - 0 comments

Teenagers Philip and Lukas meet to share a kiss—and witness a murder, which they don't report out of fear being outed. Complicating matters is the fact that Philip's foster mom is the sheriff, who's soon investigating the case.
posted by DevilsAdvocate on Oct 23, 2016 - 0 comments

Badly-designed aliens invade a small town, and the adults won't believe the smoocher teens who seen 'em! It's up to them to save the world with the timely application of their car headlights. This movie is below-average in quality even by MST standards. The title, by the way, is not a typo, or at least it's not my typo. YouTube (1h32m) Premiered December 5, 1992. This movie is largely a shot-by-shot remake of Invasion of the Saucer Men! [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Feb 25, 2016 - 15 comments

(1958, Black & White, Bert I. Gordon, Samuel Z. Arkoff) "Bullets ...won't kill it! Flames ...can't burn it! Nothing ...can stop it! The SPIDER -- will eat you alive!" "50 Tons of Creeping Black Horror! It Must Eat You To Live!" A arachnid the size of a Buick kills a man driving home one night, and his daughter searches to discover the improbable truth. This episode contains a couple of notable callbacks: Frank and Dr. F use the first-season catchphrase "Thaaank-yooou!" after the invention exchange, and during the movie when one character gets et Joel exclaims "Dr. Erhardt! So that's what happened to him!" Oh and apparently, if you really want to know who Merritt Stone is, he's the guy the spider kills in the car at the start of the movie. With short Speech: Using Your Voice: A guy tells you how to speak effectively: "You must be HEARD, you must be UNDERSTOOD, and you must be PLEASING." YouTube (2h) First aired September 14, 1991. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Jul 16, 2015 - 5 comments