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Across The Universe
A romantic
musical told mainly through numerous
Beatles songs performed by the
characters. A young man from
Liverpool comes to America during
the Vietnam War to find his father.
He winds up in Greenwich Village,
where he falls in love with an
American girl who has grown up
sheltered in the suburbs. Together
they experience the sweeping changes
of America in the late 60's.
Released
February 5, 2008 |
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Akeelah and the Bee
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A
precocious eleven-year-old
girl, Akeelah Anderson, from
south Los Angeles, is
discovered to have a talent
for words. In spite of the
objections of her mother
Wanda, Akeelah enters a
spelling contest. Her gift
takes her to compete in the
National Spelling Bee, the
most famous competition of
its kind in the world. On
the way, she is helped by a
forthright, mysterious
teacher, Dr. Larabee, and
other members of her
community.
Released August 29, 2006 |
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American Dreamz
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On the morning of
his re-election, the President
decides to read the newspaper for
the first time in four years. This
starts him down a slippery slope. He
begins reading obsessively,
reexamining his black and white view
of the world, holing up in his
bedroom in his pajamas. Frightened
by the President's apparent nervous
breakdown, his Chief of Staff pushes
him back into the spotlight, booking
him as a guest judge on the
television ratings juggernaut (and
the President's personal fave), the
weekly talent show American Dreamz.
America can't seem to get enough of
American Dreamz, hosted by
self-aggrandizing, self-loathing
Martin Tweed, ever on the lookout
for the next insta-celebrity. His
latest crop of hopefuls includes
Sally, a conniving steel magnolia
with a devoted, dopey veteran
boyfriend, and Omer, a recent
Southern Californian immigrant (who
just happens to be a bumbling, show
tune singing, would-be terrorist
awaiting activation). When both
Sally and Omer make it to the final
round of Dreamz -- where the
President will be judging along with
Tweed -- the stage is set for a show
the nation will never forget.
Released October 17,
2006 |
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American Gangster
Based on the life
of drug-kingpin-turned-informant,
Frank Lucas, who grew up in
segregated North Carolina where he
watched as his cousin was shot by
the Klan for looking at a white
girl. He eventually made his way to
Harlem where he became a heroin
kingpin by traveling to Asia's
Golden Triangle to make connections,
shipping heroin back to the US in
the coffins of soldiers killed in
Vietnam. He soon made upwards of one
million dollars a day in drug sales.
Lucas was shadowed by lawman, Richie
Roberts, who finally helped bring
the kingpin to justice. The two then
worked together to expose the
crooked cops and foreign nationals
who made importing heroin so easy.
Released
February 19, 2008 |
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American Pie: Beta
House
ANIMAL HOUSE
meets AMERICAN PIE in this hilarious
continuation of the hit series.
Known as one of the most notorious
fraternities on campus, the Beta
House is opening its doors to a
whole new crop of pledges that
includes Dwight Stifler (of the
famed Stifler clan), and his cousin
Erik. Full of insane parties and
even wilder girls, the two freshman
get in all sorts of trouble in this
raunchy comedy that includes the
great Eugene Levy, reprising his
role as Jim's dad.
Released December 23,
2007 |
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Astronaut Farmer, The
From the time he
was a child, Charles Farmer had only
one goal: to be an astronaut.
Earning his degree in aerospace
engineering and joining the Air
Force as a pilot, Farmer was a
natural for NASA's astronaut
training program and was well on his
way when a family situation forced
him to drop out. But Farmer was not
a man to let anything stand in the
way of a dream. He spent the next
decade and every cent he had
building his own rocket in a barn on
his ranch in Story, Texas, working
toward the day when he could
triumphantly launch it into space.
By himself. Sharing his vision are
his wife Audie and their
children--daughters Sunshine and
Stanley, and 15-year-old Shepard,
already a budding engineer and eager
to serve as "mission control" on the
big day. Even Audie's father Hal, on
hand to lend moral support, can see
how his son-in-law's unwavering
commitment has inspired the family
with a common dream. On the eve of
the long-anticipated launch, an
unexpected problem arises. Farmer's
efforts to secure 10,000 pounds of
high-grade fuel catches the
attention of the FBI--and
subsequently the media, who encamp
in droves outside his gate. Farmer
finds himself depicted on TV screens
worldwide as a renegade hero,
inspiring an outpouring of popular
support, while simultaneously
drawing heavy fire from the FBI,
CIA, FAA, NASA and the U.S.
