Never Coming to a Theater Near You

A man celebrates his sixtieth birthday with friends, relatives, his wife and children. This is a film about love, hate, the icy charm of the bourgeoisie and the loving arms of the chambermaid.

Set in Hong Kong, 1962, Chow Mo-Wan is a newspaper editor who moves into a new building with his wife. At approximately the same time, Su Li-zhen, a beautiful secretary and her executive husband also move in to the crowded building. With their spouses often away, Chow and Li-zhen spend most of their time together as friends. They have everything in common from noodle shops to martial arts. Soon, they are shocked to discover that their spouses are having an affair. Hurt and angry, they find comfort in their growing friendship even as they resolve not to be like their unfaithful mates.

Valentine is a young model living in Geneva. Because of a dog she ran over, she meets a retired judge who spies his neighbours' phone calls, not for money but to feed his cynicism. The film is the story of relationships between some human beings, Valentine and the judge, but also other people who may not be aware of the relationship they have with Valentine or/and the old judge. Redemption, forgiveness and compassion...

Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov broke boundaries with his dreamlike vision of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russian Ark. It's the first feature-length narrative film shot in a single take (on digital video, using a specially designed disc instead of tape). Russian Ark is shot from the point-of-view of an unseen narrator, as he explores the museum and travels through Russian history. The audience sees through his eyes as he witnesses Peter the Great (Maksim Sergeyev) abusing one of his generals; Catherine the Great (Maria Kuznetsova) desperately searching for a bathroom; and, in the grand finale, the sumptuous Great Royal Ball of 1913. The narrator is eventually joined by a sarcastic and eccentric 19th century French Marquis (Sergey Dreiden), who travels with him throughout the huge grounds, encountering various historical figures and viewing the legendary artworks on display. While the narrator only interacts with the Marquis (he seems to be invisible to all the other inhabitants), the Marquis occasionally interacts with visitors and former residents of the museum. The film was obviously shot in one day, but the cast and crew rehearsed for months to time their movements precisely with the flow of the camera while capturing the complex narrative, with elaborate costumes from different periods, and several trips out to the exterior of the museum. Tilman Büttner, the director of photography, was responsible for capturing it all in one single Steadicam shot.

A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.

One of the greatest masterpieces of the 20th century, Sergei Parajanov's "The Color of Pomegranates," a biography of the Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova (King of Song) reveals the poet's life more through his poetry than a conventional narration of important events in Sayat Nova's life. We see the poet grow up, fall in love, enter a monastery and die, but these incidents are depicted in the context of what are images from Sergei Parajanov's imagination and Sayat Nova's poems, poems that are seen and rarely heard. Sofiko Chiaureli plays six roles, both male and female, and Sergei Parajanov writes, directs, edits, choreographs, works on costumes, design and decor and virtually every aspect of this revolutionary work void of any dialog or camera movement.

Set within a working class milieu, the paths of many Marseille locals converge on a journey through the lives and daily struggles of a group of its inhabitants. At the center is Michele, a hardworking fishmonger, who supports an entire family. After putting in backbreaking hours, she must return home to a sullen husband and a daughter fighting a debilitating drug abuse. Michele commits to raising her baby granddaughter while her daughter battles heroin addiction. Reduced to selling her own body to pay for her daughter1s fixes, Michele meets Paul, a lonely former dockworker who now drives a gypsy cab. The heroin is provided by Michele1s former boyfriend Gerard who runs a small bar but has a secret second life. We also meet Abderamane, a young North African, recently out of prison and now looking for a way to make his mark on the world. He begins an affair with his former music teacher, Viviane, who can no longer bear the hypocrisy of her womanizing, pseudo-liberal husband.

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?

William Shakespeare's classic play is brought into the present with the setting as Great Britian in the 1930s. Civil war has erupted with the House of Lancaster on one side, claiming the right to the British throne and hoping to bring freedom to the country. Opposing is the House of York, commanded by the infamous Richard who rules over a fascist government and hopes to install himself as a dictator monarch.

