Archive for the ‘Drama’ Category

a Better Life

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 135

Language: English

Director: Chris Weitz

Plot: From the director of About a Boy comes A BETTER LIFE – a touching, poignant, multi-generational story about a father’s love and the lengths a parent will go to give his child the opportunities he never had.

 

Kidnapped

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 117

Language:

Director: Miguel Angel Vivas

Plot: A family is moving into a new house in one of Madrid’s new gated communities; they bicker about the placement of furniture and whether the daughter can go out that evening. Suddenly, their domestic routine is invaded by three masked men, wielding guns and demanding they hand over their valuables and empty their bank accounts. A sensation at this year’s Sitges Fantastic Film Festival, this taut, high-octane, grittily realistic thriller was shot in fewer than a dozen intricately choreographed sequence shots, giving the viewer the sense of real-time lived experience.

 

Viva Riva!

Friday, June 10th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 109

Language: French

Director: Djo Tunda Wa Munga

Plot: VIVA RIVA! is the tale of Riva (Patscha Bay Mukuna), a small time operator who has just returned to his hometown of Kinshasa, Congo after a decade away, with a major score: a fortune in hijacked gasoline. Wads of cash in hand and out for a good time, Riva is soon entranced by beautiful nightclub denizen Nora (gorgeous French actress Manie Malone in her screen debut), the kept woman of a local gangster. Into the mix comes an Angolan crime lord relentlessly seeking the return of his stolen shipment of gasoline. Director Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s Kinshasa is a seductively vibrant, lawless, fuel-starved sprawl of shantytowns, gated villas, bordellos and nightclubs and Riva is its perfect embodiment.

 

Bride Flight

Friday, June 10th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 120

Language:

Director: Ben Sombogaart

Plot: Spanning over five decades, BRIDE FLIGHT is inspired by the true story of the 1953 “Last Great Air Race” London-Christchurch (NZ), and follows Esther (Anna Drijver), Ada (Karina Smulders) and Marjorie (Elise Schaap), three young women who, eager to escape post-WWII Holland, emigrate to New Zealand for what they hope will be a better life. On the plane trip overseas – dubbed the “Bride Flight” – the three become fast friends and meet Frank, a dashing young man (played by Waldemar Torenstra and Rutger Hauer – Blade Runner/Hobo with a Shot Gun – in his later years) who will come to play a critical role in each of their lives. They all part ways on arrival in their new country as two of the women’s fiancés await them – but their paths continue to cross in the years to come in life-altering ways.

 

The WAVE

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 94

Language:

Director: Dennis Gansel

Plot: Germany today. During a project week, high school teacher Rainer Wenger (Jurgen Vogel) comes up with an experiment in order to explain to his students how totalitarian governments work. A role-playing game with tragic results begins. Within a few days, what began as harmless notions, like discipline and community, builds into a real movement: THE WAVE. By the third day, the students start ostracizing and threatening others.

When the conflict finally erupts into violence at an intramural water polo game, the teacher decides to break off the experiment. But it’s too late. THE WAVE is out of control…

 

Guilty Hearts

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 48

Language:

Director: George Augusto

Plot: Phase 4 Films is pleased to announce the release of Guilty Hearts. The film which follows the lives of nine strangers living worlds apart as they look for love, happiness, success, and friendship against all odds. Carrying the burden of guilt, they must escape their pasts before they can move forward.

 

Beginners

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 152

Language: English

Director: Mike Mills

Plot: From writer/director Mike Mills comes a comedy/drama about how deeply funny and transformative life can be, even at its most serious moments. “Beginners imaginatively explores the hilarity, confusion, and surprises of love through the evolving consciousness of Oliver (Golden Globe Award nominee Ewan McGregor). Oliver meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna (Mélanie Laurent of “Inglourious Basterds”) only months after his father Hal (Academy Award nominee Christopher Plummer) has passed away. This new love floods Oliver with memories of his father who – following 44 years of marriage – came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energized, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life. The upheavals of Hal’s new honesty, by turns funny and moving, brought father and son closer than they’d ever been able to be. Now Oliver endeavors to love Anna with all the bravery, humor, and hope that his father taught him.

 

Beautiful Boy

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 118

Language: English

Director: Shawn Ku

Plot: Bill (Michael Sheen) and Kate (Maria Bello) hopelessly try to find some hint of an explanation after finding out that their only son committed a mass shooting at his university before taking his own life. They struggle numbly through the funeral, the media onslaught, and the awkward pity from relatives and friends. Their already strained marriage is tested as they realize all they have left with each other is their shared grief and confusion – and the unfortunate legacy of their son. This life-altering event forces Bill and Kate to face their feelings of guilt, rage, blame, self-discovery – and ultimately hope – so that they can finally see each other and their chance for happiness again with clear eyes.

