12/14/09 - Next Teen Movie Night

FEAR Starring Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon  

FEAR (1996) MOVIE TRAILER

SYNOPSIS

What begins as an innocent romance turns to deadly obsession

when a charismatic young man sets his sights on Nicole Walker, a 16-year-old girl

who always dreamed of being swept away by someone special--

someone who was strong and sensitive and cared for her more than anything

else in the world. At first Nicole is mesmerized by David, a polite,

respectful--yet sexy--charmer she meets at a "rave" party,

having slipped out for a wild night with her thrill-seeking best friend Margo.

But then Nicole catches a glimpse of David's dark side, and her dream

becomes a nightmare. When she tries to break free, her family is forced

to draw together in order to confront David's determined,

vicious attempts to take her back.

Genres: Suspense/Horror, Thriller and Teen
Running Time: 1 hr. 35 min.
Release Date: April 12, 1996
Rating: R

FREEDOM WRITERS - Next Teen Movie Night - 11/9/09 @ 6PM-9PM

http://www.freedomwriters.com/

 http://www.freedomwritersfoundation.org/site/c.kqIXL2PFJtH/b.2286935/k.AD6/About_Erin_Gruwell.htm

 

SYNOPSIS 1

Hilary Swank stars in this gripping story of inner city kids raised on drive-by shootings and hard-core attitude - and the teacher who gives them the one thing they need most: a voice of there own. Dropped into the free-fire zone of a school torn by violence and racial tension, teacher Erin Gruwell battles an uncaring system in a fight to make the classroom matter in her students lives. Now, telling their own stories, and hearing the stories of others, a group of supposedly "unteachable" teens will discover the power of tolerence, reclaim their shattered lives, and change their world.  

 

SYNOPSIS 2

Assigned the thankless task of teaching freshman English at a gang-infested Long Beach, CA high school, a 23-year-old teacher resorts to unconventional means of breaking through to her hardened students in director Richard LaGravenese's adaptation of Erin Gruwell's best-seller The Freedom Writer's Diaries: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them. 

 

 

Her students had been written off, and her chances of succeeding scoffed at, but Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) wasn't about to go down without a fight. Long Beach is a place where a new war is waged with each passing day, and when the hardened students who walk those dangerous hallways sense an outsider attempting to understand their plight, their cynical resentment threatens to keep a deadly cycle in motion. Despite the initially hostile reaction she receives in the classroom, Gruwell uses the writings of Anne Frank and Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo to teach her students not only the basis of the English language, but compassion and tolerance as well. Later, when the time comes to tell their own tales in a project specially designed to explore the daily violence that the majority of students have grown numb to, the barriers that had once stood so strong gradually begin to crumble. When the only chance for survival is to befriend the person who was once your mortal enemy, the world is opened to a whole new realm of possibilities.

MOVIE NIGHT DEBUT...

I received a few inquiries asking if we can include middle-schoolers... 

I will oblidge.  BUT we definitely will have to get PARENTAL CONSENT.

HOW DID IT GO?

WELL! Rocky start!  The biggest question that seemed to be circulating was, " What is this?  Is it going to be lame?"   But I only got this from the homefront.  At first, we had several participants.. I thought we were to have at least 12, but something happened.. Not sure what. Well maybe, I do know... My daughter seemed to think that a few people might think its " lame"  and spread it around CHS; and even shared her thoughts with a choice few.. including her brother who shared his displeasure with his sister's ramblings others.  I am starting to think that maybe the paradigm called " teenager anxiety disguised by attitude"  has interfered with an evening of teenage fun...

 

We had nine camberley children. They sat, talked, laughed and viewed the movie.  We had hotdogs w/ the works, my "famous dip"  w/ tortilla chips (I'll make you some), and popcorn.  


Coach Carter was cool and the kids seem to like it, as evidenced by several " That was a good movie".  With 30-minutes to spare the children played the WII and " chilled".


Because several Y2K & beyond teenagers were a little leary, I didn't initiate reflections... Fear of a " lame"  or " corny"  closure led me to allow for free time among the masses.


I simply asked... "  So is it ok if we do this once a month?"  A collective " yeah" gives way to the inaugural... CAMBERLEY TEEN MEET MOVIE NIGHT!!!

It was agreed that next month we will watch "FREEDOM WRITERS".

CAMBERLEY'S FIRST TEEN MOVIE NIGHT

We will be watching COACH CARTER on 10/12/09 @ 6pm.

**Must have teen night flyer with parent permission to attend.**

http://www.coachcartermovie.com/home.html

http://coachcarter.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coach_Carter



PLOT



Ken Carter takes over as the basketball coach at his former high school in Richmond, near San Francisco. He sets strict new rules for the players, insisting that they sign contracts agreeing to meet his standards, such as agreeing to remain a 2.3 GPA, attend all classes sitting in the front row, and wearing a shirt and tie on game nights. Some players decide to leave the team, and Carter's son transfers from his private school to join the team.

With Carter's intense coaching, the team begins the season undefeated, and wins a holiday tournament. However, Carter discovers that some of his players are not producing the agreed academic results. He locks the team out of the gym in the midst of their still-undefeated season, canceling practice and forfeiting games in favor of studying in the library.


