Welcome to the final weekly This Weekend’s Film Festival. When I started this column is 2007, I threw together playlists of films I had already reviewed. As time went by, I began watching films specifically for the column. Sometimes the full five films were reviewed specifically to be featured in this column. It has been a time consuming adventure. It is time I no longer have thanks to a new baby on the way and other creative endeavors I want to focus more attention to. The archives of this column will still live on and a special edition may pop up from time to time. Hopefully this move will allow me more freedom to catch up with new home entertainment releases and classics that I haven’t seen before. I’m also starting a new less-time-consuming column on weekly Blu-ray and DVD releases, which can be found in the Blu-ray Screening Room starting next week.

For this week’s addition, the release of COCO BEFORE CHANEL has inspired a fashion-themed installment. In addition to a fashion icon bio-pic, two films deal with the fashion industry directly and the final two films are movies that influenced fashion. Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading.

Anne Fontaine’s COCO BEFORE CHANEL doesn’t spend much time on Coco Chanel’s vast accomplishments as a world-renowned fashion designer, but it still says everything it needs to say about her influence on the way people dress and what motivated her to change it. Born Gabrielle, she was an orphan who strived to become rich and famous on the stage. She was uninterested in hooking up with a rich man like her sister, but when there were few options left to her she did just that and made the most of it. Etienne Balsan (Benoit Poelvoorde) kept her away from his rich socialite friends until she made her presence known to them boldly. She wasn’t fond of the confining corset attire of her era and often wore modified men’s suits, sailor outfits, or a simply black dress. Her fashion career began when the fashionable women requested she make her signature straw hats for them. As I said in my original review, “The film portrays Coco Chanel’s rise to fame not as some life-long desire to change fashion, but as a practical avenue for success. She had a skill at sewing, which came as an advantage to a poor girl in that she could make her own clothes.” She was a driven woman who found her niche and took it further than anyone could have imagined. She didn’t set out to change the world, but she did it nonetheless.

David Frankel’s THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, as I said in my original review, is “a tamer female version of SWIMMING WITH SHARKS, this film looks at the world of fashion with an insider’s eye that looks at the pros and cons of the industry.” Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is a young reporter who gets a job at “Runway,” the top fashion magazine, as the second assistant of editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly, played as the title suggests devilishly by Oscar-nominee Meryl Streep. Andy is not fashion conscious, but the high-pressure atmosphere of the magazine transforms her into someone she used to hate. In this world, every person’s job in vulnerable from some new hot talent. Miranda’s first assistant Emily (Emily Blunt) never has a nice thing to say to Andy and Miranda’s right hand man Nigel (Stanley Tucci) has been waiting years for his pure devotion to pay off. Like any high-profile profession, the people at the upper echelons sacrifice their lives for their careers. They have the chance to live glamorous lives, but the film wonders if it’s all worth it in the end.

Michael Cristofer’s GIA looks into the troubled life of supermodel Gia Carangi. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gia, played here in a Golden Globe-winning powerhouse performance from Angelina Jolie, took the modeling world by storm with a dangerous sexuality that hadn’t been seen before. She was only a teenager when she was discovered at a Philadelphia nightclub and landed representation from legendary agent Wilhelmina Cooper, played by Golden Globe winner Faye Dunaway. The young woman was flooded with fame and fortune. With little guidance, she partied heavily in the ’80s cocaine scene at places like Studio 54. But as her behavior became more erratic and her drug use became hard to hide, the industry that basked in her heat when she was hot gave her the cold shoulder when her life was spiraling out of control. At her worst, she was exchanging sexual favors for drugs and she was raped and beaten by one of her dealers. She would die of AIDS in 1986 and few in the fashion industry even knew she had passed away. As I said in my original review, “It is said that Gia [on her death bed] wanted to film herself to give a message to kids about unprotected sex and drugs, but the cameras weren’t available for a sore-filled patient dying of AIDS. Cristofer’s film does a good job of fulfilling her last wish.”

Blake Edwards’ BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S is about another party girl, Holly Golightly. She, of course, is played by screen icon Audrey Hepburn, who was a fashion icon as much as a screen icon. Golightly made the simple black dress a must have in every woman’s closet. Legendary film costume designer Edith Head worked with Hepburn’s favorite designer Hubert de Givenchy to craft the iconic couturier of the naïve party girl who is out to land herself a millionaire. Her flighty character always looks gorgeous and had a way of making what she wore fit the occasion. Golightly’s glamour lifestyle is simply an excessive mask for her simple past. The men in her life are a distraction from reality. That’s until George Pappard’s Paul Varjak steps into her life. He’s a handsome man who has found that his looks can get him far, but like Holly, he wants to be a better version of himself. Holly does so through lavish clothes and parties and Paul does so with writing. They are the same, but the opposite at the same time. Paul shows that looks are not everything and in the end, Holly shows that looks can only get you so far. As I said in my original review, “From the wonderful characters to the gorgeous costumes to the unforgettable Oscar-winning music from Henry Mancini, which includes the classic tune ‘Moon River,’ the film has held up so well over time and has had a lasting impact on film.”

Edith Head is the most famous film costume designer of all time. She was the inspiration for the character of Edna Mode in THE INCREDIBLES. She won eight Oscars for her work on such films as THE STING, SABRINA and ROMAN HOLIDAY. She worked with Alfred Hitchcock on many of his classic pictures, but none of her work was so profoundly part of the story as it was in VERTIGO. Kim Novak’s gray suit is a central motif that runs through the entire picture. James Stewart plays Scottie Ferguson, a private detective who suffers from crippling acrophobia, who is hired to follow a woman who believes she is possessed by the spirit of a woman who committed suicide. Novak plays the woman, Madeleine, who is dressed in the iconic gray suit. Tragedy will strike and Scottie becomes obsessed that he sees Madeleine everywhere, especially when he sees women in gray suits. Then he meets Judy, who looks a great deal like Madeleine, and he forces her to dressed up like her, searching the city for the infamous gray suit. The piece of clothing represents the mental break in Scottie’s mind. From the costumes to the bold color cinematography to the great art direction, Hitchcock speaks volumes through the details of his compositions. Of the three only the art direction received an Oscar nod. As I said in my original review, “This oversight omits George Tomasini’s pitch perfect editing of a story that twists and turns and turns one’s guts, as well as Robert Burks’ bold cinematography and Edith Head’s iconic costumes.” Like most of Hitchcock’s films he tells complex psychological stories through the plot of thrillers. He uses all the tools a filmmaker has to their full extent. As for costumes, rarely have they played bigger roles in the overall landscape of a great movie.

To see this lineup simply head to the videostore, update the Netflix queue, visit HelloMovies.com for streaming sites, check out Zap2It.com for TV listings or support the site by purchasing the films on DVD or Blu-ray at the links below.

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With the Coen Brothers’ brilliant A SERIOUS MAN now on DVD and Blu-ray, This Weekend’s Film Festival takes a look at the Jewish experience on film. There is a 1960s tale of Job. A Holocaust survival story. A search for one’s Jewish heritage. A look at anti-Semitism. And finally a musical that is often called the quintessential Jewish film.

