Tag Archives: USA

The Burglar (1957) Paul Wendkos, Dan Duryea, Jayne Mansfield, Martha Vickers, Film-Noir, Thriller, Drama

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Professional burglar Nat Harbin (Dan Duryea) and his two associates, Baylock (Peter Capell) and Dohmer (Mickey Shaughnessy), set their sights on wealthy spiritualist Sister Sarah (Phoebe Mackay), who has inherited a fortune – including a renowned emerald necklace – from a Philadelphia financier. Using Nat’s female ward, Gladden (Jayne Mansfield), to pose as an admirer and case the mansion where the woman lives, they set up what looks like a perfect break-in; even when Nat’s car is spotted by a couple of cops, he bluffs his way through, gets the necklace, and makes the getaway. But the trio – plus Gladden – can’t agree on how to dispose of the necklace, and soon their bickering becomes a lot less important than the fact that someone is on to what they’ve done – a woman (Martha Vickers) is working on Nat, while a man (Stewart Bradley) is working on Gladden. Equally serious, the trio kills a New Jersey state trooper while on their way to warn her. And among the cops chasing them is one with larceny in his heart and murder on his mind.
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Between Love and Goodbye (2008) Casper Andreas, Simon Miller, Justin Tensen, Rob Harmon, Drama, Music, Romance

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Love makes the world go round. At least that’s what Marcel and Kyle believe, until they suddenly discover that love can alternatively flip the world upside-down. When certain elements are set into motion, they tend to stay in motion. If tampered with, they can spin out of control. Marcel and Kyle are in love at first sight, and even though they can’t legally marry, they will find a way to make it work. French Marcel marries their lesbian friend Sarah so he can stay in the USA with Kyle. Together they can overcome any obstacle, hurdle any barrier. Together they cannot be stopped. Enter Kyle’s sister April, a former prostitute. She needs a place to crash, but for how long? Taking a quick dislike to Marcel, April methodically drips poison into their happiness. But where Marcel sees a conniving woman with a not-so-hidden agenda, Kyle only sees his sister – in need. And how do you choose between family and the love of your life? Why should you have to?
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Holding Trevor (2007) Rosser Goodman, Brent Gorski, Christopher Wyllie, Melissa Searing, Drama, Romance

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Young, beautiful and intelligent, Trevor (screenwriter Brent Gorski) is in a stalemate. Entangled in an unhealthy relationship with Darrell, a self-destructive heroin addict, and trapped in a telemarketing job, Trevor finds scant comfort in Los Angeles’ vapid party scene, where conversation rarely rises above inquiries like “So, are you an actor?” Worse still, he and his two best friends – roommate Andie and singer Jake – are being pulled apart by boredom and discontent. At the hospital for his boyfriend’s latest overdose, Trevor finds a potential new beginning in Ephram, a medical intern with ambition, a warm demeanor and strikingly good looks. After they spend a romantic evening together, Trevor seems poised to make some changes. He begins by ending his relationship with Darrell and then strives to reconnect with Andie and Jake. But what should be a joyous event – a party celebrating a negative HIV test – explodes into rage and sorrow.
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Godless (2015) Joshua Lim, Craig Jordan, Michael E. Pitts, Garrett Young, Drama

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The talented Craig Jordan plays Nate, a college graduate whose life plans change after he has to move back in with his mother following the death of his father. Through flash backs we get a rather brief sampling of his maternal bond, but there is just enough to discover the true focus of the drama—his undying love for his brother, Steven. Michael E. Pitts portrays the sibling who returns home to comfort his brother and share the grieving process, knowing all too well that their time together could rekindle a physical affection they’ve shared since puberty.
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The Dying Gaul (2005) Craig Lucas, Peter Sarsgaard, Campbell Scott, Patricia Clarkson, Drama, Romance

