Browse Movies : 2004 : Rating Not Available

After being found in an intimate, sexual encounter with another young man, Perry is thrown out of his house by his family and forced to survive on his own. As he struggles to hold on by working in a homeless shelter and trying to maintain a college scholarship, he is haunted by his homosexuality and becomes increasingly withdrawn due to his family's rejection of him and their condemnation of his desires. As his friend Marcus is performing his new poetry for him, an elderly man, Bruce, appears seemingly out of nowhere and begins reciting verse to them. He disappears just as quickly and elusively as he arrived, before they get a chance to talk to him. In his library research for a class project, Perry finds a book about the Harlem Renaissance and recognizes a poem ("Smoke, Lilies and Jade" by Bruce Nugent) as the same one that the elderly man was reciting. They encounter each other again at the homeless shelter where Perry works. He confronts Bruce about who he is and begins to ask him about the Harlem Renaissance. They go on a literal and metaphorical journey to the house that was known as "Niggeratti Manor" which was the creative center for the younger, rebellious generation of the Harlem Renaissance as they created their revolutionary literary journal, "Fire!". Although the house is now dilapidated, we are transported through the landscape of Bruce's memories of the glory days of the Harlem Renaissance. Perry learns about the lives and personalities of Wallace Thurman, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Aaron Douglas and sees how they became a surrogate family for Bruce. Perry begins to recognize this era as his history. He sees the pride that Bruce exuded in those times in terms of being Black, gay and unashamed. His pride and self-esteem begin to have an empowering effect on Perry as he gains a stronger sense of his identity. As the story progresses, we witness the transformative power that they have on each other's lives through their shared passion for art and storytelling.

Why are Americans so fat? Find out in "Super Size Me", a tongue in-cheek—and burger in hand—look at the legal, financial and physical costs of America's hunger for fast food. Ominously, 37% of American children and adolescents are carrying too much fat and 2 out of every three adults are overweight or obese. Is it our fault for lacking self-control, or are the fast-food corporations to blame? Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock hit the road and interviewed experts in 20 U.S. cities, including Houston, the "Fattest City" in America. From Surgeon Generals to gym teachers, cooks to kids, lawmakers to legislators, these authorities shared their research, opinions and "gut feelings" on our ever-expanding girth. During the journey, Spurlock also put his own body on the line, living on nothing but McDonald's for an entire month with three simple rules: 1) No options: he could only eat what was available over the counter (water included!); 2) No supersizing unless offered; 3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once. It all adds up to a fat food bill, harrowing visits to the doctor, and compelling viewing for anyone who's ever wondered if man could live on fast food alone. The film explores the horror of school lunch programs, declining health and physical education classes, food addictions and the extreme measures people take to lose weight and regain their health. "Super Size Me" is a satirical jab in the stomach, overstuffed with fat and facts about the billion-dollar industry besieged by doctors, lawyers and nutritionists alike. "Would you like fries with that?" will never sound the same!

Havana: November, 1958. 18-year-old Katey Miller (Romola Garai) brings an innate curiosity and a smattering of Spanish to her new life in Cuba's lush capital, where her father has taken an executive posting at Ford. Bookish and awkward, Katey is expected to join the smart set of American teenagers who are the Millers' neighbors at the exclusive Oceana Hotel. But Katey finds herself drawn instead to the proud, purposeful Javier (Diego Luna), a waiter who also happens to be brilliant dancer. Determined to learn the slinky, spectacular moves that Javier seems to know in his bones, Katey persuades him to partner with her in a prestigious national dance competition at Havana's glittering nightclub/casino, The Palace. Soon, the straight-A student is deceiving her parents, stealing away both day and night to discover a different part of Cuba with Javier. They meet at the steamy nightclub La Rosa Negra, where only the locals go and where the dancing is hotter than the temperature outside. Some days, they practice on the sand of an out-of-the way beach, aligning their bodies in a sensual harmony that mirrors the growing passion between them. As the night of the contest finally arrives, Katey and Javier are ready to take their place as a couple on the dance floor - unaware that the country club, and the streets of Havana itself, are about to erupt in revolutionary violence.

