Holy Unknown

The Truman Show (1998)   is a comedy-drama directed by Peter Weir and written by Andrew Niccol. The film follows the life of Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey), an insurance salesman who is unaware that he is the sole star of a 24-hour reality television show. His entire life, from birth, has been an elaborate fabrication filmed within a massive, enclosed set. His friends, family, and everyone he knows are actors, and his every move is broadcast to the world. Laura Linney plays Meryl Burbank, his wife in the show. As Truman begins to notice odd occurrences in his seemingly perfect world, he grows suspicious and starts to question his reality, leading him on a quest to escape his meticulously crafted existence. The film's visionary concept was ahead of its time, predicting the rise of reality television. The town of Seahaven, where the film is set, was filmed in Seaside, Florida, a real-life planned community that already had the idealized, pristine look the filmmakers wanted. The role of ...

Fallen (1998)   is a supernatural thriller directed by Gregory Hoblit and written by Nicholas Kazan. The film follows Detective John Hobbes (Denzel Washington) after he witnesses the execution of a serial killer, Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas). Soon after, new murders begin that are eerily similar to the executed killer's work, and Hobbes starts to suspect that a sinister force is behind them. With the help of his partner, Jonesy (John Goodman), Hobbes uncovers the truth that an ancient demonic entity, named Azazel, is possessing people and committing the crimes. The demon can transfer from one person to another with a simple touch, making it a powerful foe that threatens to frame Hobbes for the murders. The film was shot primarily in Philadelphia, with some scenes shot in New Jersey. One notable feature is the recurring use of the song "Time Is on My Side" by The Rolling Stones, which serves as a sinister anthem for the demon Azazel. The ending of the film was a point of co...

An unsettling frustration is growing over Oklahoma's schools. At the center of it, overseeing 700,000 students, is State Superintendent Ryan Walters. His leadership, which he promised would fix education, has essentially only created political drama that has left parents, educators, and even members of his own party shaking their heads in disbelief. For starters, Walters’ PragerU textbooks teach students that being a slave “was better than being killed” and that slaves were actually fortunate to have "developed skills" from their experience that "could be applied for their personal benefit.” All of which is unimaginably insulting and historically inaccurate. It doesn’t stop there. Walters sent emails to Oklahoma lawmakers and their assistants containing "inappropriate adult material” that Walters says was to demonstrate the kind of explicit material that is being made available to students in a "left-wing woke culture" that is "pushing pornography...

Stranger than Fiction (2006)   is a comedy-drama directed by Marc Forster and written by Zach Helm. It follows the peculiar life of Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), an IRS agent whose monotonous existence is turned upside down when he begins to hear a narrator describing his life. The voice belongs to a reclusive author, Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), who is struggling to finish her latest novel and plans to kill her main character—Harold. Harold must race against time to find Karen and change his fate. Along the way, he falls for a free-spirited baker, Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal). He seeks help from literature professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman). The film's writer, Zach Helm, was inspired by his own experience of hearing his thoughts narrated. The production was filmed primarily in Chicago. The film's characters are named after famous scientists and artists, such as Francis Crick and Blaise Pascal, a deliberate choice by Helm to engage the movie's form as much as its co...

What About Bob? (1991)   is a superb comedy directed by Frank Oz and written by Tom Schulman. The film follows Bob Wiley, a neurotic and clingy patient played by Bill Murray, who tracks down his psychiatrist, Dr. Leo Marvin, played flawlessly by Richard Dreyfuss, while he's on vacation with his family. As Bob worms his way into the family's affection, Dr. Marvin’s professional poise begins to unravel. The cast also includes Julie Hagerty as Dr. Marvin’s wife, Charlie Korsmo as their son, and Kathryn Erbe as their teenage daughter. The balance between Murray’s eccentric charm and Dreyfuss’s escalating rage drives the film’s absurd tension. Behind the scenes, the chemistry between the actors mirrored the on‑screen conflict—Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss famously clashed during filming. According to crew accounts, Murray would taunt Dreyfuss, throw things at him, and provoke him between takes. Dreyfuss described Murray as "drunken" and "irrational" at times,...

Virginia Hall Goillot wasn’t supposed to become a spy. Born in Baltimore in 1906 to a well-off family, she was raised with polish and possibility—fluent in French and German, educated in Europe, and expected to live a life of comfort and marriage. That was the plan. Then, while hunting birds in Turkey, she tripped and accidentally discharged her rifle. The injury led to a leg amputation below the knee. She was just 27. Her new prosthetic—a heavy wooden limb she named “Cuthbert”—could have ended any ambition to work abroad. Instead, it marked the beginning of a career that would make her one of the most elusive and effective spies of World War II. She applied to the U.S. Foreign Service, but her disability disqualified her. So she looked elsewhere. By 1940, Hall was in France as a freelance journalist. The Nazi invasion pushed others to flee, but she stayed. She started passing along information to the British and caught the attention of the Special Operations Executive, or...

Election (1999)  is a marvelous and refreshing dark comedy directed by Alexander Payne and written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. The film is set during a contentious student body presidential election at a suburban Omaha high school. Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick), a well-liked and dedicated history teacher, finds his professional and personal life unraveling when he decides to sabotage the campaign of the pathologically ambitious and overachieving student, Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon). Believing her to be unfit for office and personally disliking her intensity, he persuades Paul Metzler (Chris Klein), a popular but simple-minded football player, to run against her.  The film was shot on location in and around Omaha, Nebraska, director Alexander Payne's hometown. The school scenes were filmed at Papillion-La Vista High School, and many of the students seen in the film were actual students from the school. The screenplay is based on the 1998 novel of the same name b...