The school board eventually votes to end the unpopular lockout, despite dissenting votes from the principal and the chairperson of the board. Carter is about to quit, but he finds the players sitting at school desks in the gym, with teachers tutoring them. The players point out that even though the gym is reopened, the school board can't force them to play. Carter is heartened and decides to stay, thanking the players.

The team makes it into the state high-school championship playoffs. The climactic game takes place in the tournament's first round against the top-ranked team in the state, St. Francis (starring a superstar NBA prospect, Ty Crane). In the last second, Crane makes the winning shot to end Richmond's season.

Over the closing song, six of the Richmond players are shown to have joined college basketball teams.



CHECK BACK DURING THE WEEK OF 10/12 FOR UPDATES ON HOW OUR GROUP TURNED OUT!

DERRION ALBERT - CHICAGO TEEN KILLED IN GANG VIOLENCE

Watch CBS News Videos Online

TEENS ARRESTED IN CHICAGO TEEN'S DEATH BY BEATING

Teens Arrested in Student's Beating

Teens Arrested in Student's Beating

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Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High - 17 High School Girls Get Pregnant Together

Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High

YOU TUBE VIDEO COVERAGE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fvcJ0cnCV8

17 High School Girls Get Pregnant Together
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-cOpYeoeR0

GREAT SITES FOR DOCUMENTARIES ON TEENS

ON SOME OF THESE YOU CAN ACTUALLY WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/

http://www.cutthemovie.com/

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/08/24/2009-08-24_young_migrants_risk_a_road_to_ruin_in_home.html

http://www.hbo.com/docs/docuseries/swf/summer2009/index.html




TO BE CONTINUED...

WHY TEEN MEET?

GOOD EVENING!   Well this is a teen group that I have been marinating on for about a year, but it didn't really start tugging at my heart until this week. 

Earlier this week - I believe Monday - my son and one of his compadres had a destructive meeting of minds that led to our talking about better ways to resolve our issues.  Corny? Well understand that I am a School Counselor so it really is a part of me.. to sit, talk, and eventually come to an agreeable compromise that all can live comfortably with... But not all teenagers are willing to "peacefully" sit and discuss their current burning challenges.  Well that is unless you live in Camberley. LOL... Hidden joke... ask me about it later.  Well i will just say this much.  When this "meeting of the teenage minds" was supposed to occur, all involved (Target, Witnesses and the Main Eventers) "peacefully" organized the where, when and how.  I mean literally organized a main event!

Now let me say I am not a supporter of such barbaric, caveman behavior, but I would have to say that I wanted to applaud these kids for watching out for one another, providing a safe environment and working to control the situation.  But when it comes down to it, they are ultimately TEENAGERS and word was going around -especially in my household - that the main event did not end in a way that lent itself to a clear cut.... um how do I say...`Person of Triumph'!

While at work, I pondered this teen thing and thought to myself, "I think Camberley would benefit from a teen movie night. A place once a month where our kids can come and 'chill', "munch', and laugh.  Also, talk about what bothers them in a safe environment of their peers."  Little did I know that yet another "well thought out" event was in the works to clear up any "misunderstandings" or "points that were not emphasized enough".  But a crazy twist to this event was that other teens from neighboring communities were gearing up to be front row seaters at the next main event.

Upon my knowledge of this, I collaborated with the other parental unit - who "surprisingly" had no idea (SARCASM PEOPLE) of the well organized main events. We quickly agreed upon a peaceful road to a speedy solution and gathered the kiddos.

Let me say.. I was right... these kids are smart!  They were able to identify where they went wrong in their unruly exchange and come to a peaceful end.  When I felt there was no more "parent emergency" at hand I polled these smart boys and my delightful daughter on my idea - which I did include was inspired by them *CHEESING*.. kissing up persuasion never hurts.  The boys were game, but my ever on the surface daughter was doubtful of its effectiveness on some of our wonderful neighborhood "instigators" (Her words not mine).  But I assured her that this would be a great opportunity for them to address these concerns. I dunno... I am optimistic.. HELLO COUNSELOR! LOL.  We did discuss movies that would be great conversation pieces for the teens.

WHAT MOVIES? (Feel free to ask about any of these movies in this blog) Light It Up, Save The last Dance, Fear, Secret life Of Bees, Cinderella Story, Mean Girls, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Peter Pan, BANG BANG Your Dead, You Got Served... The list went on.  By the time we discussed what movies and why, it was already time to leave for music lessons.  They seemed hyped, but in the end my daughter says, "I still haven't agreed to this."

When I told my loving husband he was very interested and even went on to help me decide when.  I was hoping for 2nd Thursdays at our home from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, but he reminded me of... FOOTBALL!  And we all know we has players in our community which would leave them out.  After a lengthy POUT, I resolved that Mondays would have to do... I hate this bc This is the day when I coach Girls On The Run until 4:30pm every week! And Tuesday in music lessons; Wednesday Lacross!  The weekend is OFF LIMITS! Thursdays are my only free day... But its not about me (YES IT IS! YES IT IS!)  No it isn't, its about the youth.. So Mondays it is!

So here I am..  Where do I go from here?  More polling the kids, invites, parent information for my neighbors... 

STAY TUNED!