Monthly Archives: June 2016

Y tu mamá también / Et même ta mère (2001) Alfonso Cuarón, Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Y tu mama tambien
Mexican-born, New York-based filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón directed this Mexican box-office smash hit about a pair of randy upper-class buddies that sparked some controversy for its frank depiction of drug use and sexual exploration. With their respective girlfriends away in Europe, Julio (Gael García Bernal) and his upper-class friend Tenoch (Diego Luna) are looking forward to a summer full of drink, drugs, and cheap meaningless sex. During a wedding, they meet Luisa (Maribel Verdú) – the 28-year-old wife of Tenoch’s scholarly cousin – and try to convince her to go on a road trip to Heaven’s Mouth, a made-up beach paradise the two claim is on the Oaxacan coast.
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The Crying Game (1992) Neil Jordan, Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Forest Whitaker, Crime, Drama, Romance

The Crying Game (1992)
An unlikely kind of friendship develops between Fergus, an Irish Republican Army volunteer, and Jody, a kidnapped British soldier lured into an IRA trap by Jude, another IRA member. When the hostage-taking ends up going horribly wrong, Fergus escapes and heads to London, where he seeks out Jody’s lover, a hairdresser named Dil. Fergus adopts the name “Jimmy” and gets a job as a day laborer. He also starts seeing Dil, who knows nothing about Fergus’ IRA background. But there are some things about Dil that Fergus doesn’t know, either…
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The Prophecy II (1998) Greg Spence, Christopher Walken, Russell Wong, Jennifer Beals, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

The Prophecy II (1998)
Gabriel returns to Earth to prevent the birth of a child conceived by one of his kind (the Angel Danyael) and one of God’s “monkeys” (a human woman – Valerie). The coming of this child has been prophesied by a monk, Thomas. When the Angel Danyael kills members of Gabriel’s army of angels, Gabriel instead employs the assistance of a teenage girl (Izzy) who has just committed suicide. Gabriel keeps her alive to assist him in his war against Danyael and the other angels which climaxes in a battle in Eden.
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The Big Country (1958) William Wyler, Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Romance, Western

The Big Country (1958)
Retired, wealthy sea Captain Jame McKay arrives in the vast expanse of the West to marry fiancée Pat Terrill. McKay is a man whose values and approach to life are a mystery to the ranchers and ranch foreman Steve Leech takes an immediate dislike to him. Pat is spoiled, selfish and controlled by her wealthy father, Major Henry Terrill. The Major is involved in a ruthless civil war, over watering rights for cattle, with a rough hewn clan led by Rufus Hannassey. The land in question is owned by Julie Maragon and both Terrill and Hannassey want it.
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Tommy (1975) Ken Russell, Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Drama, Musical

Tommy (1975)
Nora Walker is told that her British fighter pilot husband is missing in action and presumed killed in World War II. On V.E. Day, Nora gives birth to their son, who she names Tommy. While Tommy is an adolescent, Nora marries Frank, a shifty camp counselor. Shortly thereafter, Tommy suffers an emotionally traumatic experience associated with his father and step-father, which, based on things told to him at that time, results in him becoming deaf, dumb and blind, a situation which several people exploit for their own pleasure. As Nora tries several things to bring Tommy out of his psychosomatic disabilities, Tommy, now a young man, happens upon pinball as a stimulus. Playing by intuition, Tommy becomes a pinball master, which in turn makes him, and by association Nora and Frank, rich and famous. Nora literally shatters Tommy to his awakening, which ultimately leads to both the family’s rise and downfall as people initially try to emulate Tommy’s path then rebel against it.
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Ni d’Eve ni d’Adam (1997) Jean-Paul Civeyrac, Guillaume Verdier, Morgane Hainaux, Frédérique Gagnol, Drama

Ni d'Eve ni d'Adam (1997)
Gabrielle is 14. She struggles to love Gilles but he ceaselessly wrecks his own life along with other people’s. He steals money from Gabrielle and humiliates her so much that she doesn’t want to see him again. At school, he hits his education supervisor. As a result, his father throws him out of the house. Gabrielle refuses to put him up. The families of his friends want nothing to do with him. So Gilles ends up in the street like a stray dog. By causing turmoil, he soon becomes the neighbourhood’s scapegoat… In the end, Gabrielle is the one who saves him. They flee together and seek refuge in the country, in an abandoned barn. And there they learn to love each other. To get further away, they need money. But the robbery that carry out in a farm goes badly. The police are hot on their heels. What’s the sense in running anymore ?
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The Seventh Seal (1957) Ingmar Bergman, Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Art-house, Drama, Fantasy