A photographer who is haunted by the feeling that the gap between his ideals and his real life is growing finds himself obliged to put up in his apartment a young relative who has left behind his village looking for a job aboard a ship in Istanbul to go abroad.

The crew is back in Barbershop 2: Back in Business, a sequel to the original comedy smash hit. Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve, Troy Garity, Michael Ealy, and Leonard Earl Howze ý theyýre all still there in Calvinýs shop, this time with Queen Latifah joining the fun as Gina, a stylist at the beauty shop next door. Theyýre cutting hair, creating a sense of community, and having their signature Barbershop discussions ý outrageous, explosive, and hilarious. The world changes, but some things never go out of style ý you can still say anything you want at the barbershop.

A murder and a suicide occur early one morning in a jewelry store. Behind this headline lies the story of a desperate man's feelings of humiliation in a world of social injustice... When his friend Ali shows him the contents of a lost purse, Hussein cannot imagine the large sum of money marked on a receipt for an expensive necklace. He knows that his pitiful salary will never be enough to afford such luxury. Hussein feels even lower on the social scale when a smooth-talking professional thief mistakes the two friends for petty crooks. Hussein receives yet another blow when he and Ali are denied entry to an uptown jewelry store because of their appearance. Hussein's job delivering pizzas allows him a full view of the contrast between rich and poor. He motorbikes every evening to neighborhoods he will never live in for a closer look at what goes on behind closed doors. The hypocrisy of the system is thrown in his face wherever he turns. But Hussein will taste the luxurious life for one night before his deep feelings of humiliation push him over the edge.

A high-concept big-budget movie from director Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day"), it's about a climatological disaster that ravages the world beyond recognition. As millions of terrified survivors flee south, Professor Adrian Hall (Dennis Quaid), a brilliant paleoclimatologist, heads to New York City — now a frozen wasteland — in search of his son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), who may still be alive.

Jim Jarmusch's ensemble comedy is a series of vignettes, all revolving around discussions held over coffee and cigarettes. Starring a diverse cast, including Bill Murray, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, Cate Blanchett, and others, the film has been in production since the 1980s and is in black and white. Topics of conversation include Nicola Tesla, alternative medicine, Paris, the movie industry, and more.

John C. Reilly ("Chicago"), Diego Luna ("Y Tu Mama Tambien") and Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Secretary") star in a contemporary caper movie set in Los Angeles. It's the story of an extremely odd couple: a young Latino man who will do anything for his family (Luna) and a 30-something scheming white guy who will do anything to his family (Reilly). One wants to save his father. The other wants to get rich, in any way possible. So when they come across one of the most valuable pieces of currency in U.S. history, they're suddenly stuck together, and that's just . . . criminal. All they have to do is sell it, which is where the real problems begin. And of course the only way out is family: the one person who can help them, hates them: the schemer's sister (Gyllenhaal).

"De-lovely" is an original musical portrait of American composer Cole Porter, filled with his unforgettable songs. In the film, Porter is looking back on his life as if it was one of his spectacular stage shows, with the people and events of his life becoming the actors and action onstage. Through elaborate production numbers and legendary hits like "Anything Goes," "It's De-lovely," and "Night and Day," Porter's elegant, excessive past comes to light - including his deeply complicated relationship with his wife and muse, Linda Lee Porter. Directed by Academy Award-winner Irwin Winkler from a script by Jay Cocks and starring Oscar-winner Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, and Jonathan Pryce in addition to some of today's biggest rock and pop music stars, "De-lovely" is a sparkling celebration of Porter's music as well as a stirring exploration of the artist's journey and the undying power of love.

Based on a concept the director and Abbas Kiarostami developed on a photography trip together, a man and a young woman (Leila Hatami of Leila) are stranded in a remote village after their car breaks down. The photographer and the sole adult male inhabitant, a schoolteacher, leave to get help while the young woman, herself childless, bonds with the children whose parents are nowhere to be found.

