City IslandMovies like City Island
- Key Features:
- Family secrets, Dysfunctional family, Aspiring actor, Police officer, Ex-con, Dreams and aspirations, Family dynamics, Deception, Mistaken identity, Coming of age, Character study, Secrets, Relationships
- Tone:
- humorous, whimsical, earnest
- Target Audience:
- Families, Comedy lovers, Character-driven movie enthusiasts, Indie film fans
- Emotional Arc:
- Amusement → Revelation → Acceptance
City Island

The Rizzos, a family who doesn't share their habits, aspirations, and careers with one another, find their delicate web of lies disturbed by the arrival of a young ex-con brought home by Vince, the patriarch of the family, who is a corrections officer in real life, and a hopeful actor in private.
City Island
Vincent LaMarca is a dedicated and well-respected New York City police detective who has gone to great lengths to distance himself from his past, but then makes the terrible discovery that his own son has fallen into a life of crime.

Strippers in Manhattan are being stalked and murdered by a psycho. A hard-nosed police detective and a conflicted ex-boxer-turned-private-eye, hired by the strip club owners, set out to find him before he strikes again.

In Havana, Cuba in the late 1950's, a wealthy family, one of whose sons is a prominent nightclub owner, is caught in the violent transition from the oppressive regime of Batista to the Marxist government of Fidel Castro. Castro's regime ultimately leads the nightclub owner to flee to New York.

In the rail yards of Queens, contractors repair and rebuild the city's subway cars. These contracts are lucrative, so graft and corruption are rife. When Leo Handler gets out of prison, he finds his aunt married to Frank Olchin, one of the big contractors; he's battling with a minority-owned firm for contracts.

After experiencing a traumatic misfortune, Jasmine French, a wealthy woman from New York, moves to San Francisco to live with her foster sister Ginger and the firm purpose of getting a new life, but she will be haunted by anxiety and memories of the past.

After moving to New Jersey, Lola bags a coveted role in a school play, which earns her the wrath of Carla, the most popular girl in school, who will do anything to ruin Lola's life.

New York concierge Doug Ireland wants to go into business for himself and refurbish a hotel on Roosevelt Island, N.Y., but he needs an investor. With a few weeks left before his option on the site runs out, Doug agrees to help wealthy Christian Hanover conceal his affair with salesgirl Andy Hart from his wife. Despite his own attraction to Andy, Doug tries to stay focused on getting Christian to invest $3 million in his project.

Andy Goodrich's life is upended when his wife enters a rehab program, leaving him on his own with their young kids. Goodrich leans on his daughter from his first marriage, Grace, as he ultimately evolves into the father Grace never had.

In a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure, the mayor. Billy's relentless pursuit of justice, matched only by his streetwise toughness, makes him an unstoppable force - and the mayor's worst nightmare.

A group of contest winners arrive at an island hotel to live out their dreams, only to find themselves trapped in nightmare scenarios.

On the Spanish island of Ibiza, porn filmmaker Sandro and Angelino, the manager of a beachside watering hole, find their very different lives overlapping. Meanwhile, the island police chief, who is currently at odds with his rebellious son Jorge, is investigating the death of a drug dealer (which was accidentally brought on by Angelino). Jorge's plans to move to America have so far been thwarted by his father, but when he finds out about the affair his dad had been having with a male nightclub dancer, he uses it as blackmail fodder.

Scott has been a case of arrested development ever since his firefighter father died when he was seven. He's now reached his mid-20s having achieved little, chasing a dream of becoming a tattoo artist that seems far out of reach. As his ambitious younger sister heads off to college, Scott is still living with his exhausted ER nurse mother and spends his days smoking weed, hanging with the guys — Oscar, Igor and Richie — and secretly hooking up with his childhood friend Kelsey. But when his mother starts dating a loudmouth firefighter named Ray, it sets off a chain of events that will force Scott to grapple with his grief and take his first tentative steps toward moving forward in life.

When his brother is killed, LAPD officer Mark leaves the city to return to the island he grew up on. Seeking answers and ultimately vengeance, he soon finds himself in a bloody battle with the corrupt tycoon who's taken over the island paradise.

Manhattan explores how the life of a middle-aged television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.

A newly elected District attorney finds himself in the middle of a police corruption investigation that may involve his father and his partner.

A saga centered on a multi-generational family of New York City Police officers. The family's moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney, investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law. For Ray, the truth is revelatory, a Pandora's Box that threatens to upend not only the Tierney legacy but the entire NYPD.

A small, wealthy family in New York City gets progressively torn apart by secrets, lies, and the theft that orchestrates all of it.

