Kundun (1997)
Biography | Drama | History | War
The incredible true story of one of the world's most fascinating leaders – Tibet's Dalai Lama – and his daring struggle to rule a nation at one of the most challenging times in its history.
Starring: Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, Gyurme Tethong, Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin, Tenzin Yeshi Paichang
Director: Martin Scorsese
The Social Network (2010)
Biography | Drama | History
A story about the founders of the social-networking website, Facebook.
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer Jr., Max Minghella
Director: David Fincher
The Robber (2010)
Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller
A champion marathoner leads a double life as a serial bank robber, sprinting between fixes (and away from police cavalcades) as many as three times a day. A lean, visceral study of pathological compulsion from Austrian director Benjamin Heisenberg, featuring a riveting central performance by Andreas Lust (Munich).
Starring: Andreas Lust, Franziska Weisz, Florian Wotruba, Johann Bednar, Markus Schleinzer, Peter Vilnai, Max Edelbacher
Director: Benjamin Heisenberg
I'm Not There (2007)
Biography | Drama | Music
A re-enactment of the life of musician, Bob Dylan, with multiple actors embodying different stages in the singer's life.
Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Marcus Carl Franklin, Heath Ledger, Kris Kristofferson
Director: Todd Haynes
Ben-Hur (1959)
Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama
The numbers speak volumes: 100,000 costumes, 8,000 extras, 300 sets and a staggering budget in its day the largest in movie history. Ben-Hur's creators made it the best, the greatest Biblical-era epic ever. Charlton Heston brings a muscular physical and moral presence to the role of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish nobleman in Palestine whose heroic odyssey includes enslavement by the Romans, a bold escape from an embattled slave galley, vengeance against his tormentors during a furious arena chariot race and fateful encounters with Jesus Christ. Heston's charismatic performance brought him the Best Actor Oscar; the winner as 1959's Best Picture with the legendary William Wyler earning his third Best Director trophy, the film won a total 11 Academy Awards – a tally unequaled until 1997's Titanic set sail.
Starring: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Haya Harareet
Director: William Wyler
The Rookie (2002)
Biography | Drama | Family | Sport
Jim Morris never made it out of the minor leagues before a shoulder injury ended his pitching career twelve years ago. Now a married-with-children high-school chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas, Jim's team makes a deal with him: if they win the district championship, Jim will try out with a major-league organization. The bet proves incentive enough for the team, and they go from worst to first, making it to state for the first time in the history of the school. Jim, forced to live up to his end of the deal, is nearly laughed off the try-out field梪ntil he gets onto the mound, where he confounds the scouts (and himself) by clocking successive 98 mph fastballs, good enough for a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jim's still got a lot of pitches to throw before he makes it to The Show, but with his big-league dreams revived, there's no telling where he could go.
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, Beth Grant, Angus T. Jones
Director: John Lee Hancock
Capote (2005)
Biography | Crime | Drama
In November, 1959, Truman Capote, the author of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and a favorite figure in what is soon to be known as the Jet Set, reads an article on a back page of the New York Times. It tells of the murders of four members of a well-known farm family–the Clutters–in Holcomb, Kansas. Similar stories appear in newspapers almost every day, but something about this one catches Capote's eye. It presents an opportunity, he believes, to test hislong-held theory that, in the hands of the right writer, non-fiction can be as compelling as fiction. What impact have the murders had on that tiny town on the wind-swept plains? With that as his subject–for his purpose, it does notmatter if the murderers are never caught–he convinces The New Yorker magazine to give him an assignment and he sets out for Kansas. Accompanying him is a friend from his Alabama childhood: Harper Lee, who within a few months will win a Pulitzer Prize and achieve fame of her own as the author of "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Clifton Collins Jr., Catherine Keener, Allie Mickelson, Kelci Stephenson
Director: Bennett Miller
Lola Montès / The Sins of Lola Montes (1955)
Biography | Drama | Romance
Lola Montès is a visually ravishing, narratively daring dramatization of the life of the notorious courtesan and showgirl, played by Martine Carol. With his customary cinematographic flourish and, for the first time, vibrant color, Max Ophüls charts the course of Montès's scandalous past through the invocations of the bombastic ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) of the American circus where she has ended up performing. Ophüls's final film, Lola Montès is at once a magnificent romantic melodrama, a meditation on the lurid fascination with celebrity, and a one-of-a-kind movie spectacle.
Starring: Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov, Anton Walbrook, Oskar Werner, Ivan Desny
Director: Max Ophüls
Crumb (1995)
Biography | Documentary
An intimate documentary portrait of underground artist Robert Crumb, whose unique drawing style and sexually and racially provocative subject matter have made him a household name in popular American art.
Starring: Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky and Charles Crumb, Maxon Crumb, Robert Hughes, Martin Muller, Don Donahue
Director: Terry Zwigoff
The National Parks: America's Best Idea (TV mini-series 2009)
Biography | Documentary | History
The National Parks: America's Best Idea is a six-episode series directed by Ken Burns and written and co-produced by Dayton Duncan. Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature's most spectacular locales – from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska – The National Parks: America's Best Idea is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background – rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy.
