John Sayles
1) Yellow Earth
Author
Description
"When rich layers of shale oil are discovered beneath the town of Yellow Earth, all hell breaks loose. Locals, oil workers, service workers, politicians, law enforcement, and get-rich-quick opportunists--along with an earnest wildlife biologist--commingle and collide as the population of the town triples overnight. Harleigh Killdeer, chairman of the tribal business council of neighboring Three Nations reservation, wants to increase economic opportunity...
Description
Bernice and Fontayne grew so close people said they could 'go for sisters,' but time sent them down different paths. 20 years later, those paths cross: Fontayne is a recovering addict fresh out of jail, and Bernice is her new parole officer. When Bernice's son Rodney goes missing on the Mexican border, his shady associates all in hiding or brutally murdered, Bernice realizes she needs someone to navigate Rodney's world withoutinvolving the police,...
Description
"The Brother is an alien who has crash-landed on Earth, in New York City. While mute, strongly empathic, and able to fix things, he resembles a black man with strange feet. His attempt to make a place for himself in Harlem is an allegory for the immigrant experience in the United States. Meanwhile, two bounty hunters from the Brother's home planet arrive and try to capture him."--Container.
Series
Criterion collection volume 334
Description
Chronicles the 1973 Harlan County, Kentucky coal miners' strike against the operators of the Brookside mine and the Duke Power Company, which resulted from the company's refusal to honor the national contract of the United Mine Workers of America when the miners joined the union.
Series
Description
An elderly physician who trains young people to provide health care to the poor people of an agricultural country finds out that many of his former students are being killed by guerillas. He travels to a mountainous area of the country to find out why these men with guns are killing anyone they want.
11) The challenge
Series
Description
Adventure film involving the return of a lost 13th Samauri sword to Japan.
Series
Description
Six women -- dreamy Eileen, abrasive Nan, athletic Skipper, brusque Leslie, vivacious Jennifer and patient Gayle -- are staying at a hotel in South America, run by Señora Muñoz. Fed up with the long delays of the adoption system in the United States, they are passing the days waiting to adopt local children to bring home with them.
Series
Description
Crazy Mama: A widow in the 1950s begins a wacky life of crime when she loses her beauty parlor. She's joined by her mother, her pregnant daughter and her boyfriend, an old lady, a greaser and a defecting sheriff.
The Lady in Red: A farm girl flees her abusive father and lands in a sewing sweatshop in Chicago, where the girls are exploited by a sleazy manager. After landing in jail, she becomes a prostitute and then a waitress while falling in love...
14) Piranha
Series
Description
"While searching for missing teenagers. novice skip tracer Maggie McKeown and local town boozer Paul Grogan stumble upon a top-secret Army laboratory conducting genetic research on piranha fish for the purpose of developing biological warfare. When the deadly eating machines are accidentally released from the compound, they're soon headed downstream and consuming everything, and anything, in their path. Just when you thought it was safe to go in the...
16) The howling
Description
Traumatized by a near-fatal encounter with a serial killer, a TV newscaster takes time off at a secluded retreat. But after nights of being tormented by bestial, bloodcurdling cries, she ventures into the woods seeking answers and makes a terrifying discovery. Now she must fight not only for her life-- but for her soul.
17) Lone star
Description
An unsolved murder in a Texas border town uncovers a tale of corruption, intrigue, and forbidden love.
18) Something wild
Series
Criterion collection volume 563
Description
"A straitlaced businessman meets a quirky, free-spirited woman at a downtown New York greasy spoon. Her offer of a ride back to his office results in a lunchtime motel rendezvous--just the beginning of a capricious interstate road trip that brings the two face-to-face with their hidden selves"--Container.
Description
The moment the Grace family moves into the dilapidated Spiderwick Estate, strange things begin to happen. Jared, a curious, adventurous boy, quickly seeks out and finds the hidden laboratory of his great great uncle Arthur Spiderwick. He unleashes a mysterious force when he locates a field guide full of the secrets of the magical creatures that inhabit the forest surrounding the mansion. His twin brother Simon is calm and reserved but is rapidly drawn...
20) Honeydripper
Description
In 1950s rural Alabama, Tyrone "Pine Top" Purvis, the owner of the Honeydripper Lounge, is deep in debt fighting a rival club's popularity. Desperate to stay open, Tyrone decides to bet on famous talent, laying off his regular performers and giving his last cash to bring in the popular Guitar Sam, for a one-night-only gig. But when the train arrives and Guitar Sam is nowhere to be found, Tyrone finds himself facing even longer odds yet