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Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton, who earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal) spends her days doting on her working-class family. But Vera also has a secret side: Her family and friends don't know that she visits women and helps them induce miscarriages for their unwanted pregnancies -- an illegal practice in 1950s England. When her crime is discovered by authorities, Vera's world quickly falls apart, deeply affecting both her and her family.

Director John Cameron Mitchell delivers an unbridled look at the New York City underground, focusing on a group of hipsters who frequent a downtown club renowned for its lascivious ways. Through graphic polymorphous sexual couplings -- and using an ensemble cast composed largely of first-time actors -- the film chronicles each character's erotic journey of self-discovery in a raw and riveting fashion.

Robert Altman succeeds with another ensemble oeuvre in this contemplative film, which won cast member Shelley Duvall a Best Actress award at Cannes in 1977. The story follows seemingly meek Pinky (Sissy Spacek), who gets a job at a nursing home and befriends the loquacious Millie (Duvall). Their unusual friendship turns strangely eerie when they decide to be roommates and begin to change in surprising and unexpected ways.

Argentinean teen Cristina's (Bárbara Lombardo) life turns upside down when a judge summons her and reveals that her real parents had "disappeared" for political reasons years ago. Ordered to leave the couple who raised her and move in with a grandmother (Susana Campos) she's never known, Cristina struggles to understand the truth of her life. This poignant drama from first-time filmmaker Gaston Biraben won several international awards.

Director David Lean's sweeping epic is set in a Japanese World War II prison camp where British POWs are forced to construct a railway bridge as a morale-building exercise. Yet the real battle of wills is between "play by the rules" British colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), who is dedicated to the project, and his American rival (William Holden), who vows to destroy it. The POWs' whistling work theme became legendary.

Only Jim Jarmusch could direct a Western like this: A poetry-loving American Indian mistakes accountant William Blake (Johnny Depp) for the English writer of the same name, while bounty hunters take Blake for a murderer. Jarmusch packs the film with an unlikely collection of castmates, including Iggy Pop, Gabriel Byrne, John Hurt and Robert Mitchum in one of his last roles.

Over the span of a year, director Eric Steel's cameras capture tormented souls attempting to commit suicide by leaping from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Through poignant interviews with family, friends and eyewitnesses, the film reveals a common thread of depression, despair and chronic mental illness. This provocative documentary further reinforces the landmark's iconic legacy as the world's most popular suicide destination.

Married 54 years, Mike and Mina Block were the picture of if not wedded bliss then at least rock-solid stability -- or so thought their son, documentary filmmaker Doug Block. But when his mother dies unexpectedly and his father swiftly marries his former secretary, Doug suddenly realizes there was more to his parents' union than met his eye. Turning his lens on his own family, he discovers much he never knew about the people who raised him.

Claude Berri directs this pair of award-winning French dramas. In Jean de Florette, two men (Yves Montand and Daniel Auteuil) scheme to acquire a neighboring farm by preventing a natural spring from flowing, a water source that the new owner, Jean (Gérard Depardieu), needs for his crops. In Manon of the Spring, Jean's grown daughter (Emmanuelle Beart) goes after the two men with a fierce vengeance worthy of her proud and courageous heritage.

Penniless heroine Fanny Price (Frances O'Connor) is sent to live with wealthy relatives in 1800s England, where her wit and writing talent find the room -- and circumstance -- to grow. Her friendship with cousin Edmund (Jonny Lee Miller) evolves into a deep love, but Fanny is pursued by an eager suitor (Alessandro Nivola), whose sister is after Edmund. The film is loosely based on Jane Austen's most autobiographical novel.

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Animal Planet host and wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin take viewers around the globe for a two-part documentary on the threats to the world's environment. Filmed in 13 countries, "Planet in Peril" brings viewers the stories behind the statistics, uncovering places where environmental change is not a theory or a future forecast but a crisis happening in real time.

After canine Charlie B. Barkin (voiced by Burt Reynolds) is double-crossed and killed by his partner Carface (Vic Tayback), he's given a chance to leave heaven and return to earth, where he seeks revenge on Carface and becomes the protector of an orphan girl. Set in 1939 Louisiana, the delightful animation, courtesy of Don Bluth's studio, also stars Dom DeLuise as Charlie's best pal, Itchy, and Charles Nelson Reilly as Carface's henchman Killer.

More than a simple portrait of an artist, this documentary about celebrated Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky is also an examination of industrialization and globalization. Known for finding strange beauty in large industrial vistas, Burtynsky searches for great shots on trips to China and Bangladesh. In contrast to his seemingly impersonal aesthetic, the film focuses on individuals, revealing the dreariness and dangers of industrial work.

In this Oscar-nominated drama based on a true story, physically abnormal John Merrick (John Hurt) endures ostracizing, taunting behavior as a sideshow attraction in mid-19th century England. Despite his horribly disfigured face and body and barely perceptible speech, concerned doctor Frederick Treves (Sir Anthony Hopkins) recognizes Merrick to be highly intelligent and works to save the Elephant Man's dignity. Directed by David Lynch.

Straight-arrow narcotics detective Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) sees his honeymoon cut short when a car crossing the U.S.-Mexico border explodes before his eyes. Vargas forsakes his bride (Janet Leigh) to mount an investigation but soon locks horns with corpulent Sheriff Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles), a shady cop who's not above planting evidence or colluding with the local crime lord to keep Vargas from discovering the ugly truth.

Los Angeles resident Harry (Anthony Edwards) picks up a ringing telephone in a street-corner booth and hears an apocalyptic message: A nuclear bomb is going to wipe out the City of Angels in 50 minutes! Now, Harry must do everything he can to save himself and his new love, Julie (Mare Winningham), a waitress he's just met. But should he let others in on his little secret and risk a citywide panic?

The perfect crime goes horribly wrong when Andy and Hank (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) botch a robbery of their parents' jewelry store in this wrenching drama from legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet, who was 82 when he directed the film. Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris co-star as the unsuspecting parents, while Marisa Tomei plays Gina, who cheats on her husband, Andy, with Hank.

Arguably Charlton Heston's greatest performance (Ben Hur included!). Heston's the titular aging cowboy who's also a loner and an illiterate. When he meets what could be the love of his life (homesteader Joan Hackett), it's a moment of truth -- the proverbial fork in the road. Will Penny take a chance on enduring happiness, or will he continue to drift along in the only life he knows?

One of the most notorious films of the 1980s still terrifies. Serial killer Henry serves as mentor to dim-witted fellow killer Otis and as the object of his sister's affections. Trouble is, Henry's heart is too hard for friendship to penetrate. Disturbing, chilling and full of knockout power, this cult classic includes a half-hour interview with writer-director John McNaughton.

In this bizarre fantasy from the Czech Republic, an ordinary couple, Karel and Bozena, are unable to conceive a child. When Karel digs up a tree root and whittles something vaguely resembling a human baby, Bozena's strong maternal longings transform the stump into a living creature ... with a monstrous appetite that can't be met by baby's formula!