Last week one of the best films of the year came out on DVD. FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL is a hilarious look at life-changing breakups, which inspired the theme for This Weekend’s Film Festival. You know, that big bad breakup that stays with you and hopefully changes you for the better. Along with FSM, we have a story of a sexually liberated woman. We have another film about sexual inadequacies. We have a film about the difficulties coping with divorce. And we have a film about the joys and frustrations of finding love in the modern world. This week’s lineup is a mix of drama and lots of laughs. It’s therapy time and these films will help you get over that big bad breakup.

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With the release of IRON MAN on DVD, This Weekend’s Film Festival takes a look at the best superhero films of all time. At least the ones on DVD thus far. THE DARK KNIGHT would certainly be at the top of the list, but I wouldn’t want to send Fest attendees to the theaters for the fourth or fifth time. However, Batman does make an appearance on the countdown. So does a reluctant hero. A super-powered family does as well. And my spider sense tells me that your friendly neighborhood web-slinger makes the list too. So sit back and enjoy the ride. Let the countdown begin.

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Wedding Wish #1: May your spouse’s love be as unconditional as your parents’.

So my little baby sister is getting married. It’s time to celebrate at Rick’s Flicks Picks. So weddings and love are the themes of This Weekend’s Film Festival. Some are satirical. Some are romantic. We get looks at love and marriage from the U.S., Australia, U.K. and India. This is a lineup for romantics and cynics alike. It celebrates all the ups and downs of making it to that Big Day. And for each film I’ll send out wishes for every bride.

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With the arrival of David Gordon Green’s latest drama, SNOW ANGELS, on DVD this Tuesday, this week seemed like a great time to look at two filmmakers who share the same tone. Green has said that he has been influenced by the work of Terrence Malick, a filmmaker who has only made four feature films since his debut production BADLANDS in 1973. Green has made five features since his debut film GEORGE WASHINGTON in 2000. His latest, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, was a great diversion from his typical material. The five films chosen for this profile capture the epic feel of their work, which paint poetic imagery to tell their simple, yet deep, stories.

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With the remake of George Cukor’s THE WOMEN, arriving in theaters this Friday, I felt building a lineup around the original was a great idea. Like the remake, THE WOMEN put a group of its era’s stars — Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell and Joan Crawford — on the screen together. So I decided to look at other work from classy Golden Era Hollywood women. Audrey Hepburn goes from rags to riches. Greta Garbo coughs and we cry. Bette Davis goes from frumpy to fetching. And Katharine Hepburn makes us understand why she’s a legend. Come along as we laugh and we cry with legends of the screen.

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Last week, SON OF RAMBOW hit DVD (for some unknown reason you can’t purchase it on Amazon yet, but it’s available to rent at Netflix). Inspired by this delightful film, This Weekend’s Film Festival is looking at films that deal with the movie making process. We have kids making movies. We have professionals making indie movies. We have a movie about a newsreel cameraman. We have a doc about a clueless horror film maker. And we have a fictional account of an infamously bad horror film maker.

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After a week hiatus, This Weekend’s Film Festival is back. The latest lineup was inspired by CHICAGO 10, which hit DVD this week. Considering it deals with the 1968 Democratic National Convention, it seemed like an even more obvious choice with the DNC taking place this week. The four other films this week are all documentaries that deal with sensational front-page news stories. We have a four-hour epic on Hurricane Katrina. A sickening look at the Enron scandal. And the final two films deal with child abuse — one from a priest and one from a family man whose pedophilia affects his family in unthinkable ways. It’s a thoughtful and gripping group of films for the long Labor Day weekend.

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I like myself a good genre film. Recently I read a report that proposes that there is a gene that makes certain people react more positively to horror films. As a kid I always watched classic horror films on Sunday mornings. I particularly loved monster movies. So this week, I’m looking at five of the best creature features of the 21st century. To qualify the films have to have monsters. Some have monsters that are heroes. Some have monsters that are misunderstood. Some have ancient monsters. Some have monsters that come from another dimension. Some have monsters from another planet. So come along my genetically prone and enjoy some scares, adventures and even a few laughs.

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This Weekend’s Film Festival concludes the four-part series on the new editions to the AFI Top 100 List upon its 10th anniversary. By viewing this lineup, along with Part I, Part II, and Part III, you will have seen 20 of the 23 new films to make the list. Some are far more deserving than others, but for the most part the all newbies deserve to be included. The reason three films didn’t make TWFF lineups were for various reasons. SOPHIE’S CHOICE was featured in another lineup on regret, while INTOLERANCE and A NIGHT AT THE OPERA represent the weakest of the newcomers. For the fourth, and final, lineup, the films mainly represent newer movies. One of the films is a classic black & white courtroom drama from the 1950s. One is a 1970s crime procedural that doesn’t feature cops. One of the films is a modern classic that found its audience from repeated airings on cable. One of the films changed the way America looked at race. The fifth film made us see dead people.

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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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