Drama

Lü cao di / Mongolian Ping Pong (2005) Hao Ning, Hurichabilike, Geliban, Badema, Comedy, Drama

Lu cao di (2005)
Bilike has never seen a ping-pong ball before. He and his family live without electricity and running water in a solitary tent home among the vast steppe grasslands. The magnificent landscape here has changed little since the days of Genghis Kahn. But life in the middle of nowhere can be exciting for a young boy. The smallest of details become big events for curious Bilike and his best friends Erguotou and Dawa. The mystery of the small white ball floating in the creek leads to questions about the world around them, as well as innocent mischief. Bilike’s grandmother says the ball is a glowing pearl from heaven. But the boys are sceptical after waiting all night outdoors for the ball to light up. Since nobody has an idea about the odd white object, they trek to the faraway monastery to consult the wise lamas. But even the grasslands’ most knowledgeable inhabitants are stumped. While watching the new TV-set Dawa’s father has won, the boys learn about pingpong.
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Attention bandits! / Bandits (1986) Claude Lelouch, Jean Yanne, Marie-Sophie L., Patrick Bruel, Drama

Attention bandits! (1986)
On the day Jean Gabin dies, a kidnaper who also takes a fortune in jewels heisted from Cartiers murders Simon Verini’s wife. (Simon was fencing the jewels for a youthful gang who robbed Cartiers; he suspects them of the murder.) He’s framed for the theft and spends ten years in prison, writing to his daughter, Marie-Sophie, who’s 11 when he’s sent away. Released, he reconnects to Marie-Sophie and to the young thieves, seeks revenge, and is quickly arrested again. She doesn’t know what to make of her father, retreats to her Swiss fiancé, and is flummoxed when one of the young thieves falls for her. Is resolution possible when crime cuts across families and romance?
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Thomas est amoureux / Thomas in Love (2000) Pierre-Paul Renders, Benoît Verhaert, Aylin Yay, Magali Pinglaut, Comedy, Drama, Romance

Thomas est amoureux (2000)
Thomas is a young agoraphobic man; he’s afraid of coming to any kind of contact with other people, so he lives totally isolated in his apartment. The story takes place in the near future where everything can be done through computers, so Thomas hasn’t left his apartment for eight straight years. However, although his life seems complete, he misses human contact, so his psychoanalyst consults him to meet a woman through some on-line service. Is it possible for Thomas to fall in love with a woman? And if so, is he going to get out of his apartment for that woman?
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Che! (1969) Richard Fleischer, Omar Sharif, Jack Palance, Cesare Danova, Biography, Drama, History

Che! (1969)
Biography of Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, who helped Fidel Castro in his struggle against the corrupt Batista regime, eventually resulting in the overthrow of that government and Castro’s taking over of Cuba. The film covers Guevara’s life from when he first landed in Cuba in 1956 to his death in an ambush by government troops in the mountains of Bolivia in 1967.
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Eight Men Out (1988) John Sayles, John Cusack, Clifton James, Michael Lerner, Drama, History, Sport

Eight Men Out (1988)
The great Chicago White Sox team of 1919 is the saddest team to ever win a pennant. The team is bitter at their penny pincher owner, Charles Comiskey, and at their own teammates. Gamblers take advantage of this opportunity to offer some players money to throw the series. (Most of the players didn’t get as much as promised.) But Buck Weaver and the great Shoeless Joe Jackson turn back at the last minute and try to play their best. The Sox actually almost come back from a 3-1 deficit. Two years later, the truth breaks out and the Sox are sued on multiple counts. They are found innocent by the jury but baseball commissioner Landis has other plans. The eight players are suspended for life, and Buck Weaver, for the rest of his life, tries to clear his name.
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Around the Bend (2004) Jordan Roberts, Michael Caine, Christopher Walken, Josh Lucas, Comedy, Drama

Around the Bend (2004)
In LA, Jason Lair is recently separated, living with his grandfather and his son; he’s a banker, tense, with a limp. Grandfather Henry, an archaeologist, wants to take the family van on a trip to Albuquerque. His plans are interrupted when Turner, Jason’s father and Henry’s son, appears after years of absence. Henry wants to celebrate family, as does Zach, Jason’s son; Jason is angry and distant, Turner seems detached and says he’s got a bus to catch in the morning. This prompts Henry to put in place an elaborate plan that will send his “tribe” on that VW bus trip to New Mexico sorting out relationships and digging up a crippled family history. Dust and dogs figure prominently.
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Tali-Ihantala 1944 (2007) Åke Lindman, Sakari Kirjavainen, Rauno Ahonen, Mikkomarkus Ahtiainen, Frank Biermann, Drama, History, War

Tali-Ihantala 1944 (2007)
The Soviet army breaks through the Finnish defences on the Karelian Isthmus in June 1944, advancing with overwhelming force. Somehow, the Finnish troops must find the strength to fight back, with all odds against them. The Battle of Tali-Ihantala was the largest battle ever fought in the history of the Nordic countries. This film depicts the true events through five separate stories.
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Un amore a Roma / Love in Rome (1960) Dino Risi, Mylène Demongeot, Elsa Martinelli, Peter Baldwin, Drama, Romance

Un amore a Roma (1960)
Stormy love between young writer of a noble decayed family and a lazy amoral starlet. Between arguments and reconciliations, jealousies and acts of infidelity, the relation between Marcello and the femme fatale-ish heroine, Anna (played by luscious French starlet Mylene Demongeot), seems not to have future. Marcello says he wants to remain free but – deep inside – wants a traditional fiancée and wife while Anna, as an aspirant actress, is of a free and rebellious nature, not very tilted with sentimental attachments. He gradually understands that he could never have her and be her only man.
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Mavro livadi / Black Field (2009) Vardis Marinakis, Sofia Georgovassili, Hristos Passalis, Despina Bebedelli, Drama, Romance

Black Field (2009)
Greece, 1654. A seriously wounded Janissary arrives at a cloister situated on a cliff, and the sisters take him in and care for him. Sister Anthi, one of those who tends him, falls in love with the soldier and eventually helps him escape. The central focus of the film does not come out of its historical context but is derived from the relationship between the two main characters and, above all, from the quest for freedom and identity for young Anthi. The initially silent sister, hiding a surprising secret, discovers heretofore unknown desires that lead her to a radically altered view of herself.
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The Candidate (1972) Michael Ritchie, Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas, Comedy, Drama

The Candidate (1972)
Californian lawyer Bill McKay fights for the little man. His charisma and integrity get him noticed by the Democratic Party machine and he is persuaded to run for the Senate against an apparently unassailable incumbent. It’s agreed he can handle it his own way, on his own terms. But once he’s in the race and his prospects begin to improve, the deal starts to change.
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