A Frozen Flower / King Protector / Ssang-hwa-jeom (2008)
Drama | History | Romance
A historical drama set in the Koryo dynasty and focused on the relationship between a king and his bodyguard.
Starring: Jin-mo Ju, Ji-hyo Song, In-seong Jo
Director: Ha Yu
IMDb Info
The Killing Fields (1984)
Drama | History | War
Sydney Schanberg is a New York Times journalist covering the civil war in Cambodia. Together with local representative Dith Pran, they cover some of the tragedy and madness of the war. When the American forces leave, Dith Pran sends his family with them, but stays behind himself to help Schanberg cover the event. As an American, Schanberg won't have any trouble leaving the country, but the situation is different for Pran; he's a local, and the Khmer Rouge are moving in.
Starring: Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich
Director: Roland Joffe
Memorial Day (2011)
Action | Drama | Family | History | War
Memorial Day, 1993. When 13-year-old Kyle Vogel discovers the World War II footlocker belonging to his grandfather, Bud, everyone tells Kyle to put it back. Luckily, he ignores them. Although Bud has never talked about the war, he finds himself striking a deal with his grandson: Kyle can pick any three souvenirs, and Bud will tell him the stories behind each one. Memorial Day not only takes us on a journey into Bud's complicated wartime past, but also into Kyle's wartime future. As the two men share parallel experiences in combat, they come to realize how that magical day on the porch shaped both of their lives.
Starring: Jonathan Bennett, James Cromwell, John Cromwell
Director: Sam Fischer
IMDb Info
Thirteen Days (2000)
Drama | History | Thriller
In October, 1962, U-2 surveillance photos reveal that the Soviet Union is in the process of placing nuclear weapons in Cuba. These weapons have the capability of wiping out most of the Eastern and Southern United States in minutes if they become operational. President John F. Kennedy and his advisors must come up with a plan of action against the Soviets. Kennedy is determined to show that he is strong enough to stand up to the threat, and the Pentagon advises U.S. military strikes against Cuba–which could lead the way to another U.S. invasion of the island. However, Kennedy is reluctant to follow through, because a U.S. invasion could cause the Soviets to retaliate in Europe. A nuclear showdown appears to be almost inevitable.
Starring: Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Shawn Driscoll
Director: Roger Donaldson
IMDb Info
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc / Joan of Arc / Jeanne d'Arc (1999)
Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | War
In 1429, a teenage girl from a remote village in France stood before the world and announced she would defeat the world's greatest army and liberate her country. In began as a small voice in the heart of a simple girl, but the voice grew stronger, rulers were drawn to listen, armies were empowered to fight and her countrymen were inspired to believe.
Starring: Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway, Dustin Hoffman, Pascal Greggory
Director: Luc Besson
Beginning of the Great Revival / The Founding of a Party / Jian Dang Wei Ye (2011)
Drama | History
A chronicle of the events that led to the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.
Starring: John Woo, Yun-Fat Chow, Andy Lau, Daniel Wu, Bingbing Fan, Leehom Wang, Ye Liu, Xun Zhou, Nick Cheung, Jie Dong, Xueqi Wang, Kun Chen, Daoming Chen, Alex Fong, Chao Deng, Miriam Yeung, Xiaodong Guo, Lei Huang, Benshan Zhao, Wei Fan, Tao Guo, Xuebing Wang, Guoli Zhang
Director: Sanping Han, Jianxin Huang
Red Tails (2012)
Action | Adventure | Drama | History | War
A crew of African American pilots in the Tuskegee training program, having faced segregation while kept mostly on the ground during World War II, are called into duty under the guidance of Col. A.J. Bullard.
Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Bryan Cranston, Gerald McRaney, David Oyelowo
Director: Anthony Hemingway
A Night to Remember (1958)
Action | Drama | History
Based on Walter Lord's popular book, A Night to Remember recounts the sailing of the Titanic, billed as the "unsinkable ship," and its inevitable voyage toward the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and doom.
Starring: Kenneth More, Ronald Allen, Robert Ayres, Honor Blackman, Anthony Bushell
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale Part II / Sàidékè balái Part II (2011)
Action | Drama | History
Part II depicts the grisly guerrilla warfare employed as the Seediq, led by Chief Mona Rudao (Lin Ching Tai), use Taiwan's mountains and forests to their advantage. But the Japanese employ modern warfare – airplanes, cannons, tear gas, and explosives – to mount their counterattack and the vastly outnumbered Seediq can only withstand for so long.
Starring: Masanobu Andô, Umin Boya, Chi-Wei Cheng, Lin Ching-Tai, Da-Ching, Jun'ichi Haruta, Michio Hayashida, Akira Hibino, Vivian Hsu
Director: Te-Sheng Wei
Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale Part I / Sàidékè balái Part I (2011)
Action | Drama | History
Seediq Bale Part 1 sows the seeds for the film's powerful final conflict, depicting how the Seediq people are demoralized and finally reborn by their continued subjugation by the Japanese. Stripped of their native hunting grounds and forced to work deforesting the very mountains they called home, the rival Seediq tribes rallied together and violently rose up against years of Japanese repression in the 1930 Wushe Incident.