Joel and Ethan Coen’s A SERIOUS MAN follows Larry Gopnik, played brilliantly by Michael Stuhlbarg, as his life slowly unravels. His wife leaves him. He’s being blackmailed at work while he’s up for review. His troublesome brother moves in with his family. His children treat him like he’s their slave. As the burdens pile higher on his shoulders, he goes to visit a series of rabbis for advice, but nothing seems to ease his worry. The central question is why does God allow bad things happen to people who didn’t do anything? The key part of that is “didn’t do anything” not “didn’t do anything wrong.” The questioning of the meaning of life is so central to Jewish identity in the film. From the start, the film begins with an unconnected Yiddish parable that serves as a perfect metaphor for the entire film. A husband comes home and tells his wife that he has invited a rabbi to dinner. She says the rabbi died. So who is the guy knocking at their door, a kind old rabbi or a dybbuk? With their typical dark comic lens, the Coens create a film that’s as smart as it is hilarious. As I said in my original review, “Be good to yourself and go see this film, you’ll feel better about yourself for it. Your life probably ain’t as bad as Larry Gopnik.”

George Stevens’ THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK tells the harrowing tale of the family of 13-year-old spitfire Anne Frank, played delightfully by Millie Perkins. The story honestly displays the difficulties and sacrifices of living in hiding during World War II. Living over a shop, they must stay still during work hours so they don’t risk discovery. Anne develops a crush on fellow refugee Peter Van Daan (Richard Beymer), who later falls for Anne’s sister Margot (Diane Baker). These interpersonal conflicts bring the humanity to the story and underline the claustrophobia of their experience. Anne’s independence captures the spark for life that young people have and is the heart of this story of survival. While the ending is tragic, the will to survive no matter the outcome is the point. Stevens never over-dramatizes the tale using subtly poetic cinematography and unobtrusive scoring. As I said in my original review, “The filmmakers do find a positive spin on the tragic story, which looks at the bigger picture to find hope. The film works as a bittersweet ode to the human will to survive.”

From actor Liev Schreiber, EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED tracks the journey of three quirky characters searching for clues to their pasts. Immigration is a theme that appears in Jewish traditions extensively. Foer, played in a neurotic way by Elijah Wood, travels to the Ukraine to discover more about a mysterious woman in a photo his grandfather cherished. He is taken on the road by hip-hop-loving Alex, played hilariously by Eugene Hutz, and his cantankerous grandfather (Boris Leskin). All Foer knows is that the woman is named Augustine, the name of her village and that she helped his grandfather survive the Nazis. The cultural clashes between the characters create humorous episodes, but as they learn more about their pasts the more commonalities they find. As I said in my original review, “One can tell that the project meant something to [Schreiber], because you can feel the personal passion as you watch it, especially toward the end [when the tone gets darker]… This touching ode to family and finding oneself is humorous and tragic at the same time.” World War II still has a lasting impact on Jewish identity. This film tackles the complexity of that issue with humor and poignancy.

Elia Kazan’s GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT came out two years after the end of World War II. This Oscar-winning drama looks at anti-Semitism from the outside in. Gregory Peck brings his signature dignity as a reporter who poses as a Jew to experience prejudice first hand. Brilliantly with the scenario, the film examines institutionalized prejudices that following a Jewish person of the era would be hard to uncover. This comes out clearly in Peck’s Philip Green and Dorothy McGuire’s Kathy Lacey’s budding relationship. Green’s son comes home from school one day, having been ridiculed for being a Jew and Kathy tells him to not worry because he’s not really a Jew. This brilliantly written episode cuts to the core of the country club racism that existed at the time and still exists in many circles today. But still, as a non-Jew, Green can walk away when his assignment is over, so the film touches on the emotional toll prejudices play on Jews through soldier Dave Goldman, played powerfully by John Garfield. He has served his country with honor, but doesn’t get the respect that a gentile soldier receives. As I said in my original review, “The film’s look at subtle bigotry is as fresh and relevant today as it was almost 60 years ago when this film was made. In the end, the film is able to rise above its heavy-handed moments and present a powerful and important message.”

Norman Jewison’s FIDDLER ON THE ROOF takes the popular Broadway musical and transports it to the screen in epic fashion. As I said in my original review, “The broad story of a father sweating over the marriages of his daughters is common to any religion or culture, but the details of this film are seeped in Jewish tradition.” Tevye, played by Topol in an Oscar-nominated performance, is a poor milkman who finds security and comfort from the problems of life in his Jewish traditions. His three daughters shake those traditions when they choose to marry in unconventional ways. Like A SERIOUS MAN, the film captures the open debate that Jews have with God. The song “If I Were a Rich Man” underlines the struggle between living in the real world and still having time to devote to a spiritual life. This bittersweet tuner captures the precariousness of life in its image of a fiddler balancing on a roof, trying to play a happy tune while not falling to his death. Like EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED, the film concludes with immigration, harkening back to the Jews exile in the desert. While the struggle between tradition and change is not strictly a Jewish dilemma, the film recognizes the complexity of the issue when Judaism is both part of religious and racial identity. There is a comical dark irony to the end. It says the good times are too short and the bad times are harsh, but life goes on.

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With the Super Bowl this weekend, leading up to the big game, This Weekend’s Film Festival delves into the world of obsessed fandom. A loser’s entire life revolves around the New York Giants. An Arsenal soccer fan has trouble balancing between his girlfriend and his team. A Red Sox fan makes all his life decisions around his team’s schedule. Female Iranian soccer fans risk prison to attend a World Cup qualifying game. Soccer hooligans beat rival team fans for the fun of it.

Starting with writing THE WRESTLER and now with BIG FAN, former THE ONION editor-in-chief Robert D. Siegel has began his feature film career with unusual sports films. Now directing as well, he creates a tale about an obsessed football fan named Paul Aufiero, played wonderfully by Patton Oswalt. He works as a parking lot attendant so that he can spend time writing out lengthy rants for a late-night sports radio program. His sports obsessed friend Sal (Kevin Corrigan) idolizes his radio performances. One night they see their favorite player Quantrell Bishop (Jonathan Hamm) and follow him to a club, which leads to the quarterback beating Paul into a comma. When he wakes up, his first priority is protecting his beloved Giants. In this satirical and subtle character piece, Siegel paints a picture of a man who has found a way to fit in that has indirectly alienated him from family and normal society. The film watches as he struggles with pulling his life together after his hero smashed his dreams and his rival Philadelphia Phil (Michael Rapaport) has fuel to ripe on him. As I said in my original review, “When Paul puts on face paint, it makes one think of a warrior preparing for battle. But where is the war zone? In Philly, or in Paul?”

For Saturday, we have two different takes on Nick Hornby’s autobiographical book, FEVER PITCH. The 1997 British version is closer to the original novel only fictionalizing the characters. Paul Ashworth, played perfectly by Colin Firth, became obsessed with the Arsenal soccer team when his father took him to his first match. He’s been in love with them for so long   he is consumed with them winning. Each loss is like a broken promise. He’s a teacher and soccer couch and comfortable with his current level of limited responsibility. A new teacher, named Sarah Hughes (Ruth Gemmell), comes to the school and can’t see herself falling for the soccer hooligan, but she does fall for his passion, which flows from soccer to other parts of his life. Though he isn’t very mature, he has a good heart. David Evans’ film shows how Paul came out of his shell and connected to people through the common love of soccer, but on the flipside, it also shows how it has emotional trapped him in a juvenile emotional state. As I said in my original review, “The film doesn’t make excuses for Paul; it just shows him for whom he is. But more importantly the film shows why he is the way he is. Because Sarah comes to understand so does the audience.”

