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The Secret Life of Words
rating:3.6

The Secret Life of Words

2005Runtime:0 minutes
After surviving the war in Yugoslavia, taciturn nurse Hanna heads to Ireland for some relaxation. But when she hears about an oil-rig accident off the coast, she agrees to tend to a heroic burn victim, who changes her life.

Directed by:

  • Isabel Coixet
  • rating:3.6 3.6 Average Rating

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    Moonlight and Mistletoe
    rating:3.5

    Moonlight and Mistletoe

    2008Runtime:0 minutes
    A fondness for the holidays led Nick Crosby (Tom Arnold) to create Santaville, but as mounting bills and a new minimall threaten his labor of love, he and his estranged daughter (Candace Cameron Bure) set out to keep his yuletide attraction alive. Though it will take a miracle to keep the doors open, diehard Christmas nut Nick knows all about making miracles happen. Christopher Wiehl and Barbara Niven also star in this merry made-for-TV tale.

    Directed by:

  • Karen Arthur
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    The Outsider
    rating:3.5

    The Outsider

    2002Runtime:0 minutes
    Devout young widow Rebecca Yoder (Naomi Watts) risks alienating her deeply religious, pacifist neighbors when she comes to the aid of Johnny Galt (Tim Daly), a ruthless, gun-toting stranger who was wounded in a fight. Soon, Rebecca finds herself torn between her growing feelings for Johnny and the approval of her community. Keith and David Carradine co-star in this frontier-era drama based on a novel by Penelope Williamson.

    Directed by:

  • Randa Haines
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    My Life Without Me
    rating:3.5

    My Life Without Me

    2003Runtime:0 minutes
    A mother of two stuck in a dead-end job, 23-year-old Anne (Sarah Polley) has received nothing but grief from her troubled parents and her slacker husband (Scott Speedman). But it takes an illness with a bleak prognosis to break open her longing for a better life. When she finds out she's dying, Anne makes a list of important things she wants to accomplish: get acrylic nails, sleep with another man and, most of all, realize her true potential.

    Directed by:

  • Isabel Coixet
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
    rating:3.5

    The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum

    1975Runtime:0 minutes
    A night spent with a suspected terrorist is the catalyst for a smear campaign against the otherwise unimportant Katharina Blum (Angelina Winkler). Katharina's life unravels as both the police and the news media strip her of all her dignity and sanity in this shocking attack on power abuse and yellow journalism. Directed by Volker Schlondorff and Margarethe von Trotta, this 1975 German film is based on an equally menacing novel by Heinrich Boll.

    Directed by:

  • Volker Schlondorff
  • Margarethe von Trotta
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    Six Degrees: Season 1
    rating:3.5

    Six Degrees: Season 1

    2006Runtime:0 minutes
    Based on the familiar premise that only six people separate any one of us, this drama focuses on six New Yorkers -- among them a grieving single mother (Hope Davis) and a successful publicist (Bridget Moynahan) -- whose lives intersect in mysterious ways. Other characters include a down-on-his-luck photographer (Campbell Scott), a public defender (Jay Hernandez), a limo driver (Dorian Missick) and a woman on the run (Erika Christensen).

    Directed by:

  • Jace Alexander
  • Wendey Stanzler
  • Juan Campanella
  • Mary Harron
  • David Semel
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    An American Rhapsody
    rating:3.5

    An American Rhapsody

    2001Runtime:0 minutes
    Margaret (Nastassja Kinski) and Peter (Tony Goldwyn) escape communist Hungary with their eldest child while their infant daughter Suzanne is left behind. Reunited with her family in America six years later, Suzanne grows into a rebellious teen (Scarlett Johansson). But when she revisits the Hungarian couple who raised her as a child, she begins to reexamine her identity in this loosely autobiographical drama by editor-turned-director Éva Gárdos.

    Directed by:

  • Eva Gardos
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    A Little Bit of Heaven
    rating:3.5

    A Little Bit of Heaven

    2011Runtime:0 minutes
    Marley Corbett (Kate Hudson) has always preferred to keep her romances relaxed and fun with no risk of commitment. After she discovers that she has terminal cancer, she thinks that she is done with love forever, but her wayward heart has other ideas. Dr. Julian Goldstein (Gael GarcĂ­a Bernal) keeps people at a distance to avoid emotional distress, but when the spirited Marley becomes his patient, he also discovers that love can change everything.

