AWN Blogs

Welcome to the first This Weekend's Film Festival of 2008. With the remake of 3:10 TO YUMA hitting DVD today, I felt it was a great time to look at the best Westerns of the last few years. Now I can't say that I've seen every Western made since 2001 (for instance, I still need to see THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD), but these five films are all great Westerns that I feel more people need to see. The genre is often called dead, but with the solid performance of 3:10 TO YUMA, there is hope for more to be made. There is no other genre that is more archetypically American, so it needs to survive, and as fans of cinema in general, I feel we need to help promote underrated Westerns, so they can reach a wider audience.

I have not read the Richard Matheson novel or seen the previous film versions (THE LAST MAN ON EARTH or OMEGA MAN) of this story, therefore I cannot compare Francis Lawrence's new version with any of the other forms. Adapted by Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman, this Will Smith vehicle is a refreshing genre film in a year of disappointing blockbusters. Filmed with patience and attention to character, this sci-fi horror tale has emotional resonance, as well as thrills.

Robert Neville (Will Smith, I, ROBOT) is a military scientist who seems to be the last man in New York City, or possibly Earth, after a genetically altered virus turns humans into vampire-like night dwellers. He hunts rogue wildlife around the empty streets of NYC by day and barricades himself in his house once the sun sets. His only friend is his dog Sam, who was given to him by his young daughter on the day the city was quarantined. He continues his research to develop a cure, while he sets up mannequins at the video store so he can try to hold onto a bit of the world he once knew. However, the isolation has begun to make him crack, and his paranoia will affect his actions along the way.

Paul Thomas Anderson has been quoted as saying that he was having a case of writer's block when devising his follow-up to PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. Finding inspiration in Upton Sinclair's novel OIL!, Anderson has crafted THERE WILL BE BLOOD, a film in a style that departs a great deal from his other work like BOOGIE NIGHTS and MAGNOLIA. Equal parts epic historical drama and character portrait, this cynical study of the dark side of human nature tells a tale of ambition, religion and family ties, dripping in black gold and blood — the later both physically and metaphorically.

Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis, MY LEFT FOOT) has bled and sweat his way into a successful oil business. After one of his workers dies, he takes the man's son as his own. Even at a young age, H.W. Plainview (Dillon Freasier, film debut) is being groomed as Daniel's partner. One evening, a young man (Paul Dano, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) comes to Daniel with a hot lead on property where oil is just bubbling to the surface. Untrustworthy by nature, Daniel heads out to the land where he meets the family of the young man, who calls himself Eli and makes it out like it’s the first time he has met Daniel. During a quail hunt, Daniel and H.W. confirm that this might just be their biggest strike. When Daniel goes to negotiate with the owner, Abel Sunday (David Willis, THE GOOD GERMAN), Eli makes sure the deal includes a good deal of money for his fledgling church.

Charlie Wilson was a Congressman who was better known for womanizing and partying than his legislative accomplishments. Then, pushed by the sixth richest woman in Texas Joanne Herring, he found his calling. Through committees he helped raise the CIA's budget to arm the rebels in Afghanistan fighting the soviets from $5 million to $1 billion. He may not be the most ethical politician, but he was very well connected. Based on facts, Mike Nichols new comedy could also be called "Strange Bedfellows" for Wilson will have to unite Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, Christian and Muslims and Israel with various Islamic states to get his secret war off the ground.

Tom Hanks, a seemingly unlikely actor to play a Representative who gets wrapped up in a cocaine scandal, adds the right dose of charm to Wilson, making us believe that he might just be the best person in government to pull off this scheme. He teams with the hotheaded and blunt CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman, OWNING MAHONEY), who is working on the Afghan problem with three other guys when they first start. While Wilson works on his war, his chief assistant Bonnie Bach (Amy Adams, JUNEBUG) leads a team of beautiful young assistants on fighting the Congressman's publicity war. Because the whole deal rests on so many strange bedfellows getting along, Wilson has to warn Joanne (Julia Roberts, ERIN BROCKOVICH) not to frame the fight as a holy war. But the well-connected Herring does know when religion helps answer prayers.

The Nov. 28th edition of This Weekend's Film Festival celebrated five of the best films of 2007. Considering that this will be the last lineup of 2007, I thought it would be fitting to revisit the theme with another five of the best films from 2007, which are now on DVD. One is a gangster flick, two are a pair of the funniest movies of the year and two are musicals, which happen to be two of the very best films of the year. In lieu of a This Weekend's Film Festival next week, I will be posting my top 25 list for 2007, which in a way is super-sized version of This Weekend's Film Festival, because I encourage everyone to check out all of those films because they are all very good. If you feel industrious you could head to the theaters or rental store and try to see the top five. Three of these films will be certainly making the list. So I hope you enjoy and have a happy and safe New Year's celebration.

