Cradle Will Rock (1999)

Director
Tim Robbins

Main cast
Hank Azaria; Rubén Blades; Joan Cusack; John Cusack; Bill Murray

Genres
Drama

Description
A true story of politics and art in the 1930s USA, centered around a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.


Similar movies

This special one-off drama travels back in time to 1963 to see how Doctor Who was first brought to the screen. Actor William Hartnell felt trapped by a succession of hard-man roles. Wannabe producer Verity Lambert was frustrated by the TV industry's glass ceiling. Both of them were to find unlikely hope and unexpected challenges in the form of a Saturday tea-time drama. Allied with a team of unusual but brilliant people, they went on to create the longest running science fiction series ever made.
Me and Orson Welles is a period-drama film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Zac Efron, Christian McKay and Claire Danes. Based on Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name, the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of Julius Caesar, where he becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant.
'I hate luv storys' is the maxim Jay lives by. But as an assistant director to Veer, the most famous romantic filmmaker of Indian Film Industry, Jay has little option but to live with larger than life, glossy, cinematic love on an everyday basis. Things only get worse when he is made to work under the new production designer on the film… Simran, with whom he shares the strangest first encounter! Simran loves luv storys; So much so that even her life has begun to resemble one. With her ideal job and the perfect boyfriend, Raj, she lives a blissful, dreamy life; One that is rudely interrupted by Jay's cynicism. The turmoil's of Jay and Simran's life, is ironically interweaved with the Luv Story that they are working on…
A young man searches for the "master" to obtain the final level of martial arts mastery known as the glow. Along the way he must fight an evil martial arts expert and rescue a beautiful singer from an obsessed music promoter.
A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.
The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.
The true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years.
After the release from prison, small-time criminal is marrying his girlfriend and lives a straight and poor, but happy life with her and her daughter. However, his happiness is shattered by wife's infidelity. Driven mad by jealousy, he kills her and her lover and runs into mountains, thus escaping law for years. This film is based on the true story about Junuz Kečo, last Bosnian outlaw.
The final days of Hank Williams.
Based on the Henry James novella, the story frames on 7-year-old Maisie, caught in a custody battle between her mother – a rock and roll icon – and her father. What Maisie Knew is an evocative portrayal of the chaos of adult life seen entirely from a child’s point of view.
Based on a play by Tennessee Williams, "Baby Doll" centers on Archie Lee Meighan (Karl Malden), a failing cotton gin owner who is married to Baby Doll (Carroll Baker), a 19-year old childlike beauty whose father arranged the marriage for financial reasons. As Archie awaits the arrival of Baby Doll's 20th birthday, the day that they are supposed to consummate their marriage, he faces interference from business rival Silva Vacarro (Eli Wallach), who plots to seduce Baby Doll away from Meighan.
Tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. An embittered cop, Det. Jim McLeod (Douglas), leads a precinct of characters in their grim daily battle with the city's lowlife. The characters who pass through the precinct over the course of the day include a young petty embezzler, a pair of burglars, and a naive shoplifter.
Novalee Nation is a 15-year-old Tennessee transient who has to grow up in a hurry when she's left pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend on a roadside in Sequoyah, Okla., and takes refuge in the friendly aisles of Wal-Mart. In short order, some eccentric, kindly strangers "adopt" Novalee and her infant daughter, helping them buck the odds and build a new life.
On a secluded family farm, a mother suffers a psychotic break due to postpartum depression, forcing the eldest son to protect his sibling from the mother they have always known and loved.
William Thatcher, a peasant, is sent to apprentice with a Knight named Hector as a young boy. Urged by his father to "change his Stars", he assumes Sir Hector's place in a tournament when Hector dies in the middle of it. He wins. With the other apprentices, he trains and assumes the title of Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein.
The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s. His arrogance, remarkable talent, and unconventional lifestyle often brought him into conflict with others in the industry, and even earned him the scorn and condemnation of the public.
