Connection
Steven Zaillian is a Director, Scriptwriter, Producer, Editor and Thanks American born on 30 january 1953 at Fresno (USA)
Among those, 15 have good markets following the box office.
Here are the best films classified by number of entries :
Directed by Brian De Palma
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Action, Adventure, Spy
Themes Spy films, Transport films, Rail transport films, Road movies, Heist films, Chase films, Gangster films, Escroquerie
Actors Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Henry Czerny, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames
Roles Story
Rating71%
Several years after the events of the series, Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) and his team, the Impossible Mission Force, are assigned to retrieve the IMF non-official cover list from the American embassy in Prague. Their mission fails: Phelps is shot point blank, his wife Claire (Emmanuelle Beart) dies in a car bombing, and the rest of the team except agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) are eliminated by an unknown assassin. Meeting later with IMF director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny), Hunt learns the job was a setup designed to lure out a mole within IMF, whom IMF believes to be in contact with an arms dealer known as "Max" as part of "Job 314." As Hunt is the only member left, Kittridge suspects him of being the mole, and Hunt flees.
Directed by Ridley Scott
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry, Tiré d'une œuvre de Thomas Harris
Actors Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Ray Liotta, Frankie Faison, Giancarlo Giannini
Rating67%
Ten years after tracking down serial killer Jame Gumb, FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling (Moore) is unjustly blamed for a bungled drug raid. Starling and her connection to Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) come to the attention of Lecter's only surviving victim, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman), a wealthy child molester whom Lecter left paralyzed and horribly disfigured during a therapy session.
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Biography, Historical
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about religion, Films about psychiatry, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall, Embeth Davidtz
Rating86%
In Kraków during World War II, the Germans had forced local Polish Jews into the overcrowded Kraków Ghetto. Oskar Schindler, an ethnic German, arrives in the city hoping to make his fortune. A member of the Nazi Party, Schindler lavishes bribes on Wehrmacht (German armed forces) and SS officials and acquires a factory to produce enamelware. To help him run the business, Schindler enlists the aid of Itzhak Stern, a local Jewish official who has contacts with black marketeers and the Jewish business community. Stern helps Schindler arrange loans to finance the factory. Schindler maintains friendly relations with the Nazis and enjoys wealth and status as "Herr Direktor", and Stern handles administration. Schindler hires Jewish workers because they cost less, while Stern ensures that as many people as possible are deemed essential to the German war effort, which saves them from being transported to concentration camps or killed.
Directed by Ridley Scott
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure, Historical, Peplum
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about slavery, Films about religion, Films based on the Bible, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro, Indira Varma
Rating59%
In 1300 BC, Moses, a general and member of the royal family, prepares to attack the Hittite army with Prince Ramesses. A High Priestess of Sekhmet (the war goddess) divines a prophecy from animal intestines, which she relates to Ramesses' father, Seti I. He tells the two men of the prophecy, in which one (of Moses and Ramesses) will save the other and become a leader. During the attack on the Hittites, Moses saves Ramesses' life, leaving both men troubled. Later, Moses is sent to the city of Pithom to meet with the Viceroy Hegep, who oversees the Hebrew slaves. Upon his arrival, he encounters the slave Joshua, who is the descendant of Joseph, and Moses is appalled by the horrific conditions of the slaves. Shortly afterwards, Moses meets Nun, who informs him of his true lineage; he is the child of Hebrew parents who was sent by his sister Miriam to be raised by Pharaoh's daughter. Moses is stunned at the revelation and leaves angrily. However, two Hebrews also overhear Nun's story and report their discovery to Hegep.
Directed by Ridley Scott
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Biography, Mob film, Crime
Themes Mafia films, Medical-themed films, Films about music and musicians, Films about drugs, Films about racism, Hip hop films, Political films, Gangster films
Actors Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Ted Levine, Cuba Gooding Jr., Josh Brolin, RZA
Rating77%
In 1968, Frank Lucas, the limo driver-turned-right-hand man of Harlem gangster Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, inherits Johnson's gang when Johnson dies of a heart attack. Disliking the new, flashy gangsters of the neighborhood, Lucas decides to take control of Harlem's crime scene.