Marisa Ventura is a struggling single mom who works at a posh Manhattan hotel and dreams of a better life for her and her young son. One fateful day, hotel guest and senatorial candidate Christopher Marshall meets Marisa and mistakes her for a wealthy socialite. After an enchanting evening together, the two fall madly in love. But when Marisa's true identity is revealed, issues of class and social status threaten to separate them. Can two people from very different worlds overcome their differences and live happily ever after?

A recently paroled ex-con who has trouble adjusting to the wacky normalcy of life outside of prison. He has spent the last three years behind bars after getting caught committing a crime and taking the rap for his much more dangerous pal.

Billy is released after five years in prison. In the next moment, he kidnaps teenage student Layla and visits his parents with her, pretending she is his girlfriend and they will soon marry.

While dining out with friends, Sy suggests the difficulty of separating comedy from tragedy. To illustrate his point, he tells his guests two parallel stories about Melinda ; both versions have the same basic elements, but one take on her state of affairs leans toward levity, while the other is full of anguish. Each story involves Melinda coping with a recent divorce through substance abuse while beginning a romantic relationship with a close friend's husband.

The eclectic residents of a small, picturesque island town must navigate a sensational murder and the discovery of a million dollars, leading to a series of increasingly bad decisions which upend the once-peaceful community.

Ana is an ambitious intern dreaming of a career in the art world while trying to impress her demanding boss Claire. When she's upgraded to first class on a work trip, she meets handsome Will, and Ana pretends to be her boss– a white lie that sets off a glamorous chain of events, romance and opportunity, until her fib threatens to surface.

A gangster, Nino, is in the Cash Money Brothers, making a million dollars every week selling crack. A cop, Scotty, discovers that the only way to infiltrate the gang is to become a dealer himself.

New York City factory worker Eddie Marino is a solid citizen and regular guy, until the day a sadistic street gang brutally assaults his wife and murders his child. When a corrupt judge sets the thugs free, he goes berserk and vows revenge.

Juanito moved to New York to succeed as an actor. Years have gone by but success has not come his way and now he takes an odd jobs to survive. One day he is visited by his apparently successful cousin. However, their life together will discover the reality behind each of them.

A rookie cop is assigned to the 118 Precinct in the same district where he grew up. The Precinct Captain starts receiving letters about two unsolved murders that happened many years ago in the housing projects when the rookie cop was just a kid. These letters bring back bad memories and old secrets that begin to threaten his career and break up his family.

A New York journalist lies when his fake story about a pimp describes a real pimp up for murder.

After accidentally witnessing a mafia hit in the Windy City, gal pals Connie and Carla skip town for L.A., where they go way undercover as singers working the city's dinner theater circuit ... disguised as drag queens. Now, it's not enough that they become big hits on the scene; things get extra-weird when Connie meets Jeff -- a guy she'd like to be a woman with.

Faced with sudden doubts about her marriage, a young New York mother teams up with her larger-than-life playboy father to tail her husband.

Two men, working as professional boxers, come to blows when their careers each begin to take opposite momentum.

Ace is an impressionable young man working for a dry cleaning business. His friend, drug dealer Mitch, goes to prison. In an unrelated incident, he finds some cocaine in a pants pocket. Soon, Ace finds himself dealing cocaine for Lulu. Via lucky breaks and solid interpersonal skills, Ace moves to the top of the Harlem drug world. Of course, unfaithful employees and/or rivals conspire to bring about Ace's fall.

To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

The story of a young, gay, black, con artist who, posing as the son of Sidney Poitier, cunningly maneuvers his way into the lives of a white, upper-class New York family.

The owner of a factory that produces flavor extracts, Joel Reynold seems to have it all, but really doesn't. What's missing is sexual attention from his wife, Suzie. Joel hatches a convoluted plan to get Suzie to cheat on him, thereby clearing the way for Joel to have an affair with Cindy, an employee. But what Joel doesn't know is that Cindy is a sociopathic con artist, and a freak workplace accident clears the way for her to ruin Joel forever.

Various lives converge on an isolated island, all connected by an author whose novel has become inextricably entwined with his own life.

A youth group is preparing for what will be the summer of their life, including secrets, lies, sex, confusion, evenings and holidays.

A disgraced former cop, fresh off a six-year prison sentence for attempted murder, returns home looking for redemption but winds up trapped in the mess he left behind.

A young, hipster entrepreneur crashes and burns on the eve of his company’s big launch. With his entire life in disarray, he leaves Manhattan to move in with his estranged pregnant sister, brother-in-law and three year-old nephew in the suburbs — only to become their manny. Faced with real responsibility, he may finally have to grow up — but not without some bad behavior first.

