Monthly Archives: January 2012

The Last Train (2006)

January 23, 2012 1 Comment

Directed by Joseph Vilsmaier and Dana Vávrová, Based on a true story, April 1943 and the “last of the Jews” are being “evacuated” from Berlin. They are locked in cattle cars with no food and little water. En route from Berlin to a German death camp in Auschwitz, two unlikely Jewish allies — a rough-and-tumble former boxer and the son of wealthy parents– remember happier times while plotting action against their Nazi captors. As well as the unsparing realism with which the brutality of a transport to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

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Elena Undone (2010)

January 20, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Nicole Conn, When openly gay writer Peyton and love-starved pastor’s wife Elena meet, they immediately form a strong bond. But the warmth of friendship soon erupts into a sizzling affair, forcing both women to confront their unexpected yet intense feelings, That will shatter their preconceived notions about love, life and the power.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

January 19, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Sergio Leone, A wandering gunfighter a lone drifter, wanders into a Western town torn apart by two feuding families. He hires himself out as a mercenary, taking no sides and playing one side against the middle, in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge. until all is destroyed.

Rumble in the Bronx (1995)

January 18, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Stanley Tong, Keong comes from Hong Kong to visit New York for his uncle’s wedding. His uncle runs a market in the Bronx and Keong offers to help out while Uncle is on his honeymoon. During his stay in the Bronx, Keong befriends a neighbor kid, Meanwhile, one of those  thugs in the local gang stumbles into a criminal situation way over his head. Blinded by greed, his involvement draws his gang, the kid, Keong, and the whole neighborhood into a deadly crossfire. When the cops fail to resolve matters, Keong takes things into his own hands.

Get Smart (2008)

January 18, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Peter Segal, When the identities of secret agents from Control are compromised, the Chief promotes hapless but eager analyst Maxwell Smart and teams him with stylish, capable Agent 99, the only spy whose cover remains intact. Can they work together to thwart the evil plans of KAOS and its crafty operative.

Raja (1995)

January 17, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Indra Kumar, This emotional romantic and complex story of a common kitemaker Birju who suddenly strikes it rich and coaxes a new wealthy friend, Rana, to allow her beautiful younger sister Madhu to marry his younger brother Raja. However, when Birju suddenly loses his fortune, his new friend bans the marriage. As tragedy piles up in the lives of the brothers Birju and Raja, including a car accident that leaves Birju an invalid, a twist of fate allows Raja and Madhu to rekindle their love, despite the evil machinations of Rana, who remains determined to keep them apart.

Revolutionary Road (2008)

January 17, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Sam Mendes, It’s 1955. Frank and April Wheeler, in the seventh year of their marriage, have fallen into a life that appears to most as being perfect. They live in the Connecticut suburbs with two young children. Frank commutes to New York City where he works in an office job while April stays at home as a housewife. But they’re not happy. April has forgone her dream of becoming an actress, and Frank hates his job – one where he places little effort – although he has never figured out what his passion in life is, determine never to be trapped by the social confines of their era, the Wheelers find themselves becoming exactly what they didn’t expect.

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

January 15, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Mike Nichols, The sexual and emotional confusion of two men from their Amherst College days in the fifties through the Kennedy sixties, up to the Vietnam era. Jonathan, a successful tax attorney and Sandy, a physician, personify two extremes of self-delusion and self-aggrandizement: Jonathan makes the mistake of thinking sex is love, and embarks on a lifetime of sexual conquest; Sandy dedicates himself to the pursuit of an idealized woman. Spanning a 25-year period, from their college years in the mid-1940s to middle aged adulthood in the early 1970s, the film explores their relationships.

( On January 13, 1972, the local police served a search warrant on the theatre in Albany and Georgia, and seized the film for  ”distributing obscene material”. )

Baby Doll (1956)

January 12, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Elia Kazan, Mississippi, middle aged Archie and nineteen year old “Baby Doll” Meighan née have been married for close to two years. Their marriage is not based on love, but each getting what they want from the other. Their marriage agreement has them consummating their marriage on her twentieth birthday, which is in three days, the act to which Baby Doll is not really looking forward. But she does taunt him and other men, this marriage was made by her deceased father, and stipulation that Archie provide Baby Doll financial security.

