AWN Blogs

Based on the American crime novel by Harlan Coben, TELL NO ONE is a French thriller from actor/director Guillaume Canet (starred in the Oscar-nominated JOYEUX NOEL), which harkens back to before crime stories became relegated to the CSI and LAW & ORDER TV franchises. This innocent man yarn would make Hitchcock proud as it weaves intrigue and murder and a mysterious missing woman into a touching love story. While it provides its fair share of twists and turns, the true driving force is a simple tale of a husband who truly loves his wife.

Dr. Alex Beck (Francois Cluzet, STORY OF WOMEN) and his wife Margot (Marie-Josee Croze, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) have been together since they were children. One summer day, they go to their private lake where they skinny dip. Alex's father has recently died in a hunting accident and he is in disagreement with his sister, an equestrian star named Anne (Marina Hands, THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS), about selling the farm. This spurs an argument with Margot and she leaves Alex on a floating dock as she heads back to the car. She screams and he swims back to the dock, where he is struck unconscious.

Alan Pakula's ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN is essentially a crime procedural that replaces cops with reporters. Winning four Oscars and nominated for four more, the Watergate investigation film was added to the 10th anniversary edition of the AFI Top 100 American films list. Bolstered by subtly in every aspect, the production is a marvel in that it works at all. At 138 minutes, it's dialogue driven, dozens and dozens names are thrown around constantly. But William Goldman's Oscar-winning screenplay keeps us on track and Pakula and editor Robert Wolfe (both nominated for Oscars) keep the pacing crisp and exciting. Additionally, it's what Hitchcock always said — an audience will always sympathize with a character that does their job well. Woodward and Bernstein did their jobs very well.

It's about pot. So grab some chips cuz you're going to get the munchies watching this comedy from the Judd Apatow stable, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who penned the surprising comedy SUPERBAD. Like that film, this one is essentially a buddy movie, but this one spirals into some humorous action. Indie director David Gordon Green has left his thoughtful Southern gothic style from films like GEORGE WASHINGTON and SNOW ANGELS on the shelf for his transition into mainstream movies; so don't expect anything deep. But what you should expect is a consistently funny and crazy comedy.

Dale Denton (Seth Rogen, KNOCKED UP) serves people court subpoenas for a living and in between jobs he smoke a lot of dope. He buys from Saul Silver (James Franco, SPIDER-MAN), a longhaired dealer who has a constant smile on his face and lives in his PJs. He's taken a shine to Dale and tries to convince him to stay and hang out every time he comes over for more weed. But Dale has other things on his mind, especially his 18-year-old high school student girlfriend Angie (Amber Heard, ALPHA DOG). Then one night on a job, Dale witnesses drug kingpin Ted Jones (Gary Cole, BREACH) and female cop Carol (Rosie Perez, DO THE RIGHT THING) murder a rival drug dealer. Completely paranoid and scared out of his wits, Dale rushes to Saul, who is sure that his supplier Red (Danny McBride, THE FIST FOOT WAY) won't rat them out. But when killers Budlofsky (Kevin Corrigan, THE DEPARTED) and Matheson (Craig Robinson, WALK HARD) come gunning for them, they begin to doubt Red's loyalty as a friend.

Inspired by Denzel Washington's sophomore directing effort THE GREAT DEBATERS, This Weekend's Film Festival looks at films that showcase the power of education. The inspiration for this week's lineup deals with African American debaters in the 1930s. There's a film that teaches us about living life to the fullest. There's a film that deals with the pressures of an Ivy League education. There's a film that teaches us about the power of language. There's a film about the freeing power of knowledge. So take a seat and sign up for this inspiring collection of films.

The Friday night feature is THE GREAT DEBATERS. As I said in my original review, "In an American climate where the dumbing down of every aspect of culture is pervasive, this is the kind of inspiring tale we need. We see inspirational sports films roll out every year, but often a good educational film can be infinitely more uplifting." This film actually mixes the conventions of sports and school stories, using the framework of an underdog sports film. Melvin Tolson (Washington) is the strict couch of the debate team for an all black college. He selects only four students for his team, which include hard living Henry (Nate Parker), fiery Samantha (Jurnee Smollett), 14-year-old James (Denzel Whitaker) and conservative, returning debater Hamilton (Jermaine Williams). More than a film about overcoming race, the picture showcases the power of education to lift up lives. In capturing the compelling nature of heated debates, the film also addresses the key social debates of the era in an engaging fashion. Lead by a stellar cast, this production captures the heart while stimulating the mind at the same time.

Here is a movie about a demanding teacher that doesn't paint the educator as a petty masochistic dictator. Set at Harvard, this film, based on a novel by John Jay Osborn Jr., looks at the game of high stakes education at Harvard Law School. First-year students come to the Ivy League school and fall into three categories according to the film's hero James Hart — 1) the high achiever who has to work extremely hard to stay there, 2) the struggling student keeping their head above water living in constant fear, and 3) the hopelessly doomed. This is a bloody sport and many will not make it to the end.

James Hart, played naturally by Timothy Bottoms (THE LAST PICTURE SHOW), is a Midwesterner who doesn't quite fit into the traditional Ivy League mold. He's excited and intimidated to take a class with the legendary Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. (John Houseman, MY BODYGUARD), who wrote the book on contract law, literally. To protect themselves against the daunting amount of work, the students form study groups; each member assigned a subject to outline for them all to share. Founder of the group Franklin Ford III (Graham Beckel, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL) is your cliche Ivy Leager with his bowtie and his snooty way of talking. Kevin Brooks (James Naughton, DIARY OF THE DEAD) has a photographic memory, but can't connect the dots between facts. Rounding out the group are overly levelheaded Thomas Craig Anderson (Edward Herrmann, LOST BOYS), pretentious prig Willis Bell (Craig Richard Nelson, 3 WOMEN) and the constantly-on-edge O'Connor (Robert Lydiard, THE DAY OF THE DOLPHIN). They not only debate law but more importantly law school survival. It is thought that women are career suicide for a first-year law student, so when Hart meets Susan Fields (Lindsay Wagner, BIONIC WOMAN), we worry, and then when we discover she is Kingsfield's daughter we get really scared.