The touching and incredible true story of Jacqueline and Hilary du Pre, the gifted musical sisters who grew up in England in the 1950's. Written and produced as a tribute to Jackie, the story traces her rapid rise to international fame and the devastating consequences it had on her and those she loved. Jacqueline du Pre was arguably the greatest prodigy of the 20th Century. She dazzled audiences around the world with the unbridled passion and beauty of her music. While her sister Hilary married and began a family at home, Jackie and her husband, the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, traveled and performed around the world. Although the couple was treated as musical royalty, the constant touring became a tremendous strain on Jackie who longed for the simpler life that her sister built. Arriving at Hilary's home for an unannounced visit, Jackie, lonely and desperate, leaned on her sister expecting and demanding the unthinkable.

In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that begged the question: "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" Already well known in the New York art world, he had become a household name--American's first "Art Star"--and his bold and radical style of painting continued to change the course of modern art. But the torments that had plagued the artist all of his life--perhaps the ones that drove him to paint in the first place, or that helped script his fiercely original art--continued to haunt him. As he struggled with self-doubt, engaging in a lonely tug-of-war between needing to express himself and wanting to shut the world out, Pollock began a downward spiral that would threaten to destroy the foundations of his marriage, the promise of his career, and his life--all on one deceptively calm and balmy summer night in 1956.

Felice is living a dangerous life: in the middle of World War II in Berlin, she is a Jew and a lesbian, and works undercover at a Nazi newspaper from which she finds information to take to the Jewish underground. One day she meets her lover, Ilse's employer Lilly, and falls in love with this bourgeois, Nazi-supporting hausfrau. Their affair is as intense as it is dangerous, with Felice in constant danger of discovery. In their own ways, each woman challenges what is expected of her.

Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.

A sportswriter is thrilled to find his son is a chess prodigy. Taking his son into the amazing world of championship chess, he learns that loving his kid is the best way to mold ... Full Descriptiona champion in this intelligent and fascinating film. Academy Award Nominations: Best Cinematography.

Though he's only seven, Josh looks at a chessboard and anticipates moves that mature chess players don't even see. He's a malleable young boy with an incredible talent for the game of masterminds. When Josh begins honing his talent, playing a speedy version of the game called "blitz" with hustlers and hobos, his father decides to take him to world reknowned coach Bruce Pandolfini, who claims Josh may well be the second coming of chess legend Bobby Fischer. But family struggles ensue when the mother worries that in cultivating the genius, they may be hurting the child.

"Searching For Bobby Fischer" is a true story based on the book of the same title by Fred Waitzkin about his experiences with his chess-playing prodigy son Josh. This is screenwriter-director Steven Zaillian's directorial debut. Producer Scott Rudin can be credited as having first brought the book to Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Steven Zaillian's attention. Zaillian, nominated for his "Awakenings" script, has turned many stories about ordinary people into compassionate screenplays dramatizing life's mysteries. For the part of Josh, casting agent Avy Kaufman issued a national talent search, hoping to find a child actor capable of balancing the challenges that accompany playing a child prodigy: familiarity with chess, ability to memorize lines, and acting skill. Kaufman provided the same assistance for Jodie Foster's 1991 directorial debut, "Little Man Tate." According to the film's production notes, the real Bruce Pandolfini, responsible for discovering Josh's talent, was technical advisor on the film. To Pandolfini, verisimilitude was the goal. According to Paramount's press kit, he worked with the cast to coach them on chess techniques, perfect their chess style and help them memorize their moves. Rated BBFC PG by the British Board of Film Classification. "Innocent Moves" is the British title; "Searching for Bobby Fisher" is the U.S. title.

Peter Fonda received a richly deserved Oscar nomination for his superb performance as Ulysses "Ulee" Jackson, a Florida beekeeper forced to put his splintered family back together. Ulee is a Vietnam veteran whose wife died several years ago, a blow he's still learning to live with. His son Jimmy (Tom Wood) is in prison, and his daughter-in-law Helen (Christine Dunford) ran away, leaving Ulee to raise their two daughters by himself. Ulee is a quiet man who has a hard time displaying warmth and does not always deal well with the rebellious children put in his care. But he possesses an intense inner strength and a firm sense of loyalty and responsibility. One day Ulee gets a call from Jimmy; he's received word that Helen has fallen in with a pair of drug dealers and is in sad shape. While he doesn't much care for the idea, Ulee heads out to rescue her, only to discover the men who have her were Jimmy's partners in the robbery that put him behind bars; they threaten Ulee by saying if they're not given the $100,000 Jimmy has stashed away, they'll come after his daughters. Meanwhile, Ulee is forced to deal with Helen's painful withdrawal from drugs; he gets some help from Connie (Patricia Richardson), a divorced nurse who has recently moved into the neighborhood and seems to understand Ulee's lonely stoicism. Written and directed with subtle intelligence by Victor Nuñez, Ulee's Gold is a moving story about the trials and responsibilities of family ties, with Peter Fonda leading a fine cast that delivers uniformly impressive work.

The story of an American family living in Paris in the sixties and seventies. The father is a successful writer, a WWII veteran haunted by his experiences in the Pacific. His wife is an emotional, fun-loving woman. The film opens the day six-year old Benoit, a french orphan, is brought into the family for adoption.

Made in 1992, Un Coeur En Hiver was French writer/director Claude Sautet's first feature film in four years. In his own simple, unadorned fashion, Sautet weaves a compelling yarn about the tragic consequences of misguided love. Daniel Auteuil plays a lonely violin restorer Stephane who falls hard for gorgeous concert violinist Camille. Alas, she is the beloved of Stephane's married partner Maxime. In his efforts to win Camille away from his partner, Stephane stumbles down the road to disaster. Counterpointing the passions spent in Un Coeur En Hiver are the exquisite chamber compositions of Ravel.

Canada's Arctic North at the dawn of the first millenium. Evil in the form of an unknown shaman divides a small community of nomadic Inuit, upsetting it's balance and spirit.

Twenty years pass. Two brothers emerge to challenge the evil order: Amaqjuaq the Strong One and Atanarjuat The Fast Runner. Atanarjuat wins the hand of lovely Atuat away from the boastful son of the camp leader, Oki, who vows to take revenge...

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner is an Inuit masterpiece about communal discord, love, and the pursuit of justice.

An opportunistic Italian swindler heads to Albania and finds himself involved with the life of an impoverished local in this somber political drama. Gino (Enrico Lo Verso) and his partner in crime Fiore (Michele Placido) come to Albania with a money-making scheme designed to capitalize on the surrounding political chaos. For the con to work, however, they need an easily exploitable native Albanian, and they recruit Spiro (Carmelo Di Mazzarelli). Easily confused and utterly impoverished, this elderly former political prisoner seems the perfect choice, until he unexpectedly disappears. Gino is assigned to find him, setting out on a journey that leads him to discover Spiro's tragic personal history and become intimately acquainted with the full extent of Albanian poverty.

In this Russian condemnation of war, two Russian soldiers are held prisoner in a Caucasian village. They mange to become friends with each other and the townspeople, but eventually they escape, killing many people. When they are recaptured, one of them dies; the other suffers a more painful and ironic fate.

Bloody Sunday presents a documentary-like account of the cold-blooded murder by English soldiers of thirteen unarmed and peaceful demonstrators in a nonviolent march in Derry, Ireland, in 1972.

Igor and his father, Roger, are making a decent living renting apartments to illegal immigrants and sometimes working them illegally (among other scams). But when the building inspector pays a surprise visit and Amidou falls off a scaffold in his hurry to hide, things start to unravel, particularly when Igor makes a promise to the injured Amidou that ultimately exposes the different values of Igor and Roger, and of Amidou's wife, Assita.

Last Resort opens as Tanya (Dina Korzun), a young Russian traveling to England with her son Artiom (Artiom Strelnikov), is questioned at a British airport's passport control. Tanya tells the official she is visiting England on a vacation, but then switches her story and says that her English fiancé is meeting her, and finally, out of desperation, asks for political asylum. She and Artiom are duly packed off to an immigrants' center in a grim coastal town, where they are given a small apartment and informed that their application for asylum will take over a year to process. After Tanya's fiancé dumps her over the phone, she gradually befriends Alfie (Paddy Considine), who runs an arcade. Alfie wins the trust of Tanya and her street-smart son, and soon Tanya must decide how far she wants to carry her relationship with this new friend. Last Resort was screened at the 2000 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme met in school during the 1950s. Instant best friends, they proceeded to spend every minute possible together, often writing about a fantasy land of their own invention. More and more estranged from their respective families, the two girls realise that they are extremely different from most other people, and agree to take any steps necessary to ensure that they are not seperated. The two families are increasingly concerned about the girls' friendship in a strictly moralistic era.

