|
|
Usa movies
| 21
[2008,
USA]
|
| Inspired by the true story of five students who changed the game forever. |
|
|
Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent, student at M.I.T. in Boston who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine with the desire to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 for the four to five years of school since he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor Micky Rosa into a small but secretive club of five students, Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Jimmy whom are being trained by Professor Rosa of the skill of card counting at blackjack. Intriged by the desire to make money, Ben joins his new friends on secret weekend trips to Las Vegas where, using their skills of code talk and hand signals, they have Ben make hundreds of thousands of dollars in winning blackjack at casino after casino. Ben only wants to make enough money for the tuition to Harvard and then back out. But as fellow card counter, Jill Taylor, predicts, Ben becomes corrupted by greed and his arrogance at winning which lets his feelings get in the way, and it also puts Professor Rosa, as well as the group, on the radar of a brutal casino security enforcer, named Cole Williams, who holds a personal grudge of some kind against Rosa which threatens to undo everything the students have learned and earned. |
|
|
Professional daredevil and white-suited hero, The Great Leslie, convinces turn-of-the-century auto makers that a race from New York to Paris (westward across America, the Bering Straight and Russia) will help to promote automobile sales. Leslie's arch-rival, the mustached and black-attired Professor Fate vows to beat Leslie to the finish line in a car of Fate's own invention. The Blake Edwards style of slapstick and song originated with this movie. A dedication to Laurel and Hardy appears at the beginning of the film. Edwards' tribute to Stan and Ollie can be seen most clearly in the interaction between Professor Fate and his cohort Max, as well as in the operatic Pottsdorf pie fight. |
|
|
The dramedy focuses on David Spritz (Nicholas Cage), one of those lucky men whom you can envy. A popular weatherman on a Chicago news program, he prepares for an audition for New York morning show "Hello America". While Dave's professional dreams and ambitions come true, his personal life is really a mess. He is cut up about his father's lethal disease; he feels distressed and devastated after his painful divorce with his wife Noreen (Hope Davis); he desperately tries to get along with his estranged kids, Shelly (Gemmenne de la Pena) and Mike (Nicholas Hoult). Will he manage to cope with all his problems or will he swim with the tide? His afterlife will depend on this choice. |
|
|
Sexual jolts disrupt Manhattan physician Bill Harford's equilibrium. At an elegant Christmas party, two "models" hit on him, he watches a Lothario try to pick up his tipsy wife, he aids a woman sprawled naked in a bathroom after an overdose. The next night, his wife reveals sexual fantasies with a stranger; a dead patient's daughter throws herself at him; as he walks, brooding, six teen boys hurl homophobic insults at him; a streetwalker takes him to her flat; he interrupts men having a sex party with a girl barely in her teens. His odyssey, which next takes him into a world of wealthy sex play at a masked ball of hedonism, threatens his life, his self-respect, and his marriage. |
|
|
Nicaragua 1979: Star photographer Russel Price covers the civil war against president Somoza. Facing the cruel fighting - people versus army - it's often hard for him to stay neutral. When the Guerillas have him take a picture of the leader Rafael, who's believed to be dead, he gets drawn into the happenings. Together with his reporter friends Claire and Alex he has to hide from the army. |
|
|
Astrid Magnussen is a 15 year old girl, living in California. Her mother, Ingrid, is a beautiful, free-spirited poet. Their life, though unusual, is satisfying until one day, a man named Barry Kolker (that her mother refers to at first as "The goat man") comes into their lives, and Ingrid falls madly in love with him, only to have her heart broken, and her life ruined. For revenge, Ingrid murders Barry with the deadly poison of her favourite flower: The White Oleander. She is sent to prison for life, and Astrid has to go through foster home after foster home. Throughout nearly a decade she experiences forbidden love, religion, near-death experiences, drugs, starvation, and how it feels to be loved. But throughout these years, she keeps in touch with her mother via letters to prison. And while Ingrid's gift is to give Astrid the power to survive, Astrid's gift is to teach her Mother about love. |
|
|
Val Resnick (Gregg Henry), a member of a powerful criminal syndicate, must pay off a debt to his bosses. He draws his old pal and smart criminal partner, Porter (Mel Gibson), into a $140,000 heist from a Chinese gang. Assisted by Porter’s wife, Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger), they successfully rob the mob’s car. But the greedy and lowdown Resnick arrives at a conclusion that having all the money is better than half. Val, like a subtle psychologist, shows Lynn a photo of her husband in the arms of a fancy lady (Maria Bello) and gets what he has bargained for: the jealous, betrayed wife kills her own husband with two shots in the back. Without feeling a shred of guilt or remorse, they take all the dough and leave Porter for dead. Nonetheless, Porter survives the attack and five months later he is back, seeking his share and revenge on his ex-partner.
