AWN Blogs

Wes Anderson's quirky films deal with the strains that occur in close relationships (or better, relationship that are supposed to be close). Here he deals with three brothers who have grown apart since the death of their father. They come together to find enlightenment through a meandering journey in India. The trip in this character study is not really the point.

Francis Whitman (Owen Wilson, BOTTLE ROCKET) is the eldest of the three brothers and organizer of the trip. He has his assistant Brendan (Wallace Wolodarsky, SEEING OTHER PEOPLE) en tow printing out daily itineraries and laminating them with the laminating machine he has en tow. His head is in bandages due to a recent motorcycle accident, which caused him nasty bruises and the desire to find enlightenment. En tow on his spiritual journey he has his brothers Peter (Adrien Brody, THE PIANIST) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman, RUSHMORE). Peter is in a bad marriage, which has gotten more frightening now that his wife revealed she is pregnant. Jack is a writer who calls his ex-girlfriend's house to spy on her answering machine.

With the fire of a classic Greek tragedy, but with an attune eye for the real world, Jeff Nichols' debut feature is a rare film that keeps you guessing and marveling from beginning to end. Great drama can move you to the edge of your seat just like a thriller and SHOTGUN STORIES does just that. The brother-against-brother feud at the center allows us to see the nature of its characters, while giving us a peek into their dark pasts and hopefully a potential future better than the current state they are in.

Sonny Hayes (Michael Shannon, WORLD TRADE CENTER) has a quiet emotionless demeanor even when he is about to beat someone. He sees things in his life very clearly and matter-of-fact, sometimes to a fault, putting up blinders to the harm he may be causing. His wife Annie (Glenda Pannell, JUST THE TWO OF US) has moved out with his young son, Carter (Cole Hendrixson), because he lost $200 gambling again. To him it's not gambling, because he has a system. This allows Sonny to invite his younger brothers to move back in with him. The youngest Kid (Barlow Jacobs, GREAT WORLD OF SOUND) has been living in a tent in Sonny's backyard, while Boy (Douglas Ligon, film debut) literally lives in a van down by the river.

Pixar's latest short film, PRESTO, from director Doug Sweetland, is an ode to classic Warner Bros. and MGM shorts. And it's as hilarious as some of their best. A cute white bunny is a prop in the act of master magician Presto. The white rabbit longs for a carrot that is just out of his reach. Rushing out on stage, Presto forgets to feed his pet. During his performance he uses two magical hats to pulled the rabbit from one and out the other. However, this time around the bunny has some surprises for Presto on the other side.

What a crowd pleaser this short is. Sweetland times his gags effortlessly with some great animation acting. Making the gags work all the more is their believability within the world of the theater. When Presto pulls random things out of the hat they aren't really random. Because this is mainly a gag and performance piece, Sweetland keeps jokes flying at the audience, shifting the context and reaction of his gags just enough to make the next bit of physical humor just as funny as the one preceding it. Mixing humor and charm, this is the kind of animated short that many people think of when they think of animated shorts. Playing along with WALL•E, movie fans are getting two of Pixar's best.

And you thought the Hulk had anger management issues — wait till you get a load of Timur Bekmambetov's new film WANTED. The director of the cult sci-fi flick NIGHT WATCH brings to the screen an angry and violent adaptation of Mark Millar and J.G. Jones' comic book series. The film pulses with youthful resentment for crappy jobs and an unfair life. At 21, I would have loved this film probably more than I do now that I'm older.

Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy, ATONEMENT) is a big loser. He has a crappy cubicle job with an overbearing boss and his best friend is sleeping with his girlfriend. He has little money in the bank and he suffers from anxiety attacks. While filling a prescription, the striking assassin Fox (Angelina Jolie, TOMB RAIDER) drops a bomb on him — his absent father was really one of the world's best assassins and that his father's killer named Cross (Thomas Kretschmann, THE PIANIST) is around the corner waiting to kill him. After a crazed chase through the streets of Chicago, Wesley meets Sloan (Morgan Freeman, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION), the head of the Fraternity of Assassins. He informs Wesley that his anxiety attacks are really his increased levels of adrenaline that give him superhuman reflexes. So begins, Wesley's initiation into the Fraternity, one where hazing laws are savagely disregarded.