Starring: Masanobu Andô, Umin Boya, Chi-Wei Cheng, Lin Ching-Tai, Da-Ching, Jun'ichi Haruta, Michio Hayashida, Akira Hibino, Vivian Hsu
Director: Te-Sheng Wei
IMDb Info
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Action | Drama | History | War
February 1945. Even as victory in Europe was finally within reach, the war in the Pacific raged on. One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles of the war was the struggle for the island of Iwo Jima, which culminated with what would become one of the most iconic images in history: five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. The inspiring photo capturing that moment became a symbol of victory to a nation that had grown weary of war and made instant heroes of the six American soldiers at the base of the flag, some of whom would die soon after, never knowing that they had been immortalized. But the surviving flag raisers had no interest in being held up as symbols and did not consider themselves heroes; they wanted only to stay on the front with their brothers in arms who were fighting and dying without fanfare or glory. Flags of Our Fathers is based on the bestselling book by James Bradley with Ron Powers, which chronicled the battle of Iwo Jima and the fates of the flag raisers and some of their brothers in Easy Company.
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Benjamin Hickey, John Slattery
Director: Clint Eastwood
W.E. / Wallis & Edward (2011)
Drama | History | Romance
Two love stories, one historic and one contemporary, are interwoven. The famous romance between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson is juxtaposed with the affair of a Russian security guard with a New York trophy wife Wally Winstrhop. Wally is obsessed with the story of Edward and the woman he loved, and embarks on her own research of their life together, even attending the Sotheby's auction of the Windsor Estate. She comes to see that their relationship, although glamorous, was not the perfect one that she had imagined it to be.
Starring: Abbie Cornish, Andrea Riseborough, James D'Arcy
Director: Madonna
Kingdom of War Part II / Naresuan Part II (2007)
Drama | History | War
An epic historical action film about King Naresuan the Great, who liberate the Siamese from the control of Burma, changing the destiny of a nation.
Starring: Sarunyu Wongkrachang, Sorapong Chatree
Director: Chatrichalerm Yukol
Kingdom of War Part I / Naresuan Part I (2007)
Drama | History | War
An epic historical action film about King Naresuan the Great, who liberate the Siamese from the control of Burma, changing the destiny of a nation.
Starring: Sarunyu Wongkrachang, Sorapong Chatree
Director: Chatrichalerm Yukol
Abba (2011)
Biography | History
"Abba" is a musical documentary about the life and legacy of Hong Yi-feng, one of the most iconic popular musicians in post-World War II Taiwan. The film, produced by Hong's three sons, offers great music, nostalgic discoveries, a glimpse into creative minds, a complex and tender family story and some food for thought on the possible healing power of religion.
Starring: Yi-feng Hong, Rong-hong Hong, Jing-yao Hong, Rong-liang Hong
Director: Rong-liang Hong
Pocahontas (1995)
Adventure | Animation | Drama | Family | History | Musical | Romance
Capt. John Smith leads a rag-tag band of English sailors & soldiers to the New World to plunder its riches for England (or, more precisely, for Governor Ratcliffe, who comes along for the ride). Meanwhile, in this "New World," Chief Powhatan has pledged his daughter, Pocahontas, to be married to the village's greatest warrior. Pocahontas, however, has other ideas. She has seen a vision of a spinning arrow, a vision she believes tells her change is coming. Her life does indeed change when the English ship lands near her village. Between Ratcliffe, who believes the "savages" are hiding the gold he expected to be plentiful, and Powhatan, who believes these pale newcomers will destroy their land, Smith and Pocahontas have a difficult time preventing all-out war, and saving their love for each other.
Starring: Mel Gibson, Linda Hunt, Christian Bale, Irene Bedard, David Ogden Stiers
Director: Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg
IMDb Info
Nova Zembla (2011)
Drama | History
The last journey of Willem Barentsz and Jacob van Heemskerk through 1596-1597 when they and their crew tried to discover the North East passage to the Indies. However due to the sea ice, they are stranded on the island of Nova Zembla and have to spend the winter there in Het Behouden Huys (The Safe Home). The story is told through the eyes of Gerrit de Veer, and is loosely based on the famous diary he published in 1598 after his safe return.
Starring: Robert de Hoog, Derek de Lint, Victor Reinier, Teun Kuilboer, Jan Decleir, Doutzen Kroes, Semmy Schilt
Director: Reinout Oerlemans
War Horse / Warhorse (2011)
Drama | History | War
The friendship between a boy and a horse who are separated but whose fates continue to be intertwined over the course of World War I.
Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston
Director: Steven Spielberg
The War Room (1993)
Documentary | History
The War Room takes us inside Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. Director D.A. Pennebaker provides an up-close view of the two principals: campaign managers James Carville and George Stephanopoulos as they try to stay on top of the exploding maelstrom of events–from scandalous, personal smear tactics to the rise of quixotic spoiler Ross Perot.
Starring: James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, Heather Beckel, Paul Begala, Bob Boorstin
Director: Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker
IMDb Info
Cloverfield (2008)
Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi
On the eve of his departure for Japan, Rob (Michael Stahl-David) sees his going-away party as an opportunity to confess unresolved feelings and tie up loose ends. His agenda takes an unexpected turn when a jolt shakes the revelers. The crowd quiets down to watch news reports of an earthquake, then rushes to the roof to assess the damage. A fireball explodes on the distant horizon. A power failure follows. Confusion gives way to panic as the partygoers stumble through the blackout and into the streets. Amid the human screams and one inhuman roar, Rob and his friends must traverse a landscape that has changed, overtaken by something otherworldly, terrifying, monstrous…
Starring: Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel
Director: Matt Reeves
