July 1, 2025
BIG (1988) – AFI Movie Club
Penny Marshall’s sophomore feature, BIG (1988), was a record-breaking release that made her the first female director to gross more than $100 million at the box office. BIG was also a massive success for star Tom Hanks – earning the AFI Life Achievement Award honoree his first Academy Award® nomination. The story of a boy who...
June 30, 2025
WITNESS (1985) – AFI Movie Club
Featuring AFI Life Achievement Award honoree Harrison Ford in a starring role as a cop undercover in an Amish community after a young man witnesses the murder of another officer, director Peter Weir’s WITNESS (1985) was named by the American Film Institute among the art form’s great love stories for its tender approach to the...
June 29, 2025
POETIC JUSTICE (1993) – AFI Movie Club
Written and directed by John Singleton and starring Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur, POETIC JUSTICE features the poetry of AFI Directing Workshop for Women alumna – and AFI Honorary Degree recipient – Maya Angelou, who also appears in the film. According to writer/director John Singleton, Maya Angelou improvised most of her dialogue in the film. Singleton...
June 28, 2025
WINGS (1927) – AFI Movie Club
The first film ever to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture, William Wellman’s epic aviation drama WINGS (1927) is an iconic starring vehicle for legendary “It Girl” Clara Bow – and features an early supporting performance from Hollywood stalwart Gary Cooper, named by the American Film Institute among the greatest American screen stars. After...
June 24, 2025
ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002) – AFI Movie Club
Describing his original concept for the film as “THE GRADUATE at age 65,” co-writer/director Alexander Payne brought ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002) to the screen with AFI Life Achievement Award honoree Jack Nicholson embodying the title role. The film earned an AFI AWARD, recognizing it as one of the year’s most outstanding achievements in the art of...
June 22, 2025
MEAN STREETS (1973) – AFI Movie Club
Noted by critics as one of the first films to portray Italian-American culture from the point of view of someone who had experienced it daily – and described by The Village Voice at the time as “a piece of urban ethnography, a realist rendering of a subculture that had never been shown on screen in...
June 20, 2025
THE STING (1973) – AFI Movie Club
Starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman in their second collaboration as co-stars for director George Roy Hill, THE STING (1973) features Academy Award®-winning production design by Henry Bumstead – who also helped to educate the next generation of storytellers as a teacher at the AFI Conservatory. Visit the AFI Catalog to learn more about THE...
June 19, 2025
42 (2013) – AFI Movie Club
AFI Life Achievement Award recipient Harrison Ford takes on the role of Brooklyn Dodgers’ owner Branch Rickey in 42 – the story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson becoming the first black player in the Major League. Bringing one legend to life is another, with incomparable screen icon Chadwick Boseman stepping into Robinson’s uniform to bring...
June 18, 2025
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) – AFI Movie Club
The story of an idealistic young senator who naively takes on Washington corruption, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) is a beloved film that appears on four of AFI’s lists of the greatest American films – on both the original and 10th anniversary editions as well as among the art form’s most inspiring stories –...
June 17, 2025
HARD EIGHT (1996) – AFI Movie Club
The debut feature from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, HARD EIGHT (1996) features an all-star cast that includes Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson in a Nevada-set crima drama – with lush cinematography from AFI Conservatory alum Robert Elswit (AFI Class of 1977). Visit the AFI Catalog to learn more...
June 15, 2025
INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989) – AFI Movie Club
The ultimate father/son movie, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE boasts contributions by no fewer than five AFI Life Achievement Award recipients – director Steven Spielberg, producer George Lucas, stars Harrison Ford and Sean Connery and composer John Williams – as well as an early credit for AFI Board of Trustees Chair Kathleen Kennedy. Indiana...
June 13, 2025
SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954) – AFI Movie Club
Named by the American Film Institute among the greatest filmed musicals, director Stanley Donen’s SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954) brought a striking color palette to its tale of rough-hewn frontier romance – marking the first-ever release to use Ansco Color Process in conjunction with sweeping Cinemascope. Visit the AFI Catalog to learn more about...
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