When done well, the simplest of conflicts can create great drama. In Majid Majidi's CHILDREN OF HEAVEN, the drama is built around a pair of lost shoes. This sweet and moving film is about two children and can be enjoyed by children, as well as the entire family, despite being Persian. Any child that can read subtitles can discover the wonders of this Iranian film. All great art has the power to reach across cultural boundaries and connect us all. It doesn't contain wizards or superheroes, but is certainly contains magic.

Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian) is running errands. When he sets down his little sister's newly repaired shoes outside the vegetable market, a peddler accidentally picks the shoes up. When he tells his sister Zahra (Bahare Seddiqi) what has happened, she wonders how she will be able to go to school without shoes. With their mother (Fereshte Sarabandi) sick and their father (Mohammad Amir Naji) unable to pay the rent, Ali asks Zahra not to tattle, devising a plan where Zahra will go to school in the morning with his sneakers, run home right after, give him the shoes so he can run and make his midday classes. During the course of the story, the loving brother and sister will grow a closer bond over the many problems that a lost pair of shoes can cause.

Based on the bestselling illustrated book series from Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, Mark Water's screen adaptation is a highlight reel of some of the best parts from the five-book adventure. Like the HARRY POTTER series, the screen adaptation pares down the material to fit the length of a feature film, some fans will not like this fact, but others unfamiliar with the books will just get caught up in the breakneck speed of the wonderment.

Jared Grace (Freddie Highmore, FINDING NEVERLAND) is a troublesome child to his recently separated mother Helen (Mary-Louise Parker, TV's WEEDS). Along with his straight-laced twin brother Simon (also Highmore) and fencing-loving sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger, IN AMERICA), they move to the abandoned house of their institutionalized relative Aunt Lucinda (Joan Plowright, 1996's 101 DALMATIANS). Jared quickly comes to suspect something strange in the house, eventually finding a dumbwaiter that leads to a hidden room where he finds his great uncle Arthur Spiderwick's field guide to the fantastical world. Spiderwick (David Strathairn, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK) mysteriously disappeared 80 years prior and set the tiny brownie Thimbletack (Martin Short, INNNER SPACE) up as the book's protector. Turns out, the forest is filled with goblins lead by the sinister ogre Mulgarath (Nick Nolte, HULK), who wants nothing more than to possess the knowledge inside the guide.

Director Frank Darabont previously made two good adaptations from Stephen King stories, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and THE GREEN MILE. Now he makes it a third, however this is the first time he tackles a King horror story. Like many of King's more haunting tales, this film doesn't force us into pleasant messages about humanity. This is horror done darkly, but not sadistically like recent torture porn where gore is the main subject. Like a great B-movie, Darabont taps into primordial human fears, allowing the real monsters to be the humans.

David Drayton (Thomas Jane, THE PUNISHER) paints movie posters in a small New England town. After a storm destroys parts of his house, he heads into town for supplies with his young son Billy (Nathan Gamble, BABEL) and his next-door neighbor Brent Norton (Andre Braugher, FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER), who he hasn't gotten along with previously. While they're at the supermarket, a strange fog rolls in from which Dan Miller (Jeffrey DeMunn, THE MAJESTIC) comes running, screaming that there is something in the mist. When David sees something push against the loading dock doors, he gets frightened, but hick Jim (William Sadler, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) doesn't believe until it's too late. As things gets worse, Bible-thumping Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden, MYSTIC RIVER) starts stirring up fire and brimstone. This makes the situation even more dangerous for the non-true-believers like David, his son, Dan, school teacher Amanda Dumfries (Laurie Holden, SILENT HILL), sure-shot grocery clerk Ollie Weeks (Toby Jones, THE PAINTED VEIL), sassy senior citizen Irene Reppler (Frances Sternhagen, MISERY), pretty check-out girl Sally (Alexa Davalos, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK) and army private Jessup (Sam Witwer, TV's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA).

