8.0

Prayers for Bobby

2009,

• Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Henry Czerny, Ryan Kelley, Dan Butler, Austin Nichols, Carly Schroeder, Shannon Eagen, Scott Bailey, Rebecca Louise Miller, Anna Badalamenti, Ele Bardha, Linda Boston, Kyle Clarington, Hadas Corey, Sonja Crosby, Rusty Daugherty, Ber Fox, William C. Fox, Jeff Fryer, Amber Gale, Axel Harney, Chris Hendricks, Steve Jasgur, Patrick Michael Kenney, Sam Logan Khaleghi, Andrew Kruczynski, Madge Levinson, Tevis R. Marcum, Brent Mata, Marshall McClean
• Genre: Biography, Drama
• Director(s): Russell Mulcahy
• Available languages:
  • English English.

In "Prayers for Bobby," Mary Griffith is a devout Christian who raises her children with the conservative teachings of the Presbyterian Church. However, when her son Bobby confides to his older brother he may be gay, life changes for the entire family after Mary learns about his secret. While Bobby's father and siblings slowly come to terms with his homosexuality, Mary believes God can cure him of what she considers his 'sin' and persuades Bobby to pray harder and seek solace in church activities in hopes of changing him. Desperate for his mother's approval, Bobby does what is asked of him, but through it all, the church's apparent disapproval of homosexuality causes him to grow increasingly withdrawn and depressed. Guilty over the pain he is causing Mary, Bobby moves away, yet hopes that some day his mother will accept him. His subsequent depression and self-loathing intensifies as he blames himself for not being the 'perfect' son and is driven to suicide. Faced with their tragedy, Mary begins to question her faith when she receives no answers from her pastor concerning her devastating loss. Through her long and emotional journey, Mary slowly reaches out to the gay community and discovers unexpected support from a very unlikely source. The film is based on the 1995 Leroy Aarons book of the same name.

  7.0

Whip It

2008, USA

• Actors: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon, Alia Shawkat, Eve, Zoe Bell, Ari Graynor, Eulala Scheel, Andrew Wilson, Carlo Alban, Landon Pigg, Kristen Adolfi, Rachel Piplica, Daniel Stern, Sam Zikakis, Sarah Habel, Shannon Eagen, Edward Austin Austin, Mary Callaghan Lynch, Barbara Coven, Nina Kircher, Mark Boyd, Doug Minckiewicz, Michael Petrillo, Sean O'Reilly, Kent Cummins, Sarah Yaeger
• Genre: Comedy, Drama, Sport
• Director(s): Drew Barrymore
• Available languages:
  • English English.

In a town near Austin, Bliss Cavendar's strong-willed mom believes Bliss, at 17, can win pageants - the key to a happy life. Bliss isn't the beauty pageant type: she's shy, quiet, and has just one friend, Pash, her fellow waitress at a diner. Things change for Bliss when she discovers a women's roller derby league in Austin, tries out, proves to be whip fast, and makes a team. Now she needs to become someone tough on the rink, keep her parents from finding out where she goes twice a week, and do something about a first crush, on a musician she meets at the derby. Meanwhile, mom still sees Bliss as Miss Bluebonnet. Things are on a collision course; will everyone get banged up?