The Agronomist 2003  PG-13, 90 min.
Genre: Documentary
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Jean Dominique
This documentary is based on the life of courageous Haitian Jean Dominique who broadcast uncensored news in Creole enabling the poorer Haitians to become politically active.
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 Beloved 1998  R, 174 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Beah Richards, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Albert Hall, Irma P. Hall, Dorothy Love Coates, Carol Jean Lewis
Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) was a slave before the Civil War, but she now lives in Cincinnati in a house that is haunted. Paul (Danny Glover) appears on the scene to visit his friend Sethe, who he has not seen since plantation days. His visit seems to bring out more antics of the ghost who now calls herself "Beloved" and seems to have within her all the ghosts of Sethe's past life.
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Caged Heat 1974  R, 84 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: Renegade Girls
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Erica Gavin, Don Heitzer, Mike Shack, Gary Goetzman, Cheryl Smith, John Aprea, Gina Martine, Juanita Brown, Roberta Collins, Barbara Steele
This is Oscar-winning director ("The Silence of the Lambs") Jonathan Demme's first feature film and concerns a women's prison and the treatment of a wrongly convicted young girl by the tough inmates.
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Crazy Mama 1975 PG, 82 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Cloris Leachman, Stuart Whitman, Ann Sothern, Jim Backus, Donny Most, Linda Purl, Sally Kirkland, Dick Miller, Harry Northrup, John Aprea
Three generations of one family (Cloris Leachman, Ann Sothern, and Linda Purl) commit robberies during a car trip across country in this gem of a movie. 1950s sounds and sights.
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Fighting Mad 1976  R, 90 min.
Genre: Action
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Peter Fonda, Lynn Lowry, John Doucette, Philip Carey, Scott Glenn, Kathleen Miller, Harry Northrup, Ted Markland, Noble Willingham
When a land baron schemes to get their land, the Hunter family is threatened. Tom Hunter (Peter Fonda) takes on the evil land baron to protect his family.
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Jimmy Carter Man from Plains 2007 PG, 125 min.
Genre: Documentary
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter
Jimmy Carter's book tour for "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid" provides the background for this portrait of the peanut farmer from Georgia who served as U.S. President and won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. Carter's personality is what makes this film worth watching as he flies on commercial jets, attends picnics, helps build houses, and argues that Israel's occupation of the West Bank is preventing peace in the Middle East.
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Last Embrace 1979 R, 102 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Roy Scheider, Janet Margolin, Christopher Walken, Sam Levene, John Glover, Charles Napier, Jacqueline Brookes, David Margulies, Lou Gilbert, Andrew Duncan
Roy Scheider plays a paranoid government agent who believes that someone is trying to kill him. He meets a graduate student (Janet Margolin) and the suspense begins.
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 The Manchurian Candidate 2004 R, 130 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller / Mystery
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, Kimberly Elise, Vera Farmiga, Jon Voight, Jeffrey Wright, Sakina Jaffrey, Ted Levine, Miguel Ferrer, Bruno Ganz, Simon McBurney, Pablo Schreiber, Dorian Missick, Anthony Mackie
In this updated version of "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962), Gulf War veteran Captain Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) is still in the Army, but his squad sergeant, Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), left the Army a hero and is now running for Vice President. Marco is having nightmares over what happened to their platoon while under the leadership of Shaw and tries to contact him. But, a big player in Shaw's campaign is his mother, Eleanor (Meryl Streep), who is determined to keep Marco away from her son. She wants him to be Vice President–no matter what!
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Married to the Mob 1988 R, 104 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Mercedes Ruehl, Oliver Platt, Alec Baldwin, Joan Cusack, Charles Napier, David Johansen, Joe Spinell, Captain Haggerty, Marlene Willoughby, Ellen Foley, O'Lan Jones, Anthony J. Nici
Angela (Michelle Pfeiffer) is not happy with her husband Frank "Cucumber" De Marco's (Alec Baldwin) occupation as a Mafia hit man. When Frank is killed by mob boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo (Dean Stockwell), Angela heads for New York with her son Joey (Anthony J. Nici) and plans to begin a new life away from the mob. Her plans go awry when Tony becomes attracted to Angela, and Tony's wife, Connie (Mercedes Ruehl), threatens to kill Angela. Meanwhile, FBI agent Mike Downey (Matthew Modine) is on Tony's trail and uses Angela as bait. Despite the fact that he falls in love with Angela, Mike reluctantly sets up a rendezvous involving Angela and Tony. Dean Stockwell received an Oscar nomination (Best Supporting Actor).
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Melvin and Howard 1980 R, 95 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, Jack Kehoe, Pamela Reed, Dabney Coleman, Michael J. Pollard, Gloria Grahame, Charles Napier, John Glover, Denise Galik, Elizabeth Cheshire
Did he or didn't he? Melvin (Paul Le Mat) says he met Howard Hughes (Jason Robards), but he is the only witness to his bizarre tale. Melvin's wife (Mary Steenburgen) wins $10,000 in a talent contest and leaves him to his life as beneficiary of a disputed $156 million in Howard Hughes' will. Mary Steenburgen won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress and Robards was nominated for Supporting Actor.
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Neil Young: Heart of Gold 2006 PG, 103 min.
Genre: Documentary
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Neil Young
Jonathan Demme filmed this intimate concert film of Neil Young performing songs from his latest album, "Prairie Wind." Neil is accompanied by musicians, including Emmylou Harris, who gathered at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium for the filming.
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Philadelphia 1993 PG-13, 119 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, Ron Vawter, Antonio Banderas, Joanne Woodward, Robert Ridgely, Tracey Walter, Charles Napier, Roberta Maxwell, Buzz Kilman, Daniel Chapman, Obba Babatunde, Paul Lazar
Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) has AIDS and has been fired from his law firm because of his disease. Instead of sitting back and accepting his fate, Beckett hires Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to sue his former law firm. This insightful film shows the ignorance, prejudice, and unfairness experienced by AIDS sufferers. Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his performance, and the song "Streets of Philadelphia" (Bruce Springsteen) also was an Academy Award winner. Three other nominations were received.
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Rachel Getting Married 2008 R, 114 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Debra Winger, Mather Zickel, Anna Deavere Smith, Anisa George, Jerome LePage, Victoria Haynes, Beau Sia
Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) is getting married to African American Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe), and the wedding party assembles at her family's Connecticut home. Rachel's sister, neurotic Kim (Anne Hathaway), leaves rehab to attend, and she makes herself the center of the wedding weekend. First, Kim manages to get Rachel to dump her maid of honor, and then she becomes involved with the best man who happens to be another recovering alcoholic. Rachel's father (Bill Irwin) is divorced from her mother Abby (Debra Winger) and is now married to a Black woman, Carol (Anna Deavere Smith). Since the divorce, Abby has become estranged from her family. Tensions flare over the long weekend as Kim goes out of her way to make everything go wrong and creates one emotional drama after another. Hathaway received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
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 The Silence of the Lambs 1991  R, 120 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Brooke Smith, Kasi Lemmons, Diane Baker, Roger Corman, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Charles Napier, George A. Romero, Tracey Walter, Frankie Faison, Paul Lazar, Dan Butler
FBI recruit Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is given quite an assignment for her first case. In order to get a psychological profile of the killer she is pursuing, she must go to Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) who is himself a homicidal maniac locked in a cell for eight years. The film received five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actress (Foster), and Actor (Hopkins) and was nominated for two other awards.
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Something Wild 1986 R, 116 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta, Margaret Colin, Jack Gilpin, Robert Ridgely, Tracey Walter, Adelle Lutz, Charles Napier, John Sayles
Charlie (Jeff Daniels) is a conservative businessman who hooks up with wild Lulu (Melanie Griffith). Soon, the couple is on the run, and when they meet up with Lulu's ex-con husband (Ray Liotta), the plot shifts to the relationship between Charlie and the husband.
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 Stop Making Sense 1984 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Documentary / Musical
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: David(1) Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir, Steven Scales, Lynn Mabry, Ednah Holt
This is one of the great concert performance films of all time. Director Jonathan Demme beautifully captured footage from four consecutive performances of David Byrne and the Talking Heads. It is all music, with no interviews, cutaways, or other distracters. Originally filmed during four consecutive days in December 1983.
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Swing Shift 1984 PG, 100 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Ed Harris, Fred Ward, Sudie Bond, Holly Hunter, Patty Maloney, Roger Corman, Maggie Renzi
Christine Lahti was nominated for the Oscar's Best Supporting Actress for her role as a housewife working in a factory during World War II.
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 The Truth About Charlie 2002  PG-13, 104 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Thandie Newton, Tim Robbins, Joong-Hoon Park, Ted Levine, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Christine Boisson, Stephen Dillane, Simon Abkarian, Sakina Jaffrey
This remake of "Charade" (1967) stars Thandie Newton, Tim Robbins, and Mark Wahlberg in the original Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Walter Matthau roles. The story is about a woman who finds her husband has been murdered and their money gone. When two men step in to help solve the murder, it isn't easy to figure who is the good guy and who is the bad.
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Who Am I This Time? 1982 TV, 60 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Susan Sarandon, Christopher Walken, Robert Ridgely, Les Podewell, Mike Bacarella, Dorothy Patterson, Aaron Freeman, Ron Parady, Maria Todd, Caitlin Hart
Based on Kurt Vonnegut's short story, this tale involves the experiences of shy, hardware store employee Harry Nash (Christopher Walken) who takes on the persona of characters he portrays while acting in local theater productions. "A Streetcar Named Desire" is playing, and Harry, who has the role of Stanley Kowalski, is presently adapting his real life personality to reflect that of the impassioned "Stanley." At the same time, Helene Shaw (Susan Sarandon) has moved to town and wins the role of "Stella" playing opposite Harry. Helene falls in love with Harry–not knowing that Harry's real personality is the exact opposite from that of "Stanley."
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| Oscar: Best Director for The Silence of the Lambs (1991) |
1. The Agronomist (2003)
2. Beloved (1998)
3. Caged Heat (1974)
aka: Renegade Girls
4. Crazy Mama (1975)
5. Fighting Mad (1976)
6. Jimmy Carter Man from Plains (2007)
7. Last Embrace (1979)
8. The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
9. Married to the Mob (1988)
10. Melvin and Howard (1980)
11. Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)
12. Philadelphia (1993)
13. Rachel Getting Married (2008)
14. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
15. Something Wild (1986)
16. Stop Making Sense (1984)
17. Storefront Hitchcock (1998)
18. Swing Shift (1984)
19. The Truth About Charlie (2002)
20. Who Am I This Time? (1982)
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