Drama
Can't Hardly Wait
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Can't Hardly Wait

1998
At a wild party, newly minted high school graduates celebrate and ponder the future -- including love-struck dork Preston Meyers, who tries to work up the courage to act on his feelings for beautiful prom queen Amanda Beckett.

Directed by:

  • Harry Elfont
  • Deborah Kaplan
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    It's Kind of a Funny Story
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    It's Kind of a Funny Story

    2010
    Being a teenager is too much for 16-year-old Craig (Keir Gilchrist), who shocks his parents (Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan) by checking himself into a mental health clinic for a little R & R. But when the youth ward is unexpectedly closed, he's forced to live among the adult patients. Zach Galifianakis, Viola Davis, Emma Roberts and Aasif Mandvi co-star in this quirky drama written and directed by the screenwriters of Half Nelson.

    Directed by:

  • Anna Boden
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Take This Waltz
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    Take This Waltz

    2011
    Filmed in Toronto, this intimate, unflashy romantic drama portrays a happily married woman who experiences a sudden and strong desire for another man. Further complicating the situation, the object of her desire resides just across the street.

    Directed by:

  • Sarah Polley
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
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    He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

    2002
    With the streets of Bordeaux as backdrop, this thriller paints a picture of love gone awry. Angelique (Audrey Tautou), an artist and student, is in love and claims that her paramour, Luic, a cardiologist (Samuel Le Bihan), is just as enamored of her. But is he? He's married, for one, and he and his wife are expecting a baby. Brokenhearted, Angelique decides her love should conquer all.

    Directed by:

  • Laetitia Colombani
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Children of a Lesser God
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    Children of a Lesser God

    1986
    Speech teacher James Leeds (William Hurt) uses unconventional methods to reach his hearing-impaired students but can't make headway with the school's deaf custodian, Sarah Norman (Marlee Matlin, who captured the Best Actress Oscar). The brainy but cynical Sarah thinks it's better to stay in the safe confines of her voiceless milieu than to contend with a callous world. Can James get through to Sarah and release her from her cocoon of silence?

    Directed by:

  • Randa Haines
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Streetwalkin'
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    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.

    Directed by:

  • Joan Freeman
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Amreeka
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    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.

    Directed by:

  • Cherien Dabis
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Hysteria
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    Hysteria

    2011
    In 1880s London, forward-thinking young doctor Mortimer Granville has a difficult time keeping a job until he and an inventor friend concoct an electrifying solution to the rampant "hysteria" affecting England's sexually and socially repressed women.

    Directed by:

  • Tanya Wexler
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Seven Beauties
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    Seven Beauties

    1975
    In World War II Italy, a second-rate pimp (and gangster wanna-be) with seven sisters lands in a German concentration camp. He encounters the ultimate test of his way with the ladies: a brutal female commandant he must seduce in order to live. At once hilarious and horrifying, this study of survival received Oscar nominations for Best Actor, Foreign Film and Director (Lina Wertmueller, the first woman ever nominated for directing a feature).

    Directed by:

  • Lina Wertmuller
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    My First Mister
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    My First Mister

    2001
    Against all odds, a 49-year-old store owner and his teenage clerk become close friends. He's neurotic, and she's from a dysfunctional family, but together, they heal emotional wounds and form an unbreakable bond.

    Directed by:

  • Christine Lahti
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Run Away Home
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    Run Away Home

    2004
    After her family moves to a conservative town, teenager Tamara finds friendship with Brenda and starts dating Rusty. But when her mother contracts tuberculosis and is sent away, Tamara becomes responsible for keeping her family together.

    Directed by:

  • Gail Harvey
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Take My Eyes
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    Take My Eyes

    2005
    Winner of seven Goya Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Lead Actor and Actress, Iciar Bollain's raw drama exposes the hard truths about domestic abuse. With her son in tow, battered wife Pilar (Laia Marull) finally flees her violent husband, Antonio (Luis Tosar), taking asylum at her sister Ana's (Candela Peña) home. Free from the clutches of her abusive husband, Pilar struggles to start a new life; problem is, she still loves Antonio.

    Directed by:

  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Priest
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    Priest

    1994
    Director Antonia Bird's film centers on Father Greg Pilkington (Linus Roache), a devout Catholic priest who struggles with a love for his church and congregation -- and his secret life as a homosexual with a gay lover (Robert Carlyle). After hearing the confession of a young girl in his parish, who tells him her father is sexually abusing her, the priest is torn between the laws of the church and his need to choose one life over the other.

    Directed by:

  • Antonia Bird
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen
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    Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen

    2009
    Directed by longtime star of independent German cinema Margarethe von Trotta, this reverent biopic chronicles the fascinating story of 12th-century Christian mystic and scientist Hildegard von Bingen (Barbara Sukowa). Despite living in an era when women are proscribed from preaching and interpreting scripture, Hildegard believes that the visions she experiences are a gift from God that she must reveal -- even at the risk of condemnation.

    Directed by:

  • Margarethe von Trotta
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    You Are the One
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    You Are the One

    2006
    While applying for a visa to visit her family in America, Sally Malasmas (Toni Gonzaga) meets vice-consul Will Derby (Sam Milby) and romantic sparks fly -- then die after he denies her permit. But Sally senses an opportunity to get her visa when fate brings them together again as Will begins a search for his biological parents. Their growing attraction soon blossoms into love -- which is tested when personal issues separate Sally and Will.

    Directed by:

  • Cathy Garcia-Molina
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Empire of Silver
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    Empire of Silver

    2009
    This sprawling epic centers on the exploits of a banking dynasty -- headed by patriarch Master Kang -- that controls much of China's wealth at the end of the 19th century, amid political upheaval, romantic rivalries, and outright revolution.

    Directed by:

  • Christina Yao
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Now and Then
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    Now and Then

    1995
    Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty in this tender coming-of-age tale, four childhood girlfriends -- Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta -- recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more. Lesli Linka Glatter directs; Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Cloris Leachman, Thora Birch and Christina Ricci co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Lesli Linka Glatter
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


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    Now and Then (1995)
    A heartwarming movie about four childhood girlfriends who, in adulthood reunion, relive their experience of the life-changing summer of 1970, including a mystery death, divorce, standing up to the boys, first kiss, and the meaning of true friendship. Each explores her unique identity amidst family and friends. Beautifully directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.
    - Frances   
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