JESUS' SON is the intense, edgy, often hilarious story of a young man's circuitous journey from drug dependency and petty crime to a life redeemed by this startling discovery of compassion. The story is set in the drug subculture of the 1970's, and it's protagonist -- a young man in his twenties -- careens through his days getting stoned, stealing, or scamming a quick buck. Through it all, he tries to make sense of the mutually destructive passion he shares with a beautiful woman named Michelle. He is also driven by an overwhelming desire to help those around him, so save them from their often-sorry fates, but he repeatedly fails. (He certainly fails with Michelle). Almost by a miracle, redemption does come to him. It sneaks up on him almost imperceptibly, through barely observed lessons learned from a colorful parade of characters who range from a crazed, pill-popping hospital orderly, who takes more drugs than he dispenses; a down-on-his-luck-divorce whose only revenge against misfortune is to destroy the snug suburban home he used to share with his wife; to a half-paralyzed woman he meets in rehab who teaches him about love (and who proves to be a surprisingly nimble dance partner). Whomever he meets and wherever he goes, his attempts to prove his worth are either oddly touching, farcically futile or often both simultaneously. Bit by bit, however, he stumbles towards sobriety and lands a job at an assisted living facility where he discovers the depths of his own compassion for others, and the grace that comes with it. He also begins to write the hospital newsletter, providing him a creative outlet for his earned observations about life, love and loss.

Johnny flees Manchester for London, to avoid a beating from the family of a girl he has raped. There he finds an old girlfriend, and spends some time homeless, spending much of his time ranting at strangers, and meeting characters in plights very much like his own.

Malli is a 19 year old girl, who joined a terrorist organization at a very young age after her brother was killed in the cause. Now in her young adulthood, she volunteers for a suicide assassination mission to kill a VIP in the service of her cause. With intricate preparations and seemingly firm resolve, she makes her way to the target area where the plot will be executed. However, events occur that make her question her determination to complete her mission and the very nature of the sacrifice that she is called upon to make.

Yi Yi (A One and a Two), a multigenerational drama set in contemporary Taipei, is filled with magical moments. Beginning with a marriage ceremony and ending with a funeral service, Yi Yi helps us see how love and work are the main bearers of meaning in our busy lives — to a far greater extent than we usually think.

The lush, super-chic ambience of Tran Anh Hung's third feature, The Vertical Ray of the Sun, presents a beckoning, irresistible vision of Vietnam. The film opens with a sexy brother and sister waking up to the sound of Lou Reed's laconic voice on the stereo. They stretch, practice tai chi, meander toward a late breakfast, and playfully flirt with each other. This morning ritual--slightly disturbing but mostly alluring--recurs as a quietly resistant motif to the disappointment that awaits each character introduced. Shot on location in an impossibly hued Hanoi (lime green and chartreuse abound), the film trails after three beautiful sisters during the month that separates the anniversaries of the deaths of their mother and father. Attempting to protect the ideal memory of their parents' recently assailed love, the sisters recount kindnesses and joke with each other just as the serene charm of the café they run is to be overturned by an unexpected pregnancy and marital infidelities. Tran's lustrous style of collage is unique, pulling the viewer's attention away from imminent conflict and revelation to completely tactile and isolated moments. As with the titular subject of Velvet Underground's "Pale Blue Eyes," the sensual tension lingers on.

Ten television drama films, each one based on one of the Ten Commandments.

Abandoned by their girlfriends for the summer, teenagers Tenoch and Julio meet the older Luisa at a wedding. Trying to be impressive, the friends tell Luisa they are headed on a road trip to a beautiful, secret beach called Boca del Cielo. Intrigued with their story and desperate to escape, Luisa asks if she can join them on their trip. Soon the three are headed out of Mexico City, making their way toward the fictional destination. Along the way, seduction, argument and the contrast of the trio against the harsh realities of the surrounding poverty ensue.