Military, all of whom see him as a
threat and will do anything they can
think of to shut him down. But
Farmer knows this is his only
chance--not only to reach his goal
of breaking through the Earth's
atmosphere but to instill in his
children the courage to pursue their
own ideals and never give up, no
matter the odds. He will not let
himself be grounded again.
Released July 10,
2007 |
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Atonement
In 1935,
13-year-old fledgling writer Briony
Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) and her
family live a life of wealth and
privilege in their enormous mansion.
On the warmest day of the year, the
country estate takes on an
unsettling hothouse atmosphere,
stoking Briony's vivid imagination.
Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), the
educated son of the family's
housekeeper, carries a torch for
Briony's headstrong older sister
Cecilia (Kiera Knightley). Cecilia,
he hopes, has comparable feelings;
all it will take is one spark for
this relationship to combust. When
it does, Briony - who has a crush on
Robbie - is compelled to interfere,
going so far as accusing Robbie of a
crime he did not commit. Cecilia and
Robbie declare their love for each
other, but he is arrested - and with
Briony bearing false witness, the
course of three lives is changed
forever. Briony continues to seek
forgiveness for her childhood
misdeed. Through a terrible and
courageous act of imagination, she
finds the path to her uncertain
atonement, and to an understanding
of the power of enduring love.
Released
March 18, 2008 |
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August Rush
Twelve years ago,
on a moonlit rooftop above
Washington Square, Lyla Novacek, a
sheltered young cellist, and Louis
Connelly, a charismatic Irish
singer-songwriter, were drawn
together by a street musician's
rendition of "Moondance" and fell in
love. After the most romantic night
of her life, Lyla promised to meet
Louis again but, despite her
protests, her father rushed her to
her next concert--leaving Louis to
believe that she didn't care.
Disheartened, he found it impossible
to continue playing and eventually
abandoned his music while Lyla, her
own hopes for love lost, was led to
believe months later that she had
also lost their unborn child in a
car accident. Years passed with
neither of them knowing the truth.
Now, the infant secretly given away
by Lyla's father has grown into an
unusually gifted child who hears
music all around him and can turn
the rustling of wind through a wheat
field into a beautiful symphony with
himself at its center, the composer
and conductor. He holds an
unwavering belief that his parents
are alive and want him as much as he
wants them. Determined to search for
them, he makes his way to New York
City. There, lost and alone, he is
beckoned by the guitar music of a
street kid playing for change and
follows him back to a makeshift
shelter in the abandoned Fillmore
East Theater, where dozens of
children like him live under the
protection of the enigmatic Wizard.
He picks up a guitar for the first
time and unleashes an impromptu
performance in his own unique style.
Wizard names him August Rush,
introduces him to the soul-stirring
power of music and begins to draw
out his extraordinary talent. Wizard
has big plans for the young prodigy
but, for August, his music has a
more important purpose. He believes
that if his parents can hear his
music, they will find him.
Unbeknownst to August, they have
already begun that journey.
Released
March 11, 2008 |
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Awake
During surgery,
more than 60,000 people domestically
each year experience "anesthetical
awareness," a condition when
anesthesia fails during surgery,
leaving one completely conscious and
feeling every incision, but
paralyzed and incapable of doing
anything about it. This is what
happens to Clay.
Released
March 4, 2008 |
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Away From Her
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Grant and Fiona
have been married for decades. They
have been through rough patches, but
their lives are inextricably
connected and their relationship
seems idyllic: they share a private
language and obvious affection for
one another. Now retired, they live
comfortably in a house in the
country, but their contentment is
permanently disrupted when Fiona's
memory starts to deteriorate.
Determined not to saddle Grant with
her declining health, she insists
upon going to a rest home which only
tears Grant apart. He feels guilty
about decades-old behavior, and his
state is worsened by the rules of
Fiona's new residence, which demand
that he not communicate or visit
with her for a lengthy period of
time.
Released September
11,
2007 |
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