The movie “Fast Food Nation,” based on Eric Schlosser’s blockbuster muckraking book of the same name, opened nationwide on Friday. Blythe Bernhard of the Register interviewed Schlosser and asked him why it starts and ends in Anaheim.

Schlosser: It’s more Southern California. This is the birthplace of the industry. It was much more accurate for it to be set in Orange County than in Missouri. The Orange County that gave birth to this industry is very different from Orange County today. Orange County now is a much more vibrant place.

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Last night a couple of Squeeze folks went to the Lido Theater to watch a preview screening of “Freedom Writers,” a new movie where Hilary Swank plays Newport Beach inspirational teacher Erin Gruwell. About 10 years ago, Erin started her first teaching job at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach. Most of the students in her freshman English class had poor grades. Many were in black, Latino and Asian gangs and had lost friends to gang violence. Somehow Erin managed to reach them. She used inspiring books like the Diary of Anne Frank, and took them to the Museum of Tolerance so that they would learn to treat their classmates with respect, and not judge them based on their ethnicity.

The movie was a real tearjerker – very moving. There was hardly a dry eye on the balcony. Gotta admit, before I watched the movie, I was skeptical: Haven’t we seen this before in “Stand and Deliver” and “Dangerous Minds?” There can never be too many wonderful teachers, but doesn’t it seem there should be a limit on movies about inspirational teachers? I’m happy to report Hilary Swank was much better than Michelle Pfeiffer. If I watched this movie on a plane, I would have cried a bucket and a half of tears.
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Join us for for an englightening 4 minutes and 46 seconds of culture in the debut of “Opera Schmopera” with Steve K. Zylius.

In this first installment, Steve discusses “The Ring Cycle’ with Reg music critic Timothy Mangan.

Martin Scorsese’s new movie, “The Departed,” is a re-make of a 2002 Hong Kong movie called “Infernal Affairs,” which has also spawned two Chinese sequels. Both are good — I think “The Departed” is much better, though I found the violence excruciating. (Seems like most other people who’ve seen it didn’t mind it though)

In both movies, there is a cop (Leonardo DiCaprio/Tony Leung) who’s pretending to be a gangster in order to spy on the mob, and a gangster (Matt Damon/Andy Lau) who has joined the police form in order to spy on the cops. You might have seen Tony Leung in “In the Mood For Love” or “Hero.” Andy Lau is a huge star in Asia, like Tom Cruise, except he sings and isn’t scientology-weird.

Real cops/pretend gangsters

Pretend cops/real gangsters

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Last week I had coffee with Santa Ana artist Amy Caterina and found out what she’s up to. The busy artist is teaching 6 college classes a week, and is preparing for a show at Huntington Beach Art Center where she’ll be knitting a giant car cover. Groovy. Amy is also co-curator (with Bob Pece) of Rat Powered Films, an organization the two started in 2002 to screen shorts and experimental films. They picked “rat” for the name because Amy 1) has rats as pets 2) loves cheap, low-tech projects.

Rat Powered Films is in the middle of a 7-week film series at Grand Central Art Center. A different set of shorts is screened continuously every week. Amy’s criteria for picking the movies: short and funny.

The star of this week’s loop is “Harker,” a 15-minute puppet version of “Nosferatu,” with some twists. It was made to look yellow and old like a 1920s movie. It’s a little creepy, but mostly very cute.
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OCMA’s newly opened California Biennial has works that project anxiety, optimism, control, and all those complicated feelings that come with living in our state. But above all, I find the biennial to be … fun. Most of the 30-plus artists are younger than 40, and the youthfulness shows. There’s lots of color, wit, narratives, figuration; no random Minimalist planks. Many artists had a chance to make work specifically for the museum space. The first thing I saw when I walked into the museum was Christian Maychack’s bench, bent and melted into a white mush. The piece continued on the wall behind with an extrusion, a marshmallow T2000.
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Next, it was off to Orange County Museum of Art. I got there at 8 p.m. and saw a huge bulge of people outside. Two queues waited side-by-side: museum members, and walk-ins who wanted to see Sonic Youth.

