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Serious Moonlight
rating:3.1

Serious Moonlight

2009Runtime:0 minutes
When Louise (Meg Ryan) discovers that her husband, Ian (Timothy Hutton), is about to run off to Paris with a much younger woman, Sara (Kristen Bell), she does what any self-respecting wife would do: She duct-tapes him to the toilet, which is where he remains when their home is burglarized. The plot only gets thicker in this dark comedy helmed by first-time director Cheryl Hines and penned by Adrienne Shelly.

Directed by:

  • Cheryl Hines
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Obselidia
    rating:3.1

    Obselidia

    2010Runtime:0 minutes
    In this earnest indie romance, a librarian who believes that love is an obsolete concept meets a projectionist who believes just the opposite amid the vast and silent landscapes of Death Valley.

    Directed by:

  • Diane Bell
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Walking and Talking
    rating:3.1

    Walking and Talking

    1996Runtime:0 minutes
    Amelia (Catherine Keener) and Laura (Anne Heche) have been best friends since the sixth grade. For the first time, their lives are taking different paths: Laura is in love and planning her wedding, while Amelia begins to despair that she'll ever find the right man. But as they try to adjust their childhood friendship to the challenges of adulthood, these friends continue to laugh together at life and love.

    Directed by:

  • Nicole Holofcener
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Surveillance
    rating:3.1

    Surveillance

    2007Runtime:0 minutes
    Revealing the stunning truth behind a horrific string of homicides near Santa Fe, a young girl (Ryan Simpkins), a police officer (Kent Harper) and a drug addict (Pell James) spill their wildly different eyewitness accounts to FBI agents Elizabeth Anderson (Julia Ormond) and Sam Hallaway (Bill Pullman). Michael Ironside, Cheri Oteri and French Stewart co-star in this thriller from director Jennifer Chambers Lynch (Boxing Helena).

    Directed by:

  • Jennifer Chambers Lynch
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    The Unloved
    rating:3.1

    The Unloved

    2009Runtime:0 minutes
    Abused by her father, Lucy is removed by social services and placed in a group children's home. While intended to help Lucy, the move inflicts a new brand of torture on the young girl: bullies, capricious rules and loneliness.

    Directed by:

  • Samantha Morton
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    The Ballad of Jack and Rose
    rating:3.1

    The Ballad of Jack and Rose

    2005Runtime:0 minutes
    Writer-director Rebecca Miller elicits an astounding performance from husband Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays Jack, a father intent on raising his daughter (Camilla Belle) as an environmentally responsible adult. His complete devotion to the cause moves him to the remotest of islands, where he feels he'll be able to lead a more compassionate, "green" life. No matter how he tries, however, he can't seem to run from the demands of human interaction.

    Directed by:

  • Rebecca Miller
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Finding Bliss
    rating:3.1

    Finding Bliss

    2009Runtime:0 minutes
    Jody Balaban (Leelee Sobieski), a promising filmmaker, works at a porn studio while secretly creating her own "legit" movie when no one is looking. When she's busted, Jody is forced to work with porn director Jeff Drake (Matthew Davis) and a cast of adult film stars. What she doesn't expect is a real romance in this indie comedy from Julie Davis. Kristen Johnston, Denise Richards and Jamie Kennedy co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Julie Davis
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Somersault
    rating:3.1

    Somersault

    2004Runtime:0 minutes
    After trying to seduce her mother's live-in boyfriend, guilt-ridden teen Heidi (Abbie Cornish) runs away from home and heads for a small ski resort, where her sexual awakening and amorphous yearning for love collide. Rudderless and broke, Heidi exchanges her sexual favors for a place to sleep till she lands a job. But just as she starts to settle in, her irresponsible behavior jeopardizes her fragile equilibrium in this absorbing Aussie import.

    Directed by:

  • Cate Shortland
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Then She Found Me
    rating:3.1

    Then She Found Me

    2007Runtime:0 minutes
    Already reeling from the death of her adoptive mother and a messy divorce, a put-upon schoolteacher finds her life becoming even more tumultuous when she begins dating the father of one of her students and her gabby birth mother shows up.