Macbeth, loyal to his crime boss, Duncan, is told by witches that he will one day take over. Driven by their prophecy, he and his wife plot to kill Duncan, and takes the leadership of the gang for himself. Maintaining his power will require more murder and violence, finally driving his surviving enemies to unite and destroy him. A sexy, high octane retelling of this classic story.
The film narrates the story of Cuba Mukundan (Sreenivasan) who can be called an 'impractical idealist.' He is a staunch leftist who lives for the movement. Circumstances force him to take up a job in Dubai. But he finds himself a misfit in a highly materialistic world. He also realizes that the Malayalis working in this region, whom he had earlier mocked for leaving the country for monetary gains, actually perform menial jobs and physical labor in order to support their families back home. He has always had a soft corner for China as a result of his leftist leanings and when he meets a Chinese girl, she quickly finds a special place in his heart as she symbolizes China to him. Through her, he also learns of the Communist failings in other parts of the world.
During an orgy with minor girls, some old and wealthy notables are being murdered by a small group of leftist young revolutionaries. Very soon the police are tracking down Virgile Cabral, the leader of the group. Meanwhile, Virgile's brother and only relative, Vincent, a violonist (and a thief), comes back to Paris. They have not seen each other for three years. Vincent does not believe in the revolution. He only tries to live as he wishes to live. But by looking for his hunted down brother, he has no other choice than to be involved in a fight which is not his.
Oliver Barrett IV is emotionally devastated by the death of his wife Jenny, and, while he tries to lose himself in his work as a lawyer, the long hours don't ease his pain, especially when he finds that his leftist views conflict with those of the senior partners at the firm. Eventually, Oliver's inconsolable grief begins to alienate those around him, until he finds new love with Marcie Bonwit, the wealthy and beautiful heiress to the Bonwit Teller fortune. Despite his affection for her, Oliver finds it difficult to leave the memory of Jenny behind, which causes major problems in their relationship..
A lonely farmer takes in a pregnant woman and looks after her. After she gives birth, tragedy strikes.
Yukie, the well-bred daughter of a university professor, is shocked when her father is relieved of his post for his political teachings, and even more so when her lover, one of her father's students, is arrested, then executed as a spy. She decides to leave Kyoto to live with the boy's parents in their peasant village. But life still has many lessons for her...
After a terrorist attack against a train, the police arrest the young laborer Stefano Baldini, member of a group of militant leftists. Entrusted for interrogation to Sergeant Pendicò and special agents Lorusso and Spasiani, Stefano dies, after four days, in unclear circumstances. Doubting the official version of the police, the second time in which a young person died in custody, journalist Cristina Visconti tries, with the aid of the sister of Stefano, to discover the truth. They rub up against a conspiracy of silence that encircles the acts of Pendicò and his associates. Frustrated beyond reason, Cristina tries a desperate ploy: publishing a story without evidence in the newspaper, accusing the three agents of having caused the death of Stefano with their blows. Cristina is put on trial for defamation. Can she avoid going to jail and also reveal the facts surrounding Stefano's death?
A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cellblock's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.
A White enclave in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the 1960s. Molly Roth, 13 years old, is the daughter of leftist parents, and she must piece together what's happening around her when her father disappears one night, barely evading arrest, and, not long after, her mother is detained by the authorities. Some of Molly's White friends turn against her, and her family's friendships with Blacks take on new meaning. Relationships are fragile in the world of apartheid. How will she manage?
A suburban family chooses seemingly sweet Peyton Flanders as their newborn's nanny. Only much later does the infant's mother, Claire Bartel, realize Peyton's true intentions -- to destroy Claire and replace her in the family. The nail-biting suspense builds quickly in this chilling psychological thriller about deception and bitter revenge.
The film portrays life of New York City's Lower East Side inhabitants. Introvert therapist Betty is befriended with Chinese immigrant Lu Lu, leftist radical Che is also Lu Lu's friend. Italian immigrant and wife of supervisor of building where they all live, Marta, is having an affair with her neighbour Frankie who likes scams. One of his scams goes terribly wrong.
