Rails & Ties

2007

When a mother commits suicide by parking her car on the train tracks, an unlikely bond forms between her son, Davey (Miles Heizer) -- who's wracked with guilt -- and the tormented engineer (Kevin Bacon) who was driving the train that fateful day. Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden co-stars as the engineer's wife in this poignant drama, which marks the directorial debut of Alison Eastwood (Clint's daughter).

3.5 Average Rating

Streetwalkin'

1985

This gritty drama follows the downward spiral of Cookie, a runaway who ends up as a hooker in New York City. When things get violent, Cookie tries to flee again, but her enraged pimp will stop at nothing to keep her under his thumb.

3.5 Average Rating

Amreeka

2009

Eager to provide a better future for her son, Fadi (Melkar Muallem), divorcée Muna Farah (Nisreen Faour) leaves her Palestinian homeland and takes up residence in rural Illinois -- just in time to encounter the domestic repercussions of America's disastrous war in Iraq. Now, the duo must reinvent their lives with some help from Muna's sister, Raghda (Hiam Abbass), and brother-in-law, Nabeel (Yussuf Abu-Warda). Cherien Dabis writes and directs.

3.5 Average Rating

Split Ends

2009

To save her successful hair salon and protect her quaint town from overdevelopment, Scottish-born small business owner Lizzie (Corinna May) enthusiastically joins forces with her loyal stylists, local citizens and a charming antique dealer (Richard Bekins). Inspired by events from writer Elizabeth Christensen's life, this cute romantic comedy also stars Vincent Pastore, Lawton Paseka and Peter McRobbie.

3.5 Average Rating

Sunshine Cleaning

2008

Financially on shaky ground yet determined to send her son to a top private school, Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) teams up with her unreliable sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), to start a new company that specializes in biohazard removal and crime scene cleanup. Tired of doing all of the work for other people, whether in her job cleaning homes or in her failed relationships, Rose is finally ready to use her entrepreneurial spirit to tidy up her own life.

3.5 Average Rating

Monster

2003

Charlize Theron took home the Best Actress Oscar for her electrifying performance as Aileen Wuornos, an emotionally scarred highway hooker who shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her and ultimately becomes America's first female serial killer. The film, based on a true story, centers more on the surrounding circumstances than on the murders. Christina Ricci co-stars as Aileen's self-centered lesbian lover, Selby Wall.

3.5 Average Rating

The Favor

2006

The humdrum life of a middle-aged New Jersey photographer named Lawrence (Frank Wood) is thrown for a loop when his on-again, off-again girlfriend dies unexpectedly and he decides to take in her troubled 16-year-old son, Johnny (Ryan Donowho). The directorial debut from filmmaker Eva S. Aridjis, this touching dramedy features supporting performances from Aldo Perez, Isidra Vega and Jesse Kelly.

3.5 Average Rating

Real Women Have Curves

2002

America Ferrera shines in a star-making performance as Ana, a Mexican-American teenager who's struggling to break free from her mother's old-world expectations, in this coming-of-age drama set in East Los Angeles. Ana wants to attend college so she can better herself, but she's needed in her sister's sewing sweatshop, where women labor to make dresses that are then sold for many times what the shop is paid to make them.

3.4 Average Rating

But I'm a Cheerleader

1999

In this hilarious satire, Megan Bloomfield (Natasha Lyonne) lives a "normal" teen life as a cheerleader dating the captain of the football team. But her parents and friends suspect Megan is gay because of "clues," such as her distaste for kissing her boyfriend. Shipped off to True Directions -- a camp designed to shove her back in the closet -- Bloomfield meets tomboy Graham Eaton (Clea DuVall), who helps her recognize her sexual orientation.

3.4 Average Rating

All I Wanna Do

1998

It's 1963, and budget constraints are forcing Miss Godard's School for Girls to merge with a nearby boy's boarding school. This alarms student Verena (Kirsten Dunst) and her friends, who launch a strike to preserve their academy's all-girl tradition. Their defiance angers straight-arrow Abby (Rachael Leigh Cook) and causes headaches for sympathetic teacher Miss McVane (Lynn Redgrave). Gaby Hoffmann and Heather Matarazzo co-star.

3.4 Average Rating

Love and Mary

2007

After a bad review imperils her upscale bake shop, Mary plans to take her fiancé, Brent, back to Texas, with the hope of scoring some cash from the engagement party. But an outbreak of hives forces Mary to take Brent's jailbird twin, Jake, instead.

3.4 Average Rating

Desert Hearts

1985

Uptight literature professor Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) heads to Reno, Nev., in 1959 for a quickie divorce. While staying with Frances Parker (Audra Lindley) at her ranch to establish residency, Bell meets Parker's adopted daughter (Patricia Charbonneau), a casino worker 10 years her junior. Bell finds herself increasingly drawn to the open and self-assured lesbian, and their developing intimacy releases buried emotions Bell has never explored.

3.4 Average Rating

Fish Tank

2009

The life of hot-tempered teen outcast Mia (Katie Jarvis) takes an unexpected turn when her mother, Joanne (Kierston Wareing), brings home a handsome and mysterious boyfriend named Connor (Michael Fassbender), who pledges to bring sweeping positive changes to the household. British writer-director Andrea Arnold's sophomore feature won Best British Film at the 2010 BAFTAs.

3.4 Average Rating

Jesus' Son

1999

Nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, director Alison Maclean's reflective drama follows FH (Billy Crudup), a well-meaning drug addict who stumbles backward into redemption. When his longtime love (Samantha Morton) leaves, FH follows her but meets and falls for the older Mira (Holly Hunter). Amid his life's wreckage, a near-fatal car crash and a chance to save a child's life force FH to examine his existence and its meaning.

3.4 Average Rating

The Sensei

2008

After punks at school hand him a savage beating, gay teen McClain Evans (Michael O'Laskey II) secretly begins martial arts training with Karen O'Neil (director Diana Lee Inosanto), a woman who has her own axe to grind with the narrow-minded rural community. But as Evans learns to stand up to prejudice and hate, the boy and his sensei unleash a firestorm of controversy in their small Colorado town. Louis Mandylor co-stars in this drama.

3.4 Average Rating

Strangers in Good Company

1990

When a bus filled with eight elderly women breaks down in the wilderness, the group of strangers is stranded at a deserted farmhouse with only their wits, their memories and eventually some roasted frogs' legs to sustain them. For several days, the women share their life stories and intimate thoughts. Director Cynthia Scott directs these nonprofessional actors delivering largely improvised dialogue to heartwarming effect.

3.4 Average Rating