 |
ALMOST FAMOUS (2001. Dir Cameron Crowe)
Set in 1973, Almost Famous chronicles the funny and often poignant coming-of-age of 15-year-old music fanatic William (Patrick Fugit). Having managed to land an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview the up-and-coming band Stillwater, fronted by lead guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), and with the help of gorgeous 'band aid' Penny Lane (Oscar nominee Kate Hudson), William finds himself drawn into the band's inner circle, despite the objections of his over-protective mother (Frances McDormand). As he becomes less an observer and more a participant in the band's dynamics, William learns a life-changing lesson about the importance of family: the ones we inherit and the ones we create... |
 |
AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973. Dir George Lucas)
This Academy Award-nominated classic, voted one of the American Film Institute's top 100 Films Of All Time, features the coming-of-age of four teenagers on their last summer night before college. Rediscover drag racing, Inspiration Point and drive-ins all over again in this nostalgic look back at the early '60s. The incredible soundtrack brings you the most memorable rock 'n' roll hits of the era. Directed by George Lucas and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, this classic stars Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Suzanne Somers, Cindy Williams, Wolfman Jack and Mackenzie Phillips. Capture the heart of America's last age of innocence with American Graffiti. |
 |
ANVIL: STORY OF ANVIL (2009. Dir Sacha Gervasi)
At 14, school friends Steve 'Lips' Kudlow and Rob Reiner made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, went on to become the 'demigods of Canadian metal', releasing one of the heaviest albums in metal history, 1982's Metal on Metal. The album influenced a musical generaton including Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, that went on to sell millions of records. But Anvil's career took a different path - straight to obscurity. Anvil The Story of Anvil is a timeless, and at times hilarious, feel good tale of survival and the unadulterated passion it takes to follow your dream. Directed by Sasha Gervasi, we follow the band as they attempt one last shot at the big time with their thirteenth album 'This is Thirteen' and a calamitous European tour. You don't have to be a metal head to love Anvil. This is an inspirational, heart warming and uplifting tale of two best friends who refuse to give up on their dream. Metal on Metal forever! |
 |
BOTTLE ROCKET (1996. Dir Wes Anderson)
An offbeat crime caper that turns convention on its head. Owen Wilson, in a star-making performance, co-wrote the screenplay about three friends who attempt to escape their suburban boredum through a life of crime. But these bickering, bumbling thieves are no match for the local 'Godfather' (James Caan) who leads them into the biggest heist of their careers. Co-starring Luke Wilson and Bob Musgrave in their film debuts, Bottle Rocket is a comedy hit. |
 |
DR STRANGELOVE (1963. Dir Stanley Kubrick)
A brilliant film and a classic black comedy. A group of war-eager military men plan a nuclear apocalypse that is both funny and frightening - and seems as relevant today as ever. Through a series of military and political accidents, two psychotic generals - U.S. Air Force Commander Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) and Joint Chief of Staff "Buck" Turgidson (George C. Scott) - trigger an ingenious, irrevocable scheme to attack Russia's strategic targets with nuclear bombs. The brains behind the scheme belong to Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers), a wheelchair-bound nuclear scientist who has bizarre ideas about man's future. The President is helpless to stop the bombers, as is Captain Mandrake (Sellers again), the only man who can stop them... |
 |
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009. Dir Quentino Tarantino)
Inglourious Basterds begins in German-occupied France, where Shoshanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema. Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as "The Basterds," Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own... |
 |
KICK ASS (2009. Dir Matthew Vaughn)
Aaron Johnson stars alongside Chloe Moretz and Nicolas Cage as not-so-super hero Kick-Ass in "Stardust" director Matthew Vaughan's big screen adaptation of the cult comic book. Buy the Big Daddy of superhero movies from Play.com and get some kick-ass exclusive art cards into the bargain! When Dave Lizewski, an ordinary teenager, sets about trying to become the no-power vigilante Kick-Ass, he soon discovers he's not alone. But he's out of his depth - a fearless and highly trained father-daughter crime-fighting duo, Big Daddy and Hit Girl, have declared war on New-York mafioso, Frank D'Amico. As Kick-Ass and his new found friend, Red Mist, get drawn into their no-holds-barred world of bullets and blood, the stage is set for a final showdown - in which the DIY hero will have to live up to his name... or die trying. |
 |
PERSEPOLIS (2007. Dir Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi)
