|
Title/Country
|
Genre
|
Mins/Rating |
| |
| Affliction
(USA) |
Drama |
115
minutes (R) |
| Set
in a cold and harsh New England town, the Village Voice hails ?Affliction?
as an American classic. Nick Nolte plays Wade Whitehouse, a small-town
cop trying to come to terms with his violent childhood and his own
abusive tendencies. The role garnered Nolte an Academy Award nomination
for best actor. 1997.
(English) |
|
| All
About My Mother (Spain) |
Drama |
101
minutes (R)
|
| Winner
of the 1999 Academy Award for best foreign language film, ?All
About My Mother? is considered the masterpiece of legendary
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. Both comic and dramatic, the story
follows Manuela, a strong-willed hospital worker whose 18-year-old
son's accidental death transforms her life. Reading his journals,
the grief-stricken Manuela realizes that he longed to discover the
father he never knew, and she embarks on a search for the man she
left nearly 20 years before. This film, which co-stars Penelope
Cruz, was named best picture of the year by Time magazine. 1999.
(Spanish
with English subtitles) |
|
| American
Splendor (USA) |
Drama/Comedy |
101
minutes (R) |
|
(English) |
|
|
|
| Angel
Baby (Australia) |
Drama |
100
minutes (R) |
| It's
love at first insight when Kate joins Harry's therapy group. In
no time, they've moved in together and Harry stops swallowing his
pills. But when Kate gets pregnant and goes off her medication,
their idyllic existence suddenly darkens. ?Angel Baby?
never overshoots the dramatic mark, nor succumbs to sentimentality.
This film swept the top honors at the Australian Film Institute
ceremony. 1997.
(English) |
|
| Apostle,
The (USA) |
Drama |
134
minutes (PG-13)
|
|
(English) |
|
|
|
| Before
the Rain (Macedonia) |
Drama |
112
minutes (R)
|
| Nominated
for the 1995 Academy Award for best foreign language picture, ?Before
the Rain? was hailed by Roger Ebert as a brilliant directorial
debut as well as the first world-class film to emerge from the war-ravaged
Balkans. The film examines the ways tribal and ethnic bloodshed
devastate people?s lives. According to Premiere Magazine,
?it will haunt you for days.? 1995.
(English
and Macedonian with English subtitles) |
|
| Behind
the Sun (Brazil) |
Drama |
91
minutes (PG-13)
|
| Revenge
is an unstoppable force that is anything but sweet in a remote part
of Brazil where grudges last for generations and duty and honor
reign supreme. ?Breathtaking,? says National Public
Radio. 2001.
(Portuguese
with English subtitles) |
|
| Beyond
Silence (Germany) |
Drama |
107
minutes (R)
|
| A
heart-warming coming-of-age story about a hearing daughter (and
gifted musician) of two deaf parents. Nominated for an Academy Award
for best foreign language picture, ?Beyond Silence?
was directed by Caroline Link, who won the award in 2002 for her
film ?Nowhere in Africa.? 1996.
(German
with English subtitles) |
|
| Brassed
Off (England) |
Drama/Comedy |
101
minutes (R)
|
|
(English) |
|
|
|
| Breaking
the Waves (Denmark) |
Drama |
152
minutes (R) |
|
| Burnt
by the Sun (Russia/France) |
Drama |
134
minutes (R)
|
| Winner
of 1995's Best Foreign Film Oscar, Burnt by the Sun is set in 1936
Russia, nineteen years after the Communist Revolution and well into
Stalin's reign of terror. Kotov, a military hero of the Revolution,
and his family are spending a happy and peaceful summer at a rural
retreat when his wife?s former lover suddenly reappears, irrevocably
altering the loving relationship between Kotov and his wife as secrets,
both new and old, come to light, and deep-seated jealousy bubbles
to the surface. 1995.
(Russian
with English subtitles) |
|
| Career
Girls (England) |
Drama |
87
minutes (R) |
|
(English) |
|
| Character
(Netherlands) |
Drama |
126
minutes (R) |
| Winner
of the Academy Award for best foreign language film, ?Character?
is set in the Netherlands in the 1920s where a cold-hearted and
feared police officer is found dead with a knife through his heart.
The mystery slowly unravels in what Time magazine calls ?a
true epic.? 1997.
(Dutch
with English subtitles) |
|
| Close
to Eden (Mongolia) |
Drama |
109
minutes (PG) |
| |
|
| Cold
Fever (Iceland) |
Comedy |
85
minutes (NR) |
?Cold
Fever? features of an out-of- place foreigner meeting native
oddballs in a quirky, yet somber comedy about a young Japanese executive
who goes to Iceland to perform a funeral ritual for his parents
who were killed there in an accident. To fulfill this obligation,
he has to drive across Iceland in the dead of winter on single-lane
highways with ominous road signs that ask, ``Does anyone know you
are going this way?' 1995.
