Houdini (2014)
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By the early 1900s, the extraordinary Houdini earned an international reputation for his theatrical tricks and daring feats of extrication from shackles, ropes, handcuffs, and Scotland Yard's jails... The film depicts Houdini's memorable escape from any pair of handcuffs produced by the audience; the outdoor exhibition, when he allows himself to be hanged upside down from his ankles, suspended from the roof of a high building, in a strait jacket; and, the dramatic act, when he accepts to be shackled with irons and placed in a box that is locked, roped, and submerged in frozen waters...
Beijing, 1902: an enterprising young portrait photographer named Liu Jinglun, keen on new technology, befriends a newly-arrived Englishman who's brought projector, camera, and Lumière-brothers' shorts to open the Shadow Magic theater. Liu's work with Wallace brings him conflict with tradition and his father's authority, complicated by his falling in love with Ling, daughter of Lord Tan, star of Beijing's traditional opera. Liu sees movies as his chance to become wealthy and worthy of Ling. When the Shadow Magic pair are invited to show the films to the Empress Dowager, things look good. But, is disaster in the script? And, can movies preserve tradition even as they bring change?
A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.
The film is a biography of Pope John Paul II. It starts in 1926 when the boy Karol Wojtila was celebrating Christmas with his father in Poland. Some years later Nazi Germany attacks Poland and invades the country while Wojtila seeks refuge at the house of Cardinal Wyszynski. Also appear all the other important stations of the life of the Pope.
Serpico is a 1973 American biopic directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino. It's based on Peter Maas' biography of NYPD officer Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose corruption in the force. The film and its principals were nominated for numerous awards, and together with Scarecrow, which was released the same year, it marked the big breakthrough for Al Pacino. The film was also a commercial success.
The first feature film made in Serbia, "Black George" is a biography of KaraÄorÄe, the famed leader of the rebellion against the Turkish empire in 1804, tracing his whole life from childhood until his death in 1817.
The film biography of Queen Victoria focussing initially on the early years of her reign with her marriage to Prince Albert and her subsequent rule after Albert's death in 1861. The film was released in the year of King George VI's coronation, which was also the centennial of Victoria's own accession to the throne.
George Wallace is a 1997 television film starring Gary Sinise as George Wallace, the former Governor of Alabama. It was directed by John Frankenheimer, who won an Emmy award for it; Sinise and Mare Winningham also won Emmies for their performances. The film was based on the 1996 biography Wallace : The Classic Portrait of Alabama Governor George Wallace by Marshall Frady, who also co-wrote the teleplay. Frankenheimer's film was highly praised by critics: in addition to the Emmy awards, it received the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries/Motion Picture made for TV. Angelina Jolie also received a Golden Globe for her performance as Wallace's second wife, Cornelia.
A biography of the dancer Isadora Duncan, the 1920s dancer who forever changed people's ideas of ballet. Her nude, semi-nude, and pro-Soviet dance projects as well as her attitudes on free love, debt, dress, and lifestyle shocked the public of her time.
Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story was a 1978 made for TV movie telling the story of Ron LeFlore, a troubled Detroit youth who rose from Michigan prisons to star in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers. The movie was based on LeFlore's autobiography, Breakout: From Prison to the Big Leagues.
It follows LeFlore from his heroin addiction, to his time in Michigan's Jackson State Penitentiary, and tells of his discovery in prison by Billy Martin, who was then the manager of the Detroit Tigers. The role of Ron LeFlore was played by LeVar Burton. Larry B. Scott portrayed Ron LeFlore's younger brother.
Former Detroit manager Billy Martin played himself, and former Tiger players Norm Cash, Bill Freehan, Al Kaline, and Jim Northrup also appeared as themselves. The movie first aired on CBS Television on September 26, 1978.
Twins separated at birth, Camryn and Alex meet by chance for the first time on their 21st birthday and discover they're witches with the power to save their homeland of Coventry from the evil that threatens it. But when Camryn leaves Alex to face the darkness alone, will Coventry be doomed? Or will the sisters multiply their magic by standing together?
Biography follows the life of famed woman pilot Amelia Earhart, including her marriage to a famous publisher and her disappearance during a flight in 1937.
Double Exposure: The Story of Margaret Bourke-White is a 1989 made-for-television film biography about the life of photographer Margaret Bourke-White.