(This movie was banned in many countries and was condemned, by the Catholic Legion of Decency).

The Witnesses (2007)

January 11, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by André Téchiné, Paris, A group of friends contend with the first outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. It’s 1984, and the people of Paris have no idea how much their lives are about to change when an unnamed disease is discovered. There are tests, illness, anger, relief, separations, and death. A year later, these friends meet again at the summer place. They are witnesses to how happiness has changed.

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

January 10, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Richard Fleischer and Kinji Fukasaku, Based on a true story, After Japan signs the Axis Alliance with Germany in 1941, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Navy, realizes that the center of United States Naval operations at Pearl Harbor must be destroyed if Japanese power is to spread in the Pacific. In Washington, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson suggest the cooling of diplomatic relations with Japan after the treaty, but few in the U. S. military or diplomatic corps fear imminent attack. At Pearl Harbor.

Borstal Boy (2000)

January 10, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Peter Sheridan, Based on a true story, Brendan Behan, a sixteen year-old republican, is going on a bombing mission from Ireland to Liverpool during the second world war. His mission is thwarted when he is apprehended, charged and imprisoned in Borstal, a reform institution for young offenders in East Anglia, England. At Borstal, Brendan is forced to live face-to-face with those he perceived as “the enemy,” a confrontation that reveals a deep inner conflict  and forces a self-examination that is both traumatic and revealing.

Gaslight (1944)

January 9, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by George Cukor, Paula, studying music in Italy, abandons her studies because she’s fallen in love with dapper, handsome Gregory. The couple marries and returns to the U.K. and a home inherited by Paula from her aunt, Years after her aunt was murdered in her home, She moves back into the house with her new husband. However, he has a secret which he will do anything to protect, even if that means driving his wife insane.

Legion (2009)

January 9, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Scott Charles Stewart, A group of strangers fight for the welfare of humanity. When God loses faith in humankind, he sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. Humanity’s only hope lies in a group of strangers trapped in a desert diner with the Archangel Michael. The diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival.

The Last Legion (2007)

January 9, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Doug Lefler, Rome, 476 AD. The Roman Empire, a mighty force for almost 500 years, is being threatened. On the eve of twelve-year-old Romulus Augustus’ crowning ceremony to become the new emperor, Barbarian general Odoacer arrives in Rome to make a deal with Orestes. Odoacer makes demands of the Roman Empire in fair exchange for his decade-long support of the Roman legions in the east. But Orestes refuses. On Coronation day, as all of Rome gathers to watch the proceedings, Ambrosinus, the shaman who is a mentor and tutor to Romulus, predicts danger. Orestes is worried about his son’s safety and appoints Aurelius of the fourth legion to be his personal guard. 

Priest (1994)

January 6, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Antonia Bird, A priest is torn between the church and his personal beliefs, Father Greg is a Catholic priest who tends to a parish in Liverpool. Like his superior, Father Matthew, Father Greg is not dealing well with his vow of celibacy. While Matthew has been discreetly having an affair with his housekeeper, Greg is homosexual, and he occasionally slips out to gay clubs for anonymous encounters with strangers. Greg enters an intensely emotional spiritual struggle deciding between choosing morals over religion.

There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954)

January 5, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Walter Lang, Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Their Son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and bring her home to meet his family and their act gets turned upside down with an outsider, a girl he’s enamored with, to join the act. Eventnually, they hit Broadway and jealousies abound.

On the Town (1949)

January 5, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, Three sailors docked in New York City for 24 hours. New to town and ready to see the sights–and the girls–Gabey, Chip and Ozzie, search for adventure in the Big Apple. Wooing the ladies with their singing and dancing and being charmed in return, the trio finds various degrees of romantic success. But as all good things must come to an end, the navy men return to their ship, leaving behind them a city briefly brighter and taking with them a heartful of memories.

Marigold (2007)

January 4, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Willard Carroll, She was offer a part in Kama Sutra 3 and had an eventful journey to Mumbai, India, and from there by taxi to Goa. It is here she found out that the movie has been canceled, now stranded in India, she is forced to accept a role in a Bollywood production to earn enough money to allow her to return home. She meets with Dance Instructor, Prem, who will teach her to dance.

