Tag Archives: poignant

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

The Basketball Diaries

IMDB Rating: 6.90
12964 votes

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Storyline
Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. As a member of a seemingly unbeatable high school basketball squad, Jim's life centers around the basketball court and the court becomes a metaphor for the world in his mind. A best friend who is dying of leukemia, a coach ("Swifty") who takes unacceptable liberties with the boys on his team, teenage sexual angst, and an unhealthy appetite for heroin — all of these begin to encroach on young Jim's dream of becoming a basketball star. Soon, the dark streets of New York become a refuge from his mother's mounting concern for her son. He can't go home and his only escape from the reality of the streets is heroin for which he steals, robs and prostitutes himself. Only with the help of Reggie, an older neighborhood friend with whom Jim "picked up a game" now and then, is he able to begin the long journey back to sanity.
Actors
Jim CarrollLeonardo DiCaprio
Jim's MotherLorraine Bracco
Chanting WomanMarilyn Sokol

The Outsiders

IMDB Rating: 6.80
14198 votes

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Storyline
Based on the S.E. Hinton novel of the same name. The tension between two groups: The Greasers and The Socials "Socs" puts Ponyboy Curtis (Howell) and his best friend Johnny Cade (Macchio) in a bad spot. One night at the movies, Ponyboy and Johnny fall in love with Sherri "Cherry" Valance (Lane) and Marcia (Meyrink) once they get Dally Winston (Dillon), the toughest and meanest of the Greasers to stop attempting to "score" Cherry and Marcia. What Johnny and Ponyboy don't know is that Cherry and Marcia are girls for the snobbish, popular, and rich group, the Socs. Once Johnny kills Bob Sheldon (Garrett), the toughest and meanest member of the Socs, this begins as the Socs demand a rumble against the Greasers.
Actors
Dallas 'Dally' WinstonMatt Dillon
Johnny CadeRalph Macchio
Ponyboy CurtisC. Thomas Howell

Scrooge

IMDB Rating: 8.00
5553 votes

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Storyline
Stingy old Ebenezer Scrooge is known as the meanest man in London. He overworks and underpays his humble clerk, Bob Cratchit, whose little son, Tiny Tim, is crippled and may soon die. He also has nothing to do with his nephew, Fred, because his birth cost the life of his beloved sister. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge has a haunting nightmare. He is visited by three ghosts and is given one last chance to change his ways and save himself from the grim fate that befell his business partner, Jacob Marley.
Actors
Ebenezer ScroogeAlastair Sim
Mrs. DilberKathleen Harrison
Bob CratchitMervyn Johns

Amistad

IMDB Rating: 7.00
16375 votes

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Storyline
AMISTAD is about a 1839 mutiny onboard a slave ship that is traveling towards the Northeast Coast of America. Much of the story involves a court-room drama about the slave who led the revolt.
Actors
JoadsonMorgan Freeman
Martin Van BurenNigel Hawthorne
John Quincy AdamsAnthony Hopkins

Bobby

IMDB Rating: 7.10
6138 votes

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Storyline
The Ambassador Hotel, 1968: the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy will soon take place here but none of the hotel residents and employees knows about it yet. Everyone at the hotel is busy with his own affairs, and their paths never seem to cross, not even in this closed space. However, it only seems so and twenty two individuals who will become unwitting witnesses to the tragedy will make a lot of startling discoveries and have strange meetings.

Proof

IMDB Rating: 7.00
9210 votes

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Storyline
The daughter of a brilliant but mentally disturbed mathematician (recently deceased) tries to come to grips with her possible inheritance: his insanity. Complicating matters are one of her father's ex-students who wants to search through his papers and her estranged sister who shows up to help settle his affairs.
Actors
CatherineGwyneth Paltrow
RobertAnthony Hopkins
HalJake Gyllenhaal

The Human Stain

IMDB Rating: 6.30
7706 votes

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Storyline
The Human Stain is the story of Coleman Silk (Hopkins), a classics professor with a terrible secret that is about to shatter his life in a small New England town. When his affair with a young troubled janitor (Kidman) is uncovered, the secret Silk had harbored for over fifty years from his wife, his children and colleague, writer Nathan Zuckerman, fast explodes in a conflagration of devastating consequences. It is Zuckerman who stumbles upon Silk's secret and sets out to reconstruct the unknown biography of this eminent, upright man, esteemed as an educator for nearly all his life, and to understand how this ingeniously contrived life came unraveled.
Actors
Coleman SilkAnthony Hopkins
Faunia FarleyNicole Kidman
Lester FarleyEd Harris

Lost in Translation

IMDB Rating: 7.90
77219 votes

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Storyline
Bob Harris is an American film actor, far past his prime. He visits Tokyo to appear in commercials, and he meets Charlotte, the young wife of a visiting photographer. Bored and weary, Bob and Charlotte make ideal if improbable traveling companions. Charlotte is looking for "her place in life," and Bob is tolerating a mediocre stateside marriage. Both separately and together, they live the experience of the American in Tokyo. Bob and Charlotte suffer both confusion and hilarity due to the cultural and language differences between themselves and the Japanese. As the relationship between Bob and Charlotte deepens, they come to the realization that their visits to Japan, and one another, must soon end. Or must they?
Actors
CharlotteScarlett Johansson
Bob HarrisBill Murray
Ms. KawasakiAkiko Takeshita