AWN Blogs

The first time I saw this film — it made me want to rush out and make a movie. Not very many new films affect me in that way. This film became an art house hit in 1999 and won awards at the Sundance Film Festival. It's a remarkable film debut from Michael Polish, who also stars in this melancholy character study.

The story follows conjoined twins, Blake and Francis Falls (Mark and Michael Polish respectively). Blake is the stronger of the two and his heart is what keeps the sick Francis alive. Because Francis is on the brink of death, the brothers check themselves into a seedy hotel and hire themselves a hooker named Penny (Michele Hicks, former model, MULHOLLAND DRIVE). Penny is a prostitute out of desperation. She is initially scared of the twins, but after having to return to their room for her purse, she starts feeling sympathy for them. Noticing that Francis is sick, she calls on a client/doctor named Miles (Patrick Bauchau, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER), who reveals that Francis' heart is failing. Have the Falls brothers checked into the Idaho Hotel to die?

The director's cut of Ridley Scott's (BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLADE RUNNER GLADIATOR) cult classic breathes new life into the film. The longer version benefits from a better narrative flow. The motivations of the characters are clearer and the entire story takes on a more mythic quality.

The story is a classic fairy tale where the Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry, ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW) kills the last of the unicorns so that the world will fall into darkness forever. A young forest boy (Tom Cruise) has to save the princess (Mia Sara, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF) as well as the last unicorn.

Some director's cuts make the film leaps and bounds better, but this one just clarifies the story. The studio monkeyed with the film a lot at the time of release -- insisting that it be cut down and that a pop band do the soundtrack. Most of the added footage makes adds more life to the story. However, some of the scenes could have stayed the way they were -- especially the first scene with the unicorn as well as the ending. If you watch the making of documentaries Scott feels the classical Jerry Goldsmith score creates a more epic feel for the production, however the new wave Tangerine Dream soundtrack sounded more fairy tale-like. In my opinion they could have kept the pop soundtrack (except for the last very cheesy song).

What a powerful film this is. The story is gritty, painful, honest and unflinching. The characters feel like they came from a novel. The performances from Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry are great — Berry's Oscar is well deserved.

The story follows the tragic events in the lives of Hank Grotowski (Thornton) and Leticia Musgrove (Berry), which lead up to them forming a relationship that transcends their pasts because all they really need is someone to comfort them. I simply love the way the film builds their relationship. Nothing is forced, even though their coming together means they must cross huge huddles. Hank is a cop who works death row. Leticia is the wife of Lawrence Musgrove (rapper P Diddy), a man on Death Row where Hank works with his son Sonny (Heath Ledger, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU). A lesser film would be centered on the fact that Hank keeps his connection with Leticia's husband from her, but this film is more real about it.

If you didn't catch this TV mini-series when it was on TV, you need to catch this on video. Written by Stephen King, this mini-series is one of the better King horror adaptations in quite some time. The longer format allows enough time to build real tension and develop a great myth surrounding the central haunted house.

The story follows a group of psychics who are brought together by psychiatrist Dr. Joyce Reardon (Nancy Reardon, CHAPLIN) to awaken a long dormant haunted house called Rose Red. Steven Rimbauer (Matt Keeslar, WAITING FOR GUFFMAN) is a telepath who is the owner of the house, a descendent of Ellen Rimbauer (Julia Campbell, 2000's BOUNCE), the original cursed owner of the house where she lived with her abusive oil tycoon husband John (John Procaccino) and African maid Sukeena (Tsidii Leloka), who may all still be haunting the large estate.

I've recommended this film to many people before, but this review is more of a reaction to someone I know saying the film was pointless. I beg to differ. The key element that makes this film wonderful is that it can't be locked down into a one-sentence description. You couldn't even say what it's about in one sentence really. It works as a character piece and a meditation on the complexity of life. Director Paul Thomas Anderson was asked what the message of the film was and he said, "To be good to your kids." The film tackles loss, regret and forgiveness. What each character, and there are lots of them, is going through is paralleled by another character.

John C. Reilly (PERFECT STORM, WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE?) plays a hopelessly good-hearted cop named Jim Kurring, who desperately tries to help (and get a date) with self-destructive drug addict Claudia Wilson Gator (Melora Walters, BOOGIE NIGHTS). Claudia struggles with the pain of her abusive father Jimmy Gator, (Philip Baker Hall, BOOGIE NIGHTS), who works as a host of a TV game show. The producer of the game show, Big Earl (Jason Robards), struggles with his guilt over mental abusing his son Frank (Tom Cruise), who has become a misogynistic dating guru. Julianne Moore plays Robards second-wife Linda, who struggles with her infidelity, which parallels her husband cheating on Frank's mother. Philip Seymour Hoffman (FLAWLESS, PATCH ADAMS) plays a good-hearted nurse named Phil who tries to reunite Big Earl with his son. William H. Macy plays former TV show whiz kid, Donnie Smith, who can barely pay his rent. Jeremy Blackman plays inquisitive young quiz kid Stanley on Jimmy's program, who father Rick (Michael Bowen, JACKIE BROWN) is a tyrant who drives his son deeper and deeper into his own shell.

This film quickly moved into third place on my top ten list after watching what I feel is David Lynch's best "dream state" movie yet. Personally ELEPHANT MAN will always be my favorite from him, but this is a very close second. For creative people, this is one of those films that really gets the creative juices flowing, because it's working outside convention at every step and inspires with its creativity.