A retired thief swears revenge on the lunatic who murdered his brother and partner, while going on the run with the loot they stole.

Anthony Keller, star of his NYC high school basketball team, is riding his way to Cornell on a sports scholarship. But he can only maintain his popular jock facade for so long, as his troubled father Lee has a gambling addiction that threatens to derail his dreams both on and off the court.

When the kooky tenants of an apartment block experience a sudden and shocking situation, they let their private lives, past secrets and crazy passions intervene as the confessions and absurd twists come thick and fast. Previous lovers, wild accusations, a possible murder and more boil to the surface days before New Year’s Eve, but can they even make it until then?

Two con artists have spent 26 years training their only daughter to swindle, scam and steal at every turn. During a desperate and hastily conceived heist, they charm a stranger into joining them, only to have their entire world turned upside down.

Working incognito at his rich dad's company to test his own merits, Teto falls for Paula and tells her he grew up poor, a lie that spins out of control.

Eliza D'Amico thinks her marriage to Louis is going great until she finds a mysterious love note to her husband. Concerned, she goes to her mother for advice. Eliza, her parents, her sister Jo, and Jo's boyfriend all pile into the station wagon and go to the city to confront Louis with the letter. On the way, the five explore their relations with each other and meet many interesting people.

On their last night together, four longtime flatmates' lives are suddenly upended when a secret is revealed during the course of an evening celebration.

The story of Usnavi, a bodega owner who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic or staying in Washington Heights.

Detectives Jimmy and Paul, despite nine years as partners, can still sometimes seem like polar opposites—especially when Paul's unpredictable antics get them suspended without pay. Already strapped for cash and trying to pay for his daughter's wedding, Jimmy decides to sell a rare baseball card that's worth tens of thousands. Unfortunately, when the collector's shop is robbed and the card vanishes with the crook, Paul and Jimmy end up going rogue, tracking down the card and the drug ring behind its theft, all on their own time and without any backup—except for each other.

A routine trick propels a tall, dark, cynical hustler into a series of life-changing encounters in this drama. But this amicable and sexually efficient rent boy begins to look at himself differently when he finds himself lost in a maze-like apartment building. As he wanders through the building, he tricks with a variety of johns; sex is the commonality, but out of that commodity comes raw, unguarded emotions for all.

When a small town woman with southern charm is given a big promotion managing a store in the Big Apple, she tries to adopt a big city personality and it leads to disastrous results.

A phobic con artist and his protege are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the con artist's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.

A young district attorney seeking to prove a case against a corrupt police detective encounters a former lover and her new protector, a crime boss who refuses to help him.

Inspector Rizzo is accused of drug trafficking. In order to clear his name he has to find out who is the person, from a Mafia ring, who has infiltrated his police department.

A nursing student forced to quit school for family reasons winds up taking a job as a doorman in an elite apartment building in New York City, where he sparks to one of his residents.

When New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who preys on patrons of the city's underground bars, young rookie Steve Burns infiltrates the S&M subculture to try and lure him out of the shadows.

When three childhood best friends pull a prank gone wrong, they invent the imaginary Ricky Stanicky to get them out of trouble. Twenty years later, the trio still uses the nonexistent Ricky as a handy alibi for their immature behavior. But when their spouses and partners get suspicious and demand to finally meet the fabled Mr. Stanicky, the guilty trio decide to hire a washed-up actor and raunchy celebrity impersonator to bring him to life.

Enforcing the law within the notoriously rough Brownsville section of the city and especially within the Van Dyke housing projects is the NYPD's sixty-fifth precinct. Three police officers struggle with the sometimes fine line between right and wrong.

A couple's life in NYC becomes a whirlwind when Nicole suspects José is cheating on her while receiving the surprise that her father is getting married to a woman half his age.

Sully is desperate to give his unborn son the chance he never had. Jasper wants to escape the mobsters that have infiltrated his life and business. Parmie, a local mob boss, dreams of crushing the competition. All three men live in Staten Island, and once their lives intersect, nothing will ever be the same.

A novelist fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.

Morán works as a clerk in a bank in Buenos Aires. He is as good as invisible to his colleagues. Over dinner with his colleague Román, Morán tells him that he stole exactly $650,000, which is exactly double what he would have made until his retirement. He plans to turn himself in, but not before offering Román to split the money if agrees to hide it for the duration of his incarceration.

A Seattle couple travel to New York to interview colorful former dancer Tobi for research on a dissertation about dance. But soon, common niceties and social graces erode when the questions turn personal and the true nature of the interview is called into question.

