Spotlight
Wondering which films to watch? Spotlight presents thematically grouped, must see films, hand-picked by Fandor's curators.
LOL Drama
“Is it okay to laugh?” This month’s spotlight can be found at the quirky intersection of comedy and drama. Dramedy, which affectionately combines the two genres, is rooted in dramatic stories whose comic elements lighten the mood. Dark comedies, on the other hand take a humorous approach to subjects that are quite serious, morbid, or even taboo. At Fandor, we toe the line. Whether the drama is too absurd, too dark, too real, or too melodramatic, laughter is the best medicine. And to answer the proposed question of whether or not you’re allowed to laugh... we give you permission.
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Selected Films
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Holy Smoke
While on a journey of discovery in exotic India, beautiful young Ruth Barroin falls under the influence of a charismatic religious guru. When she returns home to Australia, her desperate parents hire PJ Waters, a macho cult deprogrammer, who confronts Ruth in a remote desert hideaway. But PJ...Watch Movie
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Buffalo '66
C.I.A. Agent Billy Brown brings his wife home to meet his absurdly dysfunctional family. Only Billy's not really in the C.I.A., and his "wife," Layla, is actually a young tap dancer he just kidnapped to impress his ridiculous and unloving parents. In reality, Billy's whole life is an empty lie....Watch Movie
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Dark Horse
In his mid-30s, Abe (Jordan Gelber) clings to the trappings of his adolescence, including the extensive collection of toys and action figures adorning his boyhood bedroom. Still living with his parents Jackie (Christopher Walken) and Phyllis (Mia Farrow), Abe works for his increasingly...Watch Movie
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The Seduction of Mimi
THE SEDUCTION OF MIMI is a raucous comedy that brought international fame to director Lina Wertmuller. Giancarlo Giannini gives a wonderfully comic performance as the sad sack Mimi, a Sicilian laborer whose refusal to vote for the Mafia's candidate leads him to lose his job,...Watch Movie
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Funny Ha Ha
Marnie is 23 and "wandering the Earth," perhaps in search of romance, or employment--or perhaps just avoiding both. Mostly she's just trying to keep her sense of humor as a constellation of friends and would-be lovers engage in their own post-collegiate flailing around her. Rarely have the loose,...Watch Movie
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Fear and Trembling
A dream job rapidly becomes a nightmare for Amelie, a Japanese-born Belgian woman, who suffers a series of increasingly humiliating demotions after she lands a job as an interpreter at a large Japanese corporation. Sylvie Testud earned the French equivalent of the Academy...Watch Movie
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The Maid
After twenty-three years working as a devoted maid in an upper class Chilean household, embittered and ailing Raquel can no longer care for the family alone. Trapped by guilt, matriarch Pilar refuses to let Raquel go, even though it is clear their longtime maid is slowly unraveling. Instead,...Watch Movie
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Alps
ALPS is a mysterious and moving investigation into the process of mourning, a stunningly original follow-up to director Yorgos Lanthimos' Academy Award®-nominated debut, DOGTOOTH. An oddball group of four people (made up of two hospital employees, a gymnast and her coach) form a secret society...Watch Movie
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Ned Rifle
NED RIFLE is the third and final chapter of Hal Hartley's tragicomic epic which began with HENRY FOOL and continued with FAY GRIM. At once a saga concerning the Grim family of Woodside, Queens, and how their lives are turned upside down by the arrival of the self-proclaimed genius, Henry Fool,...Watch Movie
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Hello I Must Be Going
Selected as the opening night film for Sundance 2012, HELLO I MUST BE GOING features acclaimed actress Melanie Lynskey in her breakout role as Amy, a recent divorcée who seeks refuge in the suburban Connecticut home of her parents. Demoralized and uncertain of her future, Amy...Watch Movie
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Li'l Quinquin
Bruno Dumont proves as eccentric and engaging a director of comedy as he is of enigmatic art house drama with LI'L QUINQUIN, a four-part miniseries with the strangest genre mix this side of TWIN PEAKS. There is a tale of adolescent boredom and mischievous antics over a summer vacation in rural...Watch Movie
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Female Pervert
Phoebe is seeking a true connection, unfortunately she doesn't relate to people like most in "normal society." She starts making changes, and as her road to self improvement unfolds, her more eccentric interests lead her down a darker path. She meets a few men, hoping to spark a love connection....Watch Movie
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Nothing Sacred
He's an unscrupulous newspaperman eager to exploit the story of a young woman's death by radium poisoning. She knows she's not really dying but can't pass up a free trip to New York with all the trimmings. So begins William Wellman's wonderful black comedy NOTHING SACRED, starring Frederic March...Watch Movie
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A Shock to the System
A middle-aged advertising executive loses his long-awaited promotion to a younger man. In frustration, he accidentally pushes a panhandler in front of a subway train... and gets away with the death. Realizing that committing murder might be a little easier than he previously...Watch Movie
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Boy
During summer break in 1984, eleven-year-old Michael Jackson fanatic "Boy" (James Rolleston) has the adventure of his life. With his mother dead and father AWOL, Boy becomes the head of a household full of kids when his Nana leaves town for a funeral. It starts as just another few weeks of...Watch Movie
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Wish 143
Nominated for the 2011 Academy Award® for Live Action Short Film. When a fifteen-year-old boy discovers he has months to live he is granted one wish from the Dreamscape Charity. However, David doesn't want to go to Disneyland or meet a star footballer, what he really wants is an hour alone with a...Watch Movie