 

Empire of Silver

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 145

Language:

Director: Christina Yao

Plot: China, 1899. In a land of exquisite beauty and timeless tradition a young man known as ‘Third Master’ is the heir to a banking fortune he cares little about. However, after his brother’s wife is kidnapped he reluctantly submits to the pressure of his title and his father, Lord Kang.

Lord Kang is determined to prepare his son for financial leadership by molding Third Master into his own image. But the strong-willed businessman’s methods do not sit well with Third Master, who sees the salvation of his business in following the righteous path of his ancestors.

Third Master and Lord Kang’s tense relationship is further complicated by the son’s feelings for his beautiful young stepmother — his first and only love — stolen from him by his own father.

The fate of the banking empire and its most powerful family now lies with one idealistic young man torn between the needs of the people, the duty to his family, and the undying love of a woman.

 

Hello Lonesome

Friday, May 27th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 77

Language: English

Director: Adam Reid

Plot: Adam Reid’s debut film weaves together three stories of love and redemption, starring Sabrina Lloyd, Lynn Cohen, James Urbaniak, Nate Smith and Harry Chase.

 

We Are the Night

Friday, May 27th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 130

Language: German

Director: Dennis Gansel

Plot: A sexy, suspenseful and adrenaline pumping vampire film, WE ARE THE NIGHT is an edgy tale of a provocative gang of female vampires living large, making their own rules and leaving a merciless trail of blood. The film centers on a 20-year-old Berlin native LENA (Karoline Herfurth) who gets by as a petty thief. On one of her nightly job runs through an underground club, she meets 250-year-old LOUISE (Nina Hoss). Don’t let her age fool you. LOUISE is a glamorous vixen, who is not only the owner of the club, but also the leader of an unusual all-female vampire trio – the other two members being wild child NORA (Anna Fischer) and elegant CHARLOTTE (Jennifer Ulrich). Louise falls head over heels in love with the scruffy Lena and bites her during their first night together. Once bitten, LENA discovers the curse and the blessing of her new, eternal life. She revels in the glamour, parties and infinite freedom. But she quickly discovers that the endless blood thirst and murderous appetite of her new girlfriends come at a steep price. When Berlin police commissioner TOM SERNER (Max Riemelt) begins investigating the women, it is just a matter of time before their day comes and events spiral out of control.

 

Bloodworth

Friday, May 20th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 113

Language: English

Director: Shane Taylor

Plot: It’s been 40 years since E.F. Bloodworth (Kris Kristofferson) abandoned his loving wife and sons for a life on the road. Now at the end of the line, Bloodworth reappears, forced to reckon with the stale aftermath of his departure. With his ex-wife Julia (Frances Conroy) mentally destroyed, his three sons; Warren (Val Kilmer), Boyd (Dwight Yoakam) and Brady (W. Earl Brown) soured by years of anger, Bloodworth’s only solace is a budding relationship with Fleming, the grandson he never knew. But when Fleming meets Raven (Hilary Duff), the woman of his dreams, will Bloodworth’s presence force history to repeat itself?

At the heart of BLOODWORTH is the ageless music of Oscar® Winning Producer, T Bone Burnett (Best Original Song, Crazy Heart, 2009), and an original song from country music legend Kris Kristofferson.

 

Cost of a Soul

Friday, May 20th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 126

Language: English

Director: Sean Kirkpatrick

Plot: Wounded in the war, Tommy Donahue (Chris Kerson) and DD Davis (Will Blagrove) return home from Iraq to the crime-stricken neighborhood in North Philadelphia they grew up in. Tommy returns to his wife, Faith (Judy Jerome), whom he abandoned while she was pregnant to escape a life of crime. DD returns to find that his older brother Darnell (Nakia Dillard) has risen to become the neighborhood kingpin.

Tommy meets his disabled six year-old daughter, Hope (Maddie M. Jones), for the first time, and she begins to melt his frozen heart. DD faces the pressure to save his younger brother, James (Daveed Ramsay), from following in Darnell’s dangerous footsteps. Tommy and DD find themselves trapped in the same ghetto they joined the military to escape. As they struggle for redemption, their own families become entangled in a web of crime, corruption and violence.

 

Hesher

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 103

Language: English

Director: Spencer Susser

Plot: Loud music. Pornography. Burning shit to the ground. These are a few of Hesher’s favorite things. And they are what Hesher (Joseph Gordon Levitt) brings into the lives of TJ (Devin Brochu) and his father, Paul (Rainn Wilson) when he takes up residence in their garage uninvited.

Grief-stricken by the loss of TJ’s mother in a car accident, Paul can’t muster the strength to evict the strange squatter, and soon the long-haired, tattooed Hesher becomes a fixture in the household. Like a force of nature, Hesher’s anarchy shakes the family out of their grief and helps them embrace life once more.

