Posts Tagged ‘based-on-book’

The Sound of Music (1965)

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Sound of Music, The
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Julie Andrews | Christopher Plummer | Richard Haydn | Peggy Wood | Anna Lee | Portia Nelson | Ben Wright | Daniel Truhitte | Norma Varden | Marni Nixon | Gilchrist Stuart | Evadne Baker | Doris Lloyd | Charmian Carr | Nicholas Hammond
Directors: Robert Wise
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Captain Baron von Trapp is a widowed ex-naval officer with seven children who serve only to remind him of his deceased wife. The Von Trapp home is thus turned into a gloomy place of order and discipline, until the arrival of a new governess: Frauline Marie who is from a nearby Salzburg abbey. Marie shows the Von Trapp children the miracle of the Sound of Music, and teaches them how to sing. Captain von Trapp’s heart opens up to feelings he had forgotten and he and Marie fall in love. Marie and Georg von Trapp are married, only to have their world brought down around them by the 1938 Anschluss of Austria, where Nazi Germany takes control of the country and demands that Captain von Trapp assume a position in the German Navy.

The General’s Daughter (1999)

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
General’s Daughter, The
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: John Travolta | Madeleine Stowe | James Cromwell | Timothy Hutton | Leslie Stefanson | Daniel von Bargen | Clarence Williams III | James Woods | Peter Weireter | Mark Boone Junior | John Beasley | Boyd Kestner | Brad Beyer | John Benjamin Hickey | Rick Dial
Directors: Simon West
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Military police detectives Paul Brenner and Sarah Sunhill investigate a horrifically bizarre rape and murder of a respected female Pysch-Ops officer who is also the daughter of a renowned retiring general. Yet the case becomes more complicated when the autopsy showed no evidence of sexual assault. Furthermore, that is but the beginning of the twists when they discover the victim’s secret life, her past and a disturbing determination by senior staff to keep this investigation short and quiet.

Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors:
Directors:
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Set in the Nazi-controlled, northern Italian state of Salo in 1944, four dignitaries round up sixteen perfect specimens of youth and take them together with guards, servants and studs to a palace near Marzabotto. In addition, there are four middle-aged women: three of whom recount arousing stories whilst the fourth accompanies on the piano. The story is largely taken up with their recounting the stories of Dante and De Sade: the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Shit and the Circle of Blood. Following this, the youths are executed whilst each libertine takes his turn as voyeur.

Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975)

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors:
Directors:
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Set in the Nazi-controlled, northern Italian state of Salo in 1944, four dignitaries round up sixteen perfect specimens of youth and take them together with guards, servants and studs to a palace near Marzabotto. In addition, there are four middle-aged women: three of whom recount arousing stories whilst the fourth accompanies on the piano. The story is largely taken up with their recounting the stories of Dante and De Sade: the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Shit and the Circle of Blood. Following this, the youths are executed whilst each libertine takes his turn as voyeur.

Investigating Sex (2001)

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Investigating Sex
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Dermot Mulroney | Julie Delpy | Robin Tunney | Neve Campbell | Jeremy Davies | Alan Cumming | Til Schweiger | John Light | Nick Nolte | Terrence Howard | Tuesday Weld | Emily Bruni | Jacqueline Anderson | Marc Hosemann | Joseph May
Directors: Alan Rudolph
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A group of men and two female stenographers scientifically study sex.

Private Parts (1997)

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Private Parts
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Howard Stern | Robin Quivers | Mary McCormack | Fred Norris | Paul Giamatti | Gary Dell'Abate | Jackie Martling | Carol Alt | Richard Portnow | Kelly Bishop | Henry Goodman | Jonathan Hadary | Paul Hecht | Allison Janney | Michael Murphy
Directors: Betty Thomas
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Having always wanted to be a disc-jockey, Howard Stern works his way painfully from radio at his 1970’s college to a Detroit station. It is with a move to Washington that he hits on an outrageous off-the-wall style that catches audience attention. Despite his on-air blue talk, at home he is a loving husband. He needs all the support he can get when he joins NBC in New York and comes up against a very different vision of radio.

