Best movies like Finding Joy

How do you put a life into 500 words? Ask the staff obituary writers at the New York Times. OBIT is a first-ever glimpse into the daily rituals, joys and existential angst of the Times obit writers, as they chronicle life after death on the front lines of history.

An 11-year-old girl watches her father come down with a crippling depression. Over one summer, she learns answers to several mysteries and comes to terms with love and loss.

An old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concerning a hidden abandoned farmhouse, located deep in the woods.

Sibling drama overshadows the impending nuptials of Danni Sposato and her longtime boyfriend, Geoff Brancato. Television actress Niki brings her manager-boyfriend, Marty, to meet the family for the first time, while spiky youngest sister Toni shows off her bandmate and lover, Amy, and driven Wall Street banker Chrissy flashes the status symbols of her financial success.

Gabrielle is writing an illustrated guide book on sex called 'How To Do It.' At a book signing she meets Saul, an established male writer who is straight. She both loves and hates his work which has seeped into her secular Jewish life from childhood. The more Gabrielle tells him about her book the more he wants to know about her life; the relationship with her younger girlfriend Olivia and her determination to "stop using my penis in sex". As her book takes form, is Saul jealous or desirous? Their friendship is tested as is Gabrielle's relationship with Olivia. The film muses on how we write, how we draw. And the nature of "story" and what it makes us do.

At a book signing for his best seller, Nicholas Howarth is confronted by sexy Teresa Smith, who says he stole the story when he was her teacher in a woman's prison. Teresa has killed before and won't be stopped as she sets out to destroy Nicholas's reputation, his marriage and his life in her goal to write the final chapter of Honor Student.

Denise's job at the Tribune isn't as glamorous as it sounds, especially since the only writing she does is for obituaries. But her life gets a jolt of excitement when she stumbles upon a murder scene involving someone whose death announcement she's already read! As Denise gets pulled deeper into the investigation, things become even more creepy and unbelievable. But she'd better be careful — or the next obit may be her own!

In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife's life is upended by a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in society.

With the world under attack by deadly creatures who hunt by sound, a teen and her family seek refuge outside the city and encounter a mysterious cult.

Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to the ancient city's lost treasure that featured in her latest story. Alan, determined to prove he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, sets off to rescue her.

Modern Stone Age family the Flintstones hit the big screen in this live-action version of the classic cartoon. Fred helps Barney adopt a child. Barney sees an opportunity to repay him when Slate Mining tests its employees to find a new executive. But no good deed goes unpunished.

When three skiers find themselves stranded on a chair lift at a New England ski resort that has closed for the next week, they are forced to make life or death choices that prove to be more perilous than staying put and freezing to death.

A teenager attends a fantasy writers' convention where he discovers his idea has been stolen by an established novelist.

Aspiring young novelist Tony Zonis (Alexis Denisof) wants to write the next great suspense thriller, so he decides to study the work of master crime writer, Willard Hope (Christopher Lee). Together, they pick through random newspaper stories, looking for the unusual event that will make a good thriller. What they find is murder. A government cover-up... an international scandal... and the bodies are just beginning to fall into place. Now Tony isn't just writing the next best-seller... he's writing his own obituary.

A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.

Room Full of Spoons is an in depth documentary about the cult film that is widely accepted as the worst film ever made: The Room, and it’s eccentric creator Tommy Wiseau. Referred to as “The Citizen Kane of bad movies” by Entertainment Weekly, The Room grossed only $1800 during it’s initial box office run. Against all odds, Mr. Wiseau’s disastrous film found a new life on the midnight movie circuit and now plays to audiences around the world making it one of the most adored and important films in popular culture. Follow Rick Harper and his team on their journey across the Globe as they experience this midnight movie phenomenon, meet with the entire cast and crew of the The Room and piece together the story behind the mysterious Tommy Wiseau. The film has not yet received a full release due to legal action taken by Wiseau against the filmmakers.

A retired businesswoman – who tries to control everything around her – decides to write her own obituary. A young journalist takes up the task of finding out the truth, and the result is a life-altering friendship.

This is the story of Spalding Gray and his attempt to write a novel. It is a first person account about writing and living, and dealing with success while trying to be successful.

Following the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

The wickedly funny story of three sisters' coming of age in a wildly dysfunctional family, set against the backdrop of the 60's, free love, the Cold War, LSD and the dawn of feminism. Affectionately dubbed "Little Women on acid", this is a story about the destructive effects of secrecy and the bonds of duty between parents and their children.