In 2005, the Farrelly Brothers created an American version of FEVER PITCH, changing soccer to baseball. Ben (Jimmy Fallon) has been going to Boston Red Sox games ever since he has a kid, suffering as they fail to win a World Series year after year. Unlike Paul in the soccer version of the tale, Ben hides his obsession from strangers, because he is uncertain how they will react to his Red Sox filled apartment. When he meets the busy businesswoman Lindsey (Drew Barrymore), it’s the off season and their relationship blossoms. But living with him becomes a challenge when spring arrives and Ben begins to live and breathe baseball. This version of the tale makes the obsessed fan more aware of his behavior and more willing to change. But as I said in my original review, “The film truly understands the nature of obsessing on one pastime and how others react to that passion… I loved the scene when Ben takes Lindsey to her first game. He knows all the people around him. They related the losing history of the team with a sad reverence. It’s their shared misery.” Win or lose, they love and hate their team at the same time.

None of the fans above risk going to prison for their obsessions, but the women in Jafar Panahi’s OFFSIDE do just that. In Iran, women are barred from attending men’s sporting events. Those in power are afraid that the women will hear cursing from the male fans. This existential comedy looks at a group of women who dress up like boys to attend a World Cup qualifying match. First timers are easy to pick out. Some of the veteran women look more convincing but are still eventually caught and placed in a holding pen just outside of view of the field. One of the girls plays and knows more about the game than the men. One ingenious girl dresses up like a soldier and gets to see the whole first half. The soldiers guarding them aren’t committed to the law, but simply want to enforce it so they can get out of their national service without problems. The ridiculous laws allow women from other countries to attend matches and force foreign male coaches of women’s teams to coach via cellphones outside the stadium. As I said in my original review, “There is a patriotic irony about the whole story. These women are viewed as criminals against the State, but they are willing to risk imprisonment to root for their national soccer team.”

Lexi Alexander’s GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS is the best film about obsessed fans I’ve ever seen. Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) has been kicked out of Harvard and goes to London to live with his sister. He gets wrapped up with her brother-in-law Pete (Charlie Hunnam), who is part of a violent football firm for the Green Street Elite. These young men might rally around a soccer team, but they’re no different than any street gang. As I said in my original review, “…the film presents both sides of the issue. It doesn’t downplay the rush and camaraderie that draws members to join, but ends on the pointlessness and consequences of not knowing when enough is enough. The film is not afraid to have Matt make ‘wrong’ decisions and learn positive things from them. Yet, it never downplays or overly glorifies the realities of the violence as well.” Young men join the firms early, usually following in the footsteps of their fathers and brothers. Like many obsessed fans, the obsession makes them part of a makeshift family, where loyalty is demanded and strong bonds are formed around one common love. The violence these men will commit over a sports team shows the extremes to which fandom can go.

To play with these fans simply head to the videostore, update the Netflix queue, check out HelloMovies.com for streaming sites, visit Zap2It.com for TV listings, or support the site by purchasing the films on DVD at the links below.

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This Weekend’s Film Festival dedicates the lineup to poetic hearts, inspired by the release of BRIGHT STAR on DVD. The John Keats biopic is also a great romance. A young woman turns to poetry to heal heartache and finds more heartache. A documentary looks at one of the most savagely honest poets. A duel love story follows an affair between two Victorian poets and the scholars that love them. The Festival closes with a romantic comedy centering on the first production of the most famous tragic romance.

Jane Campion’s BRIGHT STAR tells the romance between poor the poet, John Keats, played effortlessly by Ben Whishaw, and clothing designer Fanny Brawne, played with innocent charm by Abbie Cornish. They were an unlikely pair. Keats was a thinker and Brawne had never read poetry before. But they became infatuated in each other because Brawne was drawn to Keats’ passion and intelligence and he was drawn to her beauty and eagerness to listen. As I said in my original review, “Campion’s poetic flare comes out significantly in the scenes when the couple is apart. For them it’s a young head-first passionate love. A love of grand gestures.” She captures first love in beautiful imagery using butterflies and simple white walls. The story respects the morals of the age these lovers lived in and thinks about love in those terms. Like so many poets Keats died poor and a failure in his own time, but his romance with Brawne inspired some the most beloved Romantic poems.

Karen Moncrieff’s BLUE CAR tells the story of a high school student who turns to poetry as an outlet for her conflicted feelings. Meghan, played with great power by Agnes Bruckner, is a teenager whose mother Diane (Margaret Colin) is too caught up in balancing her life to be engaged in the lives of her children. Meghan is often forced to take care of her mentally disturbed, younger sister Lily (Regan Arnold).For school she writes a poem, her teacher Auster, subtly played by Oscar-nominee David Strathairn, encourages her to dig deeper into her emotions and enter her work in a poetry contest in Florida. When she makes it and her mother won’t give her the money for the trip, Meghan starts engaging in illegal activities to gain some cash. As I said in my original review, “Buckner gives Meghan a tough persona, but a broken heart. Teens her age might see her as confident, but an adult would be wiser.” This is where she finds herself being taken advantage of. This cautionary tale shows how adults will prey on sensitive young women using kindness as a weapon. Meghan encounters a great deal of tragedy, but she finds that her poetry can be her weapon.

John Dullaghan’s BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS is an unflinching documentary about poet/writer Charles Bukowski. Combining archival footage with new interviews with his admirers, friends and former lovers, the film delves into how his tough life influenced his need to write. The story moves from his days as a poor postal worker to his fame and fortune. Underneath his raw persona lies a wounded young boy who was brutalized by his father and rejected by women until he became rich. He was also a drunk who would lash out violently when his insecurities bubbled to the surface. But as I said in my original review, “His honesty to express his feelings no matter how it might make him look is what makes his art so powerful.” In interviews, Bukowski honestly talks about his life from his first sexual experience with a 300-pound prostitute to his rise as one of the most respected and successful poets of his generation. The film closes with actor Harry Dean Stanton reading Bukowski’s poem “Bluebird,” which couldn’t describe the artist more accurately.

Neil LaBute’s POSSESSION tells two love stories set centuries apart. Roland Michell (Aaron Eckhart) finds a love letter from Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash (Jeremy Northam) to fellow poet Christabel LaMotte (Jennifer Ehle), who was a progressive and lesbian. This rocks everything that Ash scholar Maud Bailey (Gwyneth Paltrow) thought of the poet, who has championed as a devoted husband. While investigating the controversy, Roland, who is emotionally distant, and Maud, who is emotionally cautious, find a common bond in poetic passion about love. Meanwhile, LaBute perfectly balances the affair between Ash and LaMotte, which highlights the dangerousness of finding true love after they are committed to someone else. As I said in my original review, “In their Victorian world, passion was simply on the page. If sex starts in the mind, then passion was locked away in the brain behind a chastity belt.” What this film understands is that sex and then love starts in the mind.

