Last week, Heartland Truly Moving Pictures President and CEO, Jeffrey L. Sparks, announced that the feature film documentary, Lt. Dan Band: For the Common Good, featuring actor Gary Sinise and his “Lt. Dan Band” is a Crystal Heart Award winner and will be screened during the 2010 Heartland Film Festival, which will take place through October 23rd in Indianapolis.

The film, directed by Jonathan Flora, follows Sinise and his band as they support the troops and first responders around the world including Kuwait and Iraq.  The Lt. Dan Band began playing shows in 2003 and has played close to 200 concerts for America’s heroes and their families.
Films that receive the Crystal Heart are being honored for best meeting Heartland’s mission of “exploring the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life.”  Having seen this uplifting and inspiring film, I can assure you that it does just that. 

“Having long known the high reputation of the Heartland Film Festival and the quality of films it showcases, it is a true honor to be recognized and I tip my hat to Jeffrey Sparks and his staff for all they do,” said Flora, who hails from Ohio, served with the 82nd Airborne and also produced the film along with his wife, Deborah Flora.  “As a veteran and filmmaker working in Hollywood, it is a privilege to be able to support our troops and first responders through our medium.  The spirit of service and commitment to the greater good has always served as an example to me.  At its core, this movie is about remembering those who are willing to lay down their lives for others and those who are left behind.  Gary Sinise is a man who has chosen to remember and to honor.  Gary truly is the Bob Hope of this generation.”  (more…)

A kung-fu flick with fancy wire work is still a kung-fu flick and a revenge flick with CGI is still a revenger . Some may confuse “Wolverine” with a superhero film, but make no mistake, it’s a revenger of the best kind: a B-level plot with A-level action — all meat and potatoes without a vegetable anywhere in sight.

This is one of my favorite genres, especially when it comes to the smaller, lesser known – or better yet – less respected members of this family. Sure, there’s “Star Trek II,” “Once Upon a Time in the West,” “The Sting,” “Man on Fire,” and both “Kill Bill” films – love ‘em all, and so do you, but here are five you may have missed that are even more satisfying than their better known cousins.

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1. Death Wish II (1982) – Michael Winner’s first “Death Wish” (1974) is often mistaken as a revenge film when it’s really a vigilante film. For we purists that distinction matters. The original may show up on all kinds of Top 10 Revenge Film lists but at no time does Bronson’s Paul Kersey look for the thugs who murdered his wife and raped his daughter. What he does do is take it to the streets as an avenging angel to overcome his own sense of helplessness. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great because punks get blown away and liberal critics howl, but a revenger it is not. (more…)