This is one of those smilers. It makes you smile with its charm. It makes you smile with its warmth. It makes you smile with its honesty. It's an indie musical, but not in the typical sense of what people think of when they think of musicals. The film is filled with songs from start to finish, but they flow from one to the other in a natural progression as buskers perform to songwriters compose to a band records. Along the way a guy meets a girl and a natural romance blooms.

In a very existential touch, the lead male is simply named guy (Glen Hansard, THE COMMITMENTS), a street performer who works as a vacuum cleaner repairman at a shop owned by his father (Bill Hodnett) during the day. One evening, a girl (Markéta Irglová) compliments his work, wondering why he only plays his original songs at night. He says no one wants to listen to songs they do not know during the day and he has to make a living. Discovering his side trade, the girl brings her vacuum to the guy and they begin to hang out. She plays the piano and they discover they have a great deal in common, developing a simple connection. The problem is the guy still pines over a lost girl and the girl has secrets of her own that prevent her from fully opening her heart to him.

Raunchy and often juvenile, but also hilarious, SUPERBAD takes the freedom of crude humor from AMERICAN PIE and filters it through the honest sentiment of a John Hughes film. This vibe has become the branded style of director Judd Apatow and he brings the same to this film, which he produced. Director Greg Mottola, who has worked on TV series such as UNDECLARED and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT after making his directing/writing debut on the indie comedy THE DAYTRIPPERS, plays the material straight, bringing an unforced authenticity to both the comedy and serious moments.

Seth (Jonah Hill, KNOCKED UP) and Evan (Michael Cera, JUNO) have been inseparable since they were eight years old. Now it's the closing days of their senior year and both are heading off to different colleges. Both hope to hook up with a girl for a brief summer fling. Evan has his eyes set on Becca (Martha MacIsaac, ICE PRINCESS), who Seth does not like for his own private reasons, and the heavy Seth has his eyes on any girl who's drunk enough to sleep with him. During Home Ec, he gets partnered with the pretty Jules (Emma Stone, TV's DRIVE), who later asks him to secure some booze for her party. Desperate, Seth and Evan have to rely on geeky Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who has bought a dubious fake ID with the solo name McLovin on it, to get them the needed party supplies. As things in movies go, the plans do not turn out as planned. Seth and Evan end up at a shady party of rowdy brawlers, while McLovin deals with hapless police officers Slater (Bill Hader, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE) and Michaels (Seth Rogen, KNOCKED UP).

I apologize for the lateness of the lineup for This Weekend's Film Festival this week. The rush of the impending Christmas vacation is flooding over me and I'm swamped. But I had to get out this edition of This Weekend's Film Festival because it is a great one. Knowing STARDUST was arriving on DVD this week, I've planned for a while to dedicate the lineup to adult fantasy. Though many of these films can be viewed by the whole family, these are films that adults will get the most out of. This is a fun and entertaining collection of films perfect for the long holiday weekend. Hope you enjoy.

The first film in the lineup is the best adult fantasy film ever made. Jean Cocteau's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is a magnificent rendition of the classic fairy tale brought to the screen with unmatched visual originality. The amazing set design and beautiful black & white cinematography still remain fresh after more than 60 years. As I said in my original review, "The original fairy tale is a universal love story and Cocteau breathes life into it with visual style and engaging characters. Entertainment and art collide to a great degree in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST." But do not think this is a film for the art house crowd only. Even in French and more than a half century old, this remains an accessible classic that any film viewer can embrace and fall in love with. As Cocteau warns the audience before the film begins, the viewer must believe, as a child, in magic for this production. And you will come to believe.

Equal parts comedy and action, THE PRINCESS BRIDE is unique in that it skewers its genre while firmly being a great edition to the genre. The comedy is as slyly subtle as director Rob Reiner's other great comedy THIS IS SPINAL TAP. Based on his own novel, William Goldman's script balances the elements of fantasy, romance and comedy so deftly that each element fits perfectly together and work often equally in the same scene. With only a single Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, the Academy has a blight on its record; for this classic tale is one of the best of all time in so many genres it seems unfair to other films.

Starting with a modern framework, a grandfather (Peter Falk, TV's COLUMBO) reads the fantasy story to his sick grandson (Fred Savage, TV's THE WONDER YEARS). The young boy is reluctant about the story at first because he believes it will be a kissing book, but as the adventure covers kidnappings, sword play, giants, poisoning, screaming eels, deadly forests, albinos, pits of despair, magicians and much more, he begins to warm to the tale. The story begins with the beautiful Buttercup (Robin Wright Penn, FORREST GUMP) ordering around the farm boy Westley (Cary Elwes, SAW), who responds to her every request with "as you wish." Soon the handsome duo fall in love, but Buttercup is devastated when she hears the news that Westley was murdered at the hands of the Dread Pirate Roberts.