(Icelandic
and Japanese with English subtitles)
|
|
| Crooklyn
(USA) |
Comedy |
114
minutes (PG-13)
|
|
(English) |
|
| Cyclo
(Vietnam) |
Drama |
123
minutes (NR)
|
| Bizarre,
arresting, and wholly original, Cyclo is like nothing you've ever
seen. Set in modern-day Ho Chi Minh City, the film plunges the audience
into the seamy, restless underbelly of Vietnam's most famous city.
Our guide is 18-year-old Cyclo, one of the thousands of young men
who make their meager living shuttling nameless passengers throughout
the city via ?cyclos,? large, three-wheeled bicycles
with seats attached to their fronts. Cyclo's father -- also a cyclo
driver -- was killed in a recent traffic accident and memories of
his father's admonitions to ?try to find a better life?
weigh heavily upon the young man's soul. Winner of the Golden Lion
at the Venice Film Festival. 1995.
(Vietnamese
and French with English subtitles) |
|
| Dark
Eyes (Italy) |
Comedy |
118
minutes (NR) |
| A
wonderfully enjoyable romantic comedy, ?Dark Eyes? is
a beautifully photographed and absolutely riveting film. Several
Anton Chekov's short stories form the basis of this charming film
about Romano Patroni (Marcello Mastroianni), a hopeless romantic
who shares his life story with passengers on a cruise ship.Romani
is taking and who listens with rapt attention to Romano's story.
Mastroianni?s performance won him a best actor award at the
Cannes Film Festival. 1987.
(Italian
and Russian with English subtitles) |
|
| Dead
Tired (France) |
Comedy |
85
minutes (NR) |
| Starring
Michel Blanc (known as the French Woody Allen), ?Dead Tired?
is a clever comedy about a famous actor?s film double who
begins to impersonate the actor in real life. ?Dead Tired?
received best screenplay honors at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
1995.
(French
with English subtitles) |
|
| Dona
Flor & Her Two Husbands (Brazil) |
Comedy |
106
minutes (NR) |
| Starring
Michel Blanc (known as the French Woody Allen), ?Dead Tired?
is a clever comedy about a famous actor?s film double who
begins to impersonate the actor in real life. ?Dead Tired?
received best screenplay honors at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
1995.
(French
with English subtitles) |
|
| Eat
Drink Man Woman (Taiwan) |
Comedy |
124
minutes (NR) |
| Ang
Lee's family comedy, Eat Drink Man Woman, serves up a rich gallery
of sharply defined characters--a master chef, his three daughters
and their lovers. It's a comedy of manners, a celebration of Chinese
food, and a poignant chronicle of change and dissolution, as the
family breaks apart in unexpected ways. A fresh and funny film the
New York Times calls ?an irresistible, almost edible treat.?
1995.
(Chinese
with English subtitles) |
|
| Election
(USA) |
Comedy |
103
minutes (R) |
| This
wickedly sly satire chronicles the fortunes of Tracy Flick (Reese
Witherspoon), a cheerful, power-hungry go-getter who is running
for student body president in a Nebraska high school. This dynamo,
who has a dark side, will stop at nothing to achieve success. Her
nemesis, however, turns out to be none other than the school's favorite
civics teacher, Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick). Tracy is running
unopposed until Mr. McAllister persuades a popular and hapless jock
to take a chance on running, now that his broken leg will keep him
out of football. Big mistake, Mr. M.! 1999.
(English) |
|
| Following
(England?) |
Suspense |
70
minutes (R) |
| Christopher
Nolan, who later helmed ?Memento,? makes his directorial
debut in this film, a ?. film ?Memento?Directed
by Christopher Nolan. 1999.
(English) |
|
| Flawless
(USA) |
Drama/Comedy |
111
minutes (R) |
|
(English) |
|
| 400
Blows, The (France) |
Drama |
97
minutes (NR) |
| |
|
|
|
| Funeral,
The (Japan) |
Comedy |
124
minutes (NR) |
| A
funeral is no laughing matter - except in the hands of director
Juzo Itami. An old man?s unexpected death creates hilarious
havoc in this ly comedy of manners where members of the younger
generation try to understand and adhere to the cultural expectations
of their elders. The Los Angeles Times calls ?The Funeral?
ones of the best films of the year, one with ?truly universal
appeal.? 1987.
(Japanese
with English subtitles) |
|
| Home
and the World, The (India) |
Drama |
130
minutes (NR) |
| Famed
Indian director Satyajit Ray uses the upswing in Bengali national
sentiment against British colonial rule in the early part of the
20th century as a backdrop for this tale of politics, love, and
betrayal. A wealthy man decides that his wife should adopt modern
sensibilities and leave her secluded quarters in the house to see
the real world. Unfortunately, she falls in love with her husband's
best friend, a firebrand revolutionary, and the husband has to choose
between his beliefs and his marriage. 1984.
