Friday, July 9, 2010

Everybody’s a critic! The students of 826 Valencia go to the movies

Earlier this year, The San Francisco Chronicle premiered an exciting new monthly column, starring our cast of San Francisco natives. The students (and self-described “jaded, cynical teenagers”) of 826 Valencia have been writing monthly reviews of current movie or DVD releases for the Bay Area paper.

In February, reviewers lamented the excessive decibel levels during in “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”; March critics recommended Tim Burton to "lessen the fluorescence" in “Alice in Wonderland”; and April reviewers were generally pleased with “The Princess and the Frog,” despite some "nasty gross" kissing scenes. The re-release of “Toy Story” was universally applauded, although one review was critical of actors’ "inconsistent toy behavior"; and June reviews were mostly positive for “Prince of Persia” (most notably Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance and the “blood and guts” fighting scenes).

Keep checking in at sfgate.com for your monthly dose of recommendations for navigating the summer's cinematic releases.