Matilda (1996)

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Matilda
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Mara Wilson | Danny DeVito | Rhea Perlman | Embeth Davidtz | Pam Ferris | Paul Reubens | Tracey Walter | Brian Levinson | Jean Speegle Howard | Sara Magdalin | R.D. Robb | Gregory R. Goliath | Fred Parnes | Kiami Davael | Leor Livneh Hackel
Directors:
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A grouchy couple give birth to a very sweet girl they name Matilda. Unlike her bratty brother & mean parents, Matilda becomes a very sweet & extremely intelligent girl who is very anxious to go to school & read books. After a while, her parents send her to a school with the worst principal in the world, a very sweet teacher, & good friends. While trying to put up with her parent’s & principal’s cruelty, she starts to unwittingly unleash telekinetic powers that destroy a television & make a reptile fly on her teacher. With enough practice, Matilda starts to learn to control her telekinetic powers & soon using them on her principal so she can drive her away from the school.

Gotti (1996)

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Gotti
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Armand Assante | William Forsythe | Richard C. Sarafian | Frank Vincent | Anthony Quinn | Dominic Chianese | Robert Miranda | Scott Cohen | Raymond Serra | Vincent Pastore | Marc Lawrence | Tony Sirico | Alberta Watson | Al Waxman | Yank Azman
Directors: Robert Harmon
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John Gotti, the head of a small New York mafia crew breaks a few of the old family rules. He rises to become the head of the Gambino family and the most well-known mafia boss in America. He is known as the Dapper Don for his expensive taste in suits, and the Teflon Don because none of the FBI charges against him will stick. Life is good, but suspicion creeps in, and greed, rule-breaking and his high public profile all threaten to topple him.

The Princess Bride (1987)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Princess Bride, The
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Cary Elwes | Mandy Patinkin | Chris Sarandon | Christopher Guest | Wallace Shawn | André the Giant | Fred Savage | Robin Wright Penn | Peter Falk | Peter Cook | Mel Smith | Carol Kane | Billy Crystal | Anne Dyson | Margery Mason
Directors: Rob Reiner
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When a young boy falls ill, his grandfather pops round to visit him. To cheer his grandson up, Grandpa has brought a storybook; The Princess Bride, a tale of the love between the beautiful Buttercup and the besotted Westley, a love cruelly interrupted by Westley’s tragic apparent death at sea when seeking his fortune. Heartbroken, Buttercup has sworn never to love again, but accepts the marriage proposal of the rich and handsome Prince Humperdinck, heir to the throne of Florin; but death is no barrier to true love, and in a story filled with exotically-accented swordsmen, big-hearted giants, genius kidnappers, sadistic torturers, vile swamps, Rodents of Unusual Size, the Dread Pirate Roberts and a somewhat embittered miracle worker, the love between Westley and Buttercup twists and turns on a path filled with adventure. Will the True Love of Westley and Buttercup win the day? Will Inigo Montaya find the six-fingered man who murdered his father? Will Humperdinck’s evil plans come to fruition? And, more importantly, will Grandpa be able to tell the story without any of the yucky kissing?

Out of Africa (1985)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Out of Africa
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Meryl Streep | Robert Redford | Klaus Maria Brandauer | Michael Kitchen | Malick Bowens | Joseph Thiaka | Stephen Kinyanjui | Michael Gough | Suzanna Hamilton | Rachel Kempson | Graham Crowden | Leslie Phillips | Mike Bugara | Shane Rimmer | Job Seda
Directors: Sydney Pollack
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Follows the life of Karen Blixen, who establishes a plantation in Africa. Her life is Complicated by a husband of convenience (Bror Blixen), a true love (Denys), troubles on the plantation, schooling of the natives, war, and catching VD from her husband.

JFK (1991)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
JFK
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Kevin Costner | Tommy Lee Jones | Gary Taggart | Kevin Bacon | Anthony Ramirez | Ray LePere | Laurie Metcalf | Gary Oldman | Michael Rooker | Jay O. Sanders | Sissy Spacek | Jack Lemmon | Joe Pesci | Sally Kirkland | E.J. Morris
Directors: Oliver Stone
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Part fact and part opinion, mainly of Jim Garrison and director Oliver Stone, as to the events surrounding the proposed conspiracy of the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison began a probe into the actions of the F.B.I. and other officials of whom he suspected where covering up information that could lead to evidence of multiple shooters. The motive is believed to be to escalate the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. President Kennedy was attempting to prevent any further involvement in this situation, but which Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson supposedly promised the United States government that he would “give them the war”. Thus, the motive for eliminating President Kennedy. The movie also details the events of many people involved in the assassination, from Lee Harvey Oswald to Clay Shaw, a prominent figure in New Orleans.

