Kristen Stewart is Bella and Robert Pattinson is Edward in the eagerly anticipated adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight (Summit)

By Lily Canones

Twilight (opening november 21 throughout San Diego), one of the top selling books across America, is wriiten by Stephenie Meyer. Now it has become a major motion picture. Twilight is a story about a pair of star-crossed lovebirds, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) who, at first, become friends and then happen to fall deeply in love with each other. It's that typical romance story between two teenagers. The only odd thing about it is that Edward is a vampire. Even though that is a factor that Bella discovers about him, she doesn't care one bit who or what Edward really is, the only thing that matters to her is that she is "unconditionally and irrevocably" in love with him.

I'm not much of a bookworm, so reading books is a rare thing for me to do. When I first heard of Twilight, I just said to myself, "Oh, it's just another book." But when a lot of people began buying and reading the book, it made me want to read it too. I have read only a portion of the first book because of a busy schedule but so far Twilight has completely drawn me in.

Because I haven't finished reading Twilight, there's very little I can compare to the movie. So far, the scenes from the book are the same in the movie, as is the storyline. I do know for a fact that there are some parts in the movie that are added while others are taken away from the book.

The movie Twilight was aboslutely amazing! I personally give it two thumbs up and highly recommend it for everyone. While watching the film, I felt so drawn into it just like the book. The audience too was also drawn in, and added some enthusiasm with their squeals and screams at various points in the movie. But since I was so into the movie, the noise didn't bother me at all. I felt a rush of excitement while watching the movie and that made me more excited about reading the rest of Twilight and the rest of the Twilight Saga. I do want
to say that the director, Catherine Hardwicke, has done an excellent job in chosing the actors for Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. She has also done an excellent job in making the book into a film. I really do consider Twilight as now my most favorite vampire romance movie of all time. Go watch it, it's totally worth some cash.

--Lily Canones is a senior at Mount Miguel High School. She became a Teen Critic because she wanted to share her perspective and opinions on new movies. She loves horror movies and Asian movies. Most of the horror movies she watches are originally from Asia and she counts the original Thai version of Shutter as one of her favorites of all time.

Ever since I met a group of Twilight Moms waiting in line at Comic-Con I have been intrigued by the new teen vampire film. Based on a successful series of books, Twilight has moms and their young daughters in a mad frenzy for the film. Here's the second trailer. the film opens on Friday with fans probably already starting to line up (or at least buying their tickets) for the Thursday midnight show. Trailer courtesy of Summit films.

Daniel Craig returns as agent 007 in Quantum of Solace (Sony)

Listen to my KPBS Film Chat about Quantum of Solace (opening November 14 throughout San Digeo) and listen to a montage of clips from the previous Bond films at the end. Bottom line on the new Bond: Casino Royale set the bar very high and this one doesn't reach those heights. Quantum offers more action, less character and plot. Craig is still hot, and the film's still worth seeing. More on the film Monday after I present my student film festival.

Ines Efron plays an intersex child and Ricardo Darin is her understanding father in XXY (Film Movement)

The Argentine film XXY (opening today at Ultrastar Mission Valley Theaters at Hazrd Center as part of the San Diego Latino Film Festival's Cinema En Tu Idioma Film Series) marks the feature directing debut of Lucia Puenzo. The film is based on a story by her husband and produced by her father, director Luis Puenzo. The close relationships behind the camera may have helped the film achieve its onscreen intimacy with a difficult subject. I spoke with the director about her coming of age film with a twist. (Be listening Monday for my radio feature.)

XXY refers to males born with a second X chromosome; a condition known as Klinefelter's Syndrome. Filmmaker Lucia Puenzo says she chose XXY as the title for her film in part, for its visual impact.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army, inspired by Mike Mignola's comics and graphic novels, arrives today on DVD and Blu-ray. The film is one of my favorites from this year. The fabulous Ron Perlman returns as the big-hearted and big-fisted red demon working for a secret paranormal government agency. This time out he's trying to announce himself to the world while he fights Prince Nuada (a beautifully tragic Luke Goss) from the underground elf world. Once again filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro creates a vivid fantasy world where we feel the greatest connection to the monsters and creatures.

The Blu-ray edition captures the elegant production design and fantastical fairy world with gorgeous clarity. The bonus disc features some great behind the scenes footage. As a fan of action I loved seeing how the fights and stunts were choreographed. Since Del Toro wanted to avoid CGI whenever possible this meant that many of the actors and stuntmen had to engage in fights wearing more than a hundred pounds of costuming or standing a top stilts. The on-set footage of Brian Steele as Mr. Wink is truly impressive. Del Toro, like Terry Gilliam, is a delight to watch on the set. He takes such pleasure in the tiniest of production details and seems like a kid just given enough money to buy all the toys he wants.

The Blu-ray disc offers interactive features but I needed my fifteen-year-old son and his Playstation to try and figure out how to access them. The "U-Control" feature allows you to access additional information - concept art (like the image above), the director's notebook, set visits - as you watch the film. That's a nice idea but make sure you watch the film on its own first and enjoy it fully before delving into any of these extras. There is also a commentary track by the always enthusiastic and engaging Del Toro. All in all a fine disc to add to your collection. If you are a real Del Toro fan you might want to try and track down the three-disc collector's edition that comes with a director's notebook and Golden Army statue.

