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Paul Thomas Anderson has been quoted as saying that he was having a case of writer’s block when devising his follow-up to PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. Finding inspiration in Upton Sinclair’s novel OIL!, Anderson has crafted THERE WILL BE BLOOD, a film in a style that departs a great deal from his other work like BOOGIE NIGHTS and MAGNOLIA. Equal parts epic historical drama and character portrait, this cynical study of the dark side of human nature tells a tale of ambition, religion and family ties, dripping in black gold and blood — the later both physically and metaphorically.

Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis, MY LEFT FOOT) has bled and sweat his way into a successful oil business. After one of his workers dies, he takes the man’s son as his own. Even at a young age, H.W. Plainview (Dillon Freasier, film debut) is being groomed as Daniel’s partner. One evening, a young man (Paul Dano, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) comes to Daniel with a hot lead on property where oil is just bubbling to the surface. Untrustworthy by nature, Daniel heads out to the land where he meets the family of the young man, who calls himself Eli and makes it out like it’s the first time he has met Daniel. During a quail hunt, Daniel and H.W. confirm that this might just be their biggest strike. When Daniel goes to negotiate with the owner, Abel Sunday (David Willis, THE GOOD GERMAN), Eli makes sure the deal includes a good deal of money for his fledgling church.

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Every time I review a Sidney Lumet film, I comment on how he isn’t a household name and that his resume is one that any director would be envious of. At 83, he adds another film to his resume that any director would be envious of. If he were a twenty-something making his film debut with this crime drama, he would be hailed as the next big thing. The twisting script, written by Kelly Masterson, is innovative and Lumet brings a captivating style to the production that makes the film about its characters not its action.

Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman, CAPOTE) is an overweight, cocky businessman with a trophy wife named Gina (Marisa Tomei, MY COUSIN VINNY). He has a nasty drug habit and is stealing money from his company right as an audit is set to take place. His brother Hank (Ethan Hawke, TAPE) works at his firm in a much lower position. He is months behind on his child support payments for which his ex-wife Martha (Amy Ryan, GONE BABY GONE) berates him about any chance she gets. Andy devises a plan to rob their parents’ jewelry store. But when Hank enlists busboy/crook named Bobby (Brain F. O’Byrne, MILLION DOLLAR BABY) to help in the crime, things go horribly wrong, spurring Andy and Hank’s father Charles (Albert Finney, TOM JONES) to make it a personal mission to find out who shot his wife Nanette (Rosemary Harris, SPIDER-MAN).

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Charlie Wilson was a Congressman who was better known for womanizing and partying than his legislative accomplishments. Then, pushed by the sixth richest woman in Texas Joanne Herring, he found his calling. Through committees he helped raise the CIA’s budget to arm the rebels in Afghanistan fighting the soviets from $5 million to $1 billion. He may not be the most ethical politician, but he was very well connected. Based on facts, Mike Nichols new comedy could also be called “Strange Bedfellows” for Wilson will have to unite Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, Christian and Muslims and Israel with various Islamic states to get his secret war off the ground.

Tom Hanks, a seemingly unlikely actor to play a Representative who gets wrapped up in a cocaine scandal, adds the right dose of charm to Wilson, making us believe that he might just be the best person in government to pull off this scheme. He teams with the hotheaded and blunt CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman, OWNING MAHONEY), who is working on the Afghan problem with three other guys when they first start. While Wilson works on his war, his chief assistant Bonnie Bach (Amy Adams, JUNEBUG) leads a team of beautiful young assistants on fighting the Congressman’s publicity war. Because the whole deal rests on so many strange bedfellows getting along, Wilson has to warn Joanne (Julia Roberts, ERIN BROCKOVICH) not to frame the fight as a holy war. But the well-connected Herring does know when religion helps answer prayers.

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The Nov. 28th edition of This Weekend’s Film Festival celebrated five of the best films of 2007. Considering that this will be the last lineup of 2007, I thought it would be fitting to revisit the theme with another five of the best films from 2007, which are now on DVD. One is a gangster flick, two are a pair of the funniest movies of the year and two are musicals, which happen to be two of the very best films of the year. In lieu of a This Weekend’s Film Festival next week, I will be posting my top 25 list for 2007, which in a way is super-sized version of This Weekend’s Film Festival, because I encourage everyone to check out all of those films because they are all very good. If you feel industrious you could head to the theaters or rental store and try to see the top five. Three of these films will be certainly making the list. So I hope you enjoy and have a happy and safe New Year’s celebration.

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This is one of those smilers. It makes you smile with its charm. It makes you smile with its warmth. It makes you smile with its honesty. It’s an indie musical, but not in the typical sense of what people think of when they think of musicals. The film is filled with songs from start to finish, but they flow from one to the other in a natural progression as buskers perform to songwriters compose to a band records. Along the way a guy meets a girl and a natural romance blooms.

In a very existential touch, the lead male is simply named guy (Glen Hansard, THE COMMITMENTS), a street performer who works as a vacuum cleaner repairman at a shop owned by his father (Bill Hodnett) during the day. One evening, a girl (Markéta Irglová) compliments his work, wondering why he only plays his original songs at night. He says no one wants to listen to songs they do not know during the day and he has to make a living. Discovering his side trade, the girl brings her vacuum to the guy and they begin to hang out. She plays the piano and they discover they have a great deal in common, developing a simple connection. The problem is the guy still pines over a lost girl and the girl has secrets of her own that prevent her from fully opening her heart to him.

