#17. Free the Mind (2012)

Storyline: In 1992 Professor Richard Davidson, one of the world's leading neuroscientists, met the Dalai Lama, who encouraged him to apply the same rigorous methods he used to study depression and anxiety to the study of compassion and kindness, those qualities cultivated by Tibetan meditation practice. The results of Davidson's studies at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, are portrayed in Free the Mind as they are applied to treating PTSD in returning Iraqi vets and children with ADHD. The film poses two fundamental questions: What really is consciousness, and how does it manifest in the brain and body? And is it possible to physically change the brain solely through mental practices?—Production

Plot Keywords: pills, body parts, rocking chair, porch, lake, scientific research, temper tantrum ...

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#18. Backstabbing for Beginners (2018)

Storyline: In October 2002, twenty-four year old Michael Sullivan moves from a job in lobbying to one in the diplomatic corps at the UN, he getting the job despite he feeling the interview having gone badly. He comes from a family of diplomats with both his father and his older sister having served - the former who was killed in 1983 in the US Embassy bombing in Beirut - and thus feels it is in his blood, his hope to make some difference in the world. He is assigned to be the assistant to Costa Pasaris - Pasha - the Undersecretary to the Oil for Food program, the largest ever humanitarian program in the organization. The program is to have Iraqi oil sold at market value with no proceeds going to the regime of Saddam Hussein, in exchange for food and medicine to the Iraqi populace who have suffered under that regime in Hussein filling his own coffers instead. Pasha quickly begins to see Michael as a trusted and valuable aide for the program, particularly against naysayers, especially internal ones such as the Field Director in Iraq, Christina Dupre, who believes the program is rampant with corruption. Michael does sees signs of corruption within the program while in Baghdad, such as the hospitals and medical clinics in Iraq being provided expired and thus useless medications. But it isn't until he begins to trust his Iraqi interpreter, Nashim Hussani, that he begins to believe that there are bigger issues at play, including the fate of his predecessor, who he knows was killed in a car accident, but who Nashim implies was murdered for information he possessed about the program. Michael has to decide who to trust with conflicting information from Nashim and Pasha. When Michael finally comes to the realization of what is happening, he has to decide how best to exact justice and change regardless of the repercussions on his diplomatic career.—Huggo

Plot Keywords: conspiracy, united nations, iraq, reference to saddam hussein ...

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#19. Shock and Awe (2017)

Storyline: On 9/11 2001, the World Trade Center is destroyed by the Al Qaeda terrorist organization. In the resulting tumult, the reporters of the Knight-Ridder news service, Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel under the editorship of John Walcott, hear odd reports that President Bush's senior administration is not so much concerned with finding the Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, as they are in blaming the secular dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. Despite their intelligence sources saying that Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, the K-R reporters discover that the White House is obsessed with finding any excuse to attack Iraq with cherry-picking intelligence reports and blatant lies by its officials. As the journalists dig deeper, their competitors uncritically repeat the Bush Administration's falsehoods that too much of the public is gullible enough to believe, making their quest to find and print the truth proves as a frustrating struggle as events barrel to a needless war.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol1970@gmail.com)

Plot Keywords: guitar playing, family relationships, mother son relationship, investigative journalism, middle east, terrorist attack, journalist ...

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#20. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)

Storyline: 2-time Academy Award® winner Ang Lee brings his extraordinary vision to Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, based on the widely-acclaimed, bestselling novel. The film is told from the view of 19-year-old private Billy Lynn (newcomer Joe Alwyn) who, along with fellow soldiers, is hailed as a 'hero' after a harrowing Iraq battle. He'is brought home for a victory tour. Through flashbacks, the film reveals what really happened to the squad - contrasting the realities of the war with America's perceptions. The film also stars Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker, Garrett Hedlund, with Vin Diesel, and Steve Martin.

Plot Keywords: based on novel, flashback, iraq war, character name in title, cheerleader, stadium, limousine ...

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#21. Lions for Lambs (2007)

Storyline: Three stories told simultaneous in ninety minutes of real time: a Republican Senator who's a presidential hopeful gives an hour-long interview to a skeptical television reporter, detailing a strategy for victory in Afghanistan; two special forces ambushed on an Afghani ridge await rescue as Taliban forces close in; a poli-sci professor at a California college invites a promising student to re-engage. Decisions press upon the reporter, the student, and the soldiers.

Plot Keywords: helicopter crash, restaurant, newspaper office, telephone call, activism, reference to osama bin laden, computer ...

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#23. A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)

Storyline: A Bad Moms Christmas follows our three under-appreciated and over-burdened women as they rebel against the challenges and expectations of the Super Bowl for moms: Christmas. And as if creating a more perfect holiday for their families wasn't hard enough, they must do all of that while hosting and entertaining their own mothers. By the end of the journey, our moms will redefine how to make the holidays special for all and discover a closer relationship with their mothers.

Plot Keywords: male objectification, brazilian, woman on top, christmas party, woman, sequel, christmas movie ...

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