Best movies like Shine

Two Puerto Rican brothers from New York's Spanish Harlem and the street's best Salsa dancers, are separated after a tragedy only to reunite years later on opposing sides of gentrification.

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Shine Starring Jadi Collado, Musetta Vander, Alysia Reiner, David Zayas, and more. If you liked Shine then you may also like: The Young Savages, West Side Story, Aaron Loves Angela, Badge 373, El cantante and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

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Two Puerto Rican brothers, Ralphi Matas and Junior, from New York's Spanish Harlem and the street’s best Salsa dancers, are separated after a tragedy only to reunite years later on opposing sides of gentrification.

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The Young Savages

A district attorney investigates the racially charged case of three teenagers accused of the murder of a blind Puerto Rican boy.

West Side Story

In the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan, New York, a gang of Polish-American teenagers called the Jets compete with a rival gang of recently immigrated Puerto Ricans, the Sharks, to "own" the neighborhood streets. Tensions are high between the gangs but two romantics, one from each gang, fall in love leading to tragedy.

Aaron Loves Angela

Aaron and Angela, two young adults living in the Harlem ghetto of New York City, are deeply in love with each other. The only thing standing in the way of their love is their families. Aaron is black, while Angela is Puerto Rican, and neither family wants one of their own to associate with the others. As the pair rebel against the prejudices of their families, they soon find the conflict spreading out to their friends and neighbors, until the hatred threatens to spiral out of control.

Badge 373

When his partner is killed, tough Irish detective Eddie Ryan vows to avenge the death, whatever the cost. As he begins unraveling clues, his behavior becomes so outrageous that he's obliged to turn in his badge, but the experience only emboldens him. Ryan eventually learns that his partner was caught up in a Puerto Rican gun-running scheme masterminded by a crook named Sweet Willie, who wants to foment revolutionary war.

El cantante

The rise and fall of salsa singer, Héctor Lavoe (1946-1993), as told from the perspective of his wife Puchi, who looks back from 2002.

The Cool World

A fifteen-year-old boy wants to buy a gun from an adult racketeer named Priest, in order to become president of the gang to which he belongs, and to return them to active "bopping" (gang fighting) which has declined in Harlem.

If Beale Street Could Talk

After her fiance is falsely imprisoned, a pregnant African-American woman sets out to clear his name and prove his innocence.

Fame

A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.

Fighting

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.

Gloria

When a young boy's family is killed by the mob, their tough neighbor Gloria becomes his reluctant guardian. In possession of a book that the gangsters want, the pair go on the run in New York.

Please Give

In New York City, a husband and wife butt heads with the granddaughters of the elderly woman who lives in the apartment the couple owns.

Sugar Hill

In the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, the Mafia steps in when a drug dealer quits his partner brother to lead a straight life with his girlfriend.

Harlem Aria

An aspiring opera singer from Harlem teams up with a charismatic busker and a kindhearted hustler to share his voice with the world, and teaches his two newfound friends the importance of taking your destiny into your own hands. Anton (Gabriel Casseus) lives in Harlem with his aunt. He dreams of moving to Italy and becoming a famous opera singer, and though he's been blessed with a magnificent singing voice, his passion has made him an outsider in his neighborhood. Running away from home, Anton meets passionate street pianist Matthew (Christian Carmago) and together the two begin drawing large, appreciate crowds on the street. Working the crowd as they do their thing is Wes (Damon Wayans), whose natural charm always gets the cash flowing. And while life on the streets is never easy, Anton, Matthew, and Wes soon discover that by following their dreams, they may find a means of transforming their lives forever.

In the Heights

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.

Victor

The inspiring true story of Víctor Torres - a migrant teen from Puerto Rico forced to survive the dark streets of Brooklyn in 1962. Enslaved by the power of gangs and the addictions of the neighborhood, he must now find freedom before he destroys his family and himself.

Popi

Abraham is a Puerto Rican single parent with two boys. He is becoming very worried about them living in their run down neighborhood when one day he notices that Cubans who escape are lionized and given exceptional benefits. He thinks up a plot to have his sons washed ashore as cuban immigrants who will be adopted by rich anglos.

Feel The Noise

After a run-in with local thugs, aspiring Harlem rapper Rob flees to a place and father he never knew, and finds his salvation in Reggaeton, a spicy blend of hip-hop, reggae and Latin beats. Puerto Rico, the spiritual home of Reggaeton, inspires Rob and his step-brother Javi to pursue their dream of becoming Reggaeton stars. Together with a dancer named C.C., they learn what it means to stay true to themselves and each other, while overcoming obstacles in love, greed and pride, all culminating in an explosive performance at New York’s Puerto Rican Day Parade.

Salsa

Fatherless barrio Puerto Rican Rico is a menial car mechanic by day, but lives for the nights, when he dances and dates hot dancing girls, cockily convinced the title of Salsa king in fancy nightclub La Luna's upcoming contest is to be his. He encourages his best friend, courteous gentleman Ken, to date his sister Margarita so he gets a free hand with her flirtatious classmate Lola. The reigning salsa queen Luna's interest in Rico as dance-partner threatens his on-off relationship with Vicki. More jealous trouble follows when Ken and Margarita fall in true love.

