AWN Blogs

Time heals all wounds, they say. The distance of years from film school has allowed me to enjoy films again. For years, I have spoken of my distain for JURASSIC PARK for its lopping off subplots and featuring a Deus ex Machina ending (i.e. the heroes in peril are saved by the cavalry arriving just in time). I still think the ending is weak -- the third installment in this franchise has a better ending in my opinion. However, after this viewing, I was able to get wrapped up in the awe of the film like the very first time I saw it in the theaters.

The film drips with the style and themes of director Steven Spielberg’s best work. The film’s science is well thought out and detailed. The emotional center of the film surrounds children. The plot is perfectly paced and flawlessly executed. Sam Neill (THE PAINO) as Dr. Alan Grant is the focal point of all the action. We can see in his character the true awe of seeing the living dinosaurs, a topic he has dedicated his whole life to. The park brings out the childlike side in him, which allows him to bond with park’s creator John Hammond's grandchildren Tim (Joseph Mazzello, SIMON BIRCH) and Lex (Ariana Richards, ANGUS) when the trio are stranded in the park with the dinosaurs.

Why is this film good? Two main factors: it re-introduced a long dead genre with style and excitement and Johnny Depp. Who would have thought such a good film could be an adaptation of an amusement park ride?

The story has the cursed crew of the Black Pearl pirate ship, lead by Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush, SHINE), out to find the last piece of Coronado’s stolen gold so they can lift the curse that makes them living skeletons. They attack a Caribbean port city looking for the gold piece, which was given to the young blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom, LORD OF THE RINGS) when he was a boy and was taken by the Governor’s daughter Elizabeth (Keira Knightly, PHANTOM MENACE, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM). The pirates kidnap Elizabeth, and Will pressures Commander Norrington (Jack Davenport, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY), the older suitor of Elizabeth, to rush out to save her. Norrington’s lack of speed leads Will to break the pirate Jack Sparrow (Depp, ED WOOD) out of prison to steal a ship and head out after the Black Pearl.

This film is one of the best films of 1997, which contained a strong list of other contenders, including BOOGIE NIGHTS, CHASING AMY and L.A. CONFIDENTIAL. Director Gus Van Sant gained mainstream success with this Oscar nominated production. The film received nine Oscar nods, including Best Picture. A wonderful mix of writing, acting and music, GOOD WILL HUNTING can be just as funny as it can be soulful.

The story follows Will Hunting (Matt Damon, OCEAN'S ELEVEN), a poor, hardheaded orphan who happens to be a Math genius. To save Will from jail, MIT professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard, BREAKING THE WAVES) offers to take him under his custody provided that Will works problems with him and sees a therapist. After going through a few psychologists, Gerald gets Sean Maguire (Robin Williams, WHAT DREAMS MAY COME), a community college psych professor who used to be his roommate in college, to help.

This film is the thriller that all thrillers since have tried to be. The serial killer sub-genre has never been better. Anthony Hopkins was an established actor before this film, but his performance as the demented Dr. Hannibal Lecter made him a mega-star. I've seen this film dozens of times and with each new viewing I'm still thrilled and on the edge of my seat.

The story follows FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster, THE ACCUSED) sent by special agent Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn, THE RIGHT STUFF) to interview the serial killer Hannibal the cannibal. Her assignment is to elicit the notorious killer's insight into the newest at-large killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine, HEAT). This begins the film's battle of wills. Lecter is a genius and Clarice gains his sympathy because she does not insult his intelligence. He is a crafty manipulator and pulls out past traumas from her mind like they're cotton candy. Will he get into her head before she can get into his?

With making his first big splash with SPLASH, Ron Howard followed up that hit with this quirky sci-fi flick about a group of retirement home inhabitants that find youthful rejuvenation in a swimming pool containing alien cocoons.

The film has two parallel stories that converge in the end. Firstly, Jack Bonner (Steve Guttenberg, THREE MEN & A BABY) skippers a boat and takes a group of human-looking aliens, lead by Walter (Brian Dennehy, STOLEN SUMMER) and beautiful Kitty (Tahnee Welch, I SHOT ANDY WARHOL), out to collect huge pods from the bottom of the ocean. Once Jack learns they're aliens, he is at first scared, but soon helps them and falls for Kitty.

