Teen Topics : Of the movies you’ve seen lately, what are your favorites? Why? Were any films a waste of time?

Imelda Ochoa, 17, Downtown Business Magnet High: “American Me” is my favorite because it shows the reality of how we are living. “Basic Instinct” was a waste of time because it was plain dumb and didn’t make sense.

Kimberly Carranza, 17, Norwalk High: “Father of the Bride” is my favorite movie. The father had a difficult time facing the fact that his little girl was not so little and was a woman engaged to marry. “Unnecessary Roughness” is also a favorite. It keeps you laughing all through the show. “Ghost Dad” and “Beetlejuice” were a waste of time. Their theme was not understandable.

Veronica Rodriguez, 17, Norwalk High: “Father of the Bride” seems to rank the highest on my list because it deals with things that happen in real life. “Basic Instinct” seems to have been a waste of time. The main reason was because there seemed to be too many sex scenes.

Frank Osorio, 17, Norwalk High: “Terminator II,” “White Men Can’t Jump” and “Stop or My Mom Will Shoot” are my favorites because they kept me awake all movie long.

Jerry Montes, 15, Norwalk High: “Father of the Bride” is a good parody of real-life marriage problems. “Radio Flyer” touches the heart. “Hook” brings out fantasy in the mind. “Lawnmower Man” is a good story with good computer graphics. “Rush” was droll, no plot, made me feel loaded. “Doing Time on Planet Earth” made no sense. “Sleepwalkers” was dumb.

Danilo Torres, 18, L.A. County High School for the Arts: “Basic Instinct” is my favorite because it grabs you from the beginning. “American Me” because it was shot really good and directed good.

Elysa Gomez, 16, School for the Arts: “Cape Fear” was my favorite because of the suspense. It keeps your heart pumping. “Beauty and the Beast” because of the music and basic story. “Sleepwalkers” was a waste of time because it was so stupid, fake, (and had) only one scary part.

Liana Manukyan, 14, Toll Jr. High: “White Men Can’t Jump” was a good movie because it dealt with the racial issues in America and it also had good sense of humor. I would also like to see movies about other cultures who are victims of discrimination in the U.S. “Ladybugs” was a very simple movie because it did not deal with the real problems of life. And it wasn’t very funny.

Kristine Aguilar, 18, Mountain View High: “The Cutting Edge” is the latest movie I’ve seen because it was an original love story. Especially because I love ice-skating. It also has a great deal of jokes, which makes the movie fun.

Yoli Tustin, 15, School for the Arts: “Beauty and the Beast” was a favorite because it was very cute and emotional. “Basic Instinct” because of the good story line (suspenseful). “Lawnmower Man” was a waste of time. It didn’t really make too much sense.

Marissa Gomez, 16, School for the Arts: “Beauty and the Beast,” “Wayne’s World,” “Basic Instinct,” “Thunderheart” and “Beethoven” were my favorites.

Laura Estrada, 18, Roosevelt High: “White Men Can’t Jump,” “Basic Instinct,” “Fried Green Tomatoes” were favorites. “American Me” was my favorite because I’ve been really waiting for movies about Latinos and our way of life. I think this movie was really realistic about everything. It didn’t try to cover anything or make any of the bad stuff look “cool” like other movies. I think “Basic Instinct” was a waste of money and time. The end was really stupid and predictable.

Marcelino Basulto, 17, Roosevelt High: I believe “Basic Instinct” and “Wayne’s World” are the best movies I have seen so far. These movies always or most of the time kept my fullest attention. “Addams Family” was a real bummer.

Miguel Ceja, 17, Roosevelt High: “American Me” is my favorite because of its portrayal of the prison life and the reality that lives among us. “The Godfather III,” because of all the action in the underworld of the Mafia. “Murders of Love” was a waste because of the pathetic cast and no plot.

Francisco Velez, 18, Roosevelt High: “The Silence of the Lambs” is my favorite. The acting is really good.

Michael Layos, 18, Mountain View High: “White Men Can’t Jump” is the latest movie I’ve seen. I chose this film because of the basketball aspect. I have been a fan of basketball ever since elementary school.

Indira Ortiz, 18, Mountain View High: I haven’t been to the movies since last December because it’s too expensive.

Mari Manukyan, 15, Hoover High: “Ladybugs” was the only movie I’ve gotten to see lately. It was a movie worth watching, mostly because of Rodney Dangerfield’s acting. It was a good comedy and made me laugh more than once.

Survey compiled by: Say-Von Khov, of Downtown Business Magnet High; Karen Carranza, Norwalk High; Michelle Snyder, L.A. County High School for the Arts; Jorge Arauz, Roosevelt High; Claudia Tejada, Mountain View High.