The new James Bond film opens on Friday and features Daniel Craig in his second outing as the British 00 agent. But in what seems to be an effort to not be solely associated with that iconic role, Craig can also be seen this fall in a World War II drama based on true events, Defiance. The story concerns three Jewish brothers who escape from Nazi-occupied Poland into the Belarussian forest. There they hook up with Russian resistance fighters and try to help local villagers. The role looks to be more conventionally heroic than Bond and Craig takes on an accent as well. So if you are a fan of Daniel Craig's, you'll have two opportunities to see him this holiday season. Trailer is courtesy of Paramount Vantage. The film is directed by Edward Zwick.

Let the Right One In is the best vampire film in a long time (Magnolia Pictures)

Halloween may be behind us but I still have horror on my mind. My friend alerted me to Let the Right One In (opening November 7 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas), a Swedish vampire film. Right there it peaked my interest since as far as I could remember I had never seen a vampire film from Sweden. So while most people are eagerly awaiting the Hollywood adaptation of the bestselling tween vamp romance Twilight, Let the Right One In slides in early and sets the bar exceptionally high. This may even end up on my top ten for 2008. You can listen to my Film Chat by clicking above.

Angleina Jolie in Changeling, directed by Clint Eastwood (Universal)

By Janeane White

Changeling (opening October 31 throughout San Diego) is an amazing movie about a woman named Christine Collins who has lost her son Walter and the LAPD's attempt to find him. Five months after Walter goes missing, the police claim to have found him. They bring Christine to the train station to pick him up. Reporters are there and the cops are excited to finally get some good press out. Unfortunately Christine doesn't know the child and the first words to come out of her mouth is "this is not my son." The cops tell her to take the child home on a trial basis so that she can realize it is her son and that he has just changed since she saw him last. The entire movie is about how she works hard to prove that this child is not her son. But even though she finds tons of proof to dispute the boy's identity, the LAPD still claim that she is wrong. They even throw her into mental institution. The story then goes on about how she gets out and what she does to solve the mystery about her son.

Changeling was extremely moving. Angelina Jolie did an amazing job as a caring mother fighting to find her child. You wouldn't believe what she had to go through and you definitely won't believe the ending. I thought there were a few scenes that felt drawn out but other then that it was an amazing movie. It had an excellent storyline and good actors. I recommend it for movie watchers that like films that bring tears to their eyes -- it's an emotional story and it's incredible what this woman had to go through. It is sad that her child was lost but amazing that she could fight through it and keep up her courage and stand up to the infamous LAPD. It's an unbelievable story and it's crazy that's it is true.

Changeling is rated R for some violent and disturbing content, and language.

--Janeane White is a senior at Mount Miguel High School. She enjoys movies and spends all her time at the theater. She is also interested in special effects makeup done in the movies.She is an honors student and is currently working towards early graduation. Some of her favorite movies include Queen of the Damned, Hellboy, The Descent, the Underworld series, and the Saw series.

Teen critics left wanting by Max's pain (Twentieth Century Fox)

By Nick Alva

Max Payne (opened October 17 throughout San Diego) is a film based off a video game sold for the PS2 in 2001 it is an action film. It is about a man trying to find the killers of his family, the film begins at the end of the story and transitions back to the beginning. After the murder of Max's family he transfers to the cold case section of the police station obsessed with trying to find the last person involved in the murder of his family. He continues living his life for the sole purpose of getting revenge. The movie is filled with action packed scenes and some of the special features in the video game are shown in the film as well. Features like Max's slow motion mode and him flying in the air still shooting his gun. The film mostly takes place in the snowy dark setting of New York. The storyline of the film is very different from the video game but both are driven by a revenge plotline.

When I was waiting to watch this film I was filled with excitement because I liked the video game so much. But as soon as I started watching the film, I almost fell asleep, When I hear Max Payne I quickly think of killing criminals jumping off walls, and flying in the air while still killing people. But the film was the complete opposite with more talking than action, which was not what I expected in the Max Payne film. It reminded me more of the CSI TV show. Don't get me wrong, the few action scenes in the Max Payne movie were insane and had me jumping off my seat but there weren't enough. However, I believe that Mark Wahlberg does an excellent job in this film as the title character and he fit the role perfectly. Other than that, the film was a disappointment and didn't grab my attention. I suppose if you like the game you would like this film, but if you're the kind of person who likes to see good movies then I wouldn't recommend viewing this film, it would only disappoint you.

Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis star in Max Payne, adapted from the video game (20th Century Fox)

By Lily Canones

Max Payne (opening October 17 throughout San Diego) is the story of a man who lost his wife and child, and went beyond his limits to find who had murdered them. Overall, this movie was really good. I enjoyed how the story went along and the thrills and action that occurred.  I did feel that the movie should have had a little bit more action because when I think of Max Payne, I think of "constant killing" from the video game and that didn't seem to happen. But other than that, if you're a fan of Max Payne or just like action movies, this film is for you! Max Payne is a movie worth watching.

--Lily Canones is a Mount Miguel senior who wanted to be a Teen Critic because she'd like to share her perspective on films with others. She loves horror movies and foreign movies, especially ones from Asia. Most of the horror movies that I watch are originally from Japan, China, and Taiwan.