John Madden’s SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE won an Oscar for Best Picture for finding a charming romantic comedy through the creation of the most famous tragic romance. Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is having writer’s block. He is under great pressure to create a new hit comedy. Viola De Lesseps, played in an Oscar-winning performance by Gwyneth Paltrow, is however inspired by his work and becomes driven to pose as a man, named Thomas Kent, and try out for his new play. At a party Will is captivated by Viola’s beauty and impressed by Kent’s honest performance and writes a classic. At one moment Queen Elizabeth, played by Oscar-winner Judi Dench, doesn’t believe that true love can be captured in plays. Will’s poetic heart proves her wrong. As I said in my original review, “The best things that the film does are bring fresh light to the work of William Shakespeare, which is too often disregarded as some irrelevant dated play that 9th graders are forced to read, and makes us realize that a feeling, thinking and sometimes lustful man was behind those poetic, and truly heartfelt, words.”

To add a little poetry to your weekend simply head to the videostore, update your Netflix queue, check out HelloMovies.com for streaming sites, visit Zap2It.com for TV listings, or support the site by buying the films on DVD at the links below.

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Immigration is a complex issue with its larger meaning representing something different to each person. This Weekend’s Film Festival looks at the issue through film. These five films address the issue from the immigrants’ point of view. There’s the story of a cheerful Senegalese cabdriver. A Palestinian mother brings her son to America for a better life. An Irish man moves his whole family to the States for a chance at stardom. A poor factory worker becomes a drug mule in order to get a trip to the U.S. A young woman meets a violent gang member on her journey across Latin America on top of a train.

GOODBYE SOLO is the best film of 2009. Solo, played with such effortless energy by Souleymane Sy Savane, is an immigrant from Senegal, who drives a cab, but dreams of becoming a flight attendant. He is the constant optimist who sees the America Dream as something bigger than his wife does. She wants him to settle and start his own cab company. One night he picks up an old man named William, played with subtle gruff by Red West, who is willing to pay Solo $1,000 to take him to a remote mountain in 10 days. He never speaks of a return trip. Solo spends the next 10 days trying to convince William to change his mind. The hip-hop talking immigrant and an aging biker have little in common, but they become friends. Director Ramin Bahrani understands these characters fully. The force of Solo’s personality drives the story. When it comes to immigrants, questions arise. Would an American-born cabbie try to stop William’s deadly plan, or just take his money? Is it less about where Solo came from and more about who he is? Solo’s wife is Latino and looks at him as a procrastinator. Does the ease of American culture promotes this or is Solo just a dreamer by nature? As I said in my original review, “In the way the story unfolds, the film makes us feel what its like to be its characters.” The film allows us to walk in someone else’s shoes and our feet fit naturally because it crafts its characters so well.

Set at the start of the Iraq War, AMREEKA shows the difficulties of Muna and Fadi Farah as they emigrate from the West Bank to Illinois. They move in with her sister Raghda (Hiam Abbass) and her husband Nabeel (Yussuf Abu-Warda), who is losing patients at his medical practice due to his ethnicity. Muna, played by the charming Nisreen Faour, has two degrees, but can only get a job at a White Castle. Fadi (Melkar Muallem) doesn’t have the right clothes and classmates joke that the quiet boy is going to blow up the school. His cousin Salma (Alia Shawkat) defends him and tries to help him fit in. Director Cherien Dabis taps into many universal experiences that anyone who has moved to a new town has experienced. The cultural differences are what make the circumstances more extreme. Muna and Fadi exchanged problems in the Middle East for problems in the United States. Raghda longs to go back, but Muna tells her that it’s not like she remembered. Soon enough Muna and Fadi learn that America isn’t as wonderful as she dreamed it would be. However, there is one difference – in America there is hope for something better. For Muna and Fadi they have to balance between their new home and their home culture. As I said in my original review, “So many Americans complain about immigrants not assimilating into the American society. With the way the immigrants are treated by Americans and our culture, can you blame them for not doing so even if they wanted to?”

Like Cherien’s AMREEKA, Jim Sheridan’s IN AMERICA is an immigrant story informed by the filmmaker’s own personal experiences. Sheridan wrote the film with his daughters Naomi and Kirsten based on their own move to New York when he was trying to become an actor. In the film, Paddy Considine plays Johnny Sullivan, an aspiring actor, who moves his family to America after the tragic death of his son Frankie. Sheridan lost a brother named Frankie. Samantha Morton plays Johnny’s wife Sarah, who struggles to take care of their daughters Christy (Sarah Bolger) and Ariel (Emma Bolger) under poor conditions in Hell’s Kitchen. These new immigrants begin to build a friendship with another immigrant, Mateo Kuamey, played with power by Oscar-nominee Djimon Hounsou, a Nigerian artist who is suffering from HIV. This moving drama is filled with sentiment, but never overplays it. It knows what it’s like to be poor, a newcomer to a country and suffering from grief. As I said in my original review, “It’s so amazing the emotional residence that this film creates with scenes you think you’ve seen before, but have never been handled the same way. And certainly never been handled with such emotional truth.” The Sullivans and Mateo have found a unique common bond in their pain and as newcomers to a foreign country.

When most people think of the immigration issue in America, they think of illegal Latino immigration. The two closing films this week look at this aspect of the issue. Joshua Marston’s MARIA FULL OF GRACE follows Maria Alvarez, played by Catalina Sandino Moreno in a career-making Oscar-nominated performance, a 17-year-old rose de-thorner who decides to become a drug mule in order to get a trip to America where her sister lives and to provide money to her poor family. Her job is terrible and one can see the pull of breaking the law by smuggling drugs into the U.S. by swallowing cocaine-filled latex pellets. Maria’s story falls between those of veteran mule Lucy (Guilied Lopez) and her naïve friend Blanca (Yenny Paola Vega). Lucy is like her wise mentor through this harrowing experience, while Blanca’s sketchy behavior is a constant threat to her safety. As I said in my original review, “The film details the great risks these girls take and shows the various ways things can go wrong, especially when one of the pellets breaks inside the girls. These young girls don’t have much and truly risk everything for something better.” As a comment on illegal immigration, Maria’s story underlines how personal each story is to the person who comes to America illegally.

Cary Fukunaga’s SIN NOMBRE deals directly with the extents Latino immigrants will go to come to America and a chance for a better life. Teenaged Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) is finally old enough to attempt the journey north from Honduras. Her father Horacio (Gerardo Taracena) was deported back and is attempting to get back to New Jersey where his family lives. They will endure the elements riding hundreds of miles across Latin America as they dodge immigration agents along the way to make it to the border where they must wade across dangerous waters. So why would they do this? In the film’s parallel storyline, Willy (Edgar Flores) struggles with his commitment to his gang. After he breaks a cardinal rule of the gang, he ends up on the train with Sayra where he becomes her protector. But once a member of MS 13, you’re always a member and the network of members all the way up Latin America is now hunting for him. To prove himself, 12-year-old recruit El Smiley (Kristian Ferrer) now heads north to kill Willy, his former mentor, as well. As I said in my original review of this powerful drama, “[The immigrants] risk their lives for the opportunities many U.S. citizens take for granted. If they stay in their countries of origin, there’s always the gangs.”