Mambo Café

A beautiful Puerto Rican girl and her family in Spanish harlem devise a novel plan to attract business to their restaurant, causing a wildly comic sequence of events ending in near disaster.

The Bronx War

The Puerto Rican owner of a Bronx strip joint who also heads a street gang that deals in drugs and stolen credit cards gets involved in a war with a local black gang.

The Blue Diner

Blue Diner is a story of a Puerto Rican mother Meche (Miriam Colon) and daughter Elena (Lisa Vidal) living together in Boston and difficulties they face when Elena mysteriously loses her ability to speak Spanish, he first language. As Elena's language disappears, he boyfriend's (Jose Yenque) painting inexplicably appears at the museum where her mother Meche works.

Cry Tough

After getting out of prison, a Latino criminal tries to go straight.

Puerto Ricans in Paris

NYPD detectives Luis and Eddie visit Paris to help gorgeous French designer Colette catch the black market thief who's ripped off her new handbag design. While Luis' girlfriend Vanessa and Eddie's wife Gloria remain in New York, the hopelessly unhip odd couple stumble through a glamorous high-fashion world brimming with charming cafes, wild nightclubs and corporate treachery.

White Alligator

A Puerto Rican television network awards a young native actress her own show, documenting her quick rise to success in NYC. Her only problem: She's white.

Night Owl

A vampire in the East Village picks up women, and while having sex with them kills them and drinks their blood. Meanwhile, a young Puerto Rican guy begins searching the Village for his sister, who is one of the vampire's victims.

30 Days in May

Chronicles the days between Mayweather's May 5, 2012 victory over Puerto Rican superstar Miguel Cotto and the start of a three-month jail term on June 1, 2012 at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas. The film concludes on Aug. 3, Mayweather's self-described 'best day of my life,' when he was released after serving two months behind bars.

Puerto Rico: A Colony the American Way

A report on the political, social, and economic problems of Puerto Rico in the early 1980s and on the impact of the island's eighty-four-year-old link to the United States. Features interviews with leaders of the Puerto Rican Socialist and Independence parties, Governor Romero Barcelo, U.S. Congressman Ronald Dellums, and the Puerto Rican people themselves.

Imprisoned

Dylan Burke attempts to move on from his former life as a criminal with his true love Maria. He soon realizes that his past will continue to haunt him, when he learns the new local prison warden, Daniel Calvin, has not forgiven him for an old crime.

Gun Hill Road

An ex-con returns home to the Bronx after three year in prison to discover his wife estranged and his teenage son exploring a sexual transformation that will put the fragile bonds of their family to the test.

Musical Chairs

When his dancer partner, Mia, lands in the hospital after an accident, Armando persuades her to train for an upcoming wheelchair ballroom dancing contest.

Bobby G. Can't Swim

Bobby G. lives life on the edge in this real, raw New York street drama. Bobby is a small-time coke dealer, always on the hustle but rarely successful. He lives in Hell's Kitchen with his Puerto Rican girlfriend Lucy, who makes ends meet as a prostitute. A typical day finds Bobby selling $20 bags to neighborhood locals and passing cars. A yuppie kid looking to score a kilo of coke approaches him to broker a deal and Bobby sees the opportunity of a lifetime to make some real money. His rough days may just be over. With the tidy profit he could even leave the business. Playing out of his league, Bobby arranges to get the kilo from Astro, a fearsome, high-level drug dealer. Though Lucy announces that she's decided to go back to Puerto Rico and pleads with him to make a fresh start too, Bobby is sticking to his deal and isn't going anywhere now, convinced he'll be 'livin' large in a matter a' days...

Run for the Roses

Juanito, a boy from Puerto Rico, finds himself in Kentucky and drawn to a thoroughbred horse. He believes the horse can win the Derby and eventually others around him start to think it's possible.

Take My Life

A well meaning Dr. lends his building to a group of neighborhood kids. When the neighbors learn that they are members Harlem tough -kid gang, they suspect that their operation there conducting nefarious deeds.

Carlito's Way: Rise to Power

Jay Hernandez (Friday Night Lights), Mario Van Peebles (Ali), Luis Guzmán (Carlito's Way) and Sean Combs (Monster's Ball) star in the gripping tale of the early years of gangster legend Carlito Brigante. Seduced by the power of the brutal New York underworld, he enters a deadly circle of greed and retribution. Assisted by his two brothers-in-crime, Carlito is on the fast track to becoming Spanish Harlem's ultimate kingpin. He quickly learns, however, that the only way to survive at the top is through loyalty to his friends and respect for the rules of the street. (FILMAFFINITY)

Who the Fuck is That Guy?: The Fabulous Journey of Michael Alago

'Who the F* is That Guy'? The Fabulous Journey of Michael Alago tells the astonishing story of a gay Puerto Rican kid growing up in a Hasidic Brooklyn neighborhood, who got on the subway one day and began a musical odyssey that helped shape the musical landscape across N.Y.C. and around the world. Directed by Drew Stone and produced by Michael Alex the film tells the incredible story of a cherished New York City icon. From rubbing elbows with N. Y. scene makers as an teenager at Max's Kansas City and CBGB, to being the architect of a rock 'n' roll renaissance as the 19 year-old talent booker at the legendary Ritz, to making history as a 24 year-old A&R exec, signing the biggest metal band in a generation in Metallica, Michael Alago was on fire.

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