THE CONSPIRATOR

GENRE:  Crime/ Drama/ Biographical
MADE:  2010
CAST:  Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Tom Wilkinson
DIRECTOR:  Robert Redford
WRITER:  James D. Solomon, Gregory Bernstein

PLOT:  The story of Mary Surratt's trial and attorney, Frederick Aiken, who defended Surratt in court who was charged with conspiring to assassinate President Lincoln.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  The Whistleblower, Philadelphia, A Few Good Men

SCORE:

SPANGLISH

GENRE:  Romance/ Drama/ Comedy
MADE:  2004
CAST:  Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Paz Vega
DIRECTOR:  James L. Brooks
WRITER:  James L. Brooks

PLOT:  John Clasky is a newly celebrated chef with a family and an insecure wife.  They hire a woman recently emigrated from Mexico to handle the house-hold chores.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Fun with Dick and Jane, About A Boy, As Good As It Gets

SCORE:

THE SEA INSIDE

GENRE:  Drama/ Biographical
MADE:  2004
CAST:  Javier Bardem, Belen Rueda, Lola Duenas
DIRECTOR:  Alejandro Amenabar
WRITER:  Alejandro Amenabar, Mateo Gil

PLOT:  A biographical film about Ramon Sampedro who campaigned for 30 years for pro-choice euthanasia brought about by his full body paralysis.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Before Night Falls, Biutiful

SCORE:

HESHER

GENRE:  Drama
MADE:  2010
CAST:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Devin Brochu, Natalie Portman
DIRECTOR:  Spencer Susser
WRITER:  Spencer Susser, David Michod, Brian Charles Frank

PLOT:  When T.J.'s mother dies leaving him and his father, nothing seems right, not even at school where he is bullied constantly by a bigger classmate.  And just when he though life couldn't get any worse he accidentally met Hesher.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Ghost World, Brick, The Station Agent

SCORE:

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS

GENRE:  Action/ Adventure/ Drama
MADE:  2002
CAST:  Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom
DIRECTOR:  Peter Jackson
WRITER:  J.R.R. Tolkien, Fran Walsh, PHilippa boyens, Stephen Sinclair, Peter Jackson

PLOT:  Hobbits Frodo and Sam continue on their journey to destroy the ring that is being sought while allies do their part to fight Isengard.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring, Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

SCORE:

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING

GENRE:  Drama/ Romance
MADE:  1988
CAST:  Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin
DIRECTOR:  Philip Kaufman
WRITER:  Milan Kundera, Jean-Claude Carriere, Philip Kaufman

PLOT:  Based on the book by Milan Kundera, Tomas, Tereza and Sabina find themselves in a love-triangle in the midst of a Soviet invasion.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Last Tango in Paris, In the Mood for Love, The Dreamers

SCORE:

SWINGERS

GENRE:  Comedy/ Drama
MADE:  1996
CAST:  Vince Vaughn, Heather Graham, Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR:  Doug Liman
WRITER:  Jon Favreau

PLOT:  Aspiring actors become regulars in the social scene when Mike needs to get back in the game and find himself a girl, with the help of a few close guy friends he is sure to nab a girl quick, or so he thought.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Go, The Break-up, Couples Retreat

SCORE:

U TURN

GENRE:  Crime/ Drama/ Thriller
MADE:  1997
CAST:  Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, Billy Bob Thornton
DIRECTOR:  Oliver Stone
WRITER:  John Ridley

PLOT:  When Bobby Cooper's car fails on him in a small town in the Southwest he becomes involved with a the beautiful Grace and her husband.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  True Romance, 21 Grams, Wild at Heart

SCORE:

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

GENRE:  Action/ Adventure/ Drama
MADE:  2001
CAST:  Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Ian Holm, Viggo Mortensen
DIRECTOR:  Peter Jackson
WRITER:  J.R.R. Tolkien, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson

PLOT:  Based on J.R.R. Tokien's trilogy, a young hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins is entrusted with an ancient ring that must be destroyed, leading him to begin a journey through distant lands with friends and allies.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  LOTR: The Two Towers, LOTR: The Return of the King, Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

SCORE:

ERIN BROCKOVICH

GENRE:  Biographical/ Drama
MADE:  2000
CAST:  Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, David Brisbin
DIRECTOR:  Steven Soderbergh
WRITER:  Susannah Grant

PLOT:  Based on the true story of a single mother in a small town working as a legal assistant who was the driving force of bringing a large California power company to court regarding the pollution of the city's water supply, which as a result lead to many cases of cancer.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Philadelphia, A Few Good Men, Disclosure

SCORE:

EVERYTHING MUST GO

GENRE:  Drama/ Comedy
MADE:  2010
CAST:  Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall, Christopher Jordan Wallace
DIRECTOR:  Dan Rush
WRITER:  Dan Rush, Raymond Carver

PLOT:  When Nick Halsey falls of the wagon he loses his job of 16 years and his wife, who leaves everything he owns on the front lawn.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Stranger Than Fiction, Cedar Rapids, The Beaver

SCORE:

MOULIN ROUGE!

GENRE:  Music/ Drama/ Romance
MADE:  2001
CAST:  Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo
DIRECTOR:  Baz Luhrmann
WRITER:  Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce

PLOT:  A romantic poet falls for a beautiful but dying performer.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Rome + Juliet, Across the Universe, Big Fish

SCORE:

THE DREAMERS

GENRE:  Drama/ Romance
MADE:  2003
CAST:  Michael Pitt, Louis Garrel, Eva Green
DIRECTOR:  Bernardo Bertolucci
WRITER:  Gilbert Adair

PLOT:  A young American boy studying in Paris in 1968 forms an odd relationship with fraternal twins, Isabelle and Theo.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Last Tango In Paris, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Lolita

SCORE:

ANYWHERE BUT HERE

GENRE:  Comedy/ Drama
MADE:  1999
CAST:  Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman, Hart Bochner
DIRECTOR:  Wayne Wang
WRITER:  Mona Simpson, Alvin Sargent

PLOT:  A mother and daughter move to California to follow the mother's dream, but not every move is all roses.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Where The Heart Is, Garden State, Now and Then

SCORE: