AWN Blogs

This is a classic kung fu flick that engages, despite its cheesy acting. It's an iconic example of many of the elements that exemplify the best of kung fu flicks. You get signature moves, training sequences, bloody battles and some supernatural skills. But underneath all the conventions is a surprisingly compelling story, which the viewer quickly gets wrapped up in.

Yang Tieh (Sheng Chiang, KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM) is the last student of the Five Deadly Venom’s master. He is sent out to locate the master’s former students and recover a treasure, which they might steal. The kung fu masters never knew each other because they trained wearing masks. #1 – Centipede (Feng Lu, DAREDEVILS), #2 – Snake (Pai Wei, INVINCIBLE SHAOLIN), #3 - Scorpion (Chien Sun, DESTORYERS), #4 – Lizard (Philip Kwok, THE STORY OF RICKY) and #5 – Toad (Meng Lo, HARD-BOILED) are the students.

Hands down the DEAD series is the best horror franchise in the history of cinema. You'd have to go back to the original FRANKENSTEIN to find any real competition. Director George A. Romero takes the genre establishing conventions of his classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and expands on it. While there is definitely gallons of gore to be found here, Romero uses it with purpose, creating a horrifying world where there is more ways than one to become a mindless zombie.

In the beginning, we meet TV producer Francine Parker (Gaylen Ross, CREEPSHOW) as she is dealing with an out-of-control studio in a panic over an epidemic sized invasion of zombies. Her boyfriend Stephen Andrews (David Emge, BASKET CASE 2), a helicopter pilot, advises her that they need to get out of the city as soon as possible. Then we meet cops Roger DeMarco (Scott H. Reiniger, 2004's DAWN OF THE DEAD) and Peter Washington (Ken Foree, THE DENTIST), who have been sent into the ghetto to deal with the zombie problem. The four characters flee together, finding refuge at an abandoned shopping mall.

Miscarriage of justice stories are a dime a dozen. Director Henry Hathaway (KISS OF DEATH) was a stock noir director, but moved onto this "true life" docudrama when the sub-genre became popular in the 1940s following the release of Elia Kazan's BOOMERANG. This one, however, is one of the best in part due to a solid screenplay and its star Jimmy Stewart.

P.J. McNeal (James Stewart, VERTIGO) is a Chicago newspaperman assigned to look into an old cop killing. Frank Wiecek (Richard Conte, THE GODFATHER) was convicted of the crime mainly based on eye-witness testimony. His mother, Tillie (Kasia Orzazewski, QUEEN FOR A DAY), has been scrubbing floors for the past 11 years to save up reward money to find new information that can free her son. It was her notice of a $5,000 reward in the paper that initially piques the interest of McNeal's curious and cantankerous editor Brian Kelly (Lee J. Cobb, 12 ANGRY MEN).

This is a funny movie. A little over-the-top (but what do you expect from a film about a guy who doesn't know he's gay) and on-the-nose at times, but pretty consistently chuckle inducing. It has a madcap charm that strains credibility at times, but it never reaches too far for its many laughs.

Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline, DE-LOVELY) is a well-liked high school English teacher who is about to marry fellow teacher Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack, SCHOOL OF ROCK). They sit down to watch the Oscars because one of their former students Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon, THE OUTSIDERS) has been nominated for playing a gay soldier. During Drake’s acceptance speech, the actor thanks Brackett for inspiring his performance because the teacher is gay. This is a huge surprise to the small town, but more so to Howard, whose wedding and job are put in jeopardy. In response, Howard does everything in his power to dispel the notion that he is a homosexual.

This 1971 crime caper comedy was a real treat even though it unravels a bit at the end. Joe Collins (Warren Beatty, REDS) is a security expert for a German bank run by Mr. Kessel (Gert Frobe, GOLDFINGER). Collins is working an inside job with an ex-American showgirl, current German prostitute named Dawn Divine (Goldie Hawn, SUGARLAND EXPRESS). Dawn has clients who are working illegal jobs and have been putting money in the German bank where Collins works.

The film chronicles the set-up of the crime and shows how it plays out. Collins and Divine target criminals because they won’t go to the cops. However, when the criminals find out, Collins and Divine are on a race for their lives.

Serial killers intrigue me very much. It's something about the dark side of human nature that seems unimaginable. This film was documentary director Nick Broomfield's first film on serial killer Aileen Wuornos (the second used footage from this film and was released in 2003 to coincide with the release of MONSTER). The title of the film is perfect. Sadly enough, it seems that a good deal of the people in Aileen's life tried to capitalize on her crimes.

This doc works as a sad postscript to the feature film MONSTER, which was one of the best films of 2003. Wuornos killed seven men, mainly truck drivers, in the early '80s. She was a woman who pretty much got the roughest deal since birth. She was pretty much bred to become a killer. In a very emotional speech, Wuornos chronicles the beating and rape she endured from the first man she killed. She's truly the only person in the film that I thought was honest.

When it comes to the best of comicbook movies, they are always the ones that deal with the heroes like humans. We get to know what it's like to be them. Hellboy (Ron Perlman, ENEMY AT THE GATES) is half-demon half-human, who is bright red, has a tail and files down his giant horns. To say he doesn't fit into the world would be an understatement.

