Best movies like Two Stage Sisters

Lex 'El Animal' Vargas is a promising Portorican boxer in Queens, but lacks ambition to aim for the big career. That changes after his brother Paulie is accidentally shot dead by a teenager in an amateur hold-up on their late dad's shop, which he now closes to turn professional boxer. His star rises fast, but success brings its own problems, as he he lacks experience to handle professionals and resist the abuse they and his ghetto past entourage make of his generous nature.

Shanghai gangsters grapple with lust and loyalty on the eve of war with Japan as they try to navigate an alliance with the enemy's army.

Tian Zhenhua arrives in Shanghai to coach a local women's basketball team. Number 5 on the team, Xiaoje, excels at basketball but is unsure of whether to continue playing. As Tian gets to grips with training Xiaoje and the rest of the team, he reflects on his career as a star basketball player before the revolution.

An American oil company representative almost sacrifices his marriage for his career.

China in the 1920s. After her father's death, 19 year old Songlian is forced to marry the much older lord of a powerful family. With three wives already, each living in a separate house within the great castle, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained. This competition gets out of hand.

Tracing the fascinating, real-life saga of one of China's most revered composers, master storyteller Teng Wenji sweeps us into China's intellectual and artistic coming of age during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). As a young composer, Zhao Liming (Shao Bing) struggles with a constellation of opposing forces: personal ambitions vs. communal obligation, romantic love vs. loyal friendship, modern music vs. traditional.

Holly Hunter plays a lonely, single, poorly educated Texan who finds herself pregnant with no means to support a child. To avoid giving up the child, she seeks an abortion. Denied an abortion in Texas the young woman hires a novice lawyer to plead her case in the US supreme court. Eventually the law is changed, but for the character it takes longer than nine months.

Jack Palmer is a social worker whose job has taken precedence over his personal life. Mainly, his job is to help four mentally challenged men live regular lives in a home. They consist of: Norman, who works at a donut shop and has a thing for keys; Barry, who thinks he is a golf pro and doesn't communicate well with his father; Arnold, who is into all things Russian and has a habit of spending money; and Lucien, who is into Spider Man and must testify before the state senate. Jack wants to help them, but he also thinks it is time to move on with his life. The hard part is trying to say goodbye to the guys he cares about.

Pre-Cultural Revolution propaganda at its most lavish, this model opera depicts the history and evolution of the Communist Party of China under Mao Zedong from its founding in July 1921 to the establishment of "New China" in 1949. Detailed in the musical are several key events in CPC history such as the Northern Expedition, the KMT-led Shanghai massacre of 1927, the Nanchang Uprising and formation of the People's Liberation Army, the Long March and the founding of the PRC on October 1, 1949.

China, 1930s, during the ravaging civil war. General Pen entrusts O'Hara, an intrepid American adventurer, with the mission of providing a large sum of money to Mr. Wu with the task of buying weapons in Shanghai to help end General Yang's tyranny that keeps an entire province under his ruthless iron boot.

Set four years after the first movie, Lin Xiao, Lily, Nan Xiang, and Ruby, confront opportunities and challenges as their school days come to an end.

A lowly brothel maid captures the attention of Shanghai triad leaders, pulling her into a brutal war where she learns to rise above the odds in order to survive.

The film follows the rise and fall of a family in Shanghai. Once wealthy and capitalist, the family unraveled during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s. Their home, once a French concession mansion, was converted into a multi-family dwelling.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Yu-liang leaves a brothel in a small Chinese town, to become the second wife of Mr. Pan. While Pan is away at the revolution in Yunnan, Yu-liang learns to paint and takes art classes at the Shanghai Art Institute, until it is closed for painting nudes. Because she cannot bear him a son, Yu-liang leaves Pan to his first wife, and studies art in Paris, where she wins an award for a nude self-portrait. She returns to join Pan in Nanking in the 1930's, and becomes a Professor until it is discovered that she came from a brothel. She returns to Paris to live the rest of her life there, and finally gains a major exhibition of her work.

Set in the decadent 1920s, Temptress Moon tells the very complicated story of a wealthy family living on the outskirts of Shanghai. Their youngest daughter, Ruyi, is brought up as a servant to her opium-addicted father and brother. Meanwhile, her brother-in-law Zhongliang has a successful, if illegal, career seducing and blackmailing married women in the city. When he comes to Ruyi's home the two fall in love, and trouble ensues.

When four best friends try and move forward in their work and personal life, they realize that trying to live their life's dream is more difficult than they imagine -- especially in the high fashion world of Shanghai.

Lin Xiao, Gu Li, Nan Xiang, Tang Wanru - these four best friends, after waving goodbye to their school campus and entering the workforce, they are faced with various challenges in their life: friendship, love, and career. Together, they become lost in life, having long forgotten their past courage.

Based on a novel by the same name written by Gu Hua, a melodrama about the life and travails of a young woman who lives through the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution.

Lepke is the feared leader of "Murder Incorporated" in this underworld drama based on the life of Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. Lepke began his criminal career as a petty thief in his teens; a stretch in prison taught him the finer points of life on the wrong side of the law. After getting out of jail, Lepke and his pal Gurrah Shapiro join a gang who hire themselves out as strikebreakers, and the vicious but clever Lepke soon rises through the ranks.

