I finally caught up with thirteen, the often-raved-about teen coming-of-age movie. It's coproduced by and starring Holly Hunter, the ever-excellent actor who's received a best-supporting-actress Oscar nod for her turn here as a harried mother. Though there are some nice scenes in this film, I must say that its lock-up-your-daughters vein of parental paranoia left me a bit weary. Not to mention the film's questionable racial politics: did no one else notice that a major part of the anxiety we're supposed to feel is due to the fact that our beautiful young 13-year-old blonde heroine is smooching with black fellas? A barely veiled bit of racism, in a DVD that hit stands just in time for Black History Month.

In a superior bit of nutty/comical big-screen teen angst, I rented River's Edge recently (available at Boîte Noire). Tim Hunter's film certainly stands the test of time, though I'm not sure Dennis Hopper's psycho nutjob routine has. The real star here is Crispin Glover, whose disturbed adolescent is arguably the greatest tribute to onscreen manic insanity ever. » Matthew Hays