AWN Blogs

Warren Beatty's epic chronicling American reporters John Reed and Louise Bryant and their involvement with the Russian revolution was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, taking home three Oscars for Best Director (Beatty), Best Cinematography (Vittorio Storaro) and Best Supporting Actress (Maureen Stapleton). At 194 minutes, the film takes its time to develop its characters bringing us into their history before they begin to play key roles in important historical events of the 20th century. Mixing documentary interviews of people who knew the couple with dramatic recreations, REDS not only gets a wide view of its protagonists, but also the era in which they lived.

Married Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton, ANNIE HALL) meets playboy reporter John Reed (Beatty, MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER) at a Liberal Club meeting, where she asks to interview him. He agrees, with the hope of a one-night stand, but after a long night of debate, Louise sends John packing. The pair will meet again and Louise will take the aggressor's role. Later Louise will leave her husband and follow John to New York, where she becomes overshadowed by the dynamic personalities of John's Greenwich Village friends, which include outspoken activist Emma Goldman (Stapleton, COCOON) and writer Eugene O'Neill (Jack Nicholson). John and Louise's relationship will be tumultuous, spurred by infidelity of both of their parts, loneliness when they are separated and artistic competitiveness.

Director Lasse Hallstrom works from John Irving's own Oscar-winning adaptation of his novel creating a thoughtful coming-of-age story that was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Michael Caine won a Supporting Actor Oscar for his pragmatic and ornery doctor. Additional Oscar nods were given for the film's art direction-set direction, Hallstrom's direction, editing and original score. The love for the film by the Academy was great, but it might be remembered in the future for its early performances from then up-and-coming stars Toby Maguire and Charlize Theron.

Dr. Wilbur Larch (Caine) oversees an orphanage in Maine where he has raised Homer Wells (Maguire) as if he were his own son. Homer has trained under Larch to be a fine physician, but he questions the morality of the abortions his mentor performs. When Wally Worthington (Paul Rudd, KNOCKED UP) brings his pregnant girlfriend Candy Kendall (Theron) to get an abortion, Homer's longing to see what the world outside the walls of the orphanage is like comes to a peak. Despite Dr. Larch's protests, Homer heads off with Wally and Candy to work as an apple picker for Wally's family orchard. Wilbur comes under the tutelage of Mr. Rose (Delroy Lindo, HEIST), a migrant worker who has been picking fruit with his daughter Rose Rose (Erykah Badu, BLUES BROTHERS 2000) for years. As Homer breathes in the joys of his new freedom, he learns that life is full of tough moral decisions, especially when he falls for Candy after Wally goes off to serve in WWII.

The Jan. 9th This Weekend's Film Festival was dedicated to "The Five Best Westerns of the 21st Century (That I've Seen)" where I mentioned that I hadn't yet seen THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD. Now that I have seen the film, I would have placed it at #2 of that list. So for this week I felt it was a good idea to look at the portrayal of assassins on film. The opening film looks at the results of an assassin's actions while the following four films deal with the inner turmoil of assassins.

One of the most tragic assassinations in U.S. history was the murder of President John F. Kennedy. Oliver Stone's JFK looks into the assassination with a skeptical eye. Whether one buys all the points the film makes is not what makes the film so great. As I said in my original review, "this passionate pursuit of the truth reminds us that dissent can be a patriotic act." Costner's determined performance as DA Jim Garrison questions the government's explanation of the murder. Stone does a good job creating doubt in going along with the party line completely. For our look at assassins, we have Gary Oldman's Lee Harvey Oswald. Was one of history's most infamous assassins really just a disgruntled ex-soldier or a patsy as the film argues? The film questions our government's actions, but it also underlines our inability to believe that one solo mad man could change the course of history so profoundly. Does it make us feel better that it took a mass conspiracy to murder one of our great leaders? When watching this thought-provoking film this time around, focus on how an assassin's bullet can make people question not only their leaders, but also the meaning of it all as well.

Jean-Jacques Beineix broke onto the scene in 1982 with this stylistic thriller. Roger Ebert states that he has had one of the most anticlimactic directing careers of all filmmakers, never truly following up the promise of his first film. He is credited as one of the chief auteurs, along with Luc Besson and Leos Carax, in the Cinema du look movement of French cinema, which was marked by its sly, hip style. The '80s movement is a precursor to the slick, referential work of Quentin Tarantino. Think of a young Hitchcockian innocent hero surrounded by the cast of PULP FICTION and you'll get an idea of what this film has in store.

Jules (Frederic Andrei, VENUS BEAUTY INSTITUTE) is a postman who is obsessed with the beautiful black opera singer Cynthia Hawkins (Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez), who refuses to record. So Jules travels around Europe smuggling hi-tech recording equipment into her concerts so that he can relive them at home. During one concert, a duo of mirror-sunglass-wearing Thai record pirates spot his actions and hunt him down for the tapes. Making matters worse, a prostitute plants a tape of her confessing that police chief Saporta (Jacques Fabbri) is involved in a prostitution ring in Jules bag. This is right before two thugs — Le Cure (Dominique Pinon, DELICATESSEN) and Krantz (Jean-Jacques Moreau, VAGABOND) — murder her in the street. Later Jules will meet bohemian artist Serge Gorodish (Richard Bohringer, THE LAST METRO) and his 14-year-old Vietnamese muse Alba (Thuy An Luu), who will get wrapped up in the young man's drama.

With the 15th anniversary edition of GROUNDHOG DAY arriving on DVD this week, the first thing that came to mind was that the film was one of the best modern comedies… and it's smart too. So this week's lineup is dedicated to five smart comedies. Along with Harold Ramis' best film, we have two classics and two recent underrated comedies. Prepare to laugh without having to shut down your cerebral cortex.

GROUNDHOG DAY was a moderate hit when it came out in 1993, but has since grown in appreciation on DVD much like SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell make a good pair, who start out as enemies and come to fall for each other. However, this doesn't happen quickly, because Murray's Phil Connors must live Groundhog's Day over and over again until he discovers his humanity. As I said in my original review, "The film obtains an almost spiritual quality, which comes from its themes of redemption, time and selflessness." Ramis and Danny Rubin's ingenious screenplay doesn't bother drumming up some lame explanation for the fantasy elements, allowing the premise to simply touch on grand issues such as the meaning of life. Every time I see the film I am forced to think about what I would do in the same situation. It changes upon each viewing depending on my own mood. So we can relate to Connors when he tries to woo MacDowell's Rita one day and wants to step in front of a car the next.

Robert Benton won an Academy Award for this film's screenplay, which is actually the weakest element of the production. Loosely based on his own experiences, he develops a solid central story and then leaves it for a subplot that is less interesting and never connects back to the main story or themes.

Edna Spalding (Sally Field, NORMA RAE) is a widow in the Depression era South. If she doesn't find a way to make money soon, she will lose her house and possibly lose her two children. A black, day laborer named Moze (Danny Glover, THE COLOR PURPLE) comes to her door looking for work and suggests that she plant cotton on her 40 acres of open land. Banker Albert Denby (Lane Smith, THE MIGHTY DUCKS) hounds her about her bi-yearly house payments and uses her situation to pawn off his blind brother-in-law, Will (John Malkovich, DANGEROUS LIASONS), to her as a border. In the subplot, Edna's sister Margaret Lomax (Lindsay Crouse, THE VERDICT) works as a beautician to play the bills as her out-of-work husband Wayne (Ed Harris, THE TRUMAN SHOW) sleeps with the married schoolteacher Viola Kelsey (Amy Madigan, FIELD OF DREAMS).