The Artist (2011)

January 4, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Michel Hazanavicius, Hollywood 1927. George Valentin is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion. For young extra Peppy Miller, it seems the sky’s the limit – major movie stardom awaits. This is the story of their interlinked destinies.

The Iron Lady (2011)

January 4, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd, Based on a true story, An intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher, the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world, is a surprising and insightful portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman.

The Bravados (1958)

January 4, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Henry King, A vigilante is on the trail of four outlaws whom he believes killed his wife. After bumping them off one by one, he realizes he was after the wrong guys all along. but he finds them in jail about to be hanged. While he waits to witness their execution, they escape; and the townspeople enlist Douglas’ aid to recapture them.

My Week with Marilyn (2011)

January 3, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Simon Curtis, Based on a true story, Colin Clark met Marilyn Monroe while working as a young assistant on Laurence Olivier’s “The Prince and the Showgirl.” When Marilyn experienced emotional difficulties during shooting, the 23-year-old third assistant director came to her aid and romance developed. But one week of honesty and fun was not enough to save the doomed star from self-destruction.

Hopscotch (1980)

January 3, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Ronald Neame, Miles Kendig knows too much. One of the CIA’s top international operatives, he’s suddenly relegated to a desk job in an agency power play. Unwilling to go quietly, Kendig, aided by a Viennese widow, begins writing a memoir that exposes the darkest secrets of every major intelligence agency in the world. The CIA wants Kendig dead, but he refuses to cooperate — he’s having too much fun.

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Big Trouble (2002)

January 2, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, The story of how a mysterious suitcase brings together, and changes, the lives of a divorced dad, an unhappy housewife, two hitmen, a pair of street thugs, two lovestruck teens, two FBI men and a psychedelic toad. To add more complication, two thieves decide to steal the case and lead a Miami police team and two FBI agents on a wild goose chase that ends inside the Miami airport terminal.

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Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

January 1, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Abandoned by their girlfriends for the summer, rich teenagers Tenoch and Julio meet older woman Luisa at a wedding. Trying to impress Luisa, the friends tell her they are headed on a road trip to a beautiful, secret beach called Boca del Cielo. Intrigued with their story and desperate to escape, Luisa asks if she can join them on their trip. Soon the three are headed out of Mexico City, making their way towards the fictional destination. Along the way Luisa seduces the two young men, and they begin a journey, they learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.

Soul Surfer (2011)

January 1, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Sean McNamara, Based on a true story, Bethany Hamilton is a champion surfer who was born to be in the water. But after a fun night out night surfing and what should be a fun day in the water, she is attacked by a shark and loses her arm, she remains calm, and maintains her faith in God. Now she has to re-learn how to do everything with only one arm – including how to surf. After teaching herself to surf with one arm, she again began surfing competitively.

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Hunger (2008)

January 1, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Steve McQueen, Based on a true story, Irish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike. follows life in the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland with an interpretation of the highly emotive events surrounding the 1981 IRA Hunger Strike, the film provides a timely exploration of what happens when body and mind are pushed to the uttermost limit.

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

January 1, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by James Mangold, Rancher Dan heads into Bisbee to clear up issues concerning the sale of his land when he witnesses the closing events of a stagecoach robbery led by famed outlaw Ben Wade. Shortly thereafter, Wade is captured by the law in Bisbee and Evans finds himself one of the escorts who will take Wade to the 3:10 to Yuma train in Contention for the reward of $200.

The Hours (2002)

January 1, 2012 Leave a comment

Directed by Stephen Daldry, Spanning across various time periods in the 20th Century, a drama which revolves around three very different women: two of whom have been profoundly affected by the works of Virginia Woolf; the other woman is Woolf, herself. All three are battling with issues of freedom, responsibility and identity. As the story unfolds, they are negotiating their way through different depressive states: Virginia is struggling to write her novel “Mrs. Dalloway” in 1923, as she recovers from depression; Laura Brown is a depressed and pregnant L.A. housewife who reads Woolf’s novel in 1951, as she plans her husband’s birthday party; and, the exasperated Clarissa is a book editor in modern-day New York, as the story unfold.

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