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Frank Darabont’s Oscar nominated THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION barely recouped its production budget when released in theaters in 1994. But anyone who went to see it quickly knew they were witnessing something special. Based on a Stephen King short story, the prison drama chronicles long-term prisoners and how incarceration changes them. One particular prisoner desperately hangs onto hope, while another says that in jail, hope can be a dangerous thing.

The optimistic prisoner is Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins, BULL DURHAM), a banker on the outside who was convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. He claims that he’s innocent, but no one believes him, because everyone is innocent in prison. Red (Morgan Freeman, GLORY) is a vet of the prison, having been convicted of murder at a young age when a robbery went wrong. He’s the man inside who can get you things, like cigarettes, posters of Rita Hayworth, or gem hammers. The warden, Norton (Bob Gunton, THE PERFECT STORM), discovers that having a smart banker in his control can be very beneficial when you need bribes laundered. Keeping Andy in fear equally are the rapist prisoner Bogs Diamond (Mark Rolston, RUSH HOUR) and the equally sadistic guard Capt. Hadley (Clancy Brown, TV’s CARNIVALE).

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Inspired by Denzel Washington’s sophomore directing effort THE GREAT DEBATERS, This Weekend’s Film Festival looks at films that showcase the power of education. The inspiration for this week’s lineup deals with African American debaters in the 1930s. There’s a film that teaches us about living life to the fullest. There’s a film that deals with the pressures of an Ivy League education. There’s a film that teaches us about the power of language. There’s a film about the freeing power of knowledge. So take a seat and sign up for this inspiring collection of films.

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This Best Picture Oscar nominee falls into that popular subgenre of inspirational films — the great teacher movie. Set in 1959 at a conservative prep school, Peter Weir’s film is about learning for sure, but it’s mainly about carpe diem — Latin for seize the day. Through poetry, a teacher tries to teach his students to think, which in a conformist’s world can be very dangerous.

This inspiring teacher is John Keating (Robin Williams, GOOD WILL HUNTING), an unorthodox English teacher who wants his students to become extraordinary. Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke, BEFORE SUNRISE) is new to the school, but expectations are high due to the previous success of his older brother at St. Andrew’s. His roommate Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard, TV’s HOUSE) is a joiner who likes to try new things and goes out of his way to include the shy Todd. However, he also feels trapped in a life not of his own choosing, planned out precisely for years to come by his father (Kurtwood Smith, TV’s THAT ‘70S SHOW). Knox Overstreet (Josh Charles, FOUR BROTHERS) is a lovelorn young man who falls for the pretty Chris Noel (Alexandra Powers, RISING SUN), who unfortunately is dating the local high school’s football star. Charlie Dalton (Gale Hansen, SHAKING THE TREE) is a free spirit who takes to Mr. Keating with passion.

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Here is a movie about a demanding teacher that doesn’t paint the educator as a petty masochistic dictator. Set at Harvard, this film, based on a novel by John Jay Osborn Jr., looks at the game of high stakes education at Harvard Law School. First-year students come to the Ivy League school and fall into three categories according to the film’s hero James Hart — 1) the high achiever who has to work extremely hard to stay there, 2) the struggling student keeping their head above water living in constant fear, and 3) the hopelessly doomed. This is a bloody sport and many will not make it to the end.

James Hart, played naturally by Timothy Bottoms (THE LAST PICTURE SHOW), is a Midwesterner who doesn’t quite fit into the traditional Ivy League mold. He’s excited and intimidated to take a class with the legendary Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. (John Houseman, MY BODYGUARD), who wrote the book on contract law, literally. To protect themselves against the daunting amount of work, the students form study groups; each member assigned a subject to outline for them all to share. Founder of the group Franklin Ford III (Graham Beckel, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL) is your cliche Ivy Leager with his bowtie and his snooty way of talking. Kevin Brooks (James Naughton, DIARY OF THE DEAD) has a photographic memory, but can’t connect the dots between facts. Rounding out the group are overly levelheaded Thomas Craig Anderson (Edward Herrmann, LOST BOYS), pretentious prig Willis Bell (Craig Richard Nelson, 3 WOMEN) and the constantly-on-edge O’Connor (Robert Lydiard, THE DAY OF THE DOLPHIN). They not only debate law but more importantly law school survival. It is thought that women are career suicide for a first-year law student, so when Hart meets Susan Fields (Lindsay Wagner, BIONIC WOMAN), we worry, and then when we discover she is Kingsfield’s daughter we get really scared.

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Lately soldiers have figured into several lineups for This Weekend’s Film Festival. Inspired by the release of STOP-LOSS on DVD, this week’s lineup takes a different approach to the soldier’s story. All five films deal with soldiers’ under threat of court martial. Some soldiers in the lineup are rebelling against orders they find unfair, while others were just following orders. Others are being investigated for murder, while others may lose years of their lives for petty crimes. The closing film puts its soldiers in the tough decision of being court-martialed for doing the wrong thing and the right thing. These feature lots of action and drama, while telling some unique stories about soldier experiences.

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Back in 1999 when I first saw ads and trailers for THREE KINGS, I wasn’t expecting something so smart and fresh. It seemed like a simple heist story, but it turned out to be so much more. For me it was the film that firmly positioned George Clooney in my mind as a movie star. Having not seen FLIRTING WITH DISASTER at that time, it was my first experience with the work of director/writer David O. Russell, who was able to perfectly balance between the action, the humor and the meat of the story, while establishing a unique visual style.