Back in 1999 when I first saw ads and trailers for THREE KINGS, I wasn't expecting something so smart and fresh. It seemed like a simple heist story, but it turned out to be so much more. For me it was the film that firmly positioned George Clooney in my mind as a movie star. Having not seen FLIRTING WITH DISASTER at that time, it was my first experience with the work of director/writer David O. Russell, who was able to perfectly balance between the action, the humor and the meat of the story, while establishing a unique visual style.

Set after the ceasefire of the first Persian Gulf War, Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg, BOOGIE NIGHTS) discovers a map hidden in the butt of an Iraqi soldier, which leads to a bunker where millions of dollars of stolen Kuwaiti gold bullion is being hidden. While Troy plans with no-nonsense Chief Elgin (Ice Cube, BOYZ N THE HOOD) and ignorant hick Conrad Vig (Spike Jonze, director of BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) on how to get the gold, Archie Gates (Clooney, THE PERFECT STORM) hears rumors about the map. He is a sergeant major from special-forces who is about to retire and has long ago stopped caring. Outranking the others, he forces himself into their plans, which if they get caught, they could be court martialed for. As one might expect, their plans don't work out perfectly, getting caught in between Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi rebel forces.

In his second effort as a director, Denzel Washington has now established himself as just as much a powerful force behind the camera as he is in front of it. His debut film, ANTWONE FISHER, was a surprisingly powerful film, and like that film, THE GREAT DEBATERS uses what seems like a conventional plot to actually tackle unconventional screen topics. Too often African-Americans are portrayed on TV and films as barely literate, but recent films like this one and AKEELAH AND THE BEE have brought an intelligent and inspiring portrait of African-Americans to audiences. But to pigeonhole these films as "black" stories would be undercutting their universal power, which deal with the universal power of education.

The lineup for this week’s This Weekend’s Film Festival is a continuation of the on-going look at the 10^th anniversary addition of AFI’s top 100 American movies. The last edition came right before AFI’s latest list announcement of the 10 top 10 genre pictures. This week deals with new films to arrive on the top 100 that also made one of the top 10 lists. Three of the epics are here, along with one animated and one sci-fi film. This is a great lineup and an interesting look at some new classics and hits, along with a classic epic.

Kicking off the lineup is TITANIC. Ranking 6^th on the epics list and #83 on the top 100, James Cameron’s epic romance/disaster tale is by and far the highest grossing film in U.S. box office history. Winner of 11 Academy Awards, this tale of the tragic love between rich Rose, played by Oscar-nominated Kate Winslet, and poor Jack, in a mega-star making turn by Leonardo DiCaprio, contains what epics are supposed to have — an intimate story against an gigantic landscape. Cameron’s attention to detail is breathtaking and the groundbreaking visual effects still hold up well today. Russell Carpenter’s Oscar-winning cinematography is gorgeous. As I said in my original review, “TITANIC is worth seeing mostly because of the classic iconic romantic imagery. While they might not all be laced together naturally, there is no denying that when Rose and Jack stand on the rail at the bow of the ship that hearts can swoon for the idea of perfect love.” No matter your opinion of the film’s story problems, there is also no denying its firm place in film history.

While technology has gotten better since TOY STORY was released, it's not easy to improve on storytelling this clever. John Lasseter's masterpiece could have been so many things with its recognizable brands and pop culture references, but it avoids all the pitfalls of that material and crafts an innocent story about friendship and love. The franchise has become a money making machine since, but, the film isn't about selling toys, but the joy of a toy in the hearts of a child and the joy of being that beloved toy.

TOY STORY presents the whimsical idea that toys come to life when humans are not around. Woody (Tom Hanks, BIG) is the king of the toy chest in Andy's room. He organizes the other toys, which include the comedian Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), dedicated Slinky Dog (Jim Varney, ERNEST GOES TO CAMP), insecure dinosaur Rex (Wallace Shawn, THE PRINCESS BRIDE), piggy bank Hamm (John Ratzenberger, TV's CHEERS), and the ceramic lamp Bo Beep (Annie Potts, GHOSTBUSTERS), who has a thing for Woody. It's Andy's birthday and he gets the new spaceman action figure Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen, TV's HOME IMPROVEMENT), who doesn't believe that he's a toy. With his fancy gadgets, Buzz quickly becomes Andy's new favorite, leaving Woody feeling forgotten.

Guillermo del Toro, director of PAN'S LABYRINTH, brings his boundless visual imagination to another screen edition of the HELLBOY saga. Filled with fanciful creatures and whimsical silliness, del Toro nicely balances between humor and action in this fun superhero adventure. While not as fresh as the original, HELLBOY II holds its own in a summer filled with wonderful superheroic antics.

Ages ago the magical creatures of the world made a truce with humans, setting aside their indestructible golden army. They would stay in the woods while humans ruled the cities. However, as the cities spread and humans became consumed with greed, the magical creatures were pushed into the shadows. Now Prince Nuada (Luke Goss, BLADE II) wants the magical world to rule again, so he seeks the three pieces of the crown that controls the mechanical golden army made up of 70 times 70 warriors. With his robbery of the second piece of the crown and the murder of dozens of humans, the U.S. government calls in their paranormal task force of Hellboy (Ron Perlman, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN), Liz Sherman (Selma Blair, CRUEL INTENTIONS) and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones, PAN'S LABYRINTH).