Pepe le Moko (Jean Gabin) is a well-known criminal mastermind who eludes the French police by hiding in the Casbah section of Algiers. He knows he is safe in this labyrinthine netherworld, where he is surrounded by his fellow thieves and cutthroats. Police inspector Slimane (Lucas Gridoux), who has developed a grudging respect for Pepe, bides his time, waiting for Pepe to try to leave the Casbah. When Gaby Gould (Mirielle Balin), a Parisian tourist, falls in love with Pepe, the inspector hopes to use this relationship to his advantage. He tells Gaby that Pepe has been killed, knowing that the heartbroken girl will return to Paris -- and that Pepe will risk everything to go after her. The French Pepe le Moko was remade in the US as Algiers, which followed the original so slavishly (except for changing its ending) that the American producers were able to utilize generous amounts of stock footage from the French film.

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

This is definitely not the Disney version. While it remains faithful to the plot of the classic fairy tale by Leprince de Beaumont, Jean Cocteau's 1946 French romantic fantasy is the product of a sophisticated, mature sensibility in its tones and textures and, above all, in its surprising emotional power. With sparkling black-and-white imagery that, for once, is actually dreamlike rather than cute or kitschy, and with a Beast (Jean Marais) who is almost as glamorous with his silky blonde facial hair as he is clean shaven, the movie casts a seductive spell. It might actually be a little too rich and unsettling for kids. Even the costumes and the draperies are entrancingly ornate. Viewers intoxicated by this enveloping vision should consider moving on to Cocteau's even more aggressively other-worldly 1949 masterpiece Orpheus, in which Marais plays the doomed poet of ancient Greek legend, updated to a Parisian "punk" milieu of motorcycles and black leather.

Issues of love, loyalty, and faith are set on a collision course in this award-winning drama. Rabbi Meltzer (Asi Dayan) is a respected Orthodox rabbi and leader of a yeshiva school in a remote section of the Judean hills. One of the Rabbi's favorite causes is returning Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock to the control of Israel -- a holy shrine in the ancient city that Moslems use as a mosque and Jews call Temple Mount. With this goal in mind, the Rabbi organizes a military unit comprised of his students, with military officer Menachem (Aki Avni) serving as an advisor. While Menachem agrees with Rabbi Meltzer in principle, especially since the Rabbi regards the group's activities as more symbolic than anything else, he and other military authorities are wary of his plan, believing the Rabbi's soldiers could easily turn into a fanatical terrorist group with the wrong twist of the political winds. One of the Rabbi's prize students is a frail young man named Pini (Edan Alterman), and Meltzer is fond enough of the lad that he's decided Pini should wed his daughter Michal (Tinkerbell). But while Michal respects her father, she has a mind of her own and no interest in marrying Pini. Instead, Michal has become infatuated with Menachem, but the officer refuses to go against the Rabbi's wishes; determined to follow her heart, Michal leaves home to strike out on her own. Pini is devastated by Michal's departure, and he becomes newly determined to make good within Rabbi Meltzer's military unit, while mapping out a secret plan with fellow student Itamar (Micha Selektar) in which they'll finally destroy the Dome of the Rock. Time of Favor won wide acclaim in Israel, earning six Israeli Academy awards, including Best Picture, and it was the nation's official entry for the 2000 American Academy Awards competition (though it failed to make it into the final field of nominees).

On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Liam has one thing in mind: to find release from prison next to John, his mother, selling and consuming drugs, a home worthy of the name where it will escape the disastrous influence of his friend Stan and his horrible father. He dreams of a real family life with his sister Chantelle, young single mother, his nephew Calum and Jean. Always flanked by his best friend Pinball, alone in life, he bought a mobile home on credit and pay for, abandon its unprofitable schemes and began seriously in the sale of drugs, despite the warnings of the affectionate Chantelle.

Paralyzed in a 1984 accident, writer/director Neal Jimenez (of River's Edge fame) channelled his own experiences and emotions into his 1991 film Waterdance. Eric Stoltz stars as a young writer left incapacitated by a hiking accident. He is placed in a paraplegic ward, peopled by patients of all races and emotional states. Together with his new-found friends, Stoltz rebels against the hospital system and his own debilitation. Helen Hunt and Wesley Snipes are among the costars in this effective update (though not a remake) of 1950's The Men. Waterdance was given a brief theatrical release in 1992 before being telecast on PBS' American Playhouse in early 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Single mother Samantha Prescott is already preoccupied with raising her son, who's become sullen -- and curious about his missing father -- when her wayward brother appears on the scene to borrow money ... and instantly bonds with the boy.