Aspiring New York City artist John Hollar returns to his Middle America hometown on the eve of his mother’s brain surgery. Joined by his girlfriend, eight months pregnant with their first child, John is forced to navigate the crazy world he left behind.

When his brother-in-law runs afoul of a drug lord, family man Chris Farraday turns to a skill he abandoned long ago—smuggling—to repay the debt. But the job goes wrong, and Farraday finds himself wanted by cops, crooks and killers alike.

A coming of age dramedy where infidelity, real estate, and Lyme disease have two families falling apart on Long Island in the early eighties. Scott, 15, is at the point in his life when he finds out that the most important people around him, his father, his mother, and his brother, are not exactly who he thought they were. They are flawed and they are human.

During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.

Two untalented singers are mistaken for a pair of major league safe crackers in Providence, Rhode Island. The two are pressed into service by the local hoodlums and quickly find themselves in conflict with their professional colleagues. Romantic interest is added by the daughter of the underworld leader who won't date the men she knows are gangsters.

New York City detective Daniel Ciello agrees to help the United States Department of Justice help eliminate corruption in the police department, as long as he will not have to turn in any close friends. In doing so, Ciello uncovers a conspiracy within the force to smuggle drugs to street informants.

Needing a new partner capable of intricate cons, Richard Gaddis, recruits Rodrigo, a crook with a perfect poker face. The two plan a big-time scam: selling a fake Silver Certificate to currency collector William Hannigan. Rodrigo distrusts his new associate, but needs money to help out his ill father. The situation becomes more complicated when Rodrigo falls for Gaddis' sister, Valerie, drawing another player into the game.

Oscar is a small fish whose big aspirations often get him into trouble. Meanwhile, Lenny is a great white shark with a surprising secret that no sea creature would guess: He's a vegetarian. When a lie turns Oscar into an improbable hero and Lenny becomes an outcast, the two form an unlikely friendship.

A renowned ophthalmologist is desperate to cut off an adulterous relationship…which ends up in murder; and a frustrated documentary filmmaker woos an attractive television producer while making a film about her insufferably self-centered boss.

After serving five years in prison, wild child Tanya looks to her buttoned-up, by-the-book sister Danica to help her get back on her feet. The feisty ex-con becomes suspicious and concerned when Danica tells her that she's in a long-distance, online relationship with a mysterious man she's never seen. As the polar opposites start to collide, Tanya soon discovers that her sibling's picture-perfect life may not be what it seems.

When a bestselling celebrity biographer is no longer able to get published because she has fallen out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception.

A New York press agent must scramble when his major client becomes embroiled in a huge scandal.

Bea is a successful architect who lives in Barcelona (Catalonia, northeast to Spain) with her boyfriend and boss, Víctor, a CEO of an important company. During a night celebration of an important contract signed to make a skyscraper designed by Bea, in the bar appears the famous TV reporter and anchorwoman Rebecca Ramos, Victor's personal erotic fantasy. Not measuring the consequences of her actions due to the alcohol she drank, Bea makes a meeting between Víctor and Rebecca. When to the next day she wakes up, Víctor proposes to wed Bea and she accepts, but after she arrives to the job, Bea learns about a videotape where Víctor and Rebecca make the love in a car that it's in all TV channels. In front of all CEOs during a full meeting, Bea slaps Víctor and destroys her design, being fired from the job. Looking for a break, she travels her natal coastal town, Santa Clara, just to discover that her rest isn't so easy as it seems: her eccentric, free-spirited and eternal smiling mother ...

When Eve, an interior designer, is deserted by her husband of many years, Arthur, the emotionally glacial relationships of the three grown-up daughters are laid bare. Twisted by jealousy, insecurity and resentment, Renata, a successful writer; Joey, a woman crippled by indecision; and Flyn, a budding actress; struggle to communicate for the sake of their shattered mother. But when their father unexpectedly falls for another woman, his decision to remarry sets in motion a terrible twist of fate…

When a prominent art dealer is found murdered, the man's death leads to an intriguing investigation steeped in sex, corruption and crime. District Attorney David Corelli gets assigned to the case and discovers that a key suspect is his ex-lover Katrina Gavin, a beautiful psychologist who has settled down with his old friend and peer. As Corelli gets deeper into the case, he uncovers dark secrets with far-reaching implications.

The son of a slain NYPD officer joins the force, where he falls in with his father's former partner and a team of rogue cops. His new boss, Sarcone, will see if he has what it takes to be rogue through many trials and tribulations of loyalty, trust and respect. When the truth about his father's death is revealed revenge takes him over and he won't stop until justice has been truly served.