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With INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and THE HURT LOCKER now on DVD and Blu-ray, This Weekend’s Film Festival looks at films with a unique perspective of war. Nazis will be smashed. Wives will long for their assassinated husbands. African soldiers will fight for a country that treats them like second-class citizens. The son of a Nazi SS officer will befriend a Jewish boy in a concentration camp. Bomb experts will treat war like a drug.

In INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino takes a “men on a mission” war film and combines it with a revenge tale. Two plot lines converge in a no-holds-bared ending that has a great deal of expectations of how WWII films should end. Shosanna Dreyfus, played with strength by Melanie Laurent, is a young Jewish girl whose family was slaughtered by the Nazis, led by “The Jew Hunter” Col. Hans Landa, played in iconic form by Christoph Waltz. At the premiere of a Nazi propaganda film in occupied France, she will seek her revenge. Meanwhile, Lt. Aldo Raine, played with fun bravado by Brad Pitt, leads his Inglourious Basterds, a unit of U.S. Jewish soldiers assigned with killing as many Nazis as possible. The film shapes up to be a battle between the agendas of Shosanna and Col. Landa. As I said in my original review, “Laurent is a new face to me and she carries herself perfectly for the material. We sense her feelings without words. This is truly Shosanna’s story not the Basterds… [Waltz] crafts an iconic villain who charms his victims into his traps and then plays with them like a mischievous child does with a poor animal in a snare. He loves his nickname, ‘The Jew Hunter,’ because he views himself more as an investigator than a soldier.” This war flicks is a rousing, often nail-biting, adventure that only Tarantino could make.

Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda’s KATYN, about the massacre of Polish soldiers in the Katyn forest, is a very personal film. His father died at the hands of Russian KGB agents that shot 15,000 officers in the back of the head and buried them in shallow graves. His film looks at the aftermath from various perspectives over time. The Nazis try to force Roza (Danuta Stenka) to help use the death of her general husband as propaganda for their war effort. Once the Russians took over Poland, they rewrote history blaming the Nazis for the killings, making it illegal to speak otherwise. At the core of the story is Anna (Maja Ostaszewska), the wife of Andrzej (Artur Zmijewski), an officer who has gone missing since the massacre, but is not listed on the death reports. Anna holds out hope that he will return, while fleeing from military harassment for simply being an officer’s wife. Jerzy (Andrzej Chyra) is an officer who survived the massacre who is forced to never speak the truth to his Russian commanders. Young people will find their own ways to rebel and speak the truth though, risking their lives in the process. Wajda takes these characters and tells interlocking stories about how this one tragedy underlined the Polish people’s war and post war experiences. The story begins with two groups of Polish people meeting on a bridge — one is fleeing the Nazis and the other the Russians. “A fitting metaphor for Polish history during and after WWII,” is what I said in my original review.

“[DAYS OF GLORY] combines SAVING PRIVATE RYAN’s dirty feel of battle and the heart of GLORY,” to quote my original review. This French production follows a troupe of North African soldiers who fight for France during WWII. Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila) is a born leader who wants to gain the respect of his French commanders, but can’t hold his tongue when he sees the injustices the Africans face. The indigenes as they were called were poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly treated — they weren’t even allowed to eat the tomatoes provided to the French soldiers. French sergeant Roger Martinez (Bernard Blancan) has a look of disdain on his face when dealing with the Africans. He treats illiterate Said (Jamel Debbouze) as his lacky. But when he talks of about the Africans to higher-ranking French officers, he commends them and fights for their equal treatment. Messaoud (Roschdy Zem) is the company’s sharpshooter. He has a French girl in Marseille that he dreams of going back to after the war is over, but what is he to think when no letters arrive as promised. Yassir (Samy Naceri) and Larbi (Asaad Bouab) are brothers who joined the army to make some money and aren’t below robbing corpses. There is a powerful overhead shot in the film where hundreds of African soldiers storm a German bunker hill and are gunned down. When they’re being used as simply overwhelming numbers, why bother training them to fight?

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS is a powerful drama about innocence and evil. For some its central conceit was too hard to believe, the son of a SS officer named Bruno (Asa Butterfield) befriending Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a Jewish imprisoned in a concentration camp. This challenging drama for mature children and adults does understand these particular characters and never tries to lessen the horrors of the concentration camps for the amusement of the audience. Bruno is kept innocent through the efforts of his mother, Elsa, played by Vera Farmiga in another remarkable performance, who sinks into depression when she begins to learn the extent of evil her husband Ralf (David Thewlis) is capable of. He is never made out to the “good” SS officer. He is a true believer and those around him that claim to not know what he is doing are simply in self-denial. It’s easy for Elsa to pretend when they live in the city and her husband is like any other kind, caring spouse and father. But things change when they move to the country and within smoke view of the concentration camps. Bruno has been allowed to remain a child and he reacts like the world around him any child of eight. He believes the camps are farms, but doesn’t understand why Shmuel is forced to live behind a barbed wire fence. Shmuel doesn’t know either. Bruno is simply a lonely boy looking for another boy to play with. As the story develops Bruno’s innocence becomes a frightening weakness. As I said in my original review, “He does things that are wrong and things that are right like any other boy. He doesn’t understand the larger consequences of his actions. When around evil, even innocence can be perverted into some dangerous.”

“Kathryn Bigelow’s gripping thriller doesn’t have a political message about this particular war, but has something to say about war in general,” to quote my original HURT LOCKER review. The life-threatening rush of combat can be like a drug. For members of the elite bomb squad, they take extreme caution when dealing with their job. But not William James, played in an Oscar-worthy performance by Jeremy Renner. He loves to get on top of the bombs and see how they tick. Each is a puzzle that he has to solve while the clock is counting down. His cavalier actions make his team very uneasy. Sgt. JT Sanborn, played by Anthony Mackie in an Oscar-worthy performance, is very cautious and comes to hate his new CO. Specialist Owen Eldridge, played by Brian Geraghty in an Oscar-worthy performance, is the greenhorn who has been rattled by his first taste of death and only sees his own demise coming at the hands of James. Their interpersonal conflicts create as much tension as the ticking time bombs they are challenged to defuse. By focusing on one aspect of the war in Iraqi, the film enlightens us on an emotional level about why each war is different and yet all wars are the same. This is one of the very best films of 2009 and should not be missed.

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This Weekend’s Film Festival would like to take the first week of the new year to look back on the work of those that passed in 2009. While I’ve chosen five to showcase, there are others who deserve our remembrance as well. Dom DeLuise was a staple of 1980s comedies and showed a great talent for voice acting starting with THE SECRET OF NIMH. I will remember Ron Silver most of all for the legal compass he played as Alan Dershowitz in REVERSAL OF FORTUNE. Natasha Richardson was part of a legendary movie acting family and stood out in films such as PATTY HEARST, NELL and THE WHITE COUNTESS. Ricardo Montalban is best known for his TV work, but many film fans will remember him as Khaaaaaaaaan! Farrah Fawcett was also a TV icon, but she would often give surprising turns in smaller film such as THE APOSTLE and DR. T AND THE WOMEN. Another icon, Michael Jackson, made his mark on cinema through music and innovative videos, but as a kid I knew him early on as the Scarecrow in THE WIZ. Brittany Murphy’s tragic death at the age of 32 robbed movies of an actress who showed such talent in overlooked gems like THE DEAD GIRL and big budgeted spectacles like HAPPY FEET. Most people will know James Whitmore as the kindly librarian Brooks in THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, but he was also a two-time Oscar nominee for 1949’s BATTLEGROUND and 1975’s GIVE ‘EM HELL, HARRY!

