ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[Fran]

From IMDb:  After decades of laboring as a Glasgow shipbuilder, Frank Redmond, a no-nonsense 55-year-old working-class man, suddenly finds himself laid off. For the first time in his life, he is without a job or a sense of direction, and he's too proud to ask for guidance. His best mates -- rascally Danny, timid Norman and cynical Eddie -- are there for him, but Frank still feels desperately alone. An offhand remark from Danny inspires Frank to challenge himself. Already contemplating the state of his relationships with loving wife Joan and all-but-estranged son Rob, Frank is determined to shore up his own self-confidence. He will attempt the near impossible - swimming the English Channel. As Frank plunges headlong into his new daily life, his astonished friends are swept along with him. Prodded by stalwart fish-and-chips shop owner Chan, the men support Frank, train him, and keep their goal secret from his wife and son. Frank is unable to confide in those closest to him, but as the big day and moment of truth draw near, there is a sea change. Frank's family confronts him, and he realizes that he must repair his strained family ties. As Frank and those closest to him discover -- or re-discover -- reserves of love and compassion, he realizes that he is also swimming from one part of his life to another.

[memento]

From IMDB: In a country that has been broken down and corupted by poverty, Pablo and Mario are best friends and local thieves. Although they come from very different backgrounds, they help each other out by commiting petty crimes that help Pablo support his family and Mario become independent from his own. In a twist of fate, they become involved in a kidnapping that goes sour. This tragedy triggers and unmasks a series of events that changes their lives forever. Now the two friends will be tested and their lives taken to the limit.

[southendmd]

Plot:  Seven former college friends, along with a few new friends, gather for a weekend reunion at a summer house in New Hampshire to reminisce about the good old days, when they got arrested on the way to a protest in Washington, DC.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  Four friends reunite to relive their moments of glory as a rock band.

[memento]

From IMDB: A group of guys who sang together in a college a cappella group reunite 15 years later to perform at a friend's wedding and discover how their lives have progressed -- and in some cases regressed -- since their college heyday.

[oilgun]

PLOT: A wild, freeform, Rabelaisian trip through the darkest recesses of Edinburgh low-life, focusing on Mark Renton and his attempt to give up his heroin habit, and how the latter affects his relationship with family and friends: Sean Connery wannabe Sick Boy, dimbulb Spud, psycho Begbie, 14-year-old girlfriend Diane, and clean-cut athlete Tommy, who's never touched drugs but can't help being curious about them...

[Fran]

Also known as:

The Sea Is Watching (USA) The Sea Watches

From IMDb: 

Contrary to some people's summaries, the women depicted in the film are not geisha. They are oiran (prostitutes) living outside the most famous pleasure districts, and their lives and experiences represent the lives of a great number of Tokugawa era women. I can't say the stories were particularly enlightening, but their charm lies in just how typical they are. The themes are universal and everyday: love, friendship, and sacrifice.

I did greatly enjoy the art direction and the acting. I felt like I was getting a glimpse of a time and place I can never otherwise glimpse. The actors, especially the 4 women who played the main oiran, were a thrill to watch. I'd only recommend this movie to people who want a taste of Japanese culture, or to those who enjoy quiet and emotional stories. It's a great example of both.

[memento]

From IMDB: Three friends face mid-life crises. Paul is a writer who's blocked. François has lost his ideals and practices medicine for the money; his wife grows distant, even hostile. The charming Vincent, everyone's favorite, faces bankruptcy, his mistress leaves him, and his wife, from whom he's separated, wants a divorce. The strains on the men begin to show particularly in François and Paul's friendship and in Vincent's health. A younger man, Jack, becomes attractive to Lucie, François's wife. Another young friend, the boxer Jean, who's like a son to Vincent and whose girlfriend is pregnant, has taken a bout with a merciless slugger. Has happiness eluded this circle of friends?

[southendmd]

Plot:  If Mary Haines can pretend ignorance of her husband's affair with Crystal Allen, who sells perfume at a department store, she has a good chance of saving her marriage. But has she no pride? The women in her circle of friends soon have her packing for Reno. On the train, Mary meets the Countess DeLave, trading in her fourth husband and exclaiming "l'amour, l'amour." Everyone is staying at the same dude ranch outside Reno that is run by a no-nonsense woman. The woman who is about to marry the husband of Mary's cousin Sylvia, who first spread the gossip about Mary's husband's affair, tells Mary to forget her pride and the divorce.

[oilgun]

aka: Der Amerikanische Freund



Plot: Tom Ripley has a sweet deal with an art forger. The forger creates the paintings; Tom sells them. But another criminal business associate wants Tom to go in for an even riskier enterprise: murder. Tom suggests his associate ask a local picture framer instead. That man has a fatal disease, or so it's rumored. More, he has a wife and kid that surely he wouldn't want to leave penniless. Let this picture framer be a hit man, and no one will suspect. The terminally ill craftsman may agree to the misdeed, and several more, but he'll end up needing Tom Ripley in a pinch.