Philip Glass Movies

A woman turns to devious means to support her family in this drama from Russian filmmaker Andrei Zvyagintsev. Middle-aged Elena (Nadezhda Markina) first met her husband Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov) when she took a job looking after him following a serious illness. The two bonded and fell in love, but wealthy Vladimir is significantly older than working-class Elena, and their relationship is still centered upon her caring for his needs. Elena has an adult son from a previous marriage, Sergei (Alexey Rozin); he's a hard drinking slacker who can't hold a job, and Vladimir doesn't care for him, but even though Elena doesn't approve of his lifestyle, she feels obligated to help support him and his young son. Vladimir has a daughter, Katerina (Elena Lyadova), who hasn't spoken with him in years, and when he has a heart attack, Elena reaches out to her in hopes they can reconcile before his health fails him. Vladimir and Katerina resolve their differences, but there's an unexpected consequence -- Vladimir announces that he's going to leave his fortune to his prodigal daughter, and Elena must find a way to set aside some of money to support Sergei and his family without Vladimir knowing about it. Elena received a special jury award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the Un Certain Regard program. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The true story of a man who stumbled into a lucrative career as one of Europe's biggest drug dealers comes to the screen in this comedy-drama. Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans) was a young Welshman studying at Oxford when he discovered there was something unusual about his dorm room -- it had a secret passageway that led to a storage space used by one of the school's top marijuana dealers. Marks and the dealer struck up a friendship as he became an enthusiastic customer, and a few years later, when plans to bring a large cache of hashish into England via Germany went haywire, Marks stepped in to help and was introduced to a circle of big league marijuana traffickers. Marks quit his job as a teacher to become a full time drug wholesaler, and while his new career cost him his first marriage, it introduced him to Judy (Chloe Sevigny), a lovely woman who became the love of his life. As Marks' business grew, he gained some interesting new associates, including an Irish Republican Army operative (David Thewlis) who knew how to get past customs agents, an intelligence agent (Christian McKay) working on both sides of the law and a wildly eccentric American marijuana kingpin (Crispin Glover). Mr. Nice was adapted from the autobiography by the real-life Howard Marks; Marks is good friends with Rhys Ifans, who was cast to play him in the film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Renato Prieto stars in this drama following a doctor who experiences a spiritual transformation in the days after his death, when he finds himself in a mysterious realm known as the Astral City. Based on the bestselling book by medium Chico Xavier. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Norwegian environmental activist Sven Huseby has teamed up with filmmaker Barbara Ettinger to create this documentary about the crisis facing the world's oceans. Huesby has spent much of his life living by the seaside and many in his family have made their living by harvesting fish. But as global warming begins to impact large bodies of water and pollution has raised the level of acidity in our oceans to the point that some aquatic life can lo longer survive, we have come to a point where the need for dramatic environmental reform is imperative. A Sea Change features startling footage of the consequences of global environmental neglect, as well as interviews with scientists, researchers, journalists, fishermen and businessmen about what can be done to move the world off its current path before it's too late. A Sea Change was an official selection at the 2009 San Francisco International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

His Holiness the Dali Lama visits Radio City Music Hall makes a rare appearance at Radio City Music Hall, and the cameras are rolling to capture every moment of the event for those who were unable to attend the sold-out event. Interwoven throughout the program are photographic montages by Richard Gere, and music by Tom Waits and Phillip Glass. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Her faith shaken by a family tragedy from which she was never quite able to fully recover, a professor of theology from Louisiana State University moonlighting as a debunker of unexplained religious phenomena finds herself faced with an apocalyptic series of events that seem to reflect the ten plagues of Exodus in director Stephen Hopkins' Southern gothic chiller. The terrified citizens of Haven, LA, have been beset by swarms of locusts and watched as rivers turned to blood. As if that wasn't enough to put the fear of God into any Bible-reading Christian, ominous rumors of a local swamp cult have left many of the small-town citizens turning to prayer for fear that the end is finally nigh. Enter Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank), a skeptical myth-buster and renowned theology scholar with a special knack for spotting religious trickery. Though at first exceedingly confident that she will uncover a human component behind the otherworldly occurrences, Katherine quickly learns that just because one doesn't believe in the supernatural doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't exist. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Shine director Scott Hicks documents a year in the life of prolific composer Philip Glass in order to explore the work that goes into creating a symphony and offer a detailed overview of his subject's remarkable career. Glass may be a composer whose name is virtually synonymous with the minimalist music movement, but one shouldn't be so quick to pigeonhole the composer. A musician who is outwardly confident and at times unpredictable, Glass works tirelessly to create a composition entitled Symphony No. 8 for orchestra, as well as an opera entitled Waiting for the Barbarians. Additional conversations with Glass's family and friends highlight how the composer is able to retain his creative spirit while simultaneously remaining a devoted family man. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Woody Allen continued to work in the dark mold of his 2005 thriller Match Point with this suspenseful tale of two brothers (Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor) transformed into mortal enemies after scheming to alleviate their financial difficulties by turning to crime. Ian (McGregor) and Terry Blaine (Farrell) are two Cockney siblings whose lives seem to have simply fallen apart. While hard-drinking auto mechanic Terry lives with his girlfriend, Kate (Sally Hawkins), and suffers all the financial hardships that go with being a chronic gambler, his slightly more respectable sibling Ian helps their father maintain the family restaurant. Thanks to the steady income that the restaurant provides and the occasional help of their wealthy uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) the family has always managed to scrape by, but when Ian learns of a potentially lucrative California real estate deal, he can't help but dream about moving on to bigger and better things. One day, Terry wins big at the tracks by betting on a speedy greyhound named "Cassandra's Dream," and promptly uses his winnings to purchase a small yacht that he names after the winning dog. Right around the same time, things also start looking up for Ian -- who falls under the seductive spell of ambitious actress Angela (Hayley Atwell). But the brothers' good-luck spell doesn't last long, because when Terry winds up owing a tidy sum to some violent local loan sharks, he's given the option of promptly paying up or suffering some particularly painful consequences. Just then, Uncle Howard shows up in London looking to settle the score with a whistle-blowing business associate. While agreeing to take part in Uncle Howard's diabolical revenge scheme could easily earn Terry the cash needed to pay off his substantial debt, the consequences -- should he get caught -- will be far greater than those of any small-time scam he has ever resorted to in the past. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A successful American novelist who has retreated into the country following the publication of his most recent book meets a most mysterious muse in director/screenwriter Paul Auster's elliptic psychological drama. His latest novel an instant success, famous author Martin Frost (David Thewlis) decides to celebrate by spending some quality down time in a remote country home. Awakening his first morning in the house, Martin is shocked to find that he is sharing his bed with a stunningly beautiful woman. Over the course of the next few days, Martin becomes increasingly fascinated with the mysterious visitor's radiating beauty and acute intelligence - eventually falling deeply in love with her. Could this woman who possesses an uncanny knowledge of Martin's life and work perhaps be the muse who will inspire his greatest work? The closer Martin tries to get to the woman the further she seems to drift away, a disturbing development that eventually leads the author to suspect that she is a figment of his imagination or a ghost that has somehow gained access to his most intimate thoughts. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The American folk music revival of the 1950s and '60s is a well-known and laboriously discussed historical phenomenon, yet few realize that one man virtually prompted that genre explosion all by himself. Throughout the 1930s and '40s, music aficionado Harry Smith collected untold numbers of folk recordings on 78s, and assembled one of the most massive private libraries of its kind in recent history. In fact, Smith's reputation as a collector spread across the country and reached the preservationists at the Folkways label, who convinced Smith to let them compile and mass-issue a best-of compilation from his library. So began the folk boom, which quickly gave rise to such acts as the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez. In the film The Old Weird America: Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, documentarist Rani Singh -- who worked as Smith's personal assistant, from 1989 until his death in 1991 -- chronicles the pioneer, his life story, and his little-known accomplishments. The film also features extracts from a concert in which contemporary artists including Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, and Beth Orton interpret old folk ballads from Smith's collection. Hal Wilner (Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man) staged the performance segments. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Mars is Earth's closest planetary neighbor, and for decades scientists have been curious about the so-called "Red Planet," wondering if it's possible that life exists there, how its soil and terrain differs from our own, and if water can be found. While sending a manned space mission to Mars has been considered beyond the reach of America's space program, in 2001 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration approved a mission to send two "rovers" to Mars -- wheeled robots that would send images and data back to Earth. A two-year crash program resulted in two robotic rovers (dubbed "Spirit" and "Opportunity") being sent to Mars, which have given scientists and researchers on Earth a brand new vision of what the planet is really like. Roving Mars is a documentary which offers a detailed look at the people behind the Mars rover program, how the machines were built and what they can do, and what has been learned since they reached their target. Roving Mars was shot and originally exhibited in the high-definition IMAX film format. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Controversial South African helmer Darrell James Roodt (Sarafina!, Yesterday), writes and directs the experimental melodrama Faith's Corner. The effort (which recalls and suggests influence by Ousmane Sembene's 1966 Borom Sarret) weaves the tale of an impoverished mother named Faith (Leleti Khumalo) who travels to a Johannesburg street corner each morning with her two sons, Siyabonga (Sibonelo Xulu) and Lucky (Thobani Khybeka), and begs for change - only to run head first into jeers and catcalls from the passersby. In time, Faith discovers the existence of a day care center that will take the boys in, but brings them back after learning that it lowers her alms. She is subsequently crushed by the escalating burden of grief and sorrow. Roodt filmed the picture with an ancient, hand-cranked camera and dated film stock to give it a yellowed aesthetic; he also avoids the use of all sync sound and works in title cards. Philip Glass scored the picture, and interlaces the music with sound effects to coincide with many of the images. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A man seeks to unlock the mysteries of his family's tragic past in this drama. Zach Riley (Aaron Eckhart) is a psychiatrist who has resigned a prestigious position at a major university to take a job at the Millwood Clinic, a private residential facility run by one Dr. Reed (William Hurt). Riley tells Reed he was inspired to come to Millwood by the case of a family friend who was a patient there years before, but what Riley doesn't mention is the person in question was his father, T.L. Pierson (Nick Nolte), a successful but reclusive children's author whose book "Neverwas" became a remarkable critical and popular success. For all his talent and success, Pierson was haunted by mental illness and drug addiction, and after leaving Millwood he committed suicide, with young Zach finding the body. Ever since, his mother (Jessica Lange) has been bitter and blamed Zach for Pierson's death, and he's come to Millbrook looking for answers and closure regarding his dad. While working with the patients at Millwood, Riley strikes up a friendship with Gabriel (Ian McKellen), a charming older man with a poor connection to reality who was friendly with Pierson when they were both in treatment there; Riley also renews his childhood friendship with Maggie Blake (Brittany Murphy), a Millwood intern who was powerfully affected by "Neverwas" when she was young. Neverwas is the first feature film from writer and director Joshua Michael Stern. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi