Archive for the 'Drama' Category

Ken Park (2002)


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Ken Park focuses on several teenagers and their tormented home lives. Shawn seems to be the most conventional. Tate is brimming with psychotic rage; Claude is habitually harassed by his brutish father and coddled, rather uncomfortably, by his enormously pregnant mother. Peaches looks after her devoutly religious father, but yearns for freedom. They’re all rather tight, or so they claim. But they spend precious little time together and none of them seems to know much about one another’s family lives. This bizarre dichotomy underscores their alienation # the result of suburban ennui, a teenager’s inherent sense of melodrama, and the disturbing nature of their home environments.

Big Heart City (2008)


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A recidivist horse better in search of his missing girlfriend discovers that though circumstances seem to indicate that something horrible has occurred, something entirely beyond his control, the reasons for her puzzling disappearance could lie squarely with himself.

Chloe (2009)



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A doctor hires an escort to seduce her husband, whom she suspects of cheating, though unforeseen events put the family in danger.

Me and Orson Welles (2008)


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A teenager is cast in the Mercury Theatre production of “Julius Caesar” directed by a young Orson Welles in 1937.

Don McKay (2009)


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Don McKay, a high school janitor who leaves his hometown after a tragedy, returns 25 years later to rekindle a romance with his old flame, who is dying, but this homecoming brings McKay more than he bargained for.

Extraordinary Measures (2010)


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A drama centered on the efforts of John and Aileen Crowley to find a researcher who might have a cure for their two children’s rare genetic disorder.

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Amreeka (2009)


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Muna, a single mother in Ramallah, has applied for a visa to the US. When it comes, her son Fadi, an excellent student, convinces her they should go. After an incident at customs begins their exile badly, they join Muna’s sister and family in Illinois. Muna needs a job: although she has two degrees and 15 years’ experience in banking, she settles for work at White Castle, telling the family her job’s at a nearby bank. It’s spring, 2003, and the US invades Iraq. While friends come from unlikely places, Fadi meets prejudice at school. How he’ll respond to it and to American youth culture and how Muna will sort things out with her family are the rest of the story. Tragedy or hope?

The Messenger (2009)


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While on a recent deployment to Iraq, US Army Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery is injured when an improvised explosive device goes off within close proximity to him. He is back in the States recovering from the more serious of those injuries, including one to his eye and leg. He has resumed a sexual relationship with his long time girlfriend Kelly, despite the fact that she is now engaged to another man who Will knows. With the few months Will has left in his enlistment, the army assigns him to the Casualty Notification Team in his area. Not having a background in counseling, psychology or grief management, he is unsure if he is well suited to this job. He is partnered with a career soldier, Captain Tony Stone, who teaches Will the precise protocol involved in the job. Tony tells Will, who quickly learns by on the job experience, that this job has its own dangers. As Will learns to adapt to the range of emotions of the next of kin, he is unprepared for the reaction of Olivia Pitterson, whose husband was killed in Iraq. His initial encounter with Olivia leads to him wanting to get to know her better, which may not be in either her or his best interest. Despite being a recovering alcoholic, the more experienced Tony tries to guide Will as best he can under their collective circumstances.

My Name Is Khan (2010)


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Rizwan Khan, a Muslim from the Borivali section of Mumbai, suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism that complicates socialization. The adult Rizwan marries a Hindu single mother, Mandira, in San Francisco. After 9/11, Rizwan is detained by authorities at LAX who mistake his disability for suspicious behavior. Following his arrest, he meets Radha, a therapist who helps him deal with his situation and his affliction. Rizwan then begins a journey to meet US President Obama to clear his name.

Eugene (2009)


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Eugene is a dark portrait of a man so lonely and miserable that it’s almost hard to believe it’s as watchable as it is. Captivating in a way that reminds you of a natural disaster, Eugene is powered by morbid curiosity, just like its titular main character. Plagued by a sad life, Eugene tries to kill himself more than once in the movie, only to back out at the very last second. Why? He doesn’t have anything to live for—but he’s scared. He can’t rest with the idea of a terrible world that would keep going and not remember he was ever there, even if staying means more pain. Not too far removed from those of us who are too invested in Eugene’s story to turn away before a point of satisfaction