2001

Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 film Spirited Away shot to the top of the Japanese box office and still holds the spot as the highest grossing film in Japanese history, sinking box office juggernaut Titanic. Perhaps it says a lot that it’s a Japanese story that is so universally appealing and that it’s for all ages. Or that it’s timeless. Regardless of why it’s so popular, it’s great to see Miyazaki as the person whose creation holds that spot.

The Hughes brothers hadn’t really had a big hit by the time they were offered to direct the adaptation of Alan Moore’s and Eddie Campbell’s graphic novel “From Hell,” detailing the characters involved in the ‘Jack the Ripper’ slayings in 1888 London. It offered an opportunity to tell a gritty story that still dealt with the people struggling at the bottom of society, something they’d already proved successful at. But the graphic novel’s incredibly dense and despite the many rewrites the script went through, it still ended up a film that is hard to call a great success for the brothers. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our series on the Hughes brothers with their 2001 film From Hell.

There is a political side to military operations, and there is a military side. Regardless of the politics of the 1993 situation in Somalia, the battle of Mogadishu was a terrible one, leaving 19 US soldiers, a Pakistani soldier and a Malaysian soldier dead, not to mention the countless Somalis. Ridley Scott’s 2001 film Black Hawk Down, based on Mark Bowden’s book, tells the story of this battle and it’s a powerful one. Certainly, it’s a film everyone should see at least once to fully grasp this situation. Join us as we continue our “This Is Real Life, Jack” series with Scott’s powerful film.

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo broke onto the international scene with “28 Weeks Later,” the sequel to Danny Boyle’s film, and has been tied to a number of high-profile Hollywood projects since, including the just-announced “Pet Sematary” remake. But it’s his feature film debut, 2002’s “Intacto,” that one only need look at to understand why this writer/director is in such hot demand. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we begin our Foreign Language series with a show about this fascinating movie from Spain about people who gamble not to win money, but to win luck.