Winner of over 22 film festival awards, "Robot Stories" is science fiction from the heart, four stories in which utterly human characters struggle to connect in a world of robot babies and android office workers. The stories include: "My Robot Baby," in which a couple must care for a robot baby before adopting a human child; "The Robot Fixer," in which a mother tries to connect with her dying son by completing his toy robot collection; "Machine Love," in which an office worker android learns that he, too, needs love; and "Clay," in which an old sculptor must choose between natural death and digital immortality.

A widowed schoolteacher flees Nazi-occupied Paris with her children, and encounters a teenage boy who steers them into the forest -- their best shot at survival.

Centers on a woman who travels with her lover to the jungle and discovers trouble in the form of murder and greed.

When the owner of a Baltimore working class convenience store, Sylvia Stickles (Tracey Ullman), suffers a concussion, the injury causes a drastic change in her sexual drive, turning her into a sex addict with crazy, wild and urgent desires and compulsions, much to the joy and then frustration of her husband (Chris Isaak) who has trouble keeping up with her, as her new personality threatens to tear apart the remnants of what wasn't an entirely perfect family to begin with.

In 1992, Nick Broomfield made his first documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, and this follow-up comes a year after Wuornos' execution for killing six men during her years as a Florida prostitute. Wuornos gave Broomfield the last interview of her life, and this film includes scenes of Broomfield testifying about his experiences with her.

The story of the life of artist Ray Johnson is cloaked in mystery not only at the moment of his death, but also throughout a career that was difficult to know and understand. As one of the seminal figures of the Pop Art era, he is known as "the founding father of mail art" and as a "collagist extraordinaire." But, overshadowed by those like Warhol who manipulated the world in a very dissimilar manner, he was also a reclusive and sometimes enigmatic figure who has been called "New York's most famous unknown artist" that challenged the commercial and critical establishment.

A chronicle that depicts the human cost of the U.S. Justice Department's campaign against Arab or Muslim immigrants during the post-9/11 frenzy to combat terrorism. While few question the need to undertake measures to protect national security, the sweeping detention, arbitrary arrests and confinement (often without any family communication or legal representation), and subsequent deportation and/or ongoing imprisonment make a mockery of fundamental American principles like the presumption of innocence. Using a bare room and mostly static camera, the filmmakers record a series of encounters with a diverse range of detainees and family members and present them seemingly without much need for skill. But in fact, the subtle and creative direction of these individual and ultimately cumulative portraits belies the effortless appearance of the presentation and produces a simultaneous poignancy and disbelieving outrage. You may feel that you already know all about the issues and experiences communicated in Persons of Interest. Think again. The specific details of these disrupted lives speak volumes. Not since the massive internment of another ethnic group during World War II has the United States experienced such a massive assault on basic civil liberties.

In 1974, the New York City music scene was shocked into consciousness by the violently new and raw sound of a band of misfits from Queens, called The Ramones. Playing in a seedy Bowery bar to a small group of fellow struggling musicians, the band struck a chord of disharmony that rocked the foundation of the mid-'70s music scene. This quartet of unlikely rock stars traveled across the country and around the world connecting with the disenfranchised everywhere, while sparking a movement that would resonate with two generations of outcasts across the globe. Although the band never reached the top of the Billboard charts, it managed to endure by maintaining a rigorous touring schedule for 22 years.

"Secret Things" is the story of two gorgeous young women who discover the power of sex as a tool to climb the social ladder. Sandrine and Natalie work at a strip club; Natalie performs an erotic act on stage while Sandrine serves drinks. After they are both fired, the two become roommates and Natalie begins training Sandrine in the art of the courtesan. Erotic lessons on how to pleasure oneself and others, how to seduce and not be seduced, public nudity and sex and the art of the fake orgasm are all part of their plan to take on the world of men. Their top prize is Christophe, a charming heir apparent and rising star at a large bank. These femme fatales don't bargain for the ultimate cruelty and power of their prey and soon find Christophe, a man who controls all he meets, their ultimate match.