Gabriel is a man who on the surface has it all-successful professional life as an architect, a beautiful wife, Annie, and a devoted young daughter, Elizabeth. But slowly it dawns on him that he is not really happy. Gabriel decides that he wants to write a play about the sorry state of his life. He quits his job, gets a pushy literary agent friend to represent him and starts writing. Although his marriage ends in a divorce, the play is success and although his life is different than it was, he is happier.

In the throes of a zombie apocalypse, a troubled woman from Las Vegas with a dark past, finds herself stranded in the desert with a lone and ravenous zombie on her tail.

When new author Cassie is paired with successful author Elliot on a promotional book tour, she learns to believe in her talent. She also finds truth in the old adage “you can’t judge a book by its cover” as she falls for the guy she once thought to be pompous and full of himself.

A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.

Charlie who is a professional screenwriter trying to make ends meet by pumping out as many screenplays as he can. Erin is an actress appearing in films and theatre productions hoping to find success and herself in the process. After meeting by chance on a film set they become close friends and share in lamenting over the realities of romance in their lives. Charlie and Erin decide to make a pact to create the greatest romance they can imagine. They plan to write their dates and perform them with all clichés they grew up with and wished would happen to them. However all the romantic overtures don't go off exactly as planned... But as they pretend to have the perfect love will they discover the feelings they could have for each other?

The Dunderheads are an eccentric Montana family who've been in the mountains for far too long. Now one step ahead of the law, matriarch Grandma Ira flees to Canada with her two wildly dysfunctional teenage grand kids, across the American West into a comic collision with the mainstream world. Montana Amazon is a both funny and poignant fable on the nature of the human family.

Lacy, a career-driven business woman, goes to a B&B in Illinois at the advice of a new therapist. There she finds herself stuck in a mystical, small Christmas town, reliving the same day over and over. Lacy must figure out how to escape.

A social outcast with a facial birthmark finds his world flipped upside down after he posts videos of his quirky life onto the Internet and becomes an unwilling cyber-celebrity.

In an interview at age 84, Chuck Jones (1912-2000) talks about his life, particularly his childhood: he describes an adventurous uncle; his mother, who never said no; his father, a critical and abusive man who had his uses; Chuck's going to art school and studying the human body; success as an animator; and, old age. As he talks, we also see clips from his work, we watch him draw, and simple animation illustrates parts of his story. He talks about growing up on Sunset Boulevard, going to the beach, his enjoyment of Mark Twain, his mother's loving creativity, the connection of his personality to some of his cartoon characters, and the joy of being alive.

Manchester is a struggling photographer with charm to spare who falls for Noon, a sweet but spunky woman who works as a taxidermist. Noon is also drawn to Manchester, and together they enjoy a wildly enthusiastic sexual relationship that reflects their innocent but deeply passionate love for one another.

The story begins on a fine summers morning, when San-woo and his mother board a bus to the country. It is soon clear that the unsophisticated rural passengers annoy the seven-year-old urban boy. His mother is taking him to live with his 78-year-old mute, but not deaf, grandmother while she looks for a new job after a business venture failed in Seoul.

Wes Thorne and Shelly Ackerman — two people living in opposite worlds. Shelly’s mother is off her medication so her home life is in shambles and she’s being bullied at school. Wes is an eccentric, wealthy man who has deep-seated issues with women and no close friends. When Wes offers to be Shelly’s legal guardian, both of their lives take a dramatic turn.

In 1948 Manhattan, a diverse group of people are committed to making the fledgling Empire Network a success. Among them: a naive young woman who's hired as a script girl; an idealistic programmer; and an aspiring director who hopes to make Empire "the network that takes risks and makes new stars." Then there's Empire's president, an eccentric scientist whose bride raises eyebrows at the network.

Brood, based on Jackie Polzin’s bestselling debut novel, will tell the story of one woman (Haley Bennett), who, over the course of a single year, heroically tries to keep her small brood of four chickens alive despite the seemingly endless challenges that caring for another creature entails. From the freezing nights of a harsh winter to a sweltering summer with its own surprise tornado, she battles predators, terrible luck, and the uncertainty of a future that may not look anything like the one she once imagined. The novel is a darkly funny and startlingly original meditation on life and longing, full of sorrow, joy, and unrelenting hope.

Sam is an aspiring musician that just lost her older sister Amber. During the difficult grieving process, Sam finds comfort in singing and song writing - fulfilling the dreams that Amber would now never be able to pursue. Along with Amber's band, Sam moves to Nashville to pursue Amber's dream of making a career in the music industry. Upon arrival, they sign with a music manager who immediately provides them with success, but at a price. As the taste of fame draws near, tensions begin to rise within the band. Will the industry tear them apart and change forever who they are?