If you made a list of actors who defined the late-80s/early-90s I would be hard not to include Patrick Swayze. Starting with THE OUTSIDERS he showed screen presence. Moving from his success on TV with NORTH AND SOUTH, he launched into movie stardom with DIRTY DANCING. And many can’t forget him in the guilty pleasures ROAD HOUSE or POINT BREAK. In the 2000s, he made a big impression as the smarmy self-help guru Jim Cunningham in DONNIE DARKO. But he did is best work in Jerry Zucker’s GHOST. He played Sam Wheat, a man who worries that everything is going too perfectly for him. His concerns are founded when he is murdered in what seems to be a botched mugging. His ghost remains behind to discover who is behind his untimely death and to protect his one true love Molly (Demi Moore). Mixing romance with action and comedy, this sci-fi thriller has a bit of something for everyone. Swayze had a chance to play tough and sensitive within the same role. His rapport with Oscar-winner Whoopi Goldberg as the psychic Oda Mae Brown is like a comedic bickering brother and sister. As I said in my original review, “For Swayze, DIRTY DANCING made him a star, but GHOST solidified that status… He balances between tenderness, so wonderfully captured in the classic erotic pottery making scene, and his anger for revenge.”

John Hughes - 1950-2009

Few directors become household names. John Hughes is one of them, defining ’80s teen cinema. Starting as a writer he penned such comedies as MR. MOM and NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION. He moved to the director’s chair for SIXTEEN CANDLES, making Molly Ringwald a movie star. He would formalize his brand of teen coming of age stories with WEIRD SCIENCE and FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF. He went in a different direction in 1987 for one of his best and funniest films PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES. He would also produce such hits as SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL and HOME ALONE. But his crowning achievement is THE BREAKFAST CLUB. This character-based comedy puts five very different high school students together on one Saturday of detention. As I said in my original review, “Hughes’ dialogue sounds like teenagers spoke it… Even with lines like Neo-Maxi-Zoom-Dweebie, the film retains fresh because it understands.” Hughes begins by clearly defining his characters as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal and then over the course of the film shows how they are a bit of each. Part of what brings them together is a common enemy — Principal Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason), who the writer/director allows to be more than a cartoon authority figure. With few locations and a simple style, he makes a captivating film where teens talk for two hours. In Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy, he had young performers who were rarely better. With this film Hughes made the defining coming of age film of the 1980s.

David Carradine - 1936-2009

David Carradine is an iconic actor. Off screen he led a unique life and his bizarre death only added to the mystery. He made his mark as a cult superstar on the TV series KUNG FU. His first starring role came in Martin Scorsese’s first feature BOXCAR BERTHA, where legend says his love scene with Barbara Hershey is the real thing. Cult cinema was his bread and butter with such films as DEATH RACE 2000 and THE LONG RIDERS. After languishing in C-grade flicks for years, Quentin Tarantino reminded us that he was always badass, casting him in the title role of KILL BILL. For his acting skills, the film he was most recognized for was the Woody Guthrie biopic, BOUND FOR GLORY. As I said in my original review, “Carradine makes Guthrie a simple ramblin’ man who sees the world clearly and stands for what is right. His success gives him opportunity, but he’s not as interested in the wealth.” The versatile performer sung and played all of the songs in the film, giving soul to Guthrie’s protest anthems. Hal Ashby’s film is driven by two elements — stunning cinematography and Carradine’s focused and subtle performance. He was awarded a Golden Globe nomination for his work, but Oscar overlooked him despite having nominated the film for six other awards including Best Picture. It was a perfect role for the actor, playing an artist who wanders the countryside getting into adventures.

Jennifer Jones - 1919-2009

When I told someone I was including Jennifer Jones in this retrospective, they said, “who is Jennifer Jones?” I include that here because it’s a fitting statement about the fleeting nature of fame. From the mid to late 1940s she was one of the biggest, most respected young actresses in Hollywood. Starting with her star-making turn in THE SONG OF BERNADETTE in 1944, she was nominated for an Oscar the three following years for SINCE YOU WENT AWAY, LOVE LETTERS and DUEL IN THE SUN. In 1956, she would be nominated again playing a Chinese woman in LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING. It’s Jones’s subtle performance that makes the casting work. She starred in other respected movies such as PORTRAIT OF JENNIE, MADAME BOVARY, BEAT THE DEVIL, THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT and Henry King’s adaptation of TENDER IS THE NIGHT. In her day, she was looked down upon in some Hollywood circle as the mistress of legendary producer David O. Selznick, who she left her husband and two children for. During the late ’50s and ’60s she faded from the screen because she stayed out of the spotlight, living a private life. But her work still remains. As I said in my review of BERNADETTE, “She makes Bernadette a pure innocent. The future saint represents a religious ideal. Her grace in the face of pressure to recant is inspiring. Jones brings no guile to the part, which makes her effortlessly believable.” The film brought the story of the Miracle of Lourdes to the screen, serving as a commentary on belief. While it takes a believer’s stance, the film isn’t afraid to argue both sides. Jones found herself in these plum roles and delivered with class and passion.

Karl Malden - 1912-2009

I close the retrospective with a look at Oscar winner Karl Malden, a man remembered as the character actor with the bulbous nose. Before his Oscar-winning performance in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, he played smaller roles in KISS OF DEATH and THE GUNFIGHTER. He supported Jennifer Jones and Charlton Heston in 1952’s RUBY GENTRY. Two years later, he received his second Oscar nomination for the classic ON THE WATERFRONT, playing the dedicated Father Barry. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he played character roles in such films as BABY DOLL, Marlon Brando’s ONE-EYED JACKS, BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ, HOW THE WEST WAS WON, PATTON and Dario Argento’s THE CAT ‘O NINE TAILS. Of his Oscar-winning performance, I said in my original review, “Malden gives a two-fold performance. His demeanor is one way when he sees Blanche as the girl to take home to mother and then is much different when the view changes. It’s a testament to his performance that the shift doesn’t feel melodramatic. The change in attitude feels natural even if it comes as unexpected at first.” He held his own between the force of Brando’s revolutionary performance as Stanley Kowalski and the flamboyance of Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois. He plays a momma’s boy who is smitten by the prim and proper Southern belle and defends her honor in the face of Stanley’s doubts to her purity. His Oscar joined those of fellow cast members Leigh and Kim Hunter, who subtly plays Stanley’s put-upon wife and Blanche’s supportive sister Stella. Director Elia Kazan simply stayed out of the way of his dynamic performers, allowing all of them to give some of the best work of their careers. In his role as Mitch, Malden was given one of his most complex characters and he shines.

