Jeanne and the Perfect Guy

Jeanne loves men. One day, she finds herself drawn to a man named Olivier. Olivier is a HIV positive patient and told that his life won’t last longer that 6 month. After she visits him in the hospital, Olivier decides to go home with his parents without telling Jeanne. Finding this out, Jeanne struggles hard to find him. She finds him though, but really late for Olivier.

Genre: Art/Foreign, Comedy, Drama, Musical, Romance
Starring: Virginie Ledoyen, Mathieu Demy, Jacques Bonnaffe, Valerie Bonneton, Frederic Gorny
Director: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau
Release Date: April 16, 1999

Water

From the courageous and provocative filmmaker Deepa Mehta comes WATER, the profoundly moving and compellingly vibrant story of India's 'widow houses,' where women of all ages are taken to live (even today) apart from society following the deaths of their husbands. Sprinkled with humor, rife with universal emotions and alive with visual excitement, the story of WATER follows three widows who dared to stand up for themselves in the liberating time of Mahatma Gandhi. Seven years in the making, WATER was nearly undone by fierce political controversy when the film's India-based production triggered violent protests by Hindu fundamentalists and was forced to shut down and remount the production - years later, under a shroud of secrecy in the neighboring country of Sri Lanka. But at the film's debut, opening the 2005 Toronto Film Festival, Mehta's unflinching and passionate filmmaking resulted in a rousing standing ovation and critical acclaim. 'After making WATER, I feel I could retire. That is how satisfied I am,' Mehta said at the time.

Genre: Drama, Musical, Mystery and Romance
Starring: Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Waheeda Rehman, Rishma Malik
Director: Deepa Mehta
Release Date: May 12, 2006

Romance and Cigarettes (2005)

Romance and Cigarettes is a down-and-dirty musical love story set in the world of the working class. Nick (James Gandolfini) is an ironworker who builds and repairs bridges. He's married to Kitty (Susan Sarandon), a dressmaker, a strong and gentle woman with whom he has three daughters. He is carrying on a torrid affair with a redheaded woman named Tula (Kate Winslet). Nick is basically a good, hardworking man driven forward by will and blinded by his urges. Like Oedipus at Colonus, he is sent into exile and searches to find his way back through the damage he has done. In an imaginative, humorous, and touching way, Romance and Cigarettes explores the cost and value of a relationship through life and death. When the characters can no longer express themselves with language, they break into song, lip-synching the tunes lodged in their subconscious. It is their way to escape the harsh reality of their world - to dream, to remember, and to connect to another human being.

Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance
Starring: James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Julia Stiles, Christopher Walken
Director: John Turturro
Release Date: August 19, 2005 Limited

Once Upon a Mattress (2004)

Once upon a time, Queen Aggravain states a rule that none may marry until her son, Prince Dauntless marries. Her son doesn't ask for that. Instead, the queen has sabotaged every princess that comes along. Meanwhile, Sir Harry and Lady Larken learn that they are going to be parents, wed or not. So, Sir Harry, the King, goes off to the swamps and brings back Princess Winnifred (called Fred by her friends). Knowing this, Queen Aggravain arranges plan to get her out of the kingdom, but the plan will be much less-successful than what is wanted because Fred has her father and the Jester as her back-ups.

Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance
Starring: Carol Burnett, Denis O'Hare, Matthew Morrison, Tracey Ullman, Zooey Deschanel,
Director: Kathleen Marshall
Distributor: American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Release Date: December 18, 2005
Writer: Dean Fuller, Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer, Mary Rodgers

Gloomy Sunday (2003)

Budapest in the thirties. The restaurant owner Laszlo hires the pianist András to play in his restaurant. Both men fall in love with the beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires András to his only composition. His song of Gloomy Sunday is, at first, loved and then feared, for its melancholic melody triggers off a chain of suicides. The fragile balance of the erotic ménage à trois is sent off kilter when the German Hans goes and falls in love with Ilona as well.

Genre: Art/Foreign, Drama, Musical/Performing Arts, Romance
Duration: 1 hr. 52 min.
Starring: Erica Marozsan, András Bálint, Joachim Krol, Stefano Dionisi, Ben Becker,
Director: Rolf Schubel
Producer: Richard Schops
Distributor: Menemsha Films
Release Date: June 20, 2003 Chicago; November 7, 2003 NY/LA/BO/WA; November 14, 2003 MI.
Writer: Nick Barkow, Rolf Schubel