Training Day is a 2001 film starring Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris, a highly effective but corrupt LAPD police officer, and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, his new green recruit looking to become a part of Harris's Narcotics unit. The entire movie takes place over a single, intense 24-hour period in Los Angeles that changes the lives of both officers. The movie was written by David Ayer and directed by Antoine Fuqua, both of whom grew up in gang neighborhoods.

Fuqua wanted Training Day to look as authentic as possible, and he shot on location in some of the most infamous neighborhoods of Los Angeles, California. He even obtained permission from gangs to shoot in the notoriously dangerous Imperial Courts housing project. His crew ended up receiving a warm welcome from local residents, who were all happy that a movie was being made that showed some of the regular life that exists in their world. When Fuqua wasn't able to shoot a scene directly on location, he recreated these locations on sets.

There were two police officers on hand as technical advisors, Michael Patterson and Paul Lozada. Shiheed "Bone" Sloan served as the gang advisor. Washington, Hawke and other cast members also met with undercover police officers, local drug dealers and gangbangers to help them understand their roles better.

More on [ Training Day ]

Movies Reviews

Review for Beverly Hills Chihuahua - Go - Great Fun!
I went with my grandkids and daughter to see this and we all had fun! Cute without being obnoxiously so, nice story. Good laughs for the adults too.
Review for Fireproof - Must Go! - Must go
It's so refreshing to see a movie with true marriage and family values. We took our grown and married children to see it. My husband and I have been married for 30 years and enjoyed the depth of emotion the movie envoked. Should be required viewing for all engaged couples.
Review for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - Must Go! - nick and norahs is a wonderful comedy
just saw it at premire and no matter what others say i am a minor critic and its a charming masterpice about life,love, and putting up with drunk best friends(you have too see it to understand!) 5/5 10/10

L.A. Times - Movie Reviews

'An American Carol'
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The comedy from David Zucker has a silly, slapdash quality that lacks any real satirical bite, but there are some amusing moments. If "An American Carol" contained any real bite or intelligence, those so inclined could've legitimately griped about its shallow anti-liberalism. But given that this supremely silly satire directed by "The Naked Gun's" David Zucker (from a script he wrote with Myrna Sokoloff and Lewis Friedman) plays more like something slapped together to beat an expiration date, it's hard to get too worked up about it.
'Mentor,' 'The Violent Kind' reviews
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
'Mentor' flunks the quality test
'Smother,' with Diane Keaton, Dax Shepard
Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Also: 'Fireproof' and 'Freebird' "Smother," a fairly standard story of a young man (Dax Shepard) and his overbearing mother (Diane Keaton), treads a lot of the same ground as Albert Brooks' "Mother" and even such recent Keaton vehicles as "The Family Stone," "Because I Said So" and "Mama's Boy." Why a performer as gleefully game and wittily wise as Keaton must now be subjected to such self-same material is a question perhaps only she, her agent and the cruel fates of Hollywood can answer.

Movies

Religulous
Bruce Diones Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000
The Film File
Rachel Getting Married
Anthony Lane Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000
The Film File
Nights and Weekends
Richard Brody Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000
The Film File

Rolling Stone Movie Reviews

Miracle at St. Anna
Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:57:21 -0700
Starring: Omar Benson Miller, Michael Ealy, Derek Luke, Laz Alonso Review: Critics are raining down hard on Spike Lee's first war epic. And it's not like I don't have objections. Miracle at St. Anna is too long, lazily constructed, and crammed with too many characters and subplots for any director to develop fully outside of an HBO miniseries. But Lee isn't any director. He's an African-American maverick with a legit gripe against the white face that Hollywood puts on war. The first scene in Miracle shows us a black World War II veteran watching John Wayne on TV lording it over the D-Day invasion in The Longest Day. "We fought that war too," says the vet. Point taken. It's no surprise that Lee decided to make a film of James McBride's well-received novel about the Buffalo Soldiers, black GIs segregated from the regular Army, who served with the 92nd Infantry... Rating: 2 Stars
Eagle Eye
Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:54:34 -0700
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan Review: Questions: Did everyone involved in this botched thriller OD on speed? Does jimmy-legs director D.J. Caruso think if he slowed down the action we'd figure out how stupid the plot is? Did Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan think there was any acting involved in playing characters on the run from a computer intent on global domination? Are BlackBerrys and iPhones the enemy because they make us easy for the computer to track? Can the computer make me forget this movie? Rating: 1.5 Stars
Flash of Genius
Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:19:41 -0700
Starring: Greg Kinnear Review: For a while, it looked like Greg Kinnear showed his acting chops best with supporting roles in the likes of As Good as It Gets, Little Miss Sunshine and the current Ghost Town. Well, hang on. Kinnear takes the star spot in Flash of Genius and rides it to glory. He plays Robert Kearns, the Detroit professor, inventor and father of six who came up with the idea for the intermittent windshield wiper during the 1960s. Go ahead, groan. I felt the same way. A night reading patent law seems more exciting. But Kinnear takes this true story — John Seabrook's 1993 New Yorker article formed the basis of the script, by Philip Railsback — and runs with it. Kearns had his "flash of genius" when a champagne cork popped his eye on his honeymoon with wife Phyllis (Lauren Graham). Why couldn't a... Rating: 3 Stars