Tenacious and optimistic, Mini (Angelica Lee) is an acrobat at a Shanghai circus troupe. Having lost both her parents at a young age, Mini has never had a real family, and her greatest dream is to find a love that she can rely on, a love that will make her fly. Kang (Liu Ye) works at a music store called Go With the Flow, which just about sums up his aimless lifestyle. Raised in an overly strict family, Kang grew up into a rebellious young man who likes to challenge social norms. These two very different young people meet by chance in the bustle of modern Shanghai, and spark a story of pure love and vertigo as their confused worlds collide.

In 1899, Lord Kang must decide which of his three sons will take over his family's Chinese banking empire. When circumstances dictate that he appoint his unreliable youngest son, family bonds are pushed to the limit as father and son clash in a climate of political turmoil. Winner of the Special Jury Award at the 2009 Shanghai International Film Festival.

The talented Korean tenor, Bae, who penetrate the audience's hears through his delicate and powerful singing, is on the rise to stardom at the European opera scene. Sawada, a Japanese music producer, is searching for a new tenor for an upcoming performance. He watches a performance of Bae and invites him to Japan, which marks the beginning of friendship. But, the thyroid cancer strikes Bae. During an operation, the nerves of his vocal cords has be cut due to the widely spread cancer. Unfortunately, Ba ends up losing his voice at the peak of his career. Sawada cant's stand to watch Bae's miserable so he starts to look for a solution.

The film is inspired by the story of Hao Wanzhong, a policeman in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. Following his career, through the inner workings of a modern Chinese police department in Inner Mongolia. While rising through the ranks Hao Wanzhong successfully solves difficult cases. His story carries us through vicious murders, corruption, and social unrest, against a backdrop of majestic winter landscapes, opulent cities and the raw industrial districts of this remote region of China. Hao's obsession with detective work leads to his meteoric rise from beat cop to district police chief, however his maniacal dedication comes at a cost, a cost to his family and ultimately leads to his death. - Written by Sean O'Dea

When a dysfunctional group of unpublished writers accept Hannah into their fold, the last thing they expect is her overnight success. Can these lovable misfits achieve their artistic dreams and avoid killing one another in the process?

Looks at how attitudes to sex have changed in China over the years.

Today, we see a new style of feminism springing up everywhere - young, provocative and radical. To get their message across, these women have decided to rely on rock music! While the Pussy Riot shock Russia and fascinate the West, the concerts of Peaches or Grimes are sold out, while artists such as Kathleen Hanna make their comeback to remind us that it all began in 1990 in some backwater of the United States. The RIOT GRRRLS revolutionized rock and inspired entire generations of young artists around the world. This film will explore today s feminist scene while revisiting the little known history of this revolution that shook the early 90s.

Aisha, a young Nigerian woman seeking asylum in Ireland, is floundering in a maze of social services and bureaucracy. As her situation becomes increasingly dire, Aisha struggles to maintain hope and dignity against the looming threat of deportation.

From World War, to revolution and ultimately rebirth, Forever Young is the story of four generations spanning a hundred years of modern Chinese history. Each generation faces its own unique set of challenges. Up against corporate corruption, the trials and tribulations of the cultural revolution, and one's duty to nation in time of war, they are faced with choosing their individual paths through history. But as the challenges and turmoil of each generation may differ as time changes, what was learned in the past cannot help but effect the choices that are made in the future as it is passed down from generation to generation. And that is the universal message that being true to yourself is precious. It is the source of strength that empowers one to become the person they want to be, to march forward as far as their hearts desire, into the future.

A haunted theatre, filled with the vengeful spirits of a tragically-trapped performance troupe murdered in a fire 13 years ago, waits for the once-grand palatial playhouse to re-open with a new show - and bring in new victims.

The fictional life and career of a famous actress in Chinese opera, a woman who goes against tradition by specializing in playing male roles, especially that of Zhang Kui, a benevolent ghost who appears in several Chinese operas. Although the actress's career brings wealth and fame, it is attained only through considerable struggle against an anti-female system and an unhappy personal life.

A filmed 1970 performance of the China Central Ballet Troupe. Adapted from the film of the same title, The Red Detachment of Women was first staged in Beijing in 1964 and was one of the Eight Model Operas which dominated the national stage during the Cultural Revolution.

Superstar singer/songwriter Jewel did not win success without great personal sacrifice, as we learn from the artist herself and those close to her in this documentary chronicling the early, hardscrabble years of her music career. The film also features the singer's performance at a 1999 benefit concert in Los Angeles, including hits such as "Who Will Save Your Soul," "Down So Long" and "Love Me Just Leave Me Alone."

An underground CPC telegrapher, Li Xia, fights against the Japanese enemy and dies before the eve of Shanghai's liberation in 1939.

Wu Jia-qian (played by Kelly Lin) opened a marketing company which is struggling to survive in Shanghai. Once she had deals with a upstart entrepreneur Mr Zeng Tian-gao, Mr Zeng employed Miss Wu to re-package and design his personal image to produce results a change of himself in pursuit of a female model Fang-na (Hong Xiao-ling) who dislike his vulgar. Miss Wu made a full upgrade for Mr Zeng not only improves the taste of his dress, but also changed his artistic accomplishment. Miss Wu take full advantage of her marketing strategy, making Mr Zeng famous one night after long-time training and Fang-na fell into love with Zeng when they met again. But this time Mr Zeng felt his real love is Miss Wu.