(Bengali
and English with English subtitles) |
|
| Hoop
Dreams (USA) |
Documentary |
176
minutes (PG-13) |
|
(English) |
|
| In
& Out (USA) |
Comedy |
92
minutes (PG-13) |
| Kevin
Kline stars as smalltown high school drama teacher Howard Brackett,
whose life is turned upside down when his star-pupil-turned-Hollywood-hearthrob
(Matt Dillon) wins the Best Actor Oscar - and uses his acceptance
speech to "out" Brackett a la Tom Hanks. The problem,
you see, is that Brackett is not really gay; in fact, he has plans
to marry his longtime fiancee later that week. At least that's what
most people, including Brackett, think. But amid the anxiety of
his impending matrimony and a media feeding frenzy led by a gay
tabloid reporter (Tom Selleck), Brackett begins reexamining his
sexuality. 1997.
(English) |
|
| Kolya
(Czech Republic) |
Drama |
105
minutes (PG-13) |
| A
confirmed bachelor is shocked to find himself a father -- of sorts
-- in Kolya, a Czech film that received best foreign language film
accolades at the Oscars and Golden Globes. Louka, an aging playboy,
is paid to marry a Russian woman wanting to emigrate to Czechoslavakia.
The scheme backfires, however, when his "bride" bolts,
leaving behind her young Russian son, Kolya, who becomes Louka's
unexpected and unwanted responsibility. Could there be a latent
father hidden within this middle-aged Don Juan? 1996.
(Czech
with English subtitles) |
|
| Lantana
(Australia) |
Mystery |
120
minutes (R) |
| A
missing person?s case sets the stage for this ?remarkably
conceived mystery,? according to Premiere magazine. Winner
of seven Australian Film Institute Awards, Lantana stars a powerful
ensemble cast as four couples are drawn into a tangled web of love,
deceit, sex, and death. The Film Journal calls it ?a masterpiece.?
2001.
(English) |
|
| Maborosi
(Japan) |
Drama |
110
minutes (NR) |
| An
impressive feature debut for documentary director Hirokazu Kore-eda,
"Maborosi" (Japanese for "mirage") is a haunting,
unusual work that is almost more meditation than motion picture.
"Maborosi" tells the tale of Yumiko, a happy young woman
with a newborn son whose husband inexplicably commits suicide one
night by walking into an oncoming train. Named ?Best Film?
at the Chicago International Film Festival. 1998.
(Japanese
with English subtitles) |
|
| Man
of Marble (Poland) |
Drama |
160
minutes (NR) |
| ?Man
of Marble? is a masterpiece of Eastern European cinema and
has been called the Polish ?Citizen Kane.? It takes
the form of an investigation by a film student who interviews acquaintances
of naïve bricklayer Mateusz Birkut, who briefly became a proletariat
hero during the 1950s communist regime. As the picture of his turbulent,
tragic life unfolds, so, too, does that of our heroine, whose determination
to complete the film and discover exactly what became of her subject
comes up against tough opposition. 1976.
(Polish
with English subtitles) |
|
| Mister
Johnson (England) |
Comedy/Drama |
105
minutes (PG-13) |
| Bruce
Beresford's adaptation of Joyce Cary's novel is an intriguing tale
of a well-educated Nigerian (Maynard Eziashi) working for a white
magistrate (Pierce Brosnan) in British Colonial Nigeria. Aspiring
to be treated as an equal of the white British around him, he is
neither accepted by them nor by his fellow villagers. What starts
out as a comic clash of cultures, later develops into an emotional
drama dealing with racism and Colonialism. 1990.
(English) |
|
| Out
of Sight (USA) |
Suspense |
123
MInutes (PG-13) |
| Steven
Soderbergh directs this film about a police officer (Jennifer Lopez)
who chases after a bank robber (George Clooney), but is she chasing
for justice or for love? Variety hails ?Out of Sight?
as ?a sly, sexy, vastly entertaining film.? Rolling
Stone says ?Clooney and Lopez ignite sparks on the screen.?
1998.
(English) |
|
| Pathfinder
(Norway) |
Adventure |
86
minutes (NR) |
| Oscar-nominated
adventure film based on an ancient Lapland legend involving an orphaned
teenage boy taking on a band of brutal warriors. The story follows
Aigin as he returns from a hunting trip to discover that his family
has been massacred by the brutal Tchude tribe. Seeking sanctuary
in the next village, he meets the pathfinder Raste. Between them,
they devise a plan for revenge. A highly entertaining mix of action
and Nordic mysticism peppered with fascinating Lapland detail. 1987.
