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"Broadcast News" is James L. Brooks' funny and intelligent take on television news, both in front and behind the cameras. With fast-paced, brilliantly written dialogue, combined with tremendous performances from an amazing cast, the film is perhaps one of the finest about television. Holly Hunter has given amazing performances, but she is at her finest as a workaholic news producer, torn between a handsome anchorman (William Hurt), and a down-to-earth reporter (Albert Brooks). Hunter offers a colorful array of emotions, many in a single scene. The cliche-smashing film also offers memorable moments, specifically Joan Cusack's literal sprint to airtime, and Brooks' hilarious shot at anchoring the weekend news, only to be victim of an unpredictable sweat attack. Funny, surprising, uncompromising and fiercely intelligent, "Broadcast News" gives us a peek at a world that gives us the world...the news, and how at the core, beats a human heart.

John Sayles is one of the finest film makers around, and "Passion Fish" ranks as his most human, funny, and provoking film. Fueled by tremendous performances by the always reliable Mary McDonnell and the extraordinary Alfre Woodard, "Passion Fish" takes a slow, easy pace through the Louisiana bayous and through difficult adjustments with life. David Strathairn, Vondie Curtis Hall, are McDonnell and Woodard's love interests, respectively, and add wonderful colors of both subtle and flamboyant hues. We find ourselves laughing at McDonnell's crude humor as paralyzed soap opera actress May Alice, especially in an amusing segment in which she drives away a number of interestingly characteristic nurses. Then, May Alice meets Woodard's Chantelle, a Chicago woman looking to rectify her own life. Their friendship is stunning, the ride is a pure joy. "Passion Fish" is a quiet film, and meant for those who enjoy those voyages through life with patience, humor, and camaraderie through the most difficult of circumstances, ultimately finding the true gifts of life.