Civil Action, A (1998)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Civil Action, A
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: John Travolta | Robert Duvall | Tony Shalhoub | William H. Macy | Zeljko Ivanek | Bruce Norris | John Lithgow | Kathleen Quinlan | Peter Jacobson | Mary Mara | James Gandolfini | Stephen Fry | Dan Hedaya | David Thornton | Sydney Pollack
Directors: Steven Zaillian
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Jan Schlichtmann is a successful lawyer whose practically his own entrepreneur. He’s a humble bachelor with a nice car, a nice house, and a career that has amassed huge rewards. Not to mention being the founder and practice of the lucrative law firm he runs with his Boston partners, all in a case’s settlement. However, when the families of deceased children sue a giant food conglomerate, with the accusation of their companies are responsible for poisoning their children and afflicting them fatally with cancer. Jan cames to the rescue, thinking it’s one more case he can easily knock out of the park and make a fortune, as well as a name for he and his firm. With a class action lawsuit to file, Jan willingly puts himself and his firm as representatives of those families. However, it’s one case that could ruin Jan: his pride, his ambition, and ultimately, his career. As the pressures of the case begin to take their turn on both the prosecution, the defense, as well as the families, Jan is about to realize that he has taken on the biggest case of his life, and there is a price to pay.

Capote (2005)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Capote
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman | Catherine Keener | Clifton Collins Jr. | Chris Cooper | Bruce Greenwood | Bob Balaban | Amy Ryan | Mark Pellegrino | Allie Mickelson | Marshall Bell | Araby Lockhart | Robert Huculak | R.D. Reid | Rob McLaughlin | Harry Nelken
Directors: Bennett Miller
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In 1959, Truman Capote, a popular writer for The New Yorker, learns about the horrific and senseless murder of a family of four in Halcomb, Kansas. Inspired by the story material, Capote and his partner, Harper Lee, travel to the town to research for an article. However, as Capote digs deeper into the story, he is inspired to expand the project into what would be his greatest work, In Cold Blood. To that end, he arranges extensive interviews with the prisoners, especially with Perry Smith, a quiet and articulate man with a troubled history. As he works on his book, Capote feels some compassion for Perry which in part prompts him to help the prisoners to some degree. However, that feeling deeply conflicts with his need for closure for his book which only an execution can provide. That conflict and the mixed motives for both interviewer and subject make for a troubling experience that would produce an literary account that would redefine modern non-fiction.

Needful Things (1993)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Needful Things
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Max von Sydow | Ed Harris | Bonnie Bedelia | Amanda Plummer | J.T. Walsh | Ray McKinnon | Duncan Fraser | Valri Bromfield | Shane Meier | William Morgan Sheppard | Don S. Davis | Campbell Lane | Eric Schneider | Frank C. Turner | Gillian Barber
Directors: Fraser Clarke Heston
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Leland Gaunt comes to Sheriff Alan Pangborn’s pleasant little New England town, and opens a store. What this kindly Satan sells is whatever you need, from a surcease from pain to an object which you have always coveted. The Faustian price is, of course, corruption, and soon the poor sheriff’s town is wracked by jealousy, spite, and violence.

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Life and Death of Peter Sellers, The
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Geoffrey Rush | Charlize Theron | Emily Watson | John Lithgow | Miriam Margolyes | Peter Vaughan | Sonia Aquino | Stanley Tucci | Stephen Fry | Henry Goodman | Alison Steadman | Peter Gevisser | David Robb | Richard Ayoade | Edward Tudor-Pole
Directors: Stephen Hopkins
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Based on the biography of the same name. The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is the story of the comic actor, who would later immortalize bumbling Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther series. From his beginnings in show business as a variety performer to his ultimate success as a movie star, Peter Sellers was a man of many faces. But it was also that moniker that caught up with his personal life, when Sellers was a man without an identity and only a library of oddball characters to make up for his personality. Focusing on his rising success and his family life, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is the story of a man whose personal life clashed with stardom, while he was an individual completely immersed in the characters he portrayed.