The second and most central story is the four old men and their wives, who have been sneaking into the next-door neighbor's pool, which the aliens rent. Ben (Wilford Brimley, THE NATURAL) and Mary Luckett (Maureen Stapleton, THE MONEY PIT) are a loving couple, who share a good wit. They have a grandson named David (Barret Oliver, D.A.R.Y.L.), who likes to spend more time with his grandparents then with kids his own age. Joe and Alma Finley (Hume Croyn and Jessica Tandy, BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED) have been married for years, but once the "fountain of youth" gives Joe a new lease on life he starts to get a wondering eye. Art Selwyn (Don Ameche, TRADING PLACES) is a single man who gets the nerve to woo retirement home dance instructor Bess McCarthy (Gwen Verdon, MARVIN'S ROOM). Bernie (Jack Gilford, CATCH-22) and Rose Lefkowitz (Herta Ware, CRUEL INTENTIONS) are a scared duo, who must deal with Rose's growing struggle with Alzheimer's.

If you've read my reviews with any regularity than you know that I love the films of Hayao Miyazaki. This film was recently released in the U.S. for the first time after being released in Japan in 1986. As usual, Miyazaki presents a unique imagination that is unmatched in cinema. He creates worlds so original that there is no comparison.

This film follows a young miner named Pazu (voiced by James Van Der Beek, TV's DAWSON'S CREEK), who dreams of flying. His simple life changes when a young girl named Sheeta (Anna Paquin, X-MEN) floats down from the sky after falling from an airship that was attacked by pirates led by the crone-ish Dola (Cloris Leachman, LAST PICTURE SHOW). Pazu and Sheeta go on the run trying to avoid the pirates, as well as the military, which is lead by secret agent Muska (Mark Hamill, STAR WARS). Along the way, Pazu and Sheeta learn about the legendary floating city of Laputa, an advanced society that once ruled the world.

I read a lot of the public's reviews of movies on IMDB.com. The first review listed for PUMPKIN loathes it. That person called it the worst movie of the year. You may hate it also, but I think it's one of the best. Some films that skirt the edge will get mixed reactions, especially if people just don't get it. The movie is a cross between HAROLD & MAUDE and a John Waters film (POLYESTER). It's not subtle and by no means is it PC about its subject matter.

The film follows super peppy sorority member, Carolyn McDuffy (Christina Ricci, SLEEPY HOLLOW) as she and her sorority sisters plan how they're going to win Sorority of the Year. They talk about how they desperately need to recruit the pretty "black" girl and the white looking "Filipino" girl because the Greek council likes diversity. But the crowning moment is their choice of charity work — coaching handicapped and retarded kids for the Challenged Games. Carolyn doesn't like the idea at all. She is assigned Pumpkin Romanoff (Hank Harris, MERCURY RISING), a wheelchair bound boy who can barely talk. At first, Carolyn is completely disgusted with Pumpkin because he makes her feel so uncomfortable. But soon enough she starts to like him, even setting him up on a double date with her and her big-man-on-campus, tennis star boyfriend Kent Woodlands (Sam Ball, THE LAST CASTLE).

The best way to describe this film is by quoting its own tag line, "The motion picture with something to offend everyone!" This biting satire starts out lampooning Hollywood and the cultural differences between the British and Americans then spends the last two acts attacking the funeral business and polite society in general. The film mercilessly makes fun of everything and anything that it can sink its teeth into.

The film's central character is Dennis Barlow (Robert Morse, THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES), a young wanna-be poet who moves to L.A. from England. He moves in with his gay uncle Sir Francis Hinsley (John Gielgud, ARTHUR), who ends up dying and leads Dennis to Whispering Glades funeral parlor where he meets the beautiful, naive make-up technician Aimee Thanatogenous (Anjanette Comer, THE PENNSYLVANIA MINERS' STORY). Competing with Dennis for the affections of Aimee is effeminate, momma's boy embalmer Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT). To get a picture of what Joyboy is like think of Bill Murray in ED WOOD.