He works for the top-secret paranormal division of the FBI, under his adoptive father Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm (John Hurt, THE ELEPHANT MAN). His fellow "freak" partner is Abe Sapien (Doug Jones, ADAPTATION), a super-intelligent psychic who is half-man half-fish. The third member of the team has recently left to try and create a normal life for herself. Her name is Liz "Sparky" Sherman. She is pyrokenetic and when she loses control of her firestarter powers you better watch out. Unlike Hellboy and Abe, she looks normal. Added to the mix is rookie FBI agent John Myers (Rupert Evans, TV's PARADISE HEIGHTS). This sets up a love triangle between Hellboy, Liz and Myers.

This indie romantic comedy stars Oscar winner Adrien Brody (THE PIANIST) as a slow, shy 28-year-old man named Steven, who has finally decided to quit his job and follow his dream of becoming a ventriloquist. He begins to take the dummy everywhere he goes. Will following his dream allow him to open up or make him hide behind something new?

Steven lives at home with his unsupportive parents (Jessica Walter, SLUMS OF BEVERLY HILLS and Ron Liebman, NORMA RAE) and his wedding planner sister Heidi (Illeana Douglas, GHOST WORLD), who is trying to get over her psychotic ex-fiancée Michael (Jared Harris, HAPPINESS), who keeps stalking her. Steven's best friend is the wanna-be punk rock singer Fangora (Milla Jovovich, FIFTH ELEMENT). When he goes to the unemployment office to find work as a ventriloquist, Steven develops a crush on single mother, Lorena (Vera Farmiga, the new MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE). There relationship is bumpy, because she doesn't like dating two men — Steven and his dummy.

When I first saw the trailers for this film I groaned with the idea that Hollywood was going to the well again with the "kid in an adult body" flick. However, I was surprised to find this film having as much in common with BIG's premise as it does with IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

Jenna Rink (as an adult, Jennifer Garner, TV's ALIAS) is a 13-year-old girl who wants to be popular. Her best friend is a chubby boy who likes photography named Matt Flamhaff (as an adult, Mark Ruffalo, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME). For her birthday party, Jenna invites the popular crowd, lead by Lucy "Tom Tom" Wyman (as an adult, Judy Greer, THE VILLAGE) who really just wants Jenna to do her homework for her. An awkward moment between Jenna, Matt and Lucy leads to Jenna making a wish to be 30, which comes true. She wakes up and her 13-year-old self has been propelled into her 30-year-old life where she is the editor of her favorite fashion magazine and dating a hunky hockey player named Alex Carlson (Samuel Ball, PUMPKIN). Confused, Jenna seeks out Matt and finds out that she has not spoken to him since the infamous birthday party.

This film was released in 2002 in China and was nominated for the 2003 Academy award for best foreign film. It has since sat on the shelves at Miramax waiting for a theatrical release. If you like CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON or KILL BILL than you should love this film. If you love beautifully shot films that jump off the screen with vibrant color than you will fall in lust with this film.

Director Yimou Zhang is best known for his film RAISE THE RED LANTERN, which also had a wonderful use of color. HERO begins with a nameless warrior (Jet Li, THE ONE) traveling to meet the King of Qin (Daoming Chen, INFERNAL AFFAIRS III) after he has killed the top assassins Long Sky (Donnie Yen, BLADE II), Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu Wai, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung, POLICE STORY). Aiding Broken Sword is his dutiful pupil Moon (Ziyi Zhang, SHANGHAI KNIGHTS).

I love this film! This Swedish classic from Ingmar Bergman is a captivating journey into the time of the Black Plague. Most people will know this film from its human-looking version of Death (Bengt Ekerot, THE MAGICIAN), with his pale, hairless face and black hooded robes. He makes appearances in films like BILL & TED'S BOGUS JOURNEY and LAST ACTION HERO.

In this film, Death engages in a chess match with a soldier named Antonius Block (Max von Sydow, THE EXORCIST). Going into the film, I was expecting something very artsy and metaphorical. It is those things, but not at all in a pretentious way. The most surprising thing about the film is that it's often funny. Block and his squire Jons (Gunnar Bjornstrand, AUTUMN SONATA) are journeying back home after being involved in the Crusades for the past 10 years. Block is questioning his faith and Jons is convinced there is no God. They meet up with various people along their way — most notably an acting troupe led by Jof (Nils Poppe, THE ACTOR) along with his wife Mia (Bibi Andersson, PERSONA) and infant child Michael.

Sidney Lumet has made some of my favorite films, including NETWORK and DOG DAY AFTERNOON. This film has a wonderful premise, but a distracting focus. The story follows a family who are on the run from the FBI because in the 1970s the parents Annie (Christine Lahti, TV's CHICAGO HOPE) and Arthur Pope (Judd Hirsch, TV's TAXI) blew up a napalm factory, which unintentionally blinded and crippled a janitor who wasn't supposed to be there.

Annie and Arthur have two sons Danny (River Phoenix, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE) and Harry (Jonas Abry, SLAVES OF NEW YORK). The family is constantly moving as the feds get wind of where they may be. Danny is becoming bitter about his life because he's about to graduate high school and won't be able to go to college to study music. The family moves to a new town and Danny starts to date his music teacher's daughter Lorna (Martha Plimpton, GOONIES). Danny is a piano phenomenon and the film focuses a lot on his struggles with his family's secrets and the loss of his freedom. As Danny's feelings become clear to Annie and Arthur, they must deal with the decision to let Danny leave or keep the family together.