Films with: Balaban, Bob

Altered states

The incredible terrifying tale of a research scientist experimenting with altered states of consciousness, and the horrors he finds in secret landscapes of the mind.

DVD 76

Capote

In 1959, Truman Capote was a popular writer for The New Yorker. He learns about the horrific and senseless murder of a family of four in Halcomb, Kansas. Inspired by the story, Capote and his partner, Harper Lee, travel to the town to do research for an article. However, as Capote digs deeper into the story, he is inspired to expand the project into what would be his greatest work, "In Cold Blood." He arranges extensive interviews with the prisoners, especially with Perry Smith. However, his feelings of compassion for Perry conflicts with his need for closure for his book which only an execution can provide. That conflict and the mixed motives for both interviewer and subject make for a troubling experience that would produce an literary account that would redefine modern non-fiction.

DVD 4125

For your consideration

No-name actors are making a low-budget period drama called "Home for Purim," when an anonymous post on the Internet suggests that one performance is Oscar-worthy. Then, two more cast members get Oscar-related press: buzz in "Variety" and appearances on TV prompt the studio executives to insist on changes in the script in anticipation of a blockbuster. Jump ahead a few months to the days before Oscar nominees are announced: just the possibility of a nomination has changed the actors' lives.

DVD 6484

Ghost world

Two recent high school graduates wreak havoc on all who cross their path, until an oddball loner looking for Miss Right comes into their lives. These social misfits learn the hard way that life after high school gets even weirder than they thought it would.

DVD 2160

Gosford Park

Drama set at the country estate of Sir William McCordle in 1932, showing the lives of upstairs guests and downstairs servants at a hunting party weekend when one of the group is murdered.

DVD 1547

Howl

Allen Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs, and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless, electrifying, and controversial work of his career. Pushing the limits and challenging the mainstream, the passionate and provocative Howl and its publisher find themselves on trial for obscenity, with prosecutor Ralph McIntosh setting out to have the book banned, while defense attorney Jake Ehrlich fervently argues for freedom of speech and creative expression.

DVD 1195

Isle of dogs

In a near-future dystopian Japan where all dogs have been banished to a trash island after a flu outbreak, twelve-year-old Atari sets out for the island to find his lost dog Spots.

DVD 12688

Mexican

Jerry has to do one last errand for the mob before they let him find employment elsewhere--he has to go to Mexico and recover a rare and very valuable pistol "The Mexican", which is said to be cursed. While his girlfriend, Samantha, objects to Jerry taking the assignment, he isn't in much of a position to argue. Once in Mexico, Jerry finds the pistol easily enough, but making his way back to the States proves to be an unexpected challenge. Meanwhile, his mob connection hires Leroy, a hitman, to kidnap Samantha and hold her hostage until Jerry comes back.

DVD 8909

Mighty wind

In this mock-documentary, three folk groups from the 60's--Mitch and Mickey, the Folksmen, and the New Main Street Singers--reunite for a memorial concert in New York City following the death of a legendary folk manager.

DVD 3008

Monuments men

An unlikely World War II platoon has been tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. With the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could they possibly succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time, they would risk their lives to protect mankind's greatest achievements.

DVD 10405

Show me a hero

In an America generations removed from the greatest civil rights struggles of the 1960s, the young mayor of a mid-sized American city is faced with a federal court order that says he must build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of his town. His attempt to do so tears the entire city apart, paralyzes the municipal government and, ultimately, destroys the mayor and his political future.

DVD 11570

Waiting for Guffman

Corky St. Clair has created an ambitious musical celebrating his town's 150th anniversary, and dreams of making it big on Broadway.

DVD 2136