Adapted from the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway show by actor-writer Robert Galinsky, The Bench is an exploration of the often-unheard stories of people living on the streets of Los Angeles.
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Gavin Stone, a washed-up former child star, is forced to do community service at a local megachurch and pretends to be Christian so he can land the part of Jesus in their annual Passion Play, only to discover that the most important role of his life is far from Hollywood.
After he refuses to disavow his faith, a devout Christian student must prove the existence of God or else his college philosophy professor will fail him.
The Drakenhjelm family has lived in the Rautakylä manor for over 150 years. The current master of the house, elderly baron Magnus, has been living for a long time in an unregistered relationship with his housekeeper Lisette, with whom he also has a son, Sebastian. After the baron falls gravely ill Lisette starts getting worried about losing everything, so with Sebastian on her side she demands the baron to write a letter to the pastor and ask him to come over to perform a wedding ceremony. Right after Sebastian has left to fetch the pastor, a threesome seeking shelter from the storm comes to the manor and wreaks havoc on the marriage plans.
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Oliver doesn’t have a family so he steals one.
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan?
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
A Japanese Yakuza gangster's deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother's gang. Original Title: ブラザー
A quintet of cabbies in five cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
A fantasy about a daughter’s yearning for her mother’s warmth and comfort, which turns into a nightmare about harsh reality of a group of homeless quarry workers. Masha arrives at the quarry with a heavy heart, burdened by a secret she hasn’t told anyone about. She wants to speak with her mother, Vera, but she has struggles of her own. A young woman finds herself in a deafening masculine environment where no one's listening. A journey to save herself quickly blurs into a venture to save her own mother. Ants crawling on the walls of the house, childhood photos and Russian food, are the harsh reality of one woman, and a comforting memory for the other.
The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.
The mostly true story of the legendary "worst director of all time", who, with the help of his strange friends, filmed countless B-movies without ever becoming famous or successful.
On the streets of a damp metropolis lie the corpses of hundreds and hundreds of boys and girls. No one can give them a resting place because of a law enacted by a repressive State. But the young Antigone, with the help of a foreigner, Tiresias, violates this rule in the name of pietas, undermining the established order.
Four separate narratives weave their way together in this impactful drama, from the harrowing slums of Bogotá to the hills of Hollywood. A 14-year-old street girl and an American writer discover an uncommon union, a day-care teacher in Los Angeles does everything she can to fight the weight of a tragic secret and a university student invites a terrible danger into her world. Starring Rachel Leigh Cook, Daniel Gillies and Seymour Cassell.
Along her journey to relieve herself of anxiety, Alexia, a mid-twenty year old woman, is encouraged by Dr. Ecorn to revisit a past childhood event. She struggles to decipher the insidious meaning behind the memory. Gradually, EMDR, a technique favoured by Dr. Ecorn, reveals the true nature of her trauma. Whilst experiencing the discomforts of the therapy, Alexia begins the grueling process to healing herself.
Many loosely connected characters cross paths in this film, based on the stories of Raymond Carver. Waitress Doreen Piggot accidentally runs into a boy with her car. Soon after walking away, the child lapses into a coma. While at the hospital, the boy's grandfather tells his son, Howard, about his past affairs. Meanwhile, a baker starts harassing the family when they fail to pick up the boy's birthday cake.
When a guardian angel – who invisibly watches over the citizens of Los Angeles – becomes captivated by a strong-willed heart surgeon, he ponders trading in his pure, otherworldly existence for a mortal life with his beloved. The couple embarks on a tender but forbidden romance spanning heaven and Earth.
A group of juvenile delinquents live a violent life in the infamous slums of Mexico City; among them Pedro, whose morality is gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.
What if?.. This question is asked by anyone who wants to make a good movie. What if the tale about Cinderella and the Prince, tale as old as time, will suddenly happen nowadays? Why not? Kids, who are studying at FIGA Film Studio, which exists at "Karavella" camp for 44 years, as well as their teachers, thought about it. They thought and created a film in a short period of time, just for 4 months only. There is no falling of Cinderella's boot here, no folden carriages and no mice turning to horses, but there are Internet and orbital satellites. There are also kids and adults who can do brave voluntary actions and childish pranks. As well as friendship which can do real magic. Based on Vladislav Krapivin's play "What will happen, if?.." (Что будет, если?..)
Nina Geld's passion and talent have made her a rising star in the comedy scene, but she's an emotional mess offstage. When a new professional opportunity coincides with a romantic one, she is forced to confront her own deeply troubled past.
A young woman lives a life filled with bad choices. At a young age she marries and has a child--with an abusive thief who quickly ends up in prison. Left alone, she takes up with the guy's mate, another thief, who seems to give her some happiness but who also ends up locked up. She then takes up with a series of seedy types who offer nothing but momentary pleasure--if that.
Life for a single mom in Los Angeles takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her.
An optimistic, talented teen clings to a huge secret: she's homeless and living on a school bus. When tragedy strikes, can she learn to accept a helping hand?
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
The true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years.
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
Ali leaves behind a troubled life and follows her dreams to Los Angeles, where she lands a job as a cocktail waitress at the Burlesque Lounge, a once-majestic theater that houses an inspired musical revue. Vowing to perform there, she makes the leap from bar to stage, helping restore the club's former glory.
An aspiring actor in Hollywood meets an enigmatic stranger by the name of Tommy Wiseau, the meeting leads the actor down a path nobody could have predicted; creating the worst movie ever made.
San Francisco, 1985. Two opposites attract at a modern dance company. Together, their courage and resilience are tested as they navigate a world full of risks and promise, against the backdrop of a disease no one seems to know anything about.
Seemingly opposite street hoopers, Jeremy, an injury prone former star, and Kamal, a has-been prodigy, team up to take one final shot at living out their dreams.
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
The evil Iago pretends to be friend of Othello in order to manipulate him to serve his own end in the film version of this Shakespeare classic.
This day-in-the-life cult comedy focuses on a group of friends working at Sully Boyar's Car Wash in the Los Angeles ghetto. The team meets dozens of eccentric customers -- including a smooth-talking preacher, a wacky cab driver and an ex-convict -- while cracking politically incorrect jokes to a constant soundtrack of disco and funk. Some of the workers find romance as the day moves along, but most are just happy to get through another shift.
A Los Angeles journalist befriends a homeless Juilliard-trained musician, while looking for a new article for the paper.
When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon.
A spirited heiress wishing to break into theatre on her own merit arrives at a boardinghouse where aspiring young actresses and showgirls are brought together through their cynicism and disappointments.
Taxi dancer Charity continues to have faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands, and hope that she will finally meet the nice young man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.
Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.
Gay, alienated Los Angeles teens have a hard time as their parents kick them out of their homes, they don’t have money, their lovers cheat, and they are harassed by gay-bashers.