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Before I heard of this film, I must admit I knew very little about Edith Piaf, one of the most beloved French singers in history. I had heard her work, which is featured many films, but I knew nothing of her dramatic life. Olivier Dahan’s biopic does what all great biopics should do — get inside who the person was and share with us what they did that made them special. As I finished watching this film, I was transformed from a Piaf novice into a Piaf fan.

Edith Piaf, played as an adult by Marion Cotillard (LOVE ME IF YOU DARE), in her 47 years on Earth lived the lives of 10 people. Raised in poverty with her fledging singer mother, she was taken by her father, on leave from WWI, to live with her grandmother, a madam at a brothel. There she fell under the loving care of a prostitute named Titine (Emmanuelle Seigner, FRANTIC). When Edith falls ill and almost goes blind, Titine takes her to the shrine of Saint Therese to pray. When the war is over, Edith’s father takes her from the only stable home she has known to travel with him in the circus. Later, her father strikes out on his own, but finds that his solo contortionist act is less of a draw then the powerful vocal skills of his young daughter.

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Raunchy and often juvenile, but also hilarious, SUPERBAD takes the freedom of crude humor from AMERICAN PIE and filters it through the honest sentiment of a John Hughes film. This vibe has become the branded style of director Judd Apatow and he brings the same to this film, which he produced. Director Greg Mottola, who has worked on TV series such as UNDECLARED and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT after making his directing/writing debut on the indie comedy THE DAYTRIPPERS, plays the material straight, bringing an unforced authenticity to both the comedy and serious moments.

Seth (Jonah Hill, KNOCKED UP) and Evan (Michael Cera, JUNO) have been inseparable since they were eight years old. Now it’s the closing days of their senior year and both are heading off to different colleges. Both hope to hook up with a girl for a brief summer fling. Evan has his eyes set on Becca (Martha MacIsaac, ICE PRINCESS), who Seth does not like for his own private reasons, and the heavy Seth has his eyes on any girl who’s drunk enough to sleep with him. During Home Ec, he gets partnered with the pretty Jules (Emma Stone, TV’s DRIVE), who later asks him to secure some booze for her party. Desperate, Seth and Evan have to rely on geeky Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who has bought a dubious fake ID with the solo name McLovin on it, to get them the needed party supplies. As things in movies go, the plans do not turn out as planned. Seth and Evan end up at a shady party of rowdy brawlers, while McLovin deals with hapless police officers Slater (Bill Hader, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE) and Michaels (Seth Rogen, KNOCKED UP).

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Made only a year after Arnold Schwarzenegger made THE TERMINATOR, COMMANDO is the future Governator’s first attempt at handling comedy. Violent action is mixed with one liners set against a standard rescue plot. On every level from the acting to the production value to directing, the production reeks of cheese. One might be able to have a laugh at how bad it all is for a while, but like eating too much Velvetta you start getting a stomachache before too long.

John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) is a former military commander who helped run a revolution in South America before retiring to a cabin in the woods with his young daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano, TV’s CHARMED). After having Matrix’s men murdered, the ousted dictator Arius (Dan Hedaya, THE HURRICANE) kidnaps Jenny in an effort to force Matrix to murder the new leader he helped put in power. After offing a few bad guys, Matrix gets a flight attendant named Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong, QUEST FOR FIRE) wrapped up in his desperate search for his little girl before the villains, including his former teammate Bennett (Vernon Wells, ROAD WARRIOR), discover he is not on a plane to South America.

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Attached to the release of NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS is a nice surprise for animation fans. Walt Disney Pictures is theatrically releasing a new 2D Goofy short inspired by the classic “How To” shorts from the Golden Age of animation. Frustrated with his puny set, Goofy heads out the Shiny Things mega store to hook himself up with a gigantic home theater system. But as often happens to Goofy, his big plans to watch the big game on a nice new TV don’t turn out as planned.

Capturing a classic retro feel, HOW TO HOOK UP YOUR HOME THEATER is a funny confection that is full of joy. Directors Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers bring the same vibe and style to this short that made the series so beloved. Despite a few recycled gags, many of the jokes take poignant pokes at our obsession with bigger and better gadgets. The animators breathe life into our favorite clumsy canine with an understanding of who the character has always been. It’s Goofy’s enthusiasm that makes us love him not his skill. With several more animated shorts in the pipeline at Disney, this short is a promising start to a new era at the studio, as well as the future of 2D animation.

I apologize for the lateness of the lineup for This Weekend’s Film Festival this week. The rush of the impending Christmas vacation is flooding over me and I’m swamped. But I had to get out this edition of This Weekend’s Film Festival because it is a great one. Knowing STARDUST was arriving on DVD this week, I’ve planned for a while to dedicate the lineup to adult fantasy. Though many of these films can be viewed by the whole family, these are films that adults will get the most out of. This is a fun and entertaining collection of films perfect for the long holiday weekend. Hope you enjoy.

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