Guner Sernikli is a government official who, with his wife and their wheelchair bound daughter, has been assigned as the head librarian to this isolated province, virtually an exile since there is no library in the village. The family is warmly welcome, but these are the years of political anarchy and leftist/rightist clashes in big cities and the youth of the village inevitably follow the tides. They arrive in Vizontele, just as the situation is becoming really absurd. Guner brings wisdom; his daughter Tuba brings beauty, innocence and love. Some like the Mayor, Nazmi Dogan and crazy Emin appreciate these things but they are in the minority and confusion continues to reign. The story is based on the memories of writer-director Yılmaz Erdoğan of the last summer of his childhood in Hakkâri, Turkey in 1980.
Bill takes Trina into his depression camp cabin. Later, just as he finds showgirl LaRue who will support him, Trina becomes pregnant.
Repression is the rule of the day in this film that skewers Greek governance of the 1960s. Z (Yves Montand), a leftist rabble rouser, is killed in what appears to be a traffic accident. But given the political climate, the death of such a prominent activist raises troubling questions. Though it's too late to save Z's life, a postmortem examination suggests that the ruling party was behind his death. As the facts leak out, those who tell the truth pay the price for their honesty.
Marines prepare to invade Iraq at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom; while the soldiers wait to receive their orders, they learn a Rolling Stone columnist will be embedded with them
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. Life is good, but suspicion creeps in, and greed, rule-breaking and his high public profile all threaten to topple him.
When his unmarried mother dies, custody of 13-year-old Job is assumed by his alleged father, Chris, whom he has never seen. Job is an enthusiastic cadet at a military academy, and Chris turns out to be a top-grossing rock star who removes Job from his beloved school to keep him company on tour. Getting acquainted is fraught with culture shock for both father and son. Written by Paul Emmons
Adaptations of the eight sequential history plays of William Shakespeare (Richard II, Henry IV: Part 1 & 2, Henry V, Henry VI: Parts 1, 2, & 3 and Richard III).
"A", a member of a student protest organization, becomes disenchanted by his group's inability to effect real change. Emboldened to pursue more radical methods by the older, experienced leftist organizer Despard, "A" unwittingly becomes party to a labor strike that turns violent. Ultimately held responsible by the authorities for the fracas, "A" allies himself with terrorist Leonard, who intends to avenge those jailed in the protest.
Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators, and art historians who went to the front lines of WWII to rescue the world’s artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their rightful owners. With the art hidden behind enemy lines, how could these guys hope to succeed?
Starting from childhood attempts at illustration, the protagonist pursues his true obsession to art school. But as he learns how the art world really works, he finds that he must adapt his vision to the reality that confronts him.
22 year-old- Yan is trying hard to find his way in life: a job he likes, an ideal. In Saint-Nazaire, his home town, he vegetates, just like his father, an unambitious worker. His fiancée, Juliette, has middle class values and dreams of nothing but a comfortable married life. Dissatisfied, he moves to Paris where he becomes an assembly line worker at the Billancourt Renault car factory. Sick of the working conditions he and his fellow workers have to endure there, he soon turns into a leftist activist...
Cahiers du cinéma critic Serge Daney asks whether The Kingdom of Naples is "leftist fiction, kitschy melodrama, photo-roman, a decadent chronicle of a city, opera in a minor key, or simply the first realistic narrative film by Schroeter?" It is all of these and more: an epic chronicle of proletarian family life in Naples from 1943 to 1972 that brilliantly captures the wretched poverty, overwrought passions, and political, religious and economic upheavals of Sicily across two generations. Schroeter assimilates neorealist aesthetics and class sympathies with the tempestuous excesses of popular melodrama, borrowing freely from Rossellini, Pasolini, Visconti, Brecht, and Rossini. (Facets)
Having defeated the best fighters of the Imperial Japanese army in occupied Shanghai, Ip Man and his family settle in post-war Hong Kong.Struggling to make a living, Master Ip opens a kung fu school to bring his celebrated art of Wing Chun to the troubled youth of Hong Kong. His growing reputation soon brings challenges from powerful enemies, including pre-eminent Hung Gar master, Hung Quan (Sammo Hung). However, when corrupt colonial officials stage a life-or-death contest with formidable British boxer, Twister (Darren Shahlavi), to humiliate the Chinese people, the masters quickly forget their differences. Soon, the eyes of the nation are on the one man capable of securing a victory-Grandmaster Ip Man!