Rotten Tomatoes: Top Movies

44% Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:05:01 -0700
Despite hitting some sweet notes, Beverly Hills Chihuahua is little more than disposable family entertainment.
28% Eagle Eye
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:05:01 -0700
Eagle Eye is a preposterously plotted thriller that borrows heavily from other superior films.
72% Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:05:01 -0700
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist combines a pair of charming leads, the classic New York backdrop, and a sweet soundtrack.

NPR Topics: Movies

Poking Fun At Stereotypes In 'Allah Made Me Funny'
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:25:00 -0400
A new film, Allah Made Me Funny, follows three Muslim men as they perform at comedy clubs around the U.S., chronicling how they make comedy out of sometimes painful experiences in a post-Sept. 11 America. Comedians Azhar Usman, Mo Amer and Preacher Moss discuss what informs their humor.
'Nick And Norah,' Setting A New York Night To Music
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:00:00 -0400
A geek and a smart girl cruise a nighttime New York as romantically supercharged as in any Woody Allen movie — falling for each other, while audiences fall madly for them.
'Playlist,' 'Chihuahua' Or Alienation?
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:00:00 -0400
Slate.com's film expert takes us through the reviews of the latest releases. This week: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, the story of young love in Manhattan, the comedy Beverly Hills Chihuahua starring the voice of Drew Barrymore and How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, the story of a disillusioned intellectual obsessed with celebrity and fame.

NYT > Red Carpet

The Lawsuit Over Producer Credit for 'Crash' Gets Personal
SHARON WAXMAN Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0400
A top executive of the movie academy described one of the producing team behind the best-picture winner, "Crash," as throwing a tantrum in suing over credit for the film.
News Analysis: Los Angeles Retains Custody of Oscar
DAVID CARR Tue, 07 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0400
Los Angeles, a place where race is discussed rarely, saw itself in "Crash," a film where encounter and understanding are just a random fender-bender away.
'Crash' Walks Away With the Top Prize at the Oscars
DAVID M. HALBFINGER and DAVID CARR Mon, 06 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0400
In a stunning twist, the motion picture academy turned its back on "Brokeback Mountain," awarding the Oscar for best picture to "Crash."

Village Voice | Films

Airplane! Director David Zucker Talks About the Left and His New Movie An American Carol
Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500
As part of the Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker filmmaking team in the '80s, David Zucker pioneered the non sequitur spoof-comedy genre with Airplane! and The Naked Gun. ZAZ split up in the '90s, but Zucker has kept his hand in the comedy game with the last two Scary Movie instal...
A Whimsical Gust of Nothing in The Pleasure of Being Robbed
Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Essentially a mumblecore version of Pickpocket—sans the moral and existential high stakes, and with dollops of Miranda July–style fancy thrown in—Joshua Safdie's The Pleasure of Being Robbed operates under the curious assumption that we should all be so lucky as to...
Humboldt County
Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500
A storied stretch of land along the Northern California coast, Humboldt County is home to the tallest—and, at 800-plus years, some of the oldest—trees on the face of the earth: the towering coastal redwoods. The region is equally well known for its cash crop of choice, exceptionally h...

Film News from Times Online

Will Oliver Stone see success with his George W. Bush biopic?
Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Forty-three years ago, two men enrolled at Yale University. One of them dropped out a year later, volunteered to fight in Vietnam, then made a movie about his experiences entitled Platoon. His name is Oliver Stone. The other dodged combat and went on to become the 43rd President of the United States. His name is George W. Bush.
Brideshead Revisited
Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0000

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0000


Subscribe to Movies RSS feed