On a tour of Britain in 1926, Harry Houdini enters into a passionate affair with a psychic out to con the famous magician.
A biography of the renowned escape artist Harry Houdini, examining his fascination with the occult and his promise to his wife on her deathbed that he would speak from the beyond.
A ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.
A masochistic cop, who hides her predilection from her cop husband, gets involved in pursuing a kidnapper nicknamed Harry for Harry Houdini
The life and times of escape artist/magician Harry Houdini.
Jailed unjustly for a murder he did not commit, a young man uses his amazing powers of escape to free himself and pursue the actual killers, who hold his fiancée captive.
Two children in 1917 take a photograph, believed by some to be the first scientific evidence of the existence of fairies. Based on a true story
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A girl calls on her brother's imaginary friend to banish a mischievous boogeyman who has framed her for his pranks.
A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script.
The young and self-confident Danny blufs at the local police-station that he will escape out of prison within one hour. What follows is a flashback about his childhood with his uncle and aunt, which are 'vaudeville'-artists themselves.
Cremaster 5 (55 min, 1997) is a five-act opera (sung in Hungarian) set in late-ninteenth century Budapest. The last film in the series, Cremaster 5 represents the moment when the testicles are finally released and sexual differentiation is fully attained. The lamenting tone of the opera suggests that Barney invisions this as a moment of tragedy and loss. The primary character is the Queen of Chain (played by Ursula Andress). Barney, himself, plays three characters who appear in the mind of the Queen: her Diva, Magician, and Giant. The Magician is a stand-in for Harry Houdini, who was born in Budapest in 1874 and appears as a recurring character in the Cremaster cycle.
It is winter in the mid-1970s in Tornio, a village near the northern border between Finland and Sweden. Esko is a boy with a lot of problems. He has succeeded in getting on the wrong side of his gang.
A detachment of the Polish IFOR forces in Bosnia is led by Major Keller, who is being investigated for insubordination during a patrol in Srebrenica. The investigation is to be led by two arriving officers - Lieutenant Czacki and Major Kusz who will also replace Keller as CO. When the camp's RTO receives a communication from a downed Norwegian chopper, Keller ignores his standing orders and leads a platoon to rescue the crew.
"Intimate Grammar" is a sensitive study of an inner journey rich in detailed observation. A dysfunctional family and delayed puberty make life miserable for a pre-adolescent growing up in Jerusalem in the 1960's. The film, an adaptation of David Grossman's "The Book of Intimate Grammar", shows our hero, Aharon Kleinfeld, striving to survive his domineering mother, his anti-intellectual father and his own diminutive stature in a setting of a lower-middle-class housing development where gossip is rampant and appearances are all important.
In 1974, a group of 11-year-old boys spend the last carefree summer of their childhood, unaware that the world of grown-ups, with its loves, passions, prejudices and curses, is about to seal their fate. Aaron, Stelios, Sakis, Galanos and Verios, "the acrobats", are best friends. School has closed for the summer holidays and the children spend their time playing games, running errands, and riding their bikes. Life is a game, into which they channel all their physical energy and imagination. They practice their diving abilities in a big cistern. It is a game through which their special talents and competitive spirit unfold. One is good at balancing acts, another at diving and another at somersaults. It is in this neighborhood that Aaron will spend the most important summer of his life: a rite of passage from childhood to adolescence, a time for learning about love, jealousy and friendship.
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A gathering of friends. A gift of love. A celebration of life.
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A satiric tragi-comedy about two women and their lover Robert who is an emigrant that keeps coming back. This film shows chaotic post-communist Europe after the fall of totalitarianism. Two opposite characters, women, meet during the Velvet Revolution in November 1989. Intellectual dissident Nona and a Communist secret police bossâ mistress Ester. They meet at an anti-regime demonstration and become friends. They donât want anything to do with politics, both want to get married and have kids, but also get rich. Crazy plans and risky attempts to realize their shared dreams land them in many sticky situations in the post-revolution chaos. Too much money gets in the way of the power of friendship.
The story of the rouge sorcerer Simon Magus, re-imagined and set in contemporary Paris.