|
|
|
Jason thought his inheritance was going to be the gift of money and lots of it. Was he ever in for a big surprise. Based on the best-selling book "The Ultimate Gift" by Jim Stovall, the story sends trust fund baby Jason Stevens on an improbable journey of discovery, having to answer the ultimate question: "What is the relationship between wealth and happiness?" Jason had a very simple relationship with his impossibly wealthy Grandfather, Howard "Red" Stevens. He hated him. No heart-to-heart talks, no warm fuzzies, just cold hard cash. So of course he figured that when Red died, the whole "reading of the will" thing would be another simple cash transaction, that his Grandfather's money would allow him to continue living in the lifestyle to which he had become accustomed. But what Red left him was anything but simple. Red instead devised a plan for Jason to experience a crash course on life. Twelve tasks, which Red calls "gifts," each challenging Jason in an improbable way, the accumulation of which would change him forever. |
| Amistad
[1997,
USA]
|
| Freedom is not given. It is our right at birth. But there are some moments when it must be taken. |
|
|
Amistad is the name of a slave ship traveling towards the New World in 1839. It is carrying a cargo of Africans who have been captured, taken on board, and chained in the cargo hold of the ship. As the ship is crossing the Atlantic, Cinque, who was a tribal leader in Africa, leads a mutiny and takes over the ship. They continue to sail, hoping to find help when they land. Instead, when they reach the United States, they are imprisoned as runaway slaves. They don't speak a word of English, and it seems like they are doomed to die for killing their captors when an abolitionist lawyer decides to take their case, arguing that they were free citizens of another country and not slaves at all. The case finally gets to the Supreme Court, where John Quincy Adams makes an impassioned and eloquent plea for their release. |
|
|
The Japanese word 'Ronin' means 'samurai who lost his master'. According to the Code of the Samurai, a Ronin is supposed to commit 'hara kiri' upon his master's death. One who doesn't follow the code becomes dishonored and is doomed to be on his own or serve whomever pays him. Four Ronin, former intelligence agents who were left without masters and work now as hired guns, are thrown together by a young Irish woman, Deirdre (Natascha McElhone). Sam (Robert De Niro), Vincent (Jean Reno), Gregor (Stellan Skarsgard), Larry (Skip Sudduth), and Spence (Sean Bean) are assigned to get hold of a mysterious suitcase wanted by some Irish terrorists and the Russian Mafia. |
|
|
The suspenseful crime drama revolves around Erica Bain (Jodie Foster), a successful NYC radio personality who hosts a night show called "Street Walk" where she relates the sentimental stories of her beloved city. One day while walking their dog in a nearby park, Erica and her fiancé David Kirmani (Naveen Andrews) get assaulted and beaten with pipes by a gang of violent thugs. The brutal attack leaves David dead and Erica in a three-week coma. Unable to cope with fear for her own life and driven by revenge, Erica illegally purchases a handgun and begins stalking the night streets to track down the perpetrators responsible for the murder of her beloved. |
|
|
After a terrible air disaster, survivor Max Klein emerges a changed person. Unable to connect to his former life or to wife Laura, he feels godlike and invulnerable. When psychologist Bill Perlman is unable to help Max, he has Max meet another survivor, Carla Rodrigo, who is racked with grief and guilt since her baby died in the crash which she and Max survived. |
|
|
Set in Texas, in 1966, the drama centers around college basketball coach Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) who made history by recruiting black players for his team. His decision prompted a flurry of conflicting opinions in the society. Some people admired Haskins' team and the most barnstorming and spectacular plays in basketball history; others, guided by racial prejudice, felt indignation and were on the prowl for ways to eradicate daring innovation. |