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The title of this week’s lineup has various meanings in the context of the films presented. 2009 had its share of creature features. In 9, burlap creations where tormented by frightening beasts formed by spare parts. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY scared people with the things that go bump in the night. DISTRICT 9 brought scary looking aliens to South Africa, but they weren’t the scariest creatures in the story. To round out the Fest, there’s another ghost and alien encounter tale to gives you chills and make you think. It’s a unique way to bid the old year goodbye.

“Don’t let the animation fool you, [9] is the sci-fi actioner you’ve been waiting all year for,” to quote my original review. Director Shane Acker’s visionary animated adventure is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth where humans have wiped themselves out and all that is left is their mechanical creations kept in operation through spare parts. A scientist has made nine burlap creatures that hold the key to humanity’s survival. They are tormented by skull-headed beasts and spider-like creatures with siren-like powers. #9 (Elijah Wood) was the scientist’s last creation. He is naïve, but was the will to do the right thing no matter how dangerous. To #1 (Christopher Plummer), he is a threat, but to #2 (Martin Landau) he represents hope. Each of the creatures are well-defined from the follower #5 (John C. Rielly) to the daring warrior #7 (Jennifer Connelly) to the dimwitted muscle #8 (Fred Tatasciore) to the bizarre #6 (Crispin Glover). This mature animated film doesn’t pull punches and surprises at every turn.

In my original review of THE INNOCENTS, I said, “The film is subtle, creepy and truly haunting. It’s one of the best ghost stories you will ever see.” Miss Giddens, played perfectly by Deborah Kerr, is hired to care for two orphans whose uncle doesn’t want to be bothered with. At first, things are simple when she’s caring for the young Flora (Pamela Franklin), but events take a frightening turn when Miles (Martin Stephens) comes home after being kicked out of boarding school. In addition to being one of the best ghost films it’s also one of the best creepy kids productions. Brought to life by Freddie Francis’s cinematography, the candle lit hallways with their long shadows seem to be hiding ghosts. Director Jack Clayton uses perfect shot choices and subtle shocking moments to leave the audience haunted. Something always seems off and we wait anxiously for the apparitions to surface. Miss Giddens becomes increasingly frantic as she gets closer to the truth about the ghosts lurking in the estate. In the end, a kiss is will rattle one’s nerves more than a scream.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY is another wonderful ghost story in the vein of BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Made for $15,000 by first-time director Oren Peli, the home video style horror flick follows a couple (Katie Featherston & Micah Sloat) as they try to capture the activities of a demonic spirit on video while they sleep. With great patience, Peli establishes his characters and simple scenario. Katie believes she has been plagued by paranormal creatures from a young age and Micah thinks it’s all a joke. As the bumps in the night get more frightening, the more strained their relationship becomes. Peli repeats one static shot of the bedroom as the characters sleep throughout the film until the final one comes and creates gut-wrenching tension. As I said in my original review, “When the lights are out and we’re dozing off, the bang in the next room sounds like an earthquake and makes our stomachs drop to our feet. This is a horror film that actually creates that same feeling.”

PLANET OF THE APES is the flipside of DISTRICT 9. Humans travel through space and land in a world where their cultural understandings come in conflict with the intelligent apes that rule the planet. In this world, George Taylor, played with a provocative spirit by Charlton Heston, is an exception to the norm – he is a human that speaks and thinks. Scientist Zira (Kim Hunter) becomes his protector. She believes he proves that apes descended from humans. Her boyfriend Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) believes so too, but is afraid to speak publically because he knows their religious leader Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) could ruin his career for saying such blasphemous things. Dr. Zaius looks down on humans as inferior, so his contempt for Taylor is strong. Taylor threatens his place in society. It’s easier to disregard humans than see their similarities. Taylor finds a common bond in the truth with Zira and McDowall. As I said in my original review, “Director Franklin J. Schaffner’s PLANET OF THE APES is a classic example of how sci-fi can be used to tackle controversial issues indirectly.”

“Sci-fi has been used to talk about real world problems forever. Underneath the aliens and spaceships in DISTRICT 9 is a comment on refugees and their awful living conditions,” to quote my original review. Co-writer/director Neill Blomkamp brings aliens from outer space to Johannesberg, South Africa. Twenty years ago a spaceship came to hover over the city and the aliens came to the surface where they were quartered off into slums and referred to by the humans as prawns. Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is a middle management hack from a multinational corporation tasked with moving the aliens from their slums to a new “better” camp. Through a genetic experiment gone awry, Wikus slowly transforms into one of the aliens and gets a chance to see how life is for them. He is helped out by alien Christopher Johnson and his inquisitive son. They have a way to get both themselves and Wikus back home. In between its human story and kick ass action, the film deals with the essence of complex issues in current Africa.

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Office romances are always tricky affairs. That applies to them on screen as well. With the delightful (500) DAYS OF SUMMER now on DVD and Blu-ray, This Weekend’s Film Festival looks at some great screen office romances. Some of the best romantic comedies involve love in the workplace such as classics like THE APARTMENT and HIS GIRL FRIDAY, as well as contemporary satires like BROADCAST NEWS. This lineup finds shop clerks bickering, sadomasochism, high-powered business partners and a rogue sports agent and the woman that completes him.

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER finds love at a greeting card company. Tom, played by the always wonderful Joseph Gordon-Levitt, went to school to be an architect, but has fallen into a comfortable rut penning prose for birthday greetings. Summer, played by the charming Zoey Deschanel, is hired and Tom is smitten from the start, but he’s too shy to make a move. After a night of karaoke with co-workers, Summer flirts with Tom and their relationship begins. Even though Summer says she doesn’t believe in love, Tom thinks she is his soul mate. The film knows how office romances work when one of the participants is shy. Tom tries not so subtly to draw Summer into conversations by trying to woo her by playing her favorite music at his desk. As I said in my original review, “It understands that there are two people in a relationship and that hope and love (or infatuation) can cloud the clear signs that what one person is feeling isn’t the same as the other. How love clicks is always a mystery. As we flip through the days, we see how Tom fell hard and how Summer was simply Summer.”

Miklos Laszlo’s stag play PARFUMERIE has been adapted to the screen many times, but none finer than as Ernst Lubitsch’s THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. Alfred Kralik, played by James Stewart with his usual charm and wit, and Klara Novak, played with a neurotic touch by Margaret Sullavan, have been engaged in a sweet pen pal romance. Then they meet as clerks at a department store where they become adversaries. Upon arranging a meeting of the pen pals, Alfred discovers that his mystery woman is Miss Novak and from that point on he is determined to change her mind about him without revealing that he is her letter-writing Mr. Right. The story has fun with the irony of rivals being in love with one not knowing it. It also understands the dynamics of the workplace where clerks apprenticed in order to move up. As I said in my original review, “The dialogue is witty and all the actors deliver with great timing… [Lubitsch] never pulls punches with the comedy or the dramatic moments.”