Huo Yuan Jia became the most famous martial arts fighter in all of China at the turn of the 20th Century. Huo faced personal tragedy but ultimately fought his way out of darkness, defining the true spirit of martial arts and also inspiring his nation. The son of a great fighter who didn't wish for his child to follow in his footsteps, Huo resolves to teach himself how to fight - and win.
Based on a true story, this made-for-cable film tells about Barry Seal, a pilot who was a drug smuggler for the infamous Medellin cartel out of Colombia. He was caught by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and decided to turn over and help the DEA break the cartel. However, he got caught in the middle of the Reagan/Bush administration efforts to topple the Nicaraguan government in the '80s, in which Nicaraguan rebels called "contras" were allowed to smuggle cocaine into the US in exchange for their fighting against the leftist Nicaraguan government. Eventually Seal was murdered by his former Medellin employers, and some critics say it was with the tacit, if not implicit, connivance of the US administration.
Set in late 19th century Canton this martial arts film depicts the stance taken by the legendary martial arts hero Wong Fei-Hung (1847-1924) against foreign forces' (English, French and American) plundering of China.
While the leader is in jail, his leftist group is controlled by his girlfriend, but her leadership lacks conviction and perspective. When the leader commits suicide in prison, despair and confusion rule the group and revenge and violence erupts in graphic way.
Falsely accused for cheating in a martial arts competition, two boyhood friends are banished from their Shaolin Temple and go their separate ways. As adults, they join opposing sides in a civil war. When one betrays the other, they settle their differences mano-a-mano.
Rome, early 20th century: a wealthy psychiatrist, who runs an asylum for women and lacks imagination in his practice, must find a wet nurse for his infant when his wife panics after childbirth. He brings a peasant, Annette, to Rome, forcing her to leave her own baby behind. To the consternation and increasing anger of the wife, the nanny immediately bonds with the couple's infant son - Annette's a natural. Against a backdrop of leftist demonstrations, Annette, who's lover is a teacher jailed for subversion, asks the doctor to teach her to read and write. Her nature and curiosity, the doctor's bland ideas, he and his wife's problems, and the two infants bring the story to a head.
Elisabeth leaves her abusive and drunken husband Rolf, and goes to live with her brother, Göran. The year is 1975 and Göran lives in a commune called Together. Living in this leftist commune Elisabeth learns that the world can be viewed from different perspectives.
Set in the early '80s, a time when a new wave of leftist political consciousness and activism had swept German youth (and was just about to disappear as quickly as it arrived), this satiric comedy follows a young couple, Ingo (Hans-Jochen Wagner) and Nadja (Valerie Koch), as they travel to Austria for a weekend of skiing near her parent's luxurious chalet. While Ingo and Nadja have an open relationship, he thinks its time that they commit to one another exclusively, and is hoping this weekend will convince her this is a good idea. However, their privacy is interrupted when several guests arrive -- friends of Nadja's brother Knut (Ingo Haeb), a noted political activist, who, unbeknownst to her, has also planned a ski weekend. As the guests await Knut's arrival, they get the unpleasant news that he's been arrested during a demonstration; several propose that they should come to his aid, while the majority decide instead to go skiing as a way to pay tribute to his commitment to the cause.