 

The High Cost of Living

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 143

Language: English

Director: Deborah Chow

Plot: What do you do when the best and the worst moment of your life happens at the exact same time? Henry (Zach Braff) is not a particularly nice guy. He is a drug dealer because he is good at it. Nathalie (Isabelle Blais) is a beautiful young woman, married and about to have her first child. One night, Henry makes a wrong turn and their lives tragically collide. As Natalie’s life unravels, Henry becomes her unlikely guardian angel – compassionate, charming and some much needed calm in the storm of her life. She finds a welcome relief in the tall, rumpled stranger that seems only too willing to offer her refuge. But Henry has his own problems. His past misdeeds are catching up to him and he soon discovers that he is no longer able to outrun his past or his present. The inevitable impact of his choices force both Henry and Nathalie to confront loss, love and life, and to ultimately decide whether the high cost of living is worth the price.

 

The First Grader

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 129

Language: English (International)

Director: Justin Chadwick

Plot: In a small, remote mountain top primary school in the Kenyan bush, hundreds of children are jostling for a chance for the free education newly promised by the Kenyan government. One new applicant causes astonishment when he knocks on the door of the school. He is Maruge, an old Mau Mau veteran in his eighties, who is desperate to learn to read at this late stage of his life. He fought for the liberation of his country and now feels he must have the chance of an education so long denied – even if it means sitting in a classroom alongside six-year-olds.

Moved by his passionate plea, head teacher Jane Obinchu, supports his struggle to gain admission and together they face fierce opposition from parents and officials who don’t want to waste a precious school place on such an old man.

Full of vitality and humour, the film explores the remarkable relationships Maruge builds with his classmates some eighty years his junior. Through Maruge’s journey, we are taken back to the shocking untold story of British colonial rule 50 years earlier where Maruge fought for the freedom of his country, eventually ending up in the extreme and harsh conditions of the British detention camps.

 

An Invisible Sign

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 163

Language: English

Director: Marilyn Agrelo

Plot: Young Mona idolizes her father, a brilliant mathematician. When he suddenly demonstrates signs of mental illness, Mona begins to obsess about numbers, using them to interpret an unpredictable and threatening world. Now an adult (Jessica Alba), Mona’s old superstitions and compulsive behaviors continue to flourish, but a new job as an elementary school math teacher (a position she both relishes and dreads), may force her out of her protective shell. With imagination and humor, as well as a special sensitivity to the realities of mental illness, AN INVISIBLE SIGN carries a magic all its own.

 

Saviors in the Night

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 116

Language:

Director: Ludi Boeken

Plot: Menne Spiegel (Armin Rohde, Run Lola Run) was an old friend, a decorated fellow veteran of WWI, and a Jew. Despite being patriotic Germans and Nazi sympathizers, the Aschoff family, fellow farmers of Westphalia, took in Menne’s wife Marga (Veronica Ferres) and daughter Karin and hid them, rescuing them from deportation and certain death. Saviors in the Night is based on the experiences of Marga Spiegel, whose memoirs became a bestseller in Germany. She is currently 98 years old and still lives in Germany.

 

There Be Dragons

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 150

Language: English

Director: Roland Joffe

Plot: There Be Dragons, from highly acclaimed director Roland Joffé (The Mission, nominated for seven Academy Awards and The Killing Fields, winner of three Academy Awards), is an epic portrayal of jealously, hatred, love and redemption set during the tumultuous times of the Spanish Civil War. It is a tale of loss between a father and son, of revolutionaries fighting for freedom, of a women’s search for love and meaning…and the struggles of a man whose life impacts them all. Inspired by real event, the plot revolves around the story of a young journalist who, while researching the life of Josémaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, uncovers hidden stories of his estranged father and is taken on a journey through the dark, terrible secrets of his family’s past. Playing the role of Saint Josémaria Escriva is Charlie Cox (Stardust, Casanova).

 

Passion Play

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2011

Runtime: 99

Language:

Director: Mitch Glazer

Plot: A terrific cast will hold you spellbound in this one of a kind seductive thriller from the screenwriter of The Recruit. The last thing washed-up jazz musician Nate Pool (Academy Award-nominee Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler) wanted to do was betray sinister gangster Happy Shannon (Academy-Award-nominee Bill Murray, Lost in Translation). But it may be the last thing he does unless he can deliver Lily (Megan Fox, Transformers), a beautiful and mysterious carnival sideshow attraction. The stakes can’t get any higher for the two lovers as they try to elude the merciless killer who will stop at nothing to keep Lily for himself. Kelly Lynch (Drugstore Cowboy) and Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill) costar in this gritty and unpredictable tale of redemption in the hard-boiled tradition of classic film noir.