Question: I'm a health teacher and am looking for some good movies about drug addiction or abuse. Do you have any suggestions?Answer: You don't say how old your students are, so I feel I should warn you that all these movies contain material that many people would consider unsuitable for younger teenagers. But frankly, the drug life is full of material that's unsuitable for younger teenagers, so that just goes with the territory. Please also be aware that this isn't a definitive list, but these are films that have stuck with me. These titles deal vividly with life as an addict:
The Man With the Golden Arm (1955). It's old-fashioned, but it was a pioneering look at heroin addiction.
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Jesus' Son (2000)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
Trainspotting (1996)
The
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The latest film from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh seeks not to break box-office records, earn countless awards or chronicle what's next for Danny Ocean and his band of merry thieves. No, all it wants to do is change the way Hollywood makes movies. Forever.
Bubble, starring absolutely no one you have heard of — unless, per chance, you are a resident of Parkersburg, W. Va., or Belpre, Ohio — presents the story of two doll-factory drones whose very, very quiet world is turned upside down by a shocking murder. Sounds good and typically art-housey so far, right? But the reason all eyes in Hollywood are on this little film that could — made for a pittance of $1.6 million — is that Bubble will be released in theaters and on cable (via HDNet Movies) today, and will then become available on DVD on Tuesday.
Cal
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Question: I just saw a direct-to-video movie called Havoc that was dedicated to Jessica Kaplan (1979-2003). Who was she and why is the movie dedicated to her?
Answer: When Los Angeles-born Jessica Kaplan was a 17-year-old high-school student at Santa Monica's famous Crossroads School, she sold a screenplay called The Powers that Be — about privileged white California kids who were into gangbanging ghetto culture until they run into the real thing — to New Line Cinema for a cool $150,000. This happened a full three years before 13-year-old Nikki Reed wrote a screenplay called Thirteen about her experiences as a wayward child of privilege, but Reed got far more publicity because her script was quickly produced and she costarred in the movie. Kaplan
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Question: About 20 years or so ago, there was a movie on TV about the dropping of nuclear bombs that was like a live news telecast from CNN or something similar it; I think there was a continuous line at the bottom of the screen saying it was just a movie, not real. They only showed it once and said they would never show it again. What was the name of this movie, and is it available on DVD or has it been destroyed?Answer: You're looking for Special Bulletin (1983), which was formatted as a series of special news bulletins from local channel RBS charting an escalating nuclear crisis in Charleston. It was directed by Edward Zwick and cowritten and coproduced by Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, who subsequently worked together on projects ranging from TV's thirtysometh
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In The Perfect Score — now in theaters — Erika Christensen stars as Anna, a high schooler under pressure from her folks to get top marks on the SAT, get admitted to Brown, and live out their fantasy of a perfect life. Happily, the budding actress — best known for her work in Traffic and Swimfan — can't relate much to that whole hassle.
Unlike Anna's demanding 'rents, Christensen's mom and dad sound downright cool, especially when it comes to her chosen career. "When I was 5, they put me in acting," she tells TV Guide Online. "They didn't know that I wanted to do it and they became paranoid that they were being those 'pushy parents.' So they just stopped. Then, when I was about 12, I realized that I did want to [act], and they gave me a little trial period. I did really well and started making money, and they figured, 'Alright, this is a good deal. We can do this.'
"I am fortunate enough to have been raised withou
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