Creation (2009)

What happens when a world-renowned scientist, crushed by the loss of his eldest daughter, formulates a theory in conflict with religious dogma? This is the story of Charles Darwin and his master-work "The Origin of Species". It tells of a global revolution played out the confines of a small English village; a passionate marriage torn apart by the most dangerous idea in history; and a theory saved from extinction by the logic of a child. As renowned scientist Charles Darwin struggles to accept his young daughter's death, he finds himself torn between his love for his god-fearing wife and his growing belief in a world that is its own perpetual creation. 

Director: Jon Amiel 

Writers: John Collee (screenplay) and Jon Amiel (story) 

Stars: Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly and Ian Kelly 

More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974014/

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

Anne and Mary Boleyn are under pressure from their father and uncle to help maintain the family's rich legacy and ensure their further prosperity by winning the affections of none other than the king of England. But life in the royal court is far different than it was in the countryside where these two sisters were raised, and before long their bid to earn the love of the king has transformed two once-happy sisters into bitter rivals. At first, it appears that Mary has triumphed in winning the king's favor by becoming his mistress and bearing him an illegitimate child. Despite her early success, however, Mary has underestimated just how clever and cunning her sibling can truly be. Not only does the relentless Anne manage to edge aside her sister in the eyes of King Henry, but she also succeeds in averting his gaze from his wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon, as well. Mary is driven by genuine affection for King Henry, while her sister Anne has only kept up the charade in a desperate bid to become the queen of England. Now, the growing chasm between two sisters is mirrored on a larger scale as England becomes divided more than ever before. As the consequences of their actions threaten to alter the course of an entire nation, these two sisters will ultimately discover that the only place they will find true strength and loyalty is in family, and that no matter what the consequences they will forever be bound by blood.

Director: Justin Chadwick
Writers: Peter Morgan (screenplay) and Philippa Gregory (novel)
Stars: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana
More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467200/

Deacons for Defense (2005)

1965. Not long after passage of the Civil Rights Act. To the African-American citizens of Bogalusa, LA, however, it is "business as usual"; they are still treated like third-class citizens, their fundamental rights as human beings persistently trampled by the white power structure, in general, and the local branch of the KKK, in particular. Like many of the local black men, war veteran Marcus works in the town's mill for meager wages, and must endure the ongoing humiliation meted out by his white supervisors. But when he is beaten up by the police for the "outrage" of trying to defend his own daughter, Marcus is pushed too far. Encouraged by an idealistic white Northerner, Marcus organizes the Deacons, an all-black defense group dedicated to patrolling the black section of town and protecting its residents from the more violent aspects of "white backlash." 

Director: Bill Duke
Writers: Michael D'Antonio (story) and Richard Wesley (teleplay)
Stars: Forest Whitaker, Chris Britton and Jonathan Silverman
More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335034/

Marie Antoinette (2006)

The story begins in the late-18th century as the Austrian Archduchess Marie Antoinette agrees to marry Louis-Auguste. After bidding adieu to her mother, Maria Theresa, she travels to France, where King Louis XV sets the rules -- and the list is endless (Comtesse de Noailles is the primary enforcer). As for the Dauphin, he's just a boy, really, with more interest in his key collection than their marriage bed. Should Marie produce an heir, it might be enough to sustain her -- since life is nothing but an endless shopping spree -- but clouds gather on the horizon as an impoverished populace rises up against their extravagant leaders.

Director: Sofia Coppola
Writer: Sofia Coppola
Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman and Rip Torn
More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422720/

Chapter 27 (2007)

On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman shocked the world by murdering the beloved purveyor of peace, 40-year-old musician and activist John Lennon, outside The Dakota, his New York apartment building. Chapman's motives were fabricated from pure delusion, fueled by an obsession with the fictional character Holden Caulfield and his similar misadventures in J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. In one instant, an anonymous, mentally unstable 25-year-old, a socially awkward Beatles fan who had fluctuated between idealizing Lennon and being overcome with a desire to kill him, altered the course of history. Aside from a Larry King interview in 1992, he has never spoken with the media. However, Chapman did reveal the mechanics of his unraveling over three fateful days in New York City to crime journalist Jack Jones. Those interviews were published in 1992 as Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman, a book of Chapman's recollections of his unthinkable act of violence. From this text, the film Chapter 27 is based.

Director: J.P. Schaefer
Writers: J.P. Schaefer and Jack Jones (book)
Stars: Jared Leto, Lindsay Lohan and Robert Mark Lindsay Chapman
More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0488988/

Bobby (2006)

Tuesday, June 4, 1968: the California presidential primary. As day breaks, Robert F. Kennedy arrives at the Ambassador Hotel; he'll campaign, then speak to supporters at midnight. To capture the texture of the late 1960s, we see vignettes at the hotel: a couple marries so he can avoid Vietnam, kitchen staff discuss race and baseball, a man cheats on his wife, another is fired for racism, a retired hotel doorman plays chess in the lobby with an old friend, a campaign strategist's wife needs a pair of black shoes, two campaign staff trip on LSD, a lounge singer is on the downhill slide. Through it all, we see and hear RFK calling for a better society and a better nation.

Director: Emilio Estevez
Writer: Emilio Estevez
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore and Sharon Stone
More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308055/

Conspiracy (2001)

The historical recreation of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, in which Nazi and SS leaders gathered in a Berlin suburb to discuss the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". Lead by SS-General Reinhard Heydrich, this group of high ranking German officials came to the historic and far reaching decision that the Jews of Europe were to be exterminated in what would come to be known as the Holocaust.

Director: Frank Pierson
Writer: Loring Mandel
Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Clare Bullus and Stanley Tucci
More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266425/

Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)

In the early 1950's, the threat of Communism created an air of paranoia in the United States and exploiting those fears was Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. However, CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred W. Friendly decided to take a stand and challenge McCarthy and expose him for the fear-monger he was. However, their actions took a great personal toll on both men, but they stood by their convictions and helped to bring down one of the most controversial senators in American history.

Director: George Clooney
Writers: George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Stars: David Strathairn, George Clooney and Patricia Clarkson
More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433383/

The Libertine (2004)

In 1660, with the return of Charles II to the English throne, theater, the visual arts, science and sexual intercourse flourish. Thirteen years later, in the middle of political and economical problems, Charles II asks the return of his friend John Wilmot, aka the second Earl of Rochester, from the exile to London. John is a morally corrupt, drunkard and sexually active cynical poet, and the King asks him to prepare a play for the French ambassador to make him pleased. John meets the aspirant actress Elizabeth Barry in the playhouse and decides to make her a great star. He falls in love for her, and she becomes his mistress; during the presentation to the Frenchman, he falls in disgrace in the court. When he was thirty-three years old, he was dying of syphilis associated to alcoholism and he converted to a religious man.

Director: Laurence Dunmore
Writers: Stephen Jeffreys
Stars: Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton and John Malkovich
More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375920/