, 2h38
Directed by David Fincher
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Films about families, Films about sexuality, Rape in fiction, Serial killer films, Rape and revenge films
Actors Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Yorick van Wageningen, Stellan Skarsgård, Steven Berkoff
Roles Writer
Rating77%
In Stockholm, Sweden, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, co-owner of Millennium magazine, has lost a libel case brought against him by businessman Hans-Erik Wennerström. Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant but troubled investigator and hacker, compiles an extensive background check on Blomkvist for business magnate Henrik Vanger, who has a special task for him. In exchange for the promise of damning information about Wennerström, Blomkvist agrees to investigate the disappearance and assumed murder of Henrik's grandniece, Harriet, 40 years ago. After moving to the Vanger family's compound, Blomkvist uncovers a notebook containing a list of names and numbers that no one has been able to decipher.
Directed by Phillip Noyce
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Politic
Themes Spy films, Medical-themed films, Politique, Films about drugs, Political films
Actors Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Miguel Sandoval, Belita Moreno, Joaquim de Almeida, James Earl Jones
Rating68%
A U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat stops a suspicious yacht, discovering that an American businessman and his family have been murdered by several men operating the craft. The murdered man happens to have been a close friend of the President. President Bennett (Moffat) learns that the man was murdered because of his ties to a drug cartel, having skimmed over $650 million from it. The President tells James Cutter (Yulin), his National Security Advisor, that Colombian drug cartels represent a "clear and present danger" to the U.S., indirectly giving him unofficial permission to kill the men responsible for his friend's murder. When Vice Admiral Jim Greer (Jones) is stricken with terminal cancer, Jack Ryan (Ford) is appointed Deputy Director of Intelligence and is asked to go before the U.S. Congress to request increased funding for ongoing (CIA) operations in Colombia.
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Historical, Crime
Themes Films about alcoholism, Films about immigration, Mafia films, Films about racism, Films about sexuality, La précarité, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Political films, Erotic thriller films, Gangster films
Actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Henry Thomas, Jim Broadbent
Rating74%
On February 6, 1846, at Paradise Square in Lower Manhattan's Five Points, a territorial battle of hand-to-hand combat between Bill "the Butcher" Cutting's U.S.-born nativist gang, the Natives, and "Priest" Vallon's Irish Catholic immigrant gang, the Dead Rabbits, concludes when Cutting kills Vallon, witnessed by Vallon's young son, Amsterdam. Cutting declares the Dead Rabbits outlawed but orders that Vallon's body be buried with honor. Amsterdam seizes the knife used to kill his father, races off, and buries it along with a medal his father gave him. He is later raised at Hellgate orphanage.
Directed by Phillip Noyce
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime, Politic
Themes Spy films, Politique, Films about religion, Films about terrorism, Political films, Conflit nord-irlandais
Actors Harrison Ford, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin, Sean Bean, Thora Birch, James Earl Jones
Rating67%
Retired CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Ford) is on vacation with his family in London. They witness a terrorist attack on Lord William Holmes (Fox), British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Ryan intervenes and is injured, but he kills one of the assailants, Patrick Miller, while his older brother Sean (Bean) looks on. The remaining attackers flee, as Sean is apprehended by the police. While recovering, Ryan is called to testify in court against Miller, who is part of a splinter cell of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Miller is later convicted for his crimes.
Directed by Sydney Pollack
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Films set in Africa, Monde imaginaire, Politique, Political films, Films about language and translation
Actors Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Jesper Christensen, Yvan Attal, Earl Cameron
Roles Auteur
Rating63%
Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is an interpreter working at the United Nations in New York City. She was raised in the Republic of Matobo, a fictional African country, but has dual citizenship. The U.N. is considering indicting Edmond Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), Matobo's president, to stand trial in the International Criminal Court. Initially a liberator, over the past 20 years he has become as corrupt and tyrannical as the government he overthrew, and is now responsible for ethnic cleansing and other atrocities within Matobo. Zuwanie is soon to visit the U.N. and put forward his own case to the General Assembly, in an attempt to avoid the indictment.