The Seventh Seal (1957)
Disillusioned and exhausted after a decade of battling in the Crusades, a knight (Max von Sydow) encounters Death on a desolate beach and challenges him to a fateful game of chess. Much studied, imitated, even parodied, but never outdone, Bergman’s stunning allegory of man’s search for meaning, The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet), was one of the benchmark foreign imports of America’s 1950s art-house heyday, pushing cinema’s boundaries and ushering in a new era of moviegoing.
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Gosford Park (2001) Robert Altman, Maggie Smith, Ryan Phillippe, Michael Gambon, Drama, Mystery, Comedy

Gosford Park (2001)
Maverick American filmmaker Robert Altman takes a witty and absorbing look at the foibles of the British class system in this intelligent murder mystery set in the early ’30s. Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) are a pair of wealthy British socialites who have invited a variety of friends, relatives, and acquaintances to their mansion in the country for a weekend of hunting and relaxation…
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Runaway Bride (1999) Garry Marshall, Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Joan Cusack, Comedy, Romance

Runaway Bride (1999)
Ike Graham has his own by-lined column in USA Today, which he usually uses as a forum to rail against the opposite sex. For his latest column which he writes at the last minute as usual, he, based on some information from a stranger in a bar about a woman he knows of back home, includes the story of still single Hale, Maryland residing Maggie Carpenter, who is known as the “Runaway Bride” since she has been engaged multiple times, but always leaves her betrothed standing at the altar. Because an incensed Maggie complains to the newspaper for factual inaccuracies in her story, Ike is fired, but he realizes that the story still has some life in it and thus decides to go to Hale to do further investigation. He finds that Maggie is again engaged, now for the fourth time, this time to high school football coach and adventurist Bob Kelly, who is confident enough in himself to know he will be different than the previous three grooms. When Maggie finds out that her arch enemy Ike is in town, …
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Amélie / Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001) Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Art-house, Comedy, Romance

Amelie (2001)
Bursting with imagination and having seen her share of tragedy and fantasy, Amélie is not like the other girls. When she grows up she becomes a waitress in a Montmartre bar run by a former dancer. Amelie enjoys simple pleasures until she discovers that her goal in life is to help others. To that end, she invents all sorts of tricks that allow her to intervene incognito into other people’s lives, including an imbibing concierge and her hypochondriac neighbor. But Amélie’s most difficult case turns out to be Nino Quicampoix, a lonely sex shop employee who collects photos abandoned at coin-operated photobooths.
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Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, Vincent Perez, Comedy, Drama

Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
A dashing officer of the guard and romantic poet, Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane without her knowing. His one curse in his life, he feels, is his large nose and although it may have been a forming influence in his rapier-sharp wit, he believes that Roxane will reject him. He resorts to writing letters to her on behalf of one of his cadets, Christian, who is also in love with Roxane but just doesn’t know how to tell her. She falls for the poetic charm of the letters but believes that they were written by Christian.
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Superstar (1999) Bruce McCulloch, Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell, Elaine Hendrix, Comedy, Romance

Superstar (1999)
Orphan Mary Katherine Gallagher, an ugly duckling at St. Monica High School, has a dream: to be kissed soulfully. She decides she can realize this dream if she becomes a superstar, so her prayers, her fantasies, and her conversations with her only friend focus on achieving super-stardom. Her big chance is a school talent contest; her main competition is Evian, the school beauty, who is dancing with Sky, the object of Mary Katherine’s kiss dream. Mary Katherine gets some talent-show help from her fellow special education students, her grandma, and Jesus, and inspiration from secrets in her past. Watching are Sky, Evian, and a silent classmate.
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Freejack (1992) Geoff Murphy, Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Freejack (1992)
In the year 2009, the super-wealthy achieve immortality by hiring “bonejackers,” mercenaries who utilize extensive time travel technology, to snatch people from the past just prior to their deaths, so their bodies could be used by the rich to extend their lives. Those who escape the bonejacking, known as “freejacks,” are considered less than human under the law. The film is set in a dystopic future where most people suffer from poor physical health as a result of rampant drug use and environmental pollution, making them unattractive as replacement bodies…
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Niagara (1953) Henry Hathaway, Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller

Niagara (1953)
Rose Loomis (Marilyn Monroe) and her older, gloomier husband, George (Joseph Cotten), are vacationing at a cabin in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The couple befriend Polly (Jean Peters) and Ray Cutler (Casey Adams), who are honeymooning in the area. Polly begins to suspect that something is amiss between Rose and George, and her suspicions grow when she sees Rose in the arms of another man. While Ray initially thinks Polly is overreacting, things between George and Rose soon take a shockingly dark turn.
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