Members: Older couples. Men wore blazers. Lots of grousing. “I can’t believe they’re making us wait! Laguna always has two tables and the lines move really fast. Look at the people sitting at the table there — they’re doing nothing!” Also: “Have you been to the Getty center yet?”

Will call and walk-in line, mostly to see Sonic Youth: Young, lots of teens. Tight jeans, piercings. Patient waiting. “Dude, I hope we get in.” Also: “Dude, I can’t wait for the Borat movie.”

The lines moved really slowly. It took me (member) 30 minutes to get in, but I was later pleased to see that all the walk-ins got in too. Sonic Youth sounded good.

Lots of biennial artists were present. One of my favorite pieces at the biennial is Tim Sullivan’s billboard, an orange 1950s-style setting sun landscape with a cut out in the middle.

Tim Sullivan was at the opening – with his uncle from Wisconsin who coincidentally wore a shirt that looked just like the billboard.

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I checked out two very different exhibition openings at the Fullerton Museum Center and Orange County Museum of Art on Saturday night. At 5:40 p.m., I got to Fullerton for the opening of “Golden States of Grace: Prayers of the Disinherited,” a photo exhibit of unusual, or seldom-thought-of spiritual communities in California, such as a transgender gospel choir in San Francisco and a group of aging Catholic nuns. Photographer Rick Nahmias is pictured here.

Most of the 55 photos in “Golden States” are portraits of people, and come with detailed captions on their lives. There’s not much action and antagonism in the photos; it seems Rick chose to emphasize the dignity and gratitude he found in his subjects. Lots of people whom Rick photographed came to the opening, and it was fun to see them eagerly search the halls for their pictures. Here’s Brother Salim Ghazaly, a Cham Muslim in Santa Ana, posing next to his photo.

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Tomorrow (Sat, Sept. 30) is the big opening for Orange County Museum of Art’s 2006 California Biennial. Sonic Youth plays at 8:45 p.m., most tickets are already sold out. The exhibition, by the way, is awesome, but more on that later.

There’s also an interesting photo exhibition called “Golden States of Grace: Prayers of the Disinherited” opening tomorrow at the Fullerton Museum Center. Rick Nahmias spent three years photographing and interviewing 11 spiritual, but marginal communities. These include a transgender gospel choir in San Francisco, a group of Cham muslims who moved from Cambodia to Santa Ana and deaf Mormons in San Diego. Rick Nahmias’ last showing at the museum was “The Migrant Project,” a photo documentary of contemporary farm workers in California. “Golden State’s” opening will be held 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Sept. 30 at the museum, 301 N. Pomona Ave., Fullerton. I’ll be chatting with Rick tomorrow, so look out for a story in a week or so.

“Border War,” a documentary funded by conservative advocacy group Citizens United Productions, was screened at Lido Theatre on Thursday night. The movie profiles five people: Lupe Moreno, a Santa Ana resident who campaigns with the Minutemen; an undercover Border Patrol agent; Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz); a widow of a LA cop who was killed by an illegal immigrant; and a “border angel” who leaves water to help immigrants who are making the dangerous border trek. The movie comes out on DVD on Oct. 10.

I approached the theater with dread – the movie was produced by David Bossie, who also made “Celsius 41.11,” the right-wing rebuttal to Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11.” A van from KFI’s “John and Ken Show” van was parked in front of the theater. Many audience members clutched Minutemen brochures.

But the movie wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it’d be. It points out criminals cross the border with impunity, and that the cold-hearted coyotes won’t hesitate to abandon their clients in the desert. The movie didn’t seem to twist the facts it presented, but it also left out a lot of viewpoints. In the end, “Border War” is entertainment for people who’ve already made up their minds against open borders. It’s not informative for people who are seeking more nuanced analyses, and who are hoping to find long-term solutions that don’t involve the unfeasible option of building and heavily patrolling a 2,000-mile wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
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