Directed by Bennett Miller
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Comedy-drama
Themes Sports films, Baseball films
Actors Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Casey Bond, Chris Pratt
Rating75%
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is upset by his team's loss to the New York Yankees in the 2001 postseason, after the Yankees overcome a 2-0 series lead. With the impending departure of star players Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Jason Isringhausen to free agency, Beane needs to assemble a competitive team for 2002, but must overcome Oakland's limited payroll. During a visit to the Cleveland Indians, Beane meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a young Yale economics graduate with radical ideas about how to assess players' value. Beane tests Brand's theory by asking whether he would have drafted him (out of high school), Beane having been a Major League player before becoming general manager. Though scouts considered Beane a phenomenal prospect, his career in the Major Leagues was disappointing. After some prodding, Brand admits that he would not have drafted him until the ninth round and that Beane would probably have accepted a scholarship to Stanford instead. Beane hires the inexperienced Brand to be the Athletics assistant general manager.
Directed by Steven Zaillian
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Environmental films
Actors John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, Željko Ivanek, Bruce Norris
Rating65%
Environmental toxins in the city of Woburn, Massachusetts contaminate the area's water supply, and become linked to a number of deaths of neighboring children. Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta), a cocky and successful Boston attorney who zips around town in his Porsche, and his small firm of personal injury lawyers are asked by Woburn resident Anne Anderson (Kathleen Quinlan) to take legal action against those responsible.
Directed by Penny Marshall
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Films about psychiatry, Films set in psychiatric hospitals
Actors Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, John Heard, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson, Penelope Ann Miller
Rating77%
In 1969, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) is a dedicated and caring physician at a local hospital in the New York City borough of The Bronx. After working extensively with the catatonic patients who survived the 1917–1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica, Sayer discovers certain stimuli will reach beyond the patients' respective catatonic states; actions such as catching a ball, hearing familiar music, and experiencing human touch all have unique effects on particular patients and offer a glimpse into their worlds. Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro) proves elusive in this regard, but Sayer soon discovers that Leonard is able to communicate with him by using a Ouija board.
Directed by Steven Zaillian
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography
Themes Jeu, Sports films, Films about chess
Actors Max Pomeranc, Joe Mantegna, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley, Laurence Fishburne, Robert Stephens
Rating73%
Josh Waitzkin's family discovers that he possesses a gift for chess and they seek to nurture it. They hire a strict instructor, Bruce Pandolfini (played by Ben Kingsley) who aims to teach the boy to be as aggressive as chess legend Bobby Fischer. The title of the film is a metaphor about the character's quest to adopt the ideal of Fischer and his determination to win at any price. Josh is also heavily influenced by Vinnie, a speed chess hustler (Laurence Fishburne) whom he met in Washington Square Park. The two coaches differ greatly in their approaches to chess, and Pandolfini is upset that Josh continues to adopt the methods of Vinnie. The main conflict in the film arises when Josh refuses to accept Fischer's misanthropic frame of reference. Josh then goes on to win on his own terms.
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Crime
Themes Films about animals, Environmental films, Seafaring films, Transport films, Cétacé, Documentary films about animal rights, Documentary films about law, Documentary films about environmental issues, Political films, Documentary films about nature, Mise en scène d'un cétacé
Actors Hayden Panettiere, Isabel Lucas, Louie Psihoyos
Roles Thanks
Rating83%
The film follows former dolphin trainer and activist Ric O'Barry's quest to document the dolphin hunting operations in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. In the 1960s, O'Barry helped capture and train the five wild dolphins who shared the role of "Flipper" in the hit television series of the same name. The show, very popular, fueled widespread public adoration of dolphins, influencing the development of marine parks that included dolphins in their attractions. After one of the dolphins, in O'Barry's opinion, committed a form of suicide in his arms by closing her blowhole voluntarily in order to suffocate, O'Barry came to see the dolphin's captivity and the dolphin capture industry as a curse, not a blessing. Days later, he was arrested off the island of Bimini, attempting to cut a hole in the sea pen in order to set free a captured dolphin. Since then, according to the film, O'Barry has dedicated himself full-time as an advocate on behalf of dolphins around the world.
Steven Zaillian
- Infos
- Photos
- Best films
- Family
- Characters
- Awards
Among those, 15 have good markets following the box office.