The deceased enter a school building where interviewers help them to choose one most important memory from their life to take with them into eternity. Twists include seeing what happens to people who are unable or unwilling to choose, such as the senile woman who is already in her last remaining memory of being a little girl. So, what memory would you choose?

This film documents the turbulent and often life-threatening years of China's Cultural Revolution through the eyes of one family, positing the necessity of perseverance in the face of intense adversity.

Isa travels through France picking up whatever job she can. When she loses her factory job, co-worker Marie lets her stay in her apartment which is actually owned by a hospitalized mother and daughter. While Isa dates some sleazy guys, Marie becomes fascinated with the girl in the hospital.

In a hospital waiting room a woman learns her daughter, Solmaz Gholami, has just given birth. The ultrasound test had prepared the family for a boy. The baby, it turns out, is a girl. The joy the mother anticipated turns to terror for she knows her son-in-law's family will abandon her daughter. The old woman flees as the in-laws arrive. On the crowded streets of Tehran - a place where women are not permitted to stay out on their own or smoke in public - two women are also on the run. Arezou and Nargess have just been granted temporary leave from prison but they have no plans to return. They manage to scrounge together enough money for the bus trip to Nargess' hometown, but she lacks proper identification, and the police are searching everyone at the station. Meanwhile, their friend Pari has just escaped from prison in order to have an abortion. Threatened with death by her brothers, she flees from her father's house and meets with a former inmate, Elham, who is now married to a doctor and works in a hospital. Despite her connections, Elham is unable to help Pari in her hour of need. Despondent, Pari wanders the streets and chances upon Nayereh, a woman about to abandon her young daughter. Pari tries to stop her, but it is too late. Soon after, Nayareh, falsely accused of prostitution, is taken into custody by the police. As Panahi's narrative shifts dynamically from woman to woman, their stories culminate with tremendous potency, transforming a shared sense of despair and injustice into one kinship, and even hope.

A father and daughter decide to attempt to lead a flock of orphaned Canada Geese south by air.

Young secretary Carla is a long-time employee of a property development company. Loyal and hardworking, first to arrive and last to leave, Carla is beginning to chafe at the limitations of her career and is looking to move up. But as a 35-five-year-old woman with a hearing deficiency, she is not sure how to climb out of her humdrum life, though she is confident in her own abilities. Into her life comes Paul Angeli, a new trainee she decides to hire. Paul is 25 years old and completely unskilled, but Carla covers for him when the need arises because of his other qualities - he's a thief, fresh out of jail and very good-looking. It's a case of good meeting bad.

Either loved or hated by the critics, this is the debut film by the 29-year-old writer/director, Nick Gomez. A three-day slice-of-life in Brooklyn done in the cinema verite style, this is a violent movie portraying two ruthless thieves and their friends involved in illegal activities--following them through the urban underbelly as they commit their crimes and are pursued by the police.

It is 1942 and the German submarine fleet is heavily engaged in the so called "Battle of the Atlantic" to harass and destroy English shipping. With better escorts of the Destroyer Class, however, German U-Boats have begun to take heavy losses. "Das Boot" is the story of one such U-Boat crew, with the film examining how these submariners maintained their professionalism as soldiers, attempted to accomplish impossible missions, while all the time attempting to understand and obey the ideology of the government under which they served.

Suffering from writer's block and eagerly awaiting his writing award, Harry Block remembers events from his past and scenes from his best-selling books as characters, real and fictional, come back to haunt him.

A lonely plumber poses as a director to meet women, and the writer whose script he's stolen builds on his ruse to get her movie made.

An aspiring director and the marginally-talented amateur cast of a hokey small-town Missouri musical production go overboard when they learn that someone from Broadway will be in attendance.

Italian for Beginners, a Danish romantic comedy directed by Lone Scherfig, provides a soul-satisfying anatomy of the different shades of loneliness and the universal yearning for love and connection.