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The gay screenwriter Robert, who is grieving the recent loss of his lover, writes a screenplay based on his biography and tries to sell it to the Hollywood producer Jeffrey. He offers one million dollars for his work, provided changes in the story replacing the dying man per a woman to make a commercial film. Jeffrey shows the screenplay to his wife Elaine, who loves to write and to plant flowers, and she is also delighted with the story. Robert works introducing the required modifications and Jeffrey, who is bisexual, has an affair with him. Meanwhile Elaine finds the gay website where Robert writes and she creates a fake profile to have conversation with him pretending that she is his deceased lover. Soon she learns the affair of her husband and she decides to leave him. But when the gay Robert discovers the truth, he has a breakdown and takes vengeance for Elaine with tragic consequences.
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Going Down in LA-LA Land (2011) Casper Andreas, Matthew Ludwinski, Allison Lane, Michael Medico, Comedy, Drama, Romance

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Based on the novel by Andy Zeffer, “Going Down in LA-LA Land” is a riveting and uncensored look at Hollywood. It is a story that reveals how friendships sustain us and keep us going. It is a tale that reflects our celebrity-obsessed culture. It is a revealing look at some people’s desire to be loved, adored, and adulated at any cost. Readers have grown to adore the flawed and imperfect, yet earnest and likable characters of Adam and Candy. Now movie audiences will have the same opportunity to follow their rocky ride through Hollywood, and all the laughs that go along with it.
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The Monster and the Girl (1941) Stuart Heisler, Ellen Drew, Robert Paige, Paul Lukas, Crime, Drama, Horror

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Scot Webster tries to save his sister Susan from the clutches of gangster W.S. Bruhl. When Scot comes to Bruhl’s rented room, one of the gangster’s henchmen collapses into his hands, killed by a gunman. The murderer tosses his gun to Scot and disappears. Since all the evidence points at him, Scot is arrested, tried and sentenced to death. A mad scientist uses his brain to transplant it into a gorilla. After the operation Scot wakes up in the body of a gorilla, eager to get his revenge…
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House of Strangers (1949) Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

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In New York, after seven years in prison, the lawyer Max Monetti goes to the bank of his brothers Joe, Tony and Pietro Monetti and promises revenge to them. Then he visits his lover Irene Bennett that asks him to forget the past and start a new life. Max recalls the early 30s, when he is the favorite son of his father Gino Monetti, who has a bank in the East Side. Gino is a tyrannical and egocentric self-made man that raises his family in an environment of hatred and Max is a competent lawyer engaged with Maria Domenico. When Max meets the confident Irene, he has a troubled love affair with her. In 1933, with the new Banking Act reaches Gino for misapplication of funds. Max plots a plan to help his father but is betrayed by his brothers. Now Max will see his brothers that have also being raised under the motto “Never Forgive, Never Forget”.
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Electroma (2006) Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo, Peter Hurteau, Michael Reich, Helena Stoddard, Drama, Sci-Fi

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Daft Punk’s Electroma is an odyssey of two robots who journey across a mythic American landscape of haunting, surreal beauty on a quest to become human. Their symbolic quest, which takes them from endless two lane highways to small idyllic towns to the arid desert, finds Daft Punk once again resisting conformity and developing new ways to highlight their inventive vision. A silent feature-length film that made its international debut at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Electroma will interest Daft Punk fans and film enthusiasts alike. With its breathtaking cinematography, innovative filming techniques, and above all its underlying search for humanity within a dystopian environment, Daft Punk have delivered a film that finds a common thread with their previous work while exploring new horizons as directors of their first feature film.
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Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A. (1946) Spencer Williams, Francine Everett, Don Wilson, Katherine Moore, Drama

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An all-black Caribbean island resort welcomes flashy dancer Gertie La Rue, forced to perform in this remote spot because she two-timed Al, her Harlem lover and backer, once too often. As Gertie amuses herself by dazzling the local men with her sex appeal, sanctimonious Mr. Christian (shades of ‘Rain’) schemes to either reform her or have her thrown off the island. On opening night, her sensuous performance exceeds Christian’s worst fears…but more serious trouble awaits.
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The Blood of Jesus (1941) Cathryn Caviness, Spencer Williams, Juanita Riley, Drama, Fantasy

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In the rural south of the United States, a godly young woman is accidently wounded by her unchurched husband. She succumbs to the injuries, whereupon a good angel bids her to journey with him to the Crossroads of Life. Before she can travel far, the devil lures her with the temptations of juke joints and the city. Can she regain the straight and narrow before it’s too late? And what is to become of those she left behind?
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