|
|
Al Lewis and Willy Clark were once a popular vaudeville comedy team called Lewis and Clark, also known as The Sunshine Boys. After forty-three years as a team, they parted company over eleven years prior on not too friendly terms as Willy wanted to continue his career whereas Al wanted to retire. They have not spoken since. Willy's nephew, Ben - a talent agent - has been trying to find acting jobs for his uncle since with little success as Willy's age and declining ability is showing. But a lucrative opportunity comes up when one of the major networks is producing and airing a special on the history of comedy, and want The Sunshine Boys to appear. Ben has to try and convince the comedy team to reunite for just this one gig. Ben has to try and manage the individual quirks and personalities of each of The Sunshine Boys while putting on a good face to the network that there is harmony within The Sunshine Boys comedy team. Ben also has to manage the lives of two men in the twilight of their lives. |
|
|
The existence of a small gold-mining community is shattered by the arrival of Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart), a neighboring landowner who intends to take over their territory. He offers the prospectors to leave the town on a voluntary basis; otherwise he will use force to drive them out. The townspeople are so intimidated by the ruthless invader that they decide not to put up resistance. But a mysterious rider (Clint Eastwood), dressed like a preacher, unexpectedly shows up at the camp and attempts to defend the struggling miners. |
|
|
The horror movie by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre director) follows the Doyle family as they move to a small, sleepy California town and attempt to run a funeral home and cemetery. The formerly abandoned funeral home seems not to be clear of spirits of horror, rumors are swirling around the community that Bobby may still be alive. Bobby was a hideously disfigured child of a pair of morticians, who lived in this piece of land and have been murdered soon after their son disappeared at the age of eight. |
|
|
Carter Page III (Woody Harrelson) works as a high-priced escort to high society ladies. When their politician husbands become too engrossed in running the country to attend to them, they turn to Carter, who takes them to the theatres and plays cards with them. But the course of his life is changed when Lynn (Kristin Scott Thomas), the senator's wife, discovers the brutal murder of her lover, a lobbyist. Willing to cover for his dearest friend, Carter goes to the scene of the crime to get rid of incriminating evidence. Alas, poor Carter ends up being caught by police who sees him as the prime suspect in the criminal investigation. |
|
|
In this engrossing mystery thriller, master sleuth Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and his faithful assistant Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) are hired by Roland Carstairs (Geoffrey Steele) to escort his widowed mother Lady Margaret (Mary Forbes) on a London to Edinburgh train. Roland fears for the safety of the priceless huge diamond called the Star of Rhodesia that his mother got on her 25th wedding anniversary many years before. Aided by Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey), they guard Lady Margaret's compartment, however, Roland turns up dead and the jewel is stolen. |
|
|
Two men, encountered by chance in a hotel bar, got to see their lives altered forever: their subsequent evening together intertwines their fates in an unexpected, but lasting bond. What can a hard-drinking, womanizing hitman have in common with a traveling salesman? |
|
|
From the producers of "The Rookie", this inspiring sports movie will star Mark Wahlberg as a Philadelphia Eagles fan who has just lost his wife and his teaching job. He decides one day to show up for an open tryout for his favorite NFL team, only to see his wildest dreams come true. |
|