Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir by Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes is an alternately funny and heartbreaking look at growing up in Ireland. Born in Brooklyn, NY, young Frank (Joe Breen) moves at an early age to Limerick, Ireland, with his parents Angela (Emily Watson) and Malachy (Robert Carlyle), who have been unable to support their family in America and are hoping for better prospects in their home country. But things hardly improve once they settle in Limerick; as McCourt puts it, "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Illness and death are commonplace in Limerick, and Malachy's drinking and inability to hold a job make matters worse. Angela's Ashes was directed by Alan Parker, who previously looked at Irish life in The Commitments (1991); Laura Jones wrote the screenplay. watch
Harry Burk Jr. and the American ambassador are kidnapped by Colombian drug dealers seeking the release of some colleagues jailed in the U.S. Unfortunately for the hostages, the U.S. government refuses to get involved. Robert Duvall is hired as a mercenary to rescue the hostage. watch
Stacy Keach ("American History X," "Escape from L.A.") and Sondra Locke ("The Outlaw Josey Wales," "Sudden Impact") made their film debuts in Carson McCuller's poignant story of a deaf mute (Academy Award-winner Alan Arkin - "Little Miss Sunshine," "Slums of Beverly Hills") who brings warmth into the lives of lonely people in a small Southern town, particularly to a sensitive 14-year-old girl who becomes his staunch friend after an initial period of hostility. Locke and Arkin earned Oscar nominations for their performances. Directed by Robert Ellis Miller ("Hawks," "Any Wednesday"). watch