Phil and Claire Foster fear that their mild-mannered relationship may be falling into a stale rut. During their weekly date night, their dinner reservation leads to their being mistaken for a couple of thieves—and now a number of unsavoury characters want Phil and Claire killed.

A 16-year-old girl visits her gay half-brother and ends up seducing his boyfriend, thus wreaking havoc on all of their lives.

A New York writer on sex and love is finally getting married to her Mr. Big. But her three best girlfriends must console her after one of them inadvertently leads Mr. Big to jilt her.

Hoping to leave his criminal lifestyle behind him, a successful art thief teams up with a sexy con woman to pull off the ultimate heist and set himself free.

Riko is an honest and hardworking man who can count on a group of real friends and a loving wife. Things change after he loses his job and experiences a midlife crisis.

Set in the underworld of debt-collecting, homegrown hustler Peg Dahl will do anything to escape Buffalo, NY.

Free after years in prison, Carlito Brigante intends to give up his criminal ways, but it's not long before the ex-con is sucked back into the New York City underworld. Reconnecting with his dancer girlfriend, Carlito gets entangled in the shady dealings of his friend Dave Kleinfeld, who also serves as his lawyer. An encounter with shifty gangster Benny Blanco sets the duo on a dangerous path.

Gilda has long since moved to a small southern island and earns her living as a prostitute in a context suspended between retrograde traditions and modernity. During one summer, his destiny intersects with that of Olivia and Crocetta, two women from the area, the former a happy wife and the latter an ugly, unlucky wife. The three are forced by fortuitous circumstances to come together to save themselves but their behavior attracts the suspicions of Nino Malachia, a brusque police commissioner who is convinced that they are hiding something.

When ordered to serve a year in rehab, actress Candy hires her on-set stand-in to take her place. The unassuming woman flips the script and steals her identity, career and boyfriend in this hilarious comedy about trading places.

Ray, a construction worker trapped in an unhappy marriage, pursues an affair with his neighbor, Carla. Carla's husband, Greg, is a mobster who keeps large sums of drug money in their home. With this in mind, Carla comes up with a plan: She and Ray will steal Greg's money, burn down her house, convince Greg the money was lost in the fire and then run away together. Carla's scheme, however, doesn't go off as planned.

Based on a true story. Philip Markoff, a charismatic and popular med student at Boston University, leads a double life as a brutal and cruel sexual deviant who abuses prostitutes he finds via Craigslist.

Bounced from her job, Erin Grant needs money if she's to have any chance of winning back custody of her child. But, eventually, she must confront the naked truth: to take on the system, she'll have to take it all off. Erin strips to conquer, but she faces unintended circumstances when a hound dog of a Congressman zeroes in on her and sharpens the shady tools at his fingertips, including blackmail and murder.

A troubled hedge fund magnate, desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire, makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.

Follows a variety of New York characters as they navigate personal relationships and unexpected problems over the course of one day.

Gigli is ordered to kidnap the psychologically challenged younger brother of a powerful federal prosecutor. When plans go awry, Gigli's boss sends in Ricki, a gorgeous free-spirited female gangster who has her own set of orders to assist with the kidnapping. But Gigli begins falling for the decidedly unavailable Ricki, which could be a hazard to his occupation.

Fedele and Vittorio are two brothers who married the daughters of a rich entrepreneur, Siniscalco. But while Fedele is an irreproachable husband, Vittorio cheats on his wife and accumulates gambling debts, until one day his car is found at the bottom of a lake and he is left for dead. Six years later, however, the extraordinary news arrives: Vittorio is alive and is in Cuba, where he lives by scamming tourists. Fedele then leaves with the intention of bringing him back to his family.

Hoping to earn his mother's respect, a young hustler-turned-businessman tries to open a brothel with his two useless buddies.

World famous movie star Olivia faces a PR disaster when a paparazzi snaps a photo of her with her married lover, Vincent. The hard-working valet Antonio accidentally appears in the same photo and is enlisted to pose as Olivia’s new boyfriend as a cover-up. This ruse with Olivia thrusts Antonio into the spotlight and unexpected chaos.

A young pickpocket in the New York subways, living a fast, free, lifestyle is confronted by a woman whom he had a one night affair with, she informs him that she is now pregnant with his child, he must now choose between continuing the lifestyle he lead or take responsibility for his actions.

Small-town boy Shawn MacArthur has come to New York City with nothing. Barely earning a living selling counterfeit goods on the streets, his luck changes when scam artist Harvey Boarden sees that he has a natural talent for streetfighting. When Harvey offers Shawn help at making the real cash, the two form an uneasy partnership.