Here are the best films classified by number of entries :
Scriptwriter
Add to a movie listMission: Impossible (1996)
, 1h50Directed by Brian De Palma
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Action, Adventure, Spy
Themes Spy films, Transport films, Rail transport films, Road movies, Heist films, Chase films, Gangster films, Escroquerie
Actors Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Henry Czerny, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames
Roles Story
Rating71%
Several years after the events of the series, Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) and his team, the Impossible Mission Force, are assigned to retrieve the IMF non-official cover list from the American embassy in Prague. Their mission fails: Phelps is shot point blank, his wife Claire (Emmanuelle Beart) dies in a car bombing, and the rest of the team except agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) are eliminated by an unknown assassin. Meeting later with IMF director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny), Hunt learns the job was a setup designed to lure out a mole within IMF, whom IMF believes to be in contact with an arms dealer known as "Max" as part of "Job 314." As Hunt is the only member left, Kittridge suspects him of being the mole, and Hunt flees.
Hannibal (2001)
, 2h5Directed by Ridley Scott
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry, Tiré d'une œuvre de Thomas Harris
Actors Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Ray Liotta, Frankie Faison, Giancarlo Giannini
Rating67%
Ten years after tracking down serial killer Jame Gumb, FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling (Moore) is unjustly blamed for a bungled drug raid. Starling and her connection to Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) come to the attention of Lecter's only surviving victim, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman), a wealthy child molester whom Lecter left paralyzed and horribly disfigured during a therapy session.
Schindler's List (1993)
, 3h17Directed by Steven Spielberg
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Biography, Historical
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about religion, Films about psychiatry, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall, Embeth Davidtz
Rating86%
In Kraków during World War II, the Germans had forced local Polish Jews into the overcrowded Kraków Ghetto. Oskar Schindler, an ethnic German, arrives in the city hoping to make his fortune. A member of the Nazi Party, Schindler lavishes bribes on Wehrmacht (German armed forces) and SS officials and acquires a factory to produce enamelware. To help him run the business, Schindler enlists the aid of Itzhak Stern, a local Jewish official who has contacts with black marketeers and the Jewish business community. Stern helps Schindler arrange loans to finance the factory. Schindler maintains friendly relations with the Nazis and enjoys wealth and status as "Herr Direktor", and Stern handles administration. Schindler hires Jewish workers because they cost less, while Stern ensures that as many people as possible are deemed essential to the German war effort, which saves them from being transported to concentration camps or killed.
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
, 2h30Directed by Ridley Scott
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure, Historical, Peplum
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about slavery, Films about religion, Films based on the Bible, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro, Indira Varma
Rating59%
In 1300 BC, Moses, a general and member of the royal family, prepares to attack the Hittite army with Prince Ramesses. A High Priestess of Sekhmet (the war goddess) divines a prophecy from animal intestines, which she relates to Ramesses' father, Seti I. He tells the two men of the prophecy, in which one (of Moses and Ramesses) will save the other and become a leader. During the attack on the Hittites, Moses saves Ramesses' life, leaving both men troubled. Later, Moses is sent to the city of Pithom to meet with the Viceroy Hegep, who oversees the Hebrew slaves. Upon his arrival, he encounters the slave Joshua, who is the descendant of Joseph, and Moses is appalled by the horrific conditions of the slaves. Shortly afterwards, Moses meets Nun, who informs him of his true lineage; he is the child of Hebrew parents who was sent by his sister Miriam to be raised by Pharaoh's daughter. Moses is stunned at the revelation and leaves angrily. However, two Hebrews also overhear Nun's story and report their discovery to Hegep.
American Gangster (2007)
, 2h37Directed by Ridley Scott
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Biography, Mob film, Crime
Themes Mafia films, Medical-themed films, Films about music and musicians, Films about drugs, Films about racism, Hip hop films, Political films, Gangster films
Actors Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Ted Levine, Cuba Gooding Jr., Josh Brolin, RZA
Rating77%
In 1968, Frank Lucas, the limo driver-turned-right-hand man of Harlem gangster Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, inherits Johnson's gang when Johnson dies of a heart attack. Disliking the new, flashy gangsters of the neighborhood, Lucas decides to take control of Harlem's crime scene.