All Cassie Nightingale (Catherine Bell) wants for her birthday is for her family and friends to be together. While her husband Jake (Chris Potter) suggests an intimate dinner at a fancy restaurant in their hometown of Middleton, Cassie would rather have a party at The Grey House, with all her loved ones in attendance. And since Jake's kids, Brandon (Matthew Knight) and Lori (Hannah Endicott-Douglas), are growing up with lives of their own, it might be their last chance to unite as a family for a long time. As Cassie's special day is fast approaching, Lori discovers disturbing parallels between Cassie and Cassie's great aunt, nicknamed the Grey Lady, who disappeared at her own birthday party years before. With signs of a curse looming over her, it's clear that Cassie needs to conjure up more than a little magic to make things right again. Is there birthday magic in the air or is it a birthday curse?
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In 1964, a brash new pro boxer, fresh from his olympic gold medal victory, explodes on to the scene: Cassius Clay. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African American's in sport with his proud public self confidence and his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. Yet at the top of his game, both Ali's personal and professional lives face the ultimate test.
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TV producer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans) becomes frustrated when network brass reject his sitcom idea. Hoping to get fired, Delacroix pitches the worst idea he can think of: a minstrel show. The network not only airs it, but it incredibly becomes a smash hit. Michael Rapaport co-stars in this searing satire.
To protect his brother-in-law from a drug lord, a former smuggler heads to Panama to score millions of dollars in counterfeit bills.
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A young Englishman marries a glamorous American. When he brings her home to meet the parents, she arrives like a blast from the future - blowing their entrenched British stuffiness out the window.
All that exists now is clubs, drugs, pubs and parties. I've got 48 hours off from the world, man I'm gonna blow steam out of my head like a screaming kettle. I'm gonna talk cods hit to strangers all night. I'm gonna lose the plot on the dance floor, the free radicals inside me are freaking man! Tonight I'm Jip Travolta, I'm Peter Popper, I'm going to Never Never Land with my chosen family, man. We're going to get more spaced out than Neil Armstrong ever did. Anything could happen tonight, you know? This could be the best night of my life! I've got 73 quid in my back burner. I'm gonna wax the lot, man. The milky bars are on me! Yeah!
A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who don't make the overwhelming task any easier.
Three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.
A film about the life and career of the eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.
AJ Manglehorn is an aging, ordinary guy in a small town. He nurses his sick cat, squeezes out a conversation with the local bank teller every Friday, and eats at the same place every day. But there is more to Manglehorn than meets the eye: heâs an ex-con who, 40 years ago, gave up the woman of his dreams for a big âjobâ. He now obsesses daily over the choices he made. After a dramatic effort to start over, Manglehorn faces a terrifying moment and is unmasked as a guy with a very, very dark past.
A group of crotchety codgers attempt to revive the punk-rock band they all played in 17 years earlier in "Punk Is Not Dead," from Macedonian scribe-helmer
A man must struggle to travel home for Thanksgiving, with an obnoxious slob of a shower ring salesman his only companion.
After hunting down and killing hundreds of violent criminals, Frank Castle (Stevenson), better known to his victims as "The Punisher," faces his most deadly foe yet, Jigsaw.
Leo Vincey, told by his dying uncle of a lost land visited 500 years ago by his ancestor, heads out with family friend Horace Holly to try to discover the land and its secret of immortality, said to be contained within a mystic fire. Picking up Tanya, a guide's daughter, in the frozen Russian arctic, they stumble upon Kor, revealed to be a hidden civilization ruled over by an immortal queen, called She, who believes Vincey is her long-lost lover John Vincey, Leo's ancestor.
Young Indian man Thomas is a nerd in his reservation, wearing oversize glasses and telling everyone stories no-one wants to hear. His parents died in a fire in 1976, and Thomas was saved by Arnold. Arnold soon left his family, and Victor hasn't seen his father for 10 years. When Victor hears Arnold has died, Thomas offers him funding for the trip to get Arnold's remains
Two successful women, sick and tired of dating and relationships, decide to keep two young men in their pool house for strictly sexual purposes.
Set in the 1920s French Riviera, a master magician is commissioned to try and expose a psychic as a fraud.
In what would cause a fantastic media frenzy, Clifford Irving (Gere) sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.
A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Mr. Conductor's supply of magic gold dust, which allows him to travel between Shining Time and Thomas's island, is critically low. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to get more. Meanwhile, Thomas is fending off attacks by the nasty diesel engines. Getting more gold dust will require help from Mr. C's slacker cousin, his new friend Lily and her morose grandfather, plus the secret engine.
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