Kingdom Hospital (2004)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Kingdom Hospital
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Andrew McCarthy | Bruce Davison | Diane Ladd | Brandon Bauer | Jack Coleman | Jennifer Cunningham | Meagen Fay | Lena Georgas | Jamie Harrold | Allison Hossack | Suki Kaiser | Sherry Miller | Del Pentecost | Julian Richings | Kett Turton
Directors: Craig R. Baxley
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Shocking and frightening tale of a haunted hospital that was built over an ancient graveyard. The doctors have put all their faith into science and technology, and are dismissive of any suggestion of mysticism or unseen powers…at their own peril.

The Hunter (1980)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Hunter, The
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Steve McQueen | Eli Wallach | Kathryn Harrold | LeVar Burton | Ben Johnson | Richard Venture | Tracey Walter | Thomas Rosales Jr. | Teddy Wilson | Ray Bickel | Bobby Bass | Karl Schueneman | Margaret Mary O'Hara | James Spinks | Frank Delfino
Directors: Buzz Kulik
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In order to track down bail jumpers, Ralph ‘Papa’ Thorson goes on a series of routine and not-so-routine searches. Sometimes he takes down his quarry easily. At other times, he’s forced to extreme measures which result in the injury or death of a lawbreaker. And then again, there are other moments when his own life is on the line. It’s all enough to make Thorson question what he has done with his life.

Dead Man Walking (1995)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Dead Man Walking
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Susan Sarandon | Sean Penn | Robert Prosky | Raymond J. Barry | R. Lee Ermey | Celia Weston | Lois Smith | Scott Wilson | Roberta Maxwell | Margo Martindale | Barton Heyman | Steve Boles | Nesbitt Blaisdell | Ray Aranha | Larry Pine
Directors: Tim Robbins
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Tim Robbins’ movie about a convicted murderer on Death Row and the nun who befriends him addresses a controversial issue with an intensely personal look at the people involved in one such case. Through the portrayal of finely drawn characters and their interactions as the days, hours, and minutes tick down to the condemned man’s execution, powerful emotions are unleashed. While Matthew Poncelet and Sister Prejean desperately try to gain a stay of execution from the governor or the courts, scenes are intercut from the brutal crime, gradually revealing the truth about the events that transpired. In addition to her temporal help, the nun also tries to reach out spiritually and assist as a guide to salvation.

Dangerous Beauty (1998)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Dangerous Beauty
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Catherine McCormack | Rufus Sewell | Oliver Platt | Moira Kelly | Naomi Watts | Fred Ward | Jacqueline Bisset | Jeroen Krabbé | Joanna Cassidy | Melina Kanakaredes | Daniel Lapaine | Justine Miceli | Jake Weber | Simon Dutton | Grant Russell
Directors: Marshall Herskovitz
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In 16th century Venice, courtesans enjoy unique privileges: dressed richly in red, they read, compose poetry and music, and discuss affairs of state with the men who govern the Republic. When Veronica Franco comes of age, she cannot marry Marco Venier, whom she loves, because she is well born but penniless. Her choice: cloister or courtesan. She steels her heart, and with beauty and intelligence becomes the best. She’s a heroine when she helps convince France to aid Venice in war with Turkey, but when plague descends, the Church charges her with witchcraft. At her inquisition, she must match wits with an old rival, speak for all women, and call courage from Venier.

Rape Me (2000)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Rape Me
Genres: Drama | Thriller
Countries: France
Actors: Karen Lancaume | Raffaëla Anderson | Céline Beugnot | Adama Niane | Christophe Claudy Landry | Tewfik Saad | Delphine MacCarty | Ouassini Embarek | Patrick Kodjo Topou | Lisa Marshall | Hacène Beddrouh | Patrick Eudeline | Ian Scott | Philippe Houillez | Steven Jhonsson
Directors: Virginie Despentes | Coralie
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Based on the novel by Virginie Despentes of the same title. Manu and Nadine lose their last tenuous relationship with main-stream society when Manu gets raped and Nadine sees her only friend being shot. After a chance encounter, they embark on an explosive journey of sex and murder. Perhaps as a revenge against men, perhaps as a revolt against bourgeois society, but certainly in a negation – almost joyful in its senseless violence – of all the codes of a society which has excluded, raped and humiliated them. Controversial for its violence and real sex scenes: a vividly nihilist road movie set in France.