Anyone who knows me will know that I'm a major fan of this film -- it's one of my favorites. I truly feel it's one of the most underrated films of the last decade. Director Lasse Hallstrom poetically visualizes Peter Hedges' angst-filled coming-of-age novel, bringing it to the screen in a funny and delicate way. Gilbert Grape has a quirky family, but you'll see a real family when you meet them. Brimming with originality, the character study not only builds one believable life, but a whole community of them.

It's a classic tale of a lethargic young man (Johnny Depp, ED WOOD), who lives in a small Mid-Western town named Endora and tries to do the right thing for his family. His younger brother Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio, TITANIC) is autistic and needs a lot of special attention — and even more patience — to deal with. Gilbert also has two sisters. The older, Amy, (Laura Harrington, PAULIE) was recently laid off from the local elementary school and the younger, Ellen, (Mary Kate Schellhardt, APOLLO 13) is a cocky teenager who works at the local ice cream shoppe. They all care for their 800-pound-plus mother, Bonnie (Darlene Cates, TV's WOLF GIRL), who hasn't left the house to years.

This is one of the craziest love stories you'll ever see. I guess many boss/secretary relationships are sadomasochistic, but no other film has ever made that so literal.

Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal, DONNIE DARKO) has recently been released from a mental institution because she likes to cut herself. Her family is neurotic to say the least. Her father (Stephen McHattie, BASEKETBALL) is an alcoholic and her mother (Lesley Ann Warren, TWIN FALLS IDAHO) is an overly pleasant smotherer. Lee goes to an interview at the law office of E. Edward Grey (James Spader, SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE), a man who goes through so many secretaries that he has an illuminated "secretary wanted" sign outside the building.

At face value the film seems like a romantic comedy, but it really is more about loves lost and New York itself. If Paris is the city of love than I think this film is saying that New York is the city of longing.

The film starts off with Isaac Davis (Woody Allen, ZELIG) giving a narration about New York, but he changes it ever so often and paints a different image of New York. I think Isaac the character and Allen the director see the Big Apple as a magnificent city in turmoil with its greatness and beauty, and its moral and structural decay. Don’t let that heavy sounding description scare you. It serves as the backdrop for the characters.

Isaac is an insecure two-time divorcee who is currently dating a 17-year-old beauty named Tracy (Mariel Hemingway, PERSONAL BEST). Isaac seems rattled by her devotion to him because she is so young and he is so weary of romance. There whole relationship consists of him trying to distance himself from her because she may genuinely care for him. To mirror that relationship, we have Yale (Michael Murphy, PRIVATE PARTS) who is cheating on his wife, Emily (Anne Byrne, WHY WOULD I LIE?) with neurotic socialite, Mary (Diane Keaton, ANNIE HALL). Adding to Isaac's mental anguish, his ex-wife, Jill (Meryl Streep, ADAPTATION), who's now with a woman, is writing a tell-all book about her marriage with him. Eventually, Isaac and Mary hook up which is more because they have no one else to talk to. Isaac's break-up scene with Tracy is quite ironic — it's set in an ice cream pallor.

I've seen bits and pieces of this film over the years, but never all the way through until now. I was surprised at how subtle some of the satire is and how dead on it is with some of its comments about family vacations. The ending has a nice sardonic touch, which satirizes American family values as well as the Walt Disney empire.

The plot is simple -- Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase, FLETCH) wants to drive his family from Chicago to Los Angeles to visit the Wally World theme park. Along the way they encounter everything that could go wrong. Chase is perfect in the role of the overachieving father, with a dialed down performance that is absent from the other VACATION flicks even the solid CHRISTMAS VACATION installment. His wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo, AMERICAN HISTORY X) loves Clark's enthusiasm and encourages him… up to a point. "Rusty" Griswold (Anthony Michael Hall, PRETTY IN PINK) is a typical horny teen and Audrey Griswold (Dana Barron, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK) is your typical boy-obsessed, rebellious teen. Rusty is just young enough to still dig his father's vacation plans and Audrey is just old enough to loathe the entire idea.