A comedy of manners, its cast of characters devouring each other in a small world awash with big money. Set against the backdrop of contemporary London and the international art scene, it casts an eye over the appetites and morality of some of its major players. Dealers, collectors, artists, wannabees vie with each other in a world in which success and downfall rest on a thin edge.
While staying at a picturesque village, a teen encounters the underground world of art forgery.
A star is born in a time of both celebration and instability in this historical drama with music from director Christophe Barratier. In the spring of 1936, Paris is in a state of uncertainty; while the rise of the Third Reich in Germany worries many, a leftist union-oriented candidate, Léon Blum, has been voted into power, and organized labor is feeling its new power by standing up to management.
A motley crew of young boys in Colombia lives only for one passion: soccer. But when their precious new ball rolls into a minefield, their dreams are suddenly on hold. Even as the village becomes the center of a tug-of-war between right-wing paramilitary groups and leftist guerrillas, the idea of a rescue attempt is too tempting to resist.
The illiterate General of Canton, General So, advocates a lazy, happy lifestyle of sex and money. His spoiled and also illiterate son, Chan (Stephen Chow), is his most faithful disciple. For the love of a woman, Chan attends the national exams for Martial Arts Scholar in Peking. Chan is victorious on the physical test, but before he is to be crowned, he is found to have cheated on the written exam. The Emperor sentences Chan to be a beggar. Initially Chan is unable cope with his new role, but with some mystic help, he takes on the position as King of the Beggars Association. Leading this motley crew into battle against an evil warlord in the Emperor's entourage, Chan rescues the Emperor, and gains respect for the beggars.
A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun. The film focuses on events surrounding Ip that took place in the city of Foshan between the 1930s to 1940s during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Directed by Wilson Yip, the film stars Donnie Yen in the lead role, and features fight choreography by Sammo Hung.
Godard examines the structure of movies, relationships and revolutions through the life of a couple in Paris.
Virgil Oldman is a world renowned antiques expert and auctioneer. An eccentric genius, he leads a solitary life, going to extreme lengths to keep his distance from the messiness of human relationships. When appointed by the beautiful but emotionally damaged Claire to oversee the valuation and sale of her family’s priceless art collection, Virgil allows himself to form an attachment to her – and soon he is engulfed by a passion which will rock his bland existence to the core.
The story of Ivan and Josh, two dim witted ex-security guards who love music videos. Out of work, with no job prospects, they form a music video production company. They soon learn the in's and out's of the business in LA and with some help from Mo Fuzz, they soon become hot property. But not all goes smoothly when they try to resurrect the career of their favorite R&B duo, the Swanky Modes.
In legendary Chen Village, everyone is a martial arts master, using their powerful Chen Style Tai Chi in all aspects of their lives. Lu Chan has arrived to train, but the villagers are forbidden to teach Chen Style to outsiders, and do their best to discourage him by challenging him to a series of fights. Everyone, from strong men to young children, defeats him using their Tai Chi moves. But when a man from the village's past returns with a frightening steampowered machine and plans to build a railroad through the village at any costs, the villagers realize they may have no choice but to put their faith in Lu Chan... who has a secret power of his own.
Featuring some of the most spectacular, innovative and explosive martial arts ever staged, The Legend Is Born is the remarkable true story of the early life of Ip Man, the formidable kung fu genius who would become Bruce Lee's mentor.Beginning at the start of his journey from his initial training through to the ultimate battle to become supreme master of the art of Wing Chun, The Legend Is Born has already been hailed as one of the greatest martial arts films of all time and features an all-star cast, including Sammo Hung (Enter The Dragon), Yuen Biao and Ip Man's real life son, 76-year-old Ip Chun, as Ip Man's kung fu master.
This film is a glimpse into the life, love and the unconquerable spirit of the legendary Bruce Lee. From a childhod of rigorous martial arts training, Lee realizes his dream of opening his own kung-fu school in America. Before long, he is discovered by a Hollywood producer and begins a meteroric rise to fame and an all too short reign as one the most charasmatic action heroes in cinema history.

© Valossa 2015–2024