Set after the ceasefire of the first Persian Gulf War, Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg, BOOGIE NIGHTS) discovers a map hidden in the butt of an Iraqi soldier, which leads to a bunker where millions of dollars of stolen Kuwaiti gold bullion is being hidden. While Troy plans with no-nonsense Chief Elgin (Ice Cube, BOYZ N THE HOOD) and ignorant hick Conrad Vig (Spike Jonze, director of BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) on how to get the gold, Archie Gates (Clooney, THE PERFECT STORM) hears rumors about the map. He is a sergeant major from special-forces who is about to retire and has long ago stopped caring. Outranking the others, he forces himself into their plans, which if they get caught, they could be court martialed for. As one might expect, their plans don’t work out perfectly, getting caught in between Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi rebel forces.

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With its big name stars and big star moments, this slick courtroom drama was good Oscar bait material for director Rob Reiner in 1992. There was no way of knowing at the time that the film would only gain weight in the future for events that couldn’t even be thought of in the early ’90s. Set at Guantanamo Bay, the crime story revolves around the death of a marine private and the possible orders that were given that might have lead to his death by the abuse of other soldiers. Aaron Sorkin’s script deals with the following of orders that are not just and a military code of conduct that has become warped. Looking back now, the film almost seems hauntingly prophetic.

Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison, LITTLE BIG LEAGUE) and Private Louden Downey (James Marshall, TV’s TWIN PEAKS) have been charged with murder for the death of William Santiago (Michael DeLorenzo, ALIVE), the weakest soldier in their unit. Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore, ST. ELMO’S FIRE) believes the deaths were the result of a hazy ritual called Code Red, which went awry, and wants the case as a way to expose the practice. Her superiors are playing politics and decide to go with Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise, RISKY BUSINESS), a skilled lawyer who has never seen the inside of a courtroom because he is the master of the plea bargain. Along with researcher Lt. Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollak, THE USUAL SUSPECTS), Kaffee and Galloway dig deeper into the case and hit nothing but stonewalls from those involved.

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In his second effort as a director, Denzel Washington has now established himself as just as much a powerful force behind the camera as he is in front of it. His debut film, ANTWONE FISHER, was a surprisingly powerful film, and like that film, THE GREAT DEBATERS uses what seems like a conventional plot to actually tackle unconventional screen topics. Too often African-Americans are portrayed on TV and films as barely literate, but recent films like this one and AKEELAH AND THE BEE have brought an intelligent and inspiring portrait of African-Americans to audiences. But to pigeonhole these films as “black” stories would be undercutting their universal power, which deal with the universal power of education.

At Wiley College in Texas, poet and union organizer Melvin B. Tolson (Washington) runs the debate team with intense determination. Many students try out, but only four make the team. Tolson recruits Henry Lowe (Nate Parker, PRIDE), a well-read drifter, who has a weakness for women, booze and jazz. Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett, ROLL BOUNCE) transferred to Wiley specifically to try out for the team, making her the first female member. Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams, FAT ALBERT) is the only returning member, who will take issue with Tolson’s politics. James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker, TRAINING DAY) is only 14, which shows in his awkward interactions with the other students. His father, Dr. James Farmer Sr. (Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND), is a well-respected teacher and preacher, who demands discipline from his son. As the team disposes of black schools one by one, they are invited to compete against white students, and eventually are asked to compete against national champions Harvard.

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Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in 1939, so one could say that his early beginnings sit him aside other classic pulp detectives like Philip Marlowe. Director Christopher Nolan understands this and brings it to the forefront in his latest Batman feature film, which is at least as good as BATMAN BEGINS and in many respects better. Worthy to stand along other great crime dramas, this superhero film is like HEAT; only Al Pacino’s character wears a cowl instead of perfectly coifed hair. It’s like SILENCE OF THE LAMBS; only Hannibal Lecter fancies purple handmade suits to a classy linen ensemble. As much as you might have liked them or even hated them, it quickly rids the memory of images of Jack Nicholson hamming it up in circus make-up, or Joel Schumacher adding nipples to the Batsuit. This is the film Dark Knight fans have grown up to see.

Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale, AMERICAN PSYCHO) has been keeping up his image as a trust fund playboy in public, while in private he has cleaned up the streets of Gotham City as Batman. A new DA has come to town, his name is Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart, THE COMPANY OF MEN), and he’s dating Bruce’s longtime love Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, WORLD TRADE CENTER). Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman, THE PROFESSIONAL) doesn’t trust Dent, who used to work in internal affairs, but Batman sees Dent, who is determined to take down the mob, as the white knight of Gotham, the public face of hope for the city. Plaguing the city in addition to the gangsters is a ruthless bank robber dubbed the Joker (Heath Ledger, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN), who proposes to the various factions of the mob that they pay him to kill the Batman.

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The lineup for this week’s This Weekend’s Film Festival is a continuation of the on-going look at the 10^th anniversary addition of AFI’s top 100 American movies. The last edition came right before AFI’s latest list announcement of the 10 top 10 genre pictures. This week deals with new films to arrive on the top 100 that also made one of the top 10 lists. Three of the epics are here, along with one animated and one sci-fi film. This is a great lineup and an interesting look at some new classics and hits, along with a classic epic.

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