Jamesy Boy 2014
1h 49min | Biography, Crime, Drama | 3 January 2014 (USA)
Storyline
The true story of James Burns who, as a teenager goes from the suburban street gangs of Denver to a maximum-security prison cell surrounded by hardened criminals. In this unlikely setting, will James emerge with hope and a brighter future?
Take Me to the River 2015
1h 24min | Drama | 26 January 2015 (USA)
Storyline
Ronnie Scheib of Variety says this is writer-director Matt Sobel’s, first full length film. ‘Take Me to the River’ unfolds in an atmosphere of mystery and dread that contrasts with its surroundings’ bucolic serenity. A gay Californian teenager’s visit to Nebraskan relatives turns more nightmarish than he anticipated, for reasons that he never could have imagined, as clouds of displaced sexuality hover over flowing rivers, fertile fields and little girls on big horses. Told uniquely through the kid’s (Ryder, played by Logan Miller) largely uncomprehending point of view, this Midwestern gothic tale maintains sufficient visual distance to suggest alternative narratives from other perspectives. This superlatively acted indie film promises more than it delivers, but chillingly evokes sufficient primal dread to intrigue all audiences. The film debuted at the Sundance festival on January 26, 2015.
Ratcatcher 1999
1h 34min | Drama | 12 November 1999 (UK)
Storyline
Glasgow, summer, 1973. Dustmen are striking; bags of garbage add to the blight of council flats and a fetid canal. Ryan, who’s about 12, drowns during a play fight with his neighbor, the jug-eared James. James runs home, a flat where he lives with his often-drunk da, his ma, and sisters, who live in hope of moving to newly-built council flats. The slice-of-life, coming-of-age story follows James as he tags along with the older lads; has a friendship with his quirky wee rodent-loving neighbor, Kenny; spends time with Margaret Anne, myopic, slightly older, the local sexual punching bag; and, has a moment or two of joy. The strike may end, but is there any way out for James?
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 2011
PG-13 | 1h 36min | Action, Fantasy, Thriller | 11 December 2011 (USA)
Storyline
Johnny Blaze, a man who made a deal with the Devil who called himself Mephistopheles at the time (now Roarke), is on the run trying to make sure no-one is harmed by his alter ego, The Ghost Rider. He is approached by a Monk named Moreau who tells him that he can help be him free of the Rider, but first, he needs Johnny’s help to protect a boy, whom Roarke has plans for, to help him take human form.
Neverland 2011
Neverland 2011
3h | Adventure, Fantasy | TV Mini-Series (2011– )
Storyline
Raised on the streets of turn-of-the century London, orphaned Peter and his pals survive by their fearless wits as cunning young pickpockets. Now, they’ve been rounded up by their mentor Jimmy Hook to snatch a priceless, some believe, magical treasure which transports them to another world. Neverland is a realm of white jungles and legendary mysteries of eternal youth, where unknown friends and enemies snatched from time welcome the new travelers with both excitement and trepidation. These groups include a band of 18th century pirates led by the power-mad Elizabeth Bonny, and the Native American Kaw tribe led by a Holy Man, which has protected the secret of the tree spirits from Bonny and her gang for ages, and that has meant war. But as the fight to save this strange and beautiful world becomes vital, Hook, Peter, and the ragamuffin lost boys consider that growing old somewhere in time could be less important than growing up, right here in their new home called Neverland.
Boy 2010
1h 27min | Comedy, Drama | 25 March 2010 (New Zealand)
Storyline:
It’s 1984, and Michael Jackson is king-even in Waihau Bay, New Zealand. Here we meet Boy, an 11-year-old who lives on a farm with his gran, a goat, and his younger brother, Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers). Shortly after Gran leaves for a week, Boy’s father, Alamein, appears out of the blue. Having imagined a heroic version of his father during his absence, Boy comes face to face with the real version-an incompetent hoodlum who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years before. This is where the goat enters.
Gummo 1997
Gummo 1997
R | 1h 29min | Comedy, Drama | 29 August 1997 (USA)
Storyline:
Constructing this film through random scenes, director Harmony Korine abruptly jettisoned any sort of narrative plot, so here we go: Solomon and Tummler are two bored teenage boys who live in Xenia, Ohio. A few years ago, a tornado swept through it, destroying more than half the town and killing the same amount, including Solomon’s father. The film, from there, chronicles the anti-social adventures these two boys have. These include sniffing glue, killing cats, having sex, riding dirtbikes, listening to black metal, and meeting a cavalcade of quirky, bizarre, and scary people. These include a man who pimps his mentally ill wife to our anti-heroes, three sisters who play with their cat and practice becoming strippers, a black midget fending off the sexual advances of a troubled man (played by the director Harmony Korine), a 12-year-old gay transvestite who is also a cat killer, Solomon’s mother who seems to be the only glimpse of sanity, two foul-mouthed six-year olds, and most importantly, a nymphlike skateboarder who walks around town wearing pink rabbit ears.
Steel 2015
1h 48min | Drama, Romance | 17 November 2015 (USA)
Storyline
DANIEL (30), a successful TV journalist living life in the fast lane, has fallen into a deep depression. His seemingly perfect life suddenly collapses under him when panic attacks force him to deal with himself and his past. Fear, paranoia and desperation appear to get the better of him, people around him are helpless. Daniel, however, won’t give up: he tries to recapture what was once his by creating a second identity for himself, young ALEXANDER (19), with whom he embarks on an extraordinary journey into a painful past.