, 2h38Directed by David Fincher
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Films about families, Films about sexuality, Rape in fiction, Serial killer films, Rape and revenge films
Actors Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Yorick van Wageningen, Stellan Skarsgård, Steven Berkoff
Roles Writer
Rating77%
In Stockholm, Sweden, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, co-owner of Millennium magazine, has lost a libel case brought against him by businessman Hans-Erik Wennerström. Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant but troubled investigator and hacker, compiles an extensive background check on Blomkvist for business magnate Henrik Vanger, who has a special task for him. In exchange for the promise of damning information about Wennerström, Blomkvist agrees to investigate the disappearance and assumed murder of Henrik's grandniece, Harriet, 40 years ago. After moving to the Vanger family's compound, Blomkvist uncovers a notebook containing a list of names and numbers that no one has been able to decipher.
Clear and Present Danger (1994)
, 2h21Directed by Phillip Noyce
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Politic
Themes Spy films, Medical-themed films, Politique, Films about drugs, Political films
Actors Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Miguel Sandoval, Belita Moreno, Joaquim de Almeida, James Earl Jones
Rating68%
A U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat stops a suspicious yacht, discovering that an American businessman and his family have been murdered by several men operating the craft. The murdered man happens to have been a close friend of the President. President Bennett (Moffat) learns that the man was murdered because of his ties to a drug cartel, having skimmed over $650 million from it. The President tells James Cutter (Yulin), his National Security Advisor, that Colombian drug cartels represent a "clear and present danger" to the U.S., indirectly giving him unofficial permission to kill the men responsible for his friend's murder. When Vice Admiral Jim Greer (Jones) is stricken with terminal cancer, Jack Ryan (Ford) is appointed Deputy Director of Intelligence and is asked to go before the U.S. Congress to request increased funding for ongoing (CIA) operations in Colombia.
Gangs of New York (2002)
, 2h47Directed by Martin Scorsese
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Historical, Crime
Themes Films about alcoholism, Films about immigration, Mafia films, Films about racism, Films about sexuality, La précarité, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Political films, Erotic thriller films, Gangster films
Actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Henry Thomas, Jim Broadbent
Rating74%
On February 6, 1846, at Paradise Square in Lower Manhattan's Five Points, a territorial battle of hand-to-hand combat between Bill "the Butcher" Cutting's U.S.-born nativist gang, the Natives, and "Priest" Vallon's Irish Catholic immigrant gang, the Dead Rabbits, concludes when Cutting kills Vallon, witnessed by Vallon's young son, Amsterdam. Cutting declares the Dead Rabbits outlawed but orders that Vallon's body be buried with honor. Amsterdam seizes the knife used to kill his father, races off, and buries it along with a medal his father gave him. He is later raised at Hellgate orphanage.
Patriot Games (1992)
, 1h57Directed by Phillip Noyce
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime, Politic
Themes Spy films, Politique, Films about religion, Films about terrorism, Political films, Conflit nord-irlandais
Actors Harrison Ford, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin, Sean Bean, Thora Birch, James Earl Jones
Rating67%
Retired CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Ford) is on vacation with his family in London. They witness a terrorist attack on Lord William Holmes (Fox), British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Ryan intervenes and is injured, but he kills one of the assailants, Patrick Miller, while his older brother Sean (Bean) looks on. The remaining attackers flee, as Sean is apprehended by the police. While recovering, Ryan is called to testify in court against Miller, who is part of a splinter cell of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Miller is later convicted for his crimes.
The Interpreter (2005)
, 2hDirected by Sydney Pollack
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Films set in Africa, Monde imaginaire, Politique, Political films, Films about language and translation
Actors Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Jesper Christensen, Yvan Attal, Earl Cameron
Roles Auteur
Rating63%
Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is an interpreter working at the United Nations in New York City. She was raised in the Republic of Matobo, a fictional African country, but has dual citizenship. The U.N. is considering indicting Edmond Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), Matobo's president, to stand trial in the International Criminal Court. Initially a liberator, over the past 20 years he has become as corrupt and tyrannical as the government he overthrew, and is now responsible for ethnic cleansing and other atrocities within Matobo. Zuwanie is soon to visit the U.N. and put forward his own case to the General Assembly, in an attempt to avoid the indictment.
