Tag Archives: 1920s

Cinderella Man

IMDB Rating: 8.00
39030 votes

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Storyline
During the Great Depression, a common-man hero, James J. Braddock—a.k.a. the Cinderella Man—was to become one of the most surprising sports legends in history. By the early 1930s, the impoverished ex-prizefighter was seemingly as broken-down, beaten-up and out-of-luck as much of the rest of the American populace who had hit rock bottom. His career appeared to be finished, he was unable to pay the bills, the only thing that mattered to him—his family—was in danger, and he was even forced to go on Public Relief. But deep inside, Jim Braddock never relinquished his determination. Driven by love, honor and an incredible dose of grit, he willed an impossible dream to come true. In a last-chance bid to help his family, Braddock returned to the ring. No one thought he had a shot. However Braddock, fueled by something beyond mere competition, kept winning. Suddenly, the ordinary working man became the mythic athlete. Carrying the hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised on his shoulders, Braddock rocketed through the ranks, until this underdog chose to do the unthinkable: take on the heavyweight champ of the world, the unstoppable Max Baer, renowned for having killed two men in the ring.
Actors
Jim BraddockRussell Crowe
Mae BraddockRenée Zellweger
Joe GouldPaul Giamatti

Seabiscuit

IMDB Rating: 7.50
21002 votes

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Storyline
In an era when Americans were in great need of heroic figures to help them forget their troubles, SEABISCUIT comes to the rescue. The picture relates a moving story of friendship and devotion in rehabilitating the main characters'fractured lives, as it interweaves the interactions between horse, jockey, trainer and owner and their adoring fans. The film accurately portrays the real people and events of those troubled times and how Seabiscuit "fixed us, every one of us."
Actors
NarratorDavid McCullough
Charles HowardJeff Bridges
Bicycle SupervisorPaul Vincent O'Connor

The Godfather: Part II

IMDB Rating: 9.00
141221 votes

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Storyline
The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.
Actors
Don Michael CorleoneAl Pacino
Tom HagenRobert Duvall
Kay CorleoneDiane Keaton

Legionnaire

IMDB Rating: 4.50
3806 votes

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Storyline
At the height of its glory, the French Foreign Legion was made up of men widely regarded as the scum of the earth. It was a mercenary army posted to colonies in Northern Africa and Southern Asia...but its soldiers swore no allegiance to France, only to the legion and to each other. The legion asked no questions about a man's past...nor did it offer much hope for his future. It was a hard way to get a second chance in life...
Actors
LutherAdewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Sgt. SteinkampfSteven Berkoff
Alain LefevreJean-Claude Van Damme

The Painted Veil

IMDB Rating: 7.50
4185 votes

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Storyline
Kitty Fane (Watts) is a frivolous young English woman who longs for romance and excitement, trapped in a loveless marriage to a staid Shanghai researcher. When her husband (Norton) learns she has had an affair, he volunteers to fight a cholera epidemic in China's war-torn interior. Dr. Fane forces his wife to accompany him on the difficult and hazardous journey, endangering her life in the process.
Actors
Kitty FaneNaomi Watts
Walter FaneEdward Norton
Charlie TownsendLiev Schreiber

The Skeleton Key

IMDB Rating: 6.40
15242 votes

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Storyline
A young woman helping care for an invalid in New Orleans finds herself caught in the middle of morbid going-ons centered around a group of Hoodoo (Not Voodoo, it's different. Hoodoo is an old African American magic that only works if you believe in it.) practitioners.
Actors
Caroline EllisKate Hudson
Violet DevereauxGena Rowlands
Ben DevereauxJohn Hurt

Memoirs of a Geisha

IMDB Rating: 7.00
19841 votes

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Storyline
In 1929 an impoverished nine-year-old named Chiyo from a fishing village is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto's Gion district and subjected to cruel treatment from the owners and the head geisha Hatsumomo. Her stunning beauty attracts the vindictive jealousy of Hatsumomo, until she is rescued by and taken under the wing of Hatsumomo's bitter rival, Mameha. Under Mameha's mentorship, Chiyo becomes the geisha named Sayuri, trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a renowned geisha she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. As World War II looms Japan and the geisha's world are forever changed by the onslaught of history.
Actors
ChiyoSuzuka Ohgo
TanakaTogo Igawa
SakamotoMako

The Aviator

IMDB Rating: 7.60
41695 votes

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Storyline
The script begins as a young Hughes directs one of Scorsese's favorite films, Hell's Angels. Hughes was so obsessed with perfection in the aerial sequences that he waits forever for perfect conditions, right down to cloud formations. The Aviator ends in 1946, when Hughes was still a dashing young man and romancing actresses like Ava Gardner and Katharine Hepburn.
Actors
Howard HughesLeonardo DiCaprio
Katharine HepburnCate Blanchett
Ava GardnerKate Beckinsale

Pearl Harbor

IMDB Rating: 5.30
52048 votes

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Storyline
The above summaries do a great job of describing the dynamics of the love triangle that develops between the two pilots that fall in love with the same nurse. The movie also does a credible job of displaying the war from the American side with FDR and our side. It also shows the strategy of Japan as they plan for and execute all facets of the attack on Pearl Harbor. While all details may not be historically correct, I believe that they do the job well - all things considered. Historic events that were altered were probably done so in an attempt to also make this movie the entertaining epic that it is.
Actors
Capt. Rafe McCawleyBen Affleck
Capt. Danny WalkerJosh Hartnett
Nurse Lt. Evelyn JohnsonKate Beckinsale