19 Movies Like The Dark Knight (2008) (Page 2)

This funny and charming movie is about a Palestinian slacker named Salam who works on a famous Israeli soap opera. Each day, he has to pass a tough Israeli checkpoint to get to work and in an attempt to make things easier for himself, he agrees to change the ending of the soap opera to please the officer in charge of the checkpoint. At the same time, a temperamental French actress and his Palestinian love interest wish for opposite endings to the show. Stuck between love and politics, Salam has to navigate a complex situation to please all sides. There are a lot of hummus jokes.

Genre: Comedy

Actor: Amer Hlehel, Ashraf Farah, Kais Nashif, Laëtitia Eïdo, Lobna Azabal, Lubna Azabal, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadim Sawalha, Qais Nashif, Salim Dau, Salim Daw, Ula Tabari, Yaniv Biton, Yousef Sweid

Director: Sameh Zoabi

Nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature. On the day before Hurricane Katrina, a young aspiring rap singer in the 9th Ward turns her new video camera on herself and her neighbors. She keeps shooting as the water rises, neighbors struggle to rescue each other, people panic and flee. Weeks later she returns to her neighborhood and records the death and decay left behind. Raw and real, worth watching.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: George W. Bush, Julie Chen, Julie Chen Moonves, Michael Brown, Ray Nagin, Shepard Smith

Director: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin.

Rating: Unrated

This documentary is about a unique program in Chicago called CeaseFire whose sole aim is to stop violent deaths in poor urban areas. CeaseFire is staffed by ex-gang members and ex-convicts who try to intervene in conflicts in their community, particularly those that may escalate into extreme violence or death. In these neighborhoods though, violent conflict can result from something as minor as someone making a funky comment about someone else’s shoes. This makes total success for a project like CeaseFire nearly impossible. It is not a totally depressing film though as the program and its practitioners are all pretty amazing, and director Steve James (who made Hoop Dreams) has unparalleled access to these struggling communities.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Amanda Palmer, Ameena Matthews, Peter Ho-Sun Chan, Steve James

Director: Steve James

Rating: Unrated