    Directed by:

  • Nicole Kassell
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    Normal
    rating:3.5

    Normal

    2003Runtime:0 minutes
    Rural Illinois resident Roy (Tom Wilkinson) declares after his 25th wedding anniversary that he has always believed he's a woman trapped inside a man's body. This shocks and angers some in his family and community, but some are unexpectedly supportive. It's up to Roy's shell-shocked wife, Irma (Jessica Lange), his kids and the entire community to come to terms with this stunning revelation. The film earned three Golden Globe nominations.

    Directed by:

  • Jane Anderson
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    American Splendor
    rating:3.5

    American Splendor

    2003Runtime:0 minutes
    Paul Giamatti stars as Harvey Pekar, a working-class stiff file clerk who found an outlet for his creativity by chronicling the minutia of his life in Cleveland, Ohio, in a comic-book series called &NFi;American Splendor&NFi_; for more than 20 years. Hope Davis co-stars as Pekar's wife, Joyce Brabner, in this revealing biopic, which tells Pekar's story through a blend of two-dimensional images, archival footage and more.

    Directed by:

  • Shari Springer Berman
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    Lords of Dogtown
    rating:3.5

    Lords of Dogtown

    2005Runtime:0 minutes
    A group of outcasts from California's Venice Beach change the face of skateboarding forever in this 1970s tale based on a true story, written by "Skateboard Godfather" Stacy Peralta, one of the competitive skaters portrayed in the film. Known as the Z-Boys, the radical riders invent a brazen style of skating and deal with heartache when the sport they live for turns into big business. Heath Ledger, Emile Hirsch and Rebecca De Mornay co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Catherine Hardwicke
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    Chaos
    rating:3.5

    Chaos

    2001Runtime:0 minutes
    In this French drama, a wealthy housewife, Helene (Catherine Frot), departs from her life of genteel comfort and luxury when she meets a prostitute, Noemie (Rachida Brakni). En route to a party with her businessman husband (Vincent Lindon), their car is stopped by Noemie, who begs to be let in but is attacked by a group of men. Wracked with guilt, Helene later finds Noemie and helps her escape her pursuers.

    Directed by:

  • Coline Serreau
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    Away from Her
    rating:3.5

    Away from Her

    2006Runtime:0 minutes
    Grant (Gordon Pinsent) plunges into an emotional abyss after moving his Alzheimer's-stricken wife (Julie Christie) to a nursing facility and keeping his distance for her benefit. When she turns her affections toward another man, waves of guilt for past behavior pass over Grant. Christie earned an Oscar nomination for portraying the fading yet graceful Fiona in this astute and solemn tale written and directed by Sarah Polley.

    Directed by:

  • Sarah Polley
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    Rails & Ties
    rating:3.5

    Rails & Ties

    2007Runtime:0 minutes
    When a mother commits suicide by parking her car on the train tracks, an unlikely bond forms between her son, Davey (Miles Heizer) -- who's wracked with guilt -- and the tormented engineer (Kevin Bacon) who was driving the train that fateful day. Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden co-stars as the engineer's wife in this poignant drama, which marks the directorial debut of Alison Eastwood (Clint's daughter).

    Directed by:

  • Alison Eastwood
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    Homeless
    rating:3.5

    Homeless

    1989Runtime:0 minutes
    After their apartment burns down, Mike and Zan Cooper (Jeff Daniels and Christine Lahti) move with their two children into the home of Mike's brother, but tension between the families forces them to move on again, and a downward spiral of bad luck soon finds them homeless. While Mike desperately seeks work as an electrician, Zan takes a low-paying job as a waitress, and their son's entanglement with a drug dealer adds to their heavy burdens.

    Directed by:

  • Lee Grant
  • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    Mukhsin
    rating:3.5

    Mukhsin

    2006Runtime:0 minutes
    When young Mukhsin (Mohd Syafie Naswip) arrives in a new town, 10-year-old tomboy Orked (Sharifah Aryana) adopts him as her new best friend, and the two develop a touching friendship that begins to spill over into the inklings of first love. And with turmoil at home, the sometimes-troubled Mukhsin discovers a deeper kind of love in the form of Orked's open and progressive Malay family. Yasmin Ahmad directs this charming drama.

    Directed by:

  • Yasmin Ahmad
  • rating:3.5 3.5 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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