Sebastian Sozzi

Choke -- A sex-addicted con man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.

Half Nelson -- A powerful, award-winning film about an inner-city junior high school teacher (Ryan Gosling, The Notebook) with a drug habit who forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students (Shareeka Epps) after she discovers his secret.

Based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club), Choke is a dark and wickedly funny joyride from the depths of sexual compulsion to the heights of the Second Coming! Beside working at a colonial reenactment theme park and trying to hook up with everything on two legs, sex addict Victor Mancini courts the love and money of complete strangers via a demented con that might just kill him. But first, Victor must save his dying, delusional mother (Angelica Houston) by seducing and impregnating her comely physician, a task easier said than done, in this gleefully twisted tale of dysfunction, salvation, love, and libido.

Contemporary film noir favorites Dennis Hopper and Michael Madsen square off in this thriller. After murdering the man who witnessed his daughter kill a pedestrian in a hit-and-run, Henry (Hopper) finds himself the target of a blackmailer (Madsen). But Henry has the chance to gain the upper hand when he helps the extortionist dispose of a body, and thus, a battle of wits ensues between the two men.

A sex-addicted con man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.

A sex-addicted con man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.

A sex-addicted con man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a young inner-city junior high school teacher whose ideals wither and die in the face of reality. Day after day in his shabby Brooklyn classroom, he somehow finds the energy to inspire his 13 and 14-year-olds to examine everything from civil rights to the Civil War with a new enthusiasm. Rejecting the standard curriculum in favor of an edgier approach, Dan teaches his students how change works... on both a historical and personal scale...and how to think for themselves. Though Dan is brilliant, dynamic, and in control in the classroom, he spends his time outside school on the edge of consciousness. His disappointments and disillusionment have led to a serious drug habit. He juggles his hangovers and his homework, keeping his lives separated, until one of his troubled students, Drey (Shareeka Epps), catches him getting high after school. From this awkward beginning, Dan and Drey stumble into an unexpected friendship. Despite the differences in their ages and situations, they are both at an important intersection. Depending on which way they turn - and which choices they make - their lives will change.

Henry, an uptight businessman who sometimes acts with questionable ethics, nevertheless rejects Ron, a scam artist who wants a partner. Ron won't let up, and finds a lever to blackmail Henry, whose daughter Gina has killed a pedestrian in a hit-and-run car accident. To protect Gina, Henry disposes of Ron, but a murderous sociopath witnesses this crime. Henry and this stranger bond in an odd way, telling stories about their childhoods. Henry makes a deal with the stranger, helping to get rid of the body of one of the stranger's victims. Will this act seal a bargain between the two men and get Henry off the hook, or will the stranger threaten Henry and Gina?

When Rafi (Uma Thurman), a 37-year-old single woman, meets David (Bryan Greenberg), a 23-year-old painter, it's love at first sight. But that love gets complicated fast when Rafi discovers that David is also the son of her therapist (Academy Award® winner Meryl Streep)! Professional help is about to get very personal in this entertaining and irresistibly charming hit that critics are calling "a funny and very sexy comedy" (Jess Cagle, WCBS/People Magazine).

Transcending age and race, an improbable friendship between crack-addicted educator Dan Dunne (Oscar-nominated Ryan Gosling) and streetwise middle-schooler Drey (Shareeka Epps) may lead them to deliverance -- or destruction -- in this powerful urban drama. After Drey finds Dunne feeding his habit in a locker room, she becomes a conduit for a life-changing lesson. Gosling and Epps won Independent Spirit awards for their lead roles.

A powerful, award-winning film about an inner-city junior high school teacher (Ryan Gosling, The Notebook) with a drug habit who forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students (Shareeka Epps) after she discovers his secret.