Rita (Laura Elena Harring, THE FORBIDDEN DANCE) escapes her own murder by driving her car off the windy roads on Mulholland Dr. The crash leaves her with no memories. She finds her way to an abandoned apartment where she meets Betty (Naomi Watts, DANGEROUS BEAUTY), a fledgling actress literally straight off the bus. They travel around L.A. trying to discover Rita's identity. The twisted tale involves a famous director, mobsters, a cowboy and an actress named Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George, DARK CITY).

This cult film is so freakin' cool. It's John Carpenter's first full-fledged theatrical feature, which he produced soon after film school and right before HALLOWEEN. The plot is simple; a small group of cops and convicts get surrounded by a multi-racial bloodthirsty gang in an abandoned police station.

Inspired by John Ford's RIO BRAVO, attacking Indians are replaced with gang members. After cops kill six members of their gang, the Street Thunder leaders make a pact to wage war on the cops and citizen of Los Angeles. It's New Year's Eve and only a skeleton crew is working Precinct 9, Division 13 station, which is set to close. Newly promoted Lt. Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker, TV's ROOTS) is given the glamorous duty of babysitting the station over the holiday. His only company is officer Chaney (Henry Brandon, THE SEARCHERS) and secretaries Leigh (Laurie Zimmer) and Julie (Nancy Loomis, HALLOWEEN). Meanwhile, officer Starker (Charles Cyphers, COMING HOME) is transferring three prisoners to a new prison when one gets violently sick. So he orders the bus to stop at Bishop's station. One of those prisoners happens to be notorious killer Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston, THE FOG). As the gang lays siege on the jail, cops must team with criminals to saves their lives.

Right now there is a renaissance of sorts going on in Iran. As the country becomes more liberal and moves closer to democracy, art is peaking, especially film. Some of the most successful films of late at international film fests have been Iranian. Majid Majidi, director of this film, was nominated for an Oscar for his CHILDREN OF HEAVEN in 1998, the only Iranian filmmaker to ever receive an Academy Award nod. For COLOR OF PARADISE, the simple story about a blind boy and his family is so tender and absorbing that it grips you from the first frame to the last.

The widowed father is searching for a new wife from a rich family and wants a way of "ridding" himself of the burden of his blind eight-year-old son. Mohammad (Mohsen Ramezani), the blind boy, is full of life and likes learning at the school for the blind the same things seeing children learn. Mohammad is not completely unloved, cared for by his grandmother (Salameh Feyzi), his older sister (Farahnaz Safari) and younger sister (Elham Sharifi). His father Hashem (Hossein Mahjoub) finally finds the boy an apprenticeship with a blind carpenter. While the opportunity looks good for Hashem, he underestimates what his son can do, and more so doesn't care what he wants.

One of the most important things about making a great fantasy/sci-fi film is the creation of the world. That's why HARRY POTTER is so great. The world is rich and borrows a lot from various Greek myths and wizard and witch tales, but finds a way to make it feel refreshingly original.

The story begins with young Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) living under the stairs of his mean aunt and uncle's house. On a visit to the zoo, we learn that Harry has strange abilities that he does not understand. Then the owls arrive, carrying letters inviting Harry to come study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, his uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths, WITHNAIL & I) wants nothing to do with all this embarrassing witches and wizards hoopla. So the family runs to the countryside, but they can't hide from magic — arriving for Harry is the kind giant Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane, FROM HELL), who takes Harry into a marvelous world that exists in the shadows of the human world.

Pixar hasn't made a bad film yet (TOY STORY & A BUG'S LIFE). In my opinion MONSTERS INC. isn't as good as the TOY STORYs, but isn't too far behind. Directors Pete Docter, David Silverman and Lee Unkrich have taken the common childhood fear of monsters in the closet and created a wonderful world around the idea.

The story follows the life of Monsteropolis, where all the things that go bump in the night live. The monsters sneak into the human world through children's closets to collect kids' screams, the source of power in their world. Sulley (John Goodman, TV's ROSEANNE) is the top scarer, but his world goes haywire when he discovers a little human girl named Boo has wandered into the monster world after him. The monsters believe that the children will contaminate their land. So along with his best friend Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal, CITY SLICKERS) they try to keep the little one from Sulley's rival Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi, DESPERADO), who would love nothing more than to humiliate the top scarer.

I saw this when I was a kid and just re-watched it. It's just as scary as I remember. It's a slow build, but it's totally worth the wait. The moments with the dog are terrifying. The main reason the film works is that anyone can relate to the situation. Everyone has had a mean looking, giant dog bark at them in an angry way. Take that situation and turn it up a million degrees and you get this film.

Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace, E.T.) has moved to a small town in Maine with her husband Vic (Daniel Hugh Kelly, TV's RYAN'S HOPE) and young son Tad (Danny Pintauro, TV's WHO'S THE BOSS?). She dreads her new situation, fearing that her life will be painfully boring. Tad has fears of the bogeyman lurking in his closet. While Vic is away on a business trip, Donna takes her Ford Pinto to the farm of Joe Camber (Ed Lauter, SEABISCUIT) for repairs. However, Joe has already been killed by his rabid dog Cujo. Now Donna and Tad find themselves under siege over a sweltering three-day period trapped in their now inoperable car without food and water.