(Lapp with
English subtitles) |
|
| Pelle
the Conquerer (Sweden) |
Drama |
138
minutes (PG-13) |
| "Pelle
the Conqueror" won the best film award at Cannes, and the Best
Foreign Language film at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards. All
prizes were well deserved for this coming of age story of Pelle
Karlsson who travels to Denmark with his father (Max Von Sydow)
to seek a better life after the death of his mother. What they find
are harsh conditions working on the farm of a tyrant. Pelle and
his father endure the cruelties thrown their way because of their
alien status and their lowly station in life. Pelle, however, eventually
rages against his fate and sets off for a life of adventure ?
to conquer the world. 1988.
(Swedish
with English subtitles) |
|
| Perez
Family, The (USA) |
Romance/Comedy |
135
minutes (R) |
| |
|
| Pickpocket
(France) |
Drama |
75
minutes (NR) |
| |
|
| Royal
Tenebaums, The (USA) |
Comedy |
109
minutes (R) |
|
(English) |
|
|
|
| Rushmore
(USA) |
Comedy |
93
minutes (R) |
|
(English) |
|
| Shall
We Dance? (Japan) |
Comedy |
119
minutes (PG) |
| "Shall
We Dance?" opens like a mid-life crisis romance. A Tokyo salaryman
becomes captivated by a beautiful woman he glimpses in the window
of a dance studio. He pursues lessons to meet her. What begins as
infatuation for a young woman, however, develops into a love of
dance, and our hero finds himself caught up in a world far outside
his office--of tangos, dance competitions and fun. What he really
wants, it seems, is not a fling, but the chance to spread his wings
outside the stifling confines of the conservative regimentation
of life. One of the funniest Japanese films in years. 1996.
(Japanese
with English subtitles) |
|
| Signs
(USA) |
Drama |
106
minutes (PG-13) |
|
(English) |
|
| State
and Main (USA) |
Comedy |
106
minutes (R) |
|
(English) |
|
|
|
| Sweet
and Lowdown (USA) |
Comedy |
95
minutes (PG-13) |
|
(English) |
|
|
|
| Swingers
(USA) |
Comedy |
96
minutes (R) |
|
(English) |
|
|
|
| Time
and Tide (Hong Kong) |
Action |
113
minutes (R) |
| Famed
martial arts director Tsui Hark provides non-stop action that features
incredible stunt work as drug lords face off on the streets of Hong
Kong. Ebert and Roeper give ?Time and Tide? two thumbs
up. 2000.
(Cantonese
with English subtitles) |
|
| Vagabond
(France) |
Drama |
105
inutes (NR) |
| 1985.
(French
with English subtitles) |
|
| Vanishing,
The (Netherlands) |
Suspense |
107
minutes (NR) |
| A
young couple stops at a rest area. The woman skips off to buy sodas
and then disappears. The man?s panic mounts as he realizes
the police can?t find a single clue. The mystery becomes unbearable.
?The Vanishing? is a psychological jigsaw puzzle that
received more than a dozen international film awards. Add to that
its famous ending, routinely praised as one of the most unnerving
in modern cinema, and you have a disturbing film that both shocks
and haunts. 1988.
(Dutch
with English subtitles) |
|
| Virgin
Suicides, The (USA) |
Drama |
97
minutes (R) |
|
(English) |
|
|
|
| When
Father Was Away (Yugoslavia) |
Comedy |
144
minutes (R) |
| Six-year-old
Malik assumes that the womanizing sprees on which his father, Mesa,
regularly disappears, are in fact high-powered business trips. But
when a jealous mistress denounces Mesa to the police, accusing him
of counter-revolutionary Stalinism, it's a three-year spell in a
labor camp for him, and more brittle, witty irony from the director.
Named Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival. 1985.
(Yugoslavian
with English subtitles) |
|
| White
Man's Burden (USA) |
Drama |
89
minuets (R) |
|
(English) |
|
| World
Apart, A (South Africa) |
Drama |
114
minutes (PG) |
| Set
in Johannesburg in 1963, ?A World Apart? is an utterly
convincing, impeccably constructed indictment of apartheid. Jodhi
May plays Molly Roth, a white South African teenager whose world
is turned upside down when her father, an ANC official, departs
in the middle of the night not to return. Molly?s mother,
an anti-apartheid activist played by Barbara Hershey, is later arrested.
The film is driven by the tension between May's resentment at what
she perceives as her mother's neglect, and her gradual understanding
of the political imperatives by which her mother is compelled. The
performances in ?A World Apart? are uniformly excellent
with Barbara Hershey, Jodhi May, and Linda Mvusi sharing Best Actress
awards at the Cannes Film Festival. 1988.
(English) |
|
| Wonder
Boys (USA) |
Comedy/Drama |
112
minutes (R) |
|
(English) |
|