Persepolis is a poignant story of a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of the precocious and outspoken nine year old, Marjane, that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundementalists take power - forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the 'guardians' and discovers punk. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed - and as bombs fall around Tehran - the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable. As she gets older, Marjane's boldness causes her parents to worry over her continued safety. And so - at age fourteen - they make the difficult decision to send her to school in Austria. Vulnerable and alone in a strange land she endures the typical ordeals of a teenager. |
 |
ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001. Dir Wes Anderson)
Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children--Chas, Richie and Margot, and then they separated. Chas started buying real estate in his early teens and seemed to have an almost preternatural understanding of international finance. Margot was a playwright and received a Braverman Grant of fifty thousand dollars in the ninth grade. Richie was a junior champion tennis player and won the U.S. Nationals three years in a row. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father's fault. The Royal Tenenbaums is the story of a family of geniuses and their sudden, unexpected reunion one winter. |
 |
RUSHMORE (1998. Dir Wes Anderson)
Rushmore is the story of a gifted, rebellious teenager named Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), a 10th grader at elite Rushmore Academy. Editor of the School Newspaper, Captain or President of innumerable clubs and societies, Max is also one of the worst students in school, and the threat of expulsion hangs permanently over his head. Max's world is rocked when he falls for elegant 1st grade teacher Miss Cross (Olivia Williams), and he plans to erect an aquarium in her honour - then finds himself competing for her affections with his friend, steel tycoon Mr Blume (Bill Murray), the wealthy father of two of his classmates... |
 |
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010. Dir David Fincher)
Every age has its visionaries who leave, in the wake of their genius, a changed world - but rarely without a battle over exactly what happened and who was there at the moment of creation. In The Social Network, director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin explore the moment at which Facebook, the most revolutionary social phenomena of the new century, was invented - through the warring perspectives of the super-smart young men who each claimed to be there at its inception. The result is a drama rife with both creation and destruction; one that audaciously avoids a singular POV, but instead, by tracking dueling narratives, mirrors the clashing truths and constantly morphing social relationships that define our time. Drawn from multiple sources, the film moves from the halls of Harvard to the cubicles of Palo Alto as it captures the visceral thrill of the heady early days of a culture-changing phenomenon in the making - and the way it both pulled a group of young revolutionaries together and then split them apart. |
 |
SUPERBAD (2007. Dir Greg Mottola)
Two socially inept teenage boys are about to graduate high school. Evan (Michael Cera) is sweet, smart, and generally terrified. Seth (Jonah Hill) is foul mouthed, volatile, and all-consumed with the topic of human sexuality. Seth and Evan want nothing more than to lose their virginity before they head off to college. To do that, though, they need to get liquor for the big party that night. With the help of their friend Fogell, a.k.a. McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and his fake I.D., the three of them go on a hilarious chase for that elusive booze, dodging incompetent cops (Knocked Up's Seth Rogen and Saturday Night Live's Bill Hader), angry neighbors and jealous boyfriends! |
 |
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (2010. Dir Lisa Cholodenko)
The son of a same-sex couple seeks out the sperm donor who made his birth possible in this comedy from writer/director Lisa Cholodenko. The committed parents of two teenage children, Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore), are about to send their daughter, Joni (Mia Wasikowska), off to college when her younger brother, Laser (Josh Hutcherson), asks for her help in tracking down his biological father. Reluctantly inquiring with the sperm bank, Joni leaves her number so the office can pass it along to Laser's father. Enthusiastic at the thought of meeting his long lost offspring, Paul (Mark Ruffalo) musters the courage to reach out, and the family tree grows a new branch. |
 |
THE PASSENGER (1975. Dir Michaelangelo Antonioni)
Antonioni's suspenseful and haunting portrait of David Locke (Jack Nicholson), a drained journalist whose deliverance is an identity exchange with a dead man. He embarks on a treacherous journey through Africa, Spain, Germany, England, Spain. Possibly one of the greatest road movies of all-time. |
 |
THE RUNAWAYS (2010. Dir Floria Sigismondi)
Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga, Adventureland) and Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga, Coraline) star as Joan Jett and Cherie Currie in The Runaways, the music-fuelled coming of age story of the groundbreaking, all girl 1970s rock band, that paved the way for future generations of female musicians. Plucked from obscurity by rock impresario Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road), raven-haired rocker Joan, the rebellious Cherie and their band become an outrageous sensations thanks to their tough image and raw talent. But their fast, drug-fuelled lifestyle soon catches up with the teenage girls as success starts to cloud their judgments... |