Moneyball (2011)
, 2h13Directed by Bennett Miller
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Comedy-drama
Themes Sports films, Baseball films
Actors Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Casey Bond, Chris Pratt
Rating75%
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is upset by his team's loss to the New York Yankees in the 2001 postseason, after the Yankees overcome a 2-0 series lead. With the impending departure of star players Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Jason Isringhausen to free agency, Beane needs to assemble a competitive team for 2002, but must overcome Oakland's limited payroll. During a visit to the Cleveland Indians, Beane meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a young Yale economics graduate with radical ideas about how to assess players' value. Beane tests Brand's theory by asking whether he would have drafted him (out of high school), Beane having been a Major League player before becoming general manager. Though scouts considered Beane a phenomenal prospect, his career in the Major Leagues was disappointing. After some prodding, Brand admits that he would not have drafted him until the ninth round and that Beane would probably have accepted a scholarship to Stanford instead. Beane hires the inexperienced Brand to be the Athletics assistant general manager.
Director
A Civil Action (1998)
, 1h55Directed by Steven Zaillian
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Environmental films
Actors John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, Željko Ivanek, Bruce Norris
Rating65%
Environmental toxins in the city of Woburn, Massachusetts contaminate the area's water supply, and become linked to a number of deaths of neighboring children. Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta), a cocky and successful Boston attorney who zips around town in his Porsche, and his small firm of personal injury lawyers are asked by Woburn resident Anne Anderson (Kathleen Quinlan) to take legal action against those responsible.
Scriptwriter
Awakenings (1990)
, 2h1Directed by Penny Marshall
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Films about psychiatry, Films set in psychiatric hospitals
Actors Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, John Heard, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson, Penelope Ann Miller
Rating77%
In 1969, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) is a dedicated and caring physician at a local hospital in the New York City borough of The Bronx. After working extensively with the catatonic patients who survived the 1917–1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica, Sayer discovers certain stimuli will reach beyond the patients' respective catatonic states; actions such as catching a ball, hearing familiar music, and experiencing human touch all have unique effects on particular patients and offer a glimpse into their worlds. Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro) proves elusive in this regard, but Sayer soon discovers that Leonard is able to communicate with him by using a Ouija board.
Director
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
, 1h50Directed by Steven Zaillian
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography
Themes Jeu, Sports films, Films about chess
Actors Max Pomeranc, Joe Mantegna, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley, Laurence Fishburne, Robert Stephens
Rating73%
Josh Waitzkin's family discovers that he possesses a gift for chess and they seek to nurture it. They hire a strict instructor, Bruce Pandolfini (played by Ben Kingsley) who aims to teach the boy to be as aggressive as chess legend Bobby Fischer. The title of the film is a metaphor about the character's quest to adopt the ideal of Fischer and his determination to win at any price. Josh is also heavily influenced by Vinnie, a speed chess hustler (Laurence Fishburne) whom he met in Washington Square Park. The two coaches differ greatly in their approaches to chess, and Pandolfini is upset that Josh continues to adopt the methods of Vinnie. The main conflict in the film arises when Josh refuses to accept Fischer's misanthropic frame of reference. Josh then goes on to win on his own terms.
Team
The Cove (2009)
, 1h27Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Crime
Themes Films about animals, Environmental films, Seafaring films, Transport films, Cétacé, Documentary films about animal rights, Documentary films about law, Documentary films about environmental issues, Political films, Documentary films about nature, Mise en scène d'un cétacé
Actors Hayden Panettiere, Isabel Lucas, Louie Psihoyos
Roles Thanks
Rating83%
The film follows former dolphin trainer and activist Ric O'Barry's quest to document the dolphin hunting operations in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. In the 1960s, O'Barry helped capture and train the five wild dolphins who shared the role of "Flipper" in the hit television series of the same name. The show, very popular, fueled widespread public adoration of dolphins, influencing the development of marine parks that included dolphins in their attractions. After one of the dolphins, in O'Barry's opinion, committed a form of suicide in his arms by closing her blowhole voluntarily in order to suffocate, O'Barry came to see the dolphin's captivity and the dolphin capture industry as a curse, not a blessing. Days later, he was arrested off the island of Bimini, attempting to cut a hole in the sea pen in order to set free a captured dolphin. Since then, according to the film, O'Barry has dedicated himself full-time as an advocate on behalf of dolphins around the world.