“I guess many boss/secretary relationships are sadomasochistic, but no other film has ever made that so literal,” to quote my original review of SECRETARY. Mr. E. Edward Grey, played by the master of sexual perversion James Spader, is a tough boss. He goes through secretaries so often that he has a neon sign in the window that reads, Secretary Wanted. Freshly out of a mental institution for cutting himself, Lee Holloway, played wonderfully by Maggie Gyllenhaal, is hired. One day, Mr. Grey catches Lee cutting her thighs under her desk. This begins a sadomasochistic relationship between the two where Lee is punished with whippings for typos. But as they get closer, Mr. Grey wonders if they can put this up 24/7. As love affairs go, it’s like all great loves where the pair meets needs that others couldn’t. In addition to being one of the most unique romances, Steven Shainberg’s twisted tale is also a biting satire of workplace relationships.

Mike Nichols’ WORKING GIRL is a shrewd look at females’ roles in high-powered business. Tess McGill, played in a career best performance from Melanie Griffith, is a smart woman who knows finance, but her Jersey accent, big hair and flashy clothes leave her from being taken seriously as a business mind. She gets a job as the assistant of cutthroat businesswoman Katharine Parker, in an Oscar-nominated performance from Sigourney Weaver, who tries to pass Tess’s big idea off as her own. So when her boss is injured in a skiing accident, Tess assumes her identity and hooks up with businessman Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford). And when I say hooks up I mean it both romantically and professionally. As she says, Tess has a mind for business and a bod for sin. Trainer falls for both sides. As I said in my original review, “The film rides high on the ‘loser can win it all’ sentiment. However, it also offers intelligent commentary on the demands put on women for them to succeed in business.”

JERRY MAGUIRE, one of the best romantic comedies, just happens to be an office romance as well. Jerry Maguire, played by Tom Cruise in an Oscar nominated performance, is a ruthless sports agent, who has a conflict of conscience and pushes for his company to develop closer relationships with clients instead of looking at them as simply money-making opportunities. This, of course, leads to him getting fired. On his way out, he calls for those who believe in his idea to follow him. Accountant Dorothy Boyd, played irresistibly by Rene Zellweger, pops up and joins him. He’s only able to retain one client, Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. in an Oscar-winning performance. He’s a cocky wide receiver who Jerry wishes would put the same heart into his playing as he does in his relationship with his wife Marcee (Regina King). Dorothy believes in Jerry, which makes him a better man. He connects with her cute son Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki), but as always he has a hard time being alone, but has difficulty emotionally committing. As I said in my original review, “The film is about putting your heart into relationships and careers.”

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With THE HANGOVER now on DVD and Blu-ray, This Weekend’s Film rounds up some raunchy comedy for your viewing enjoyment. In addition to a black out filled trip to Las Vegas, there are bawdy stand-up comedians and an outrageous Austrian fashion journalist. Wanton drunkenness consumes the Sunday lineup with a holiday black comedy and the quintessential raunchy laugh fest.

THE HANGOVER has four friends heading to Vegas for a bachelor’s bash right before Doug (Justin Bartha) is to get married. Along for the trip are Doug’s best friends the alpha alpha-male Phil (Bradley Cooper) and the henpecked Stu (Ed Helms), as well as his loserish brother-in-law-to-be Alan, played by Zach Galifianakis in a star making performance. Phil, Stu and Alan wake up in their hotel room with missing teeth, a baby and a tiger. Also Doug is missing. Now they must piece together the night before so they can find their friend and get him to the wedding on time. As I said in my original review, “Surprisingly, as much as the film goes for the raunchy humor, more times than not, it roots its humor in its characters.” The dynamic between the opposites Phil and Stu creates most of the film’s laughs. Alan sees the world from a skewed perspective and adds the right dose uncertainty to the entire story. The over-the-top events of their missing night aren’t just random, but driven by the characters’ personalities. It’s one of the funniest films of 2009.

Director Judd Apatow has taken the raunchy comedy to a new level with films like THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP. With FUNNY PEOPLE, he tapped into his own past having worked as a joke writer for stand-up comedians. George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is one of the top comedic movie stars. While he’s funny on stage, he’s a lonely, miserable man to be around in real life. Learning that he has a rare blood disease doesn’t make him any better. He hires young comic Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) to write jokes for him and work as his personal assistant. Now that he’s sick George tries to reunite with the one that got away, Laura (Leslie Mann). The fact that she’s married to the rugby-obsessed Clarke (Eric Bana) and has two little girls doesn’t faze him. This inside look at stand-up comedy and the pitfalls of stardom is Apatow’s most serious effort, but it also allows an opportunity for some great jokes. As I said in my original review, “George Simmons… developed humor to shield [himself] from the big problems in [his life]. [He’s] funny when their performing, but the jokes become more hurtful when the spotlight isn’t on them… His money can get him anything he wants even someone to talk him to sleep. How sad is that?”

Sacha Baron Cohen shocked viewers with his ambush comedy BORAT. He ups the ante with BRUNO, one of the raunchiest major releases any studio has ever released. Cohen plays Bruno, a gay fashion reporter who after an embarrassing event at Fashion Week in Paris, heads to Hollywood to claim stardom. “In the process of watching Bruno’s idiotic attempts to become a star, Cohen skewers American celebrity obsession, consumerism shallowness and homophobia,” to quote my original review. Helping him along his way is his devoted assistant Lutz (Gustaf Hammarstan). Cohen takes his brand of outrageous antics to an unthinkable level when he travels to Israel to gain fame by brokering a peace deal between the Jewish state, the Palestinians and even a terrorist group. In one hilarious running gag, Bruno adopts a baby from Africa and names him O.J. With a provocateur’s edge, Bruno lays bare the dirty secrets of America.

BAD SANTA is a coal black comedy about the shallowness and consumerism of Christmas. Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) is a fall-down drunk safecracker who partners with a Little Person thief named Marcus (Tony Cox) every holiday season to pose as Santa and his elf, respectively. Willie needs a place to crash and ends up using the place of the very naive tween named Thurman (Brett Kelly), who believes he really is St. Nick. Willie is a foul mouth mean SOB who hooks up with a bartender named Sue (Lauren Graham) with a Santa fetish. He’s the least proper person to be a role model for a kid. As I said in my original review, “Though the film doesn’t hold back, it does have the true nature of the holidays at its core. The film finds a happy ending, but it’s like finding out that your house burned down and then the fireman hands you the collar of your cat and says, ‘At least this didn’t burn.’”

ANIMAL HOUSE is the raunchy comedy that launched the college party subgenre. Unfortunately all of its imitators focus on the raunchy and not the astute satire of director John Landis’ comedy classic. As I said in my original review, “Through all the craziness, the film never goes too far. Landis and writers Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller understand that great satire is often created by showing reality but only at a slightly skewed angle.” The story follows freshman pledges Larry (Timothy Hulce) and Kent (Stephen Furst) as they move their way through the classic fraternity experiences from toga parties to nick names to drug experimentation to road trips. At its core, the Deltas battle with the stuck up Omegas, ROTC bullies and Dean Wormer (John Vernon) is an anarchic poke at conformity and hypocrisy. What makes the film so good is that we know these guys. Maybe just a little more extreme versions. Otter (Tim Matheson) is the quintessential ladies man. Hoover (James Widdoes) is the house president that tries to restrain his partying brothers. Bluto, played by John Belushi in a remarkable scene-stealing performance, is the student who is getting a degree in drinking. Right up to its futile conclusion, the film understands exactly how to mix honesty with excess for comic perfection.

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