Dysfunctional Families
Perhaps because it's something nearly all of us can relate to (apart from The Bradys), messed-up families have always been a popular subject for filmmakers in all genres. Whether you're playing it for laughs ('Arrested Development', 'Go For Zucker'), drama ('Kramer vs Kramer', 'Nil By Mouth'), or thrills ('The Quiet Family', 'Olivier, Olivier') the family dynamic is a deep well of ready-made love/hate relationships, seething resentments and hidden secrets. What more could a filmmaker, or a film-watcher, ask for!
Donnie Darko ( Blu-ray ) (2001)
8.1/10
Director: Richard Kelly
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Katharine Ross, Mary McDonnell, No...
During the presidential election of 1988, a teenager named Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) sleepwalks out of his house one night, and sees a giant, dem... Read more
Dottie Gets Spanked (1994)
7.3/10
Director: Todd Haynes
Starring: Evan Bonifant, Robert Pall, Julie Halston, Barbara Garrick
Writer/director Todd Haynes made this stylish, tender-hearted short between his critically acclaimed features 'Poison' and 'Safe', and the deeply pers... Read more
Down to the Bone (2004)
6.7/10
Director: Debra Granik
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Hugh Dillon, Clint Jordan, Caridad De La Luz, Jasper Daniels
Independent filmmaker Debra Granik makes her feature debut with this naturalistic drama, based on her award-winning short film 'Snake Feed'. In Upstat... Read more
Dreamland (2006)
6.4/10
Director: Jason Matzner
Starring: Agnes Bruckner, Kelli Garner, Justin Long, John Corbett, Gina Gershon
Audrey (Agnes Bruckner) lives with her father in a remote New Mexico trailer park. Her mother is dead, and though Audrey dreams of going to universit... Read more
Duane Hopwood (2005)
6.7/10
Director: Matt Mulhern
Starring: David Schwimmer, Janeane Garofalo, Judah Friedlander, Susan Lynch, Dick Cavett,...
David Schwimmer shakes off his cutesy 'Friends' image to play a down-on-his-luck divorced dad in this comedy/drama in which he works the night shift a... Read more
Elizabeth (1998)
7.5/10
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes, Christopher Eccleston, Richard At...
Before the Golden Age, Elizabeth was a passionate and naive girl who came to reign over a land divided by bloody turmoil. Amid palace intrigue and att... Read more
Elizabeth ( Blu-ray ) (1998)
7.5/10
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Christopher Eccleston, Geoffrey Rush, John Gielgud, Joseph Fienn...
Before the Golden Age, Elizabeth was a passionate and naive girl who came to reign over a land divided by bloody turmoil. Amid palace intrigue and att... Read more
Everybody's Fine (2009)
7.1/10
Director: Kirk Jones
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, Robert De Niro, Sam Rockwell
When recently retired widower Robert De Niro's grown children cancel a family reunion, he decides to take an impromptu cross-country journey to reconn... Read more
Everything Put Together (2000)
6.5/10
Director: Marc Forster
Starring: Radha Mitchell, Megan Mullally, Matt Malloy, Catherine Lloyd Burns, Justin Louis
Before 'Monster's Ball', Marc Forster wrote and directed this noir-ish psychological drama about a young mother coming to terms with the death of her... Read more
Familia (2005)
7.2/10
Director: Louise Archambault
Starring: Sylvie Moreau, Macha Grenon, Juliette Gosselin
Leaving her gambling debts behind in Montreal, Michele (Sylvie Moreau) arrives in California with her rebellious teenage daughter in tow. Staying with... Read more