The Benny Goodman Story
★ 6.4 · 1956 · 116m · Drama · Music
Young Benny Goodman is taught clarinet by a music professor. He is advised to play whichever kind of music he likes best, but to make a living, Benny begins by joining the Ben Pollack traveling band.
More Like This
Daybreak Express
1957 · ★ 7.2
Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.
More info →
Viva Zapata!
1952 · ★ 6.9
The story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of president Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.
More info →
Shoot the Piano Player
1960 · ★ 7.2
Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.
More info →
Raging Bull
1980 · ★ 7.9
The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.
More info →
Freedom Writers
2007 · ★ 7.9
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.
More info →
Au Revoir les Enfants
1987 · ★ 7.5
Au revoir les enfants tells a heartbreaking story of friendship and devastating loss concerning two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie—until a secret is revealed. Based on events from writer-director Malle’s own childhood, the film is a subtle, precisely observed tale of courage, cowardice, and tragic awakening.
More info →
Michael Collins
1996 · ★ 6.9
Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a completely independent Irish republic.
More info →
Ray
2004 · ★ 7.5
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.
More info →
Ganes
2007 · ★ 5.4
Remu grew up in modest conditions. He dropped out from schoold during his teen age years and is making career as a small time criminal. His family's destiny is about to come true, and it's going to be the usual: jail, alcoholism and violent death. After learning about rock music Remu learns to play drums and pushes himself into different bands. His first time in jails interrupts his music career, but after being released he starts his own band; Hurriganes.
More info →
Sita Sings the Blues
2008 · ★ 7
Utilizing the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, the epic Indian tale of exiled prince Ramayana and his bride Sita is mirrored by a spurned woman's contemporary personal life, and light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets.
More info →
Caravaggio
1986 · ★ 6.1
A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.
More info →