This past January two horror films were released using a hand-held documentary style. The faux doc style has been used in many genres for years, including dramas like LENNY and crime tales like GANG TAPES. Horror films, particularly, have used the "found footage" approach ever since Ruggero Deodato's controversial cult gore fest CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. In recent years, the mockumentary has grown in favor due to the wonderful work of Christopher Guest. So this edition of This Weekend's Film Festival cuts between the terrifying and the humorous to look at how faux docs help bring realism to their productions when the technique is used effectively.

When it comes to found footage horror films, the most well known example is THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Three student filmmakers get lost in the Maryland woods while filming a documentary on a local legend, the Blair witch. The footage begins with typical interviews and information about the legend, but as the day progresses into evening, the nerves of the students become frayed due to strange occurrences in the woods, which they find themselves hopelessly trapped in. The raw, black & white, first-person cinematography transports the viewer into the harrowing experience of these young people. Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez play on common fears that everyone has experienced, creating a growing and relentless tension. Driven by raw performances and the eeriness of the half and not seen, this simple story provides continued chills because it taps into primordial emotions. As I said in my original review, "[BLAIR WITCH] has me on the edge of my seat every time, because it's not what we see on the screen that necessarily scares us, it’s what the film conjures vividly in the viewer’s mind that has us gripped with fear."

Michael Apted's brilliant documentary series has checked in with the same group of people every seven years since they were seven. As the title suggests, this installment is the third in the series. Now as young adults, some of the subjects have stronger opinions about the way they are portrayed in the previous two films. Some have stayed the same, while others have taken surprising turns. Being older, the young men and women begin to comment on the others, as well as their pasts.

In the first film, John, Charles and Andrew were attending the same lavish pre-preparatory school. John and Andrew have gone onto the same colleges they said they would attend at seven. However, John, the most conservative of the group, points out that the films make it seem like they've had it easy, underplaying the hard work that went into how they got where they are today. Charles didn't make it into Oxford as he planned at seven, but rather enjoys avoiding the pre-prep to Oxford conveyor belt. Since the first film, both Charles and Andrew's parents divorced. While Andrew seems reconciled to the split, Charles seems to struggle with how it really has affected him. When asked about their opportunities in life, John believes it's his duty to give back to England, which has given him so much. Charles agrees, but adds that they have no more opportunities than any of the others in the series.

A little over 10 years after starring in the quintessential mockumentary, THIS IS SPINAL TAP, Christopher Guest stepped behind the camera as well for his own mock doc, which skewers the world of local theater. Like SPINAL TAP, the performers in this celebration of a small Mid-West town have an over-inflated sense of their own talents. Played by Guest, Corky St. Clair failed to make it on Broadway, but his big city experience brings some glamour to Blaine, Missouri.

St. Clair runs his little production like a serious production. Having starred in Corky's previous stage renditions of BAREFOOT IN THE PARK and BACKDRAFT, Ron and Sheila Albertson (Fred Willard & Catherine O'Hara, BEST IN SHOW) audition knowing the have secured spots. Their outgoingness and over eagerness sometimes make others feel awkward. Dentist Allan Pearl (Eugene Levy, AMERICAN PIE) whose less than perfect singing still impresses Corky, landing him the coveted roll as the town's founder Blaine Faban. Libby Mae Brown (Parker Posey, SUPERMAN RETURNS) is the youngest cast member, who contemplates her future in the ice cream business at Diary Queen. Corky also recruits handsome mechanic Johnny Savage (Matt Keeslar, ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL). Narrating the play is the earnest Clifford Wooley (Lewis Arquette, SCREAM 2).

I was reminded of another Pennsylvanian filmmaker while watching M. Night Shyamalan's latest film — George A. Romero. The apocalyptic storyline where an unknown event makes humans act strange reminded me of Romero's zombie films or THE CRAZIES. Being that THE HAPPENING is Shyamalan's first R-rated film, the gory bits and "big kill" moments felt like the touch of Romero as well. However, the weak acting, which never truly undermines Romero's work, does undermine Shyamalan's attempt at the supernatural paranoid thriller. Additionally, Romero knows how to set up a scare to make it frightening and when he adds in humor we know we're supposed to laugh with Shyamalan the two become interchangeable.