Starring: Peter Coyote, Philip Bosco, Murphy Guyer, Kevin Conway, Tom Hanks
Creator: Ken Burns, Dayton Duncan
Papillon (1973)
Biography | Crime | Drama
Based on the true story of Henri Charriere, a petty criminal known as "Papillon" (meaning butterfly). Wrongly convicted of murder in the 1930s and sentenced to life in a penal colony in French Guiana, Papillon attempted many escapes and subsequent punishments before succeeding.
Starring: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Men of Honor (2000)
Biography | Drama
One of those rare films that grabs you by the gut and never lets go, Men of Honor was inspired by the life of Carl Brasher (Cuba Gooding Jr.), an African American who dared to dream of becoming a U.S. Navy Master Diver. Despite a bigoted training officer (Robert DeNiro) and a tragic shipboard accident, Carl never gives up and achieves the impossible in an incredible finish that will leave you cheering.
Starring: Robert De Niro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize Theron, Aunjanue Ellis, Hal Holbrook
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Walking Tall (2004)
Action | Biography | Comedy | Drama | Thriller
In Walking Tall, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays Chris Vaughn, a retired U.S. Special Forces soldier who returns to his hometown to make a new life for himself, only to discover his wealthy high school rival, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), has closed the once-prosperous lumber mill and turned the town's resources towards his own criminal gains. The place Chris grew up is now overrun with crime, drugs, and violence. Enlisting the help of his old pal Ray Templeton (Johnny Knoxville), Chris gets elected sheriff and vows to shut down Hamilton's operations. His actions endanger his family and threaten his own life, but Chris refuses to back down until his hometown once again feels like home.
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Johnny Knoxville, Neal McDonough, Kristen Wilson, Ashley Scott
Director: Kevin Bray
There Be Dragons (2011)
Biography | Drama
A young journalist long ago rejected by his now aged and dying father finds himself investigating one of his father's former friends, a candidate for canonization. Uncovering the two men's complicated relationship from childhood through the horrors of the Spanish Civil War unveils a compelling drama filled with passion, betrayal, love and religion. An action packed story set during a murderous time in history that ultimately serves the present by revealing the importance and timeless power of forgiveness.
Starring: Charlie Cox, Wes Bentley, Dougray Scott
Director: Roland Joffé
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Biography | Drama | War
The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava
Director: Oliver Stone
Man on Wire (2007)
Biography | Crime | Documentary
On August 7th 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between New York's twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour dancing on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before he was finally released. Following six and a half years of dreaming of the towers, Petit spent eight months in New York City planning the execution of the coup. Aided by a team of friends and accomplices, Petit was faced with numerous extraordinary challenges: he had to find a way to bypass the WTC's security; smuggle the heavy steel cable and rigging equipment into the towers; pass the wire between the two rooftops; anchor the wire and tension it to withstand the winds and the swaying of the buildings. The rigging was done by night in complete secrecy. At 7:15 AM, Philippe took his first step on the high wire 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan.
Starring: Philippe Petit, Jean François Heckel, Jean-Louis Blondeau
Director: James Marsh
The Soloist (2009)
Music | Biography | Drama
Journalist Steve Lopez discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives.
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander, Lisa Gay Hamilton
Director: Joe Wright
The Duchess (2008)
Biography | Drama | History
A vibrant beauty and celebrity of her time is trapped in an unhappy triangle with her husband and his live-in mistress. She falls passionately in love with an ambitious young politician, and the affair causes a bitter conflict with her husband and threatens to erupt into a scandal.
Starring: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Charlotte Rampling, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell
Director: Saul Dibb
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Biography | Crime | Drama | Romance
Based on the true-life exploits of notorious Depression-era bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, Bonnie and Clyde is recognized as one of the most violent films to come out of mainstream Hollywood. Bonnie is bored with life and wants a change. She gets her chance when she meets a charming young drifter by the name of Clyde Barrow. Clyde has dreams of a life of crime that will free him from the hardships of the Depression. The two fall in love and begin a crime spree that extends from Oklahoma to Texas. They rob small banks with skill and panache, soon becoming minor celebrities known across the country. People are proud to have been held up by Bonnie and Clyde; to their victims, the duo is doing what nobody else has the guts to do. To the law, the two are evil bank robbers who deserve to be gunned down where they stand.
Starring: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons
Director: Arthur Penn
Finding Neverland (2004)
Biography | Drama | Romance
Set in London in 1904, the film follows J.M. Barrie's creative journey to bring Peter Pan to life, from his first inspiration for the story up until the play's premiere at the Duke of York's Theatre – a night that will change not only Barrie's own life, but the lives of everyone close to him. David Magee's screenplay is based on the play "The Man Who Was Peter Pan," written by Allen Knee.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Radha Mitchell, Dustin Hoffman
Director: Marc Forster