    Directed by:

  • Helen Hunt
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Acts of Worship
    rating:3.1

    Acts of Worship

    2001Runtime:0 minutes
    Alix (Ana Reeder) is a druggie living on the streets of Manhattan. Digna (Michael Hyatt) is an acclaimed photographer in the same city. Their worlds intersect when Digna finds Alix passed out in a stairwell and decides to take her in and help her get back on her feet. At first, it seems the two women couldn't be more different, but as they get to know each other, they realize they're both driven by the same fear and soon form a strong bond.

    Directed by:

  • Rosemary Rodriguez
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Incendiary
    rating:3.1

    Incendiary

    2008Runtime:0 minutes
    Director Sharon Maguire's powerful drama stars Michelle Williams as an adulterous young housewife struggling to come to terms with the deaths of her husband and infant son after they're killed in a terrorist bombing at a London soccer game. Crippled by grief, the widow seeks comfort through affairs with two men (Ewan McGregor and Matthew Macfadyen), inadvertently putting herself in the midst of a dangerous love triangle.

    Directed by:

  • Sharon Maguire
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Down to the Bone
    rating:3.1

    Down to the Bone

    2004Runtime:0 minutes
    Irene (Vera Farmiga), a drug-addled, working-class mother of two, decides to check herself into a rehab center in upstate New York, where she meets and falls in love with a fellow addict (Hugh Dillon) who's working hard to mend his ways. But when one of them relapses into addiction, can their commitment to each other prevail over the lure of narcotics? Debra Granik won the Director's Award and Farmiga won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

    Directed by:

  • Debra Granik
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    The Simian Line
    rating:3.0

    The Simian Line

    2001Runtime:0 minutes
    In the 300-year-old town of Weehawken, N.J., four couples (including Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Redgrave, Cindy Crawford and Eric Stoltz) come together for an evening of mischief on Halloween night. But their intimate dinner party takes a disastrous turn when the fortuneteller (Tyne Daly) invited to entertain them announces that "one couple will be finished by the end of the year." Which one of them it will be is anyone's guess.

    Directed by:

  • Linda Yellen
  • rating:3.0 3.0 Average Rating

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    Open Window
    rating:3.0

    Open Window

    2006Runtime:0 minutes
    Engaged professionals Peter (Joel Edgerton) and Izzy (Robin Tunney) have always been there for each other. But when Izzy is brutally raped in the couple's home, she begins to fall apart emotionally, leaving a helpless Peter to watch her spin out of control. As time passes, Izzy struggles to piece her life back together with the help of her parents (Elliott Gould and Cybill Shepherd) and therapist (Shirley Knight).

    Directed by:

  • Mia Goldman
  • rating:3.0 3.0 Average Rating

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    Holy Smoke
    rating:3.0

    Holy Smoke

    2000Runtime:0 minutes
    Returning to Australia from India after living in a cult, Ruth is enraged to learn she was tricked into coming back by PJ Waters, a hotshot deprogramming guru. Waters believes he can return Ruth to normalcy, but Ruth quickly turns the tables on him.

    Directed by:

  • Jane Campion
  • rating:3.0 3.0 Average Rating

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    Head On
    rating:3.0

    Head On

    1999Runtime:0 minutes
    This edgy indie drama follows 19-year-old Ari (Alex Dimitriades), a gay Greek-Australian whose roiling ethnic- and sexual-identity struggles lead to a wild, 24-hour odyssey. When he's not dealing drugs or bedding nameless partners, Ari joins his younger sister (Andrea Mandalis) in a battle of wills against their reactionary parents. Though he ultimately runs afoul of the law, Ari remains impenitent about his self-destructive hedonism.

    Directed by:

  • Ana Kokkinos
  • rating:3.0 3.0 Average Rating

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    Now and Then
    rating:3.8

    Now and Then

    1995Runtime:0 minutes
    Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty in this tender coming-of-age tale, four childhood girlfriends -- Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta -- recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more. Lesli Linka Glatter directs; Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Cloris Leachman, Thora Birch and Christina Ricci co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Lesli Linka Glatter
  • rating:3.8 3.8 Average Rating

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    Now and Then (1995)
    A heartwarming movie about four childhood girlfriends who, in adulthood reunion, relive their experience of the life-changing summer of 1970, including a mystery death, divorce, standing up to the boys, first kiss, and the meaning of true friendship. Each explores her unique identity amidst family and friends. Beautifully directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.
    - Frances   
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    frances 'at' femaledirectors.com