Best movies like VS.

For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.

Superstar rap mogul C-Note wants to join the Carolina Pines Golf & Country Club, but faces stiff opposition from the establishment's snooty members. C-Note forces the issue by purchasing the land adjacent to the golf course's 17th hole. As the club leaders search for a way to revoke his membership, C-Note realizes his family's honor and golf history are at stake, and digs in for the fight of his life.

In 1983, Oliver Nicholas, at thirteen, is well-poised to enter the precocious teenage world of first-sex, vodka and possible-love in New York City when he is traumatized by the stroke of his housekeeper (and only true maternal figure), a sixty-five-year-old Chilean woman named Aida. What was supposed to be an exhilarating and somewhat fearful rite of passage - diving into the exciting, fast-paced world of first experiences - quickly becomes skewed by an incomprehensible depression, and a house of interior horrors. Surrounded by women - his untraditional, Spanish, photographer mother (more interested in the role of confidante than mother) his sister, a comedic, door-slamming tormentor, marked by her parent's divorce; and Aida, his silver-haired emotional focal point on the verge of death in Lenox Hill Hospital - Oliver struggles to maintain his role as "man of the house" and his sanity.

"Notorious" is the story of Christopher Wallace. Through raw talent and sheer determination, Wallace transforms himself from Brooklyn street hustler (once selling crack to pregnant women) to one of the greatest rappers of all time: The Notorious B.I.G. Follow his meteoric rise to fame and his refusal to succumb to expectations - redefining our notion of "The American Dream."

An ex-con and break-dancer helps save a neighborhood from a greedy developer while trying to win a rap contest.

Lord John Morgan has returned to civilized life in England, but finds he has nothing but disdain for that life. Yearning to embrace the simplicity of the American West-and the Yellow Hands Sioux tribe he left behind, Morgan returns to the tribe's land only to discover that they've been decimated by ruthless, government-backed fur traders. Led by Horse, they fight to repossess their land.

A father and his two sons go on holiday together hoping to reconcile some of their differences, but when the arrival of two escaped convicts interrupts their vacation, the three men must cooperate in order to survive.

Anthropology students and their professor experience terror when they visit a sacred burial ground.

Too Fine and his friends Finny, Pushy and Rage hope to set up a successful urban underground garage...

Boyz n the Hood is the popular and successful film and social criticism from John Singleton about the conditions in South Central Los Angeles where teenagers are involved in gun fights and drug dealing on a daily basis.

A struggling young dancer joins forces with two breakdancers and together they become a street sensation.

This is the story of four African-American "yuppies" (a banker, a doctor, a lawyer, and a "playboy") who call themselves "The Brothers". When the playboy gets engaged, the other three friends find themselves having to come to terms with their own issues of commitment and honesty...

Megan loses her long term memory in an accident she had five years ago as a sorority girl. Every night, she has the same dream of a party and the death of a sister. When she's invited to a Greek reunion, she realizes it wasn't just a dream.

As the son of a Viking leader on the cusp of manhood, shy Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III faces a rite of passage: he must kill a dragon to prove his warrior mettle. But after downing a feared dragon, he realizes that he no longer wants to destroy it, and instead befriends the beast – which he names Toothless – much to the chagrin of his warrior father.

A soldier from Earth crashlands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor, but from the enemy species he was fighting; they band together to survive on this hostile world. In the end the human finds himself caring for his enemy in a completely unexpected way.

Mo Ali’s futuristic knife-crime drama brings the dystopian environment of CHILDREN OF MEN and DISTRICT 13 to London’s East 17. SHANK delivers a ruthless vision of forthcoming urban life, where guns have been superseded by knives and are fiercely wielded by aimless youths. Amidst the chaos is the Paper Chazers gang, a rare morally conscious group who trade scavenged food for money. After Chazers gang member, Junior (Kedar Williams-Stirling), witnesses his brother, murder he must decide whether to get revenge of stick to the gangs moral code... In this superbly paced and artistic film, present-day social issues, and murky city streets, provide a perfect canvas for imagination and action.

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.

A tale of an inner city drug dealer who turns away from crime to pursue his passion, rap music.

During the summer of 1999, a group of teenagers, through interconnected narratives, live through their last day of high school and prepare for the future. Holly, once the new girl in school, does whatever it takes to remain popular. Dawn, who is secretly a lesbian, battles drugs. Tori is the valedictorian of her class, but, on the eve of graduation, she decides to experiment with drugs for the first time.

Vusi Madlazi returns to the South African village he left as a young boy to bury his father. He meets up with his brother Ernest, who tells him their other brother Stephen couldn't be contacted. Vusi goes to Johannesburg to find him, but at first can only find his neighbor/girlfriend, Karin, a stripper. Vusi proceeds to learn how conditions have changed since the end of apartheid, not always for the better for black men.

In 1825, English peer Lord John Morgan is cast adrift in the American West. Captured by Sioux Indians, Morgan is at first targeted for quick extinction, but the tribesmen sense that he is worthy of survival. He eventually passes the many necessary tests that will permit him to become a member of the tribe.

Three dance crews – one Latin American, one European and one Canadian – prepare to battle at the International Beat the World competition in Detroit. Along the way, they struggle with gambling debt, bad break-ups and their own egos. In the final showdown to become world champions they find that their lifelong hopes, dreams and even lives, are at stake.

From neighborhood ciphers to the most notorious MC battles, "Freestyle: the Art of Rhyme" captures the electrifying energy of improvisational hip-hop--the rarely recorded art form of rhyming spontaneously. Like preachers and jazz solos, freestyles exist only in the moment, a modern-day incarnation of the African-American storytelling tradition. Shot over a period of more than seven years, it is already an underground cult film in the hip-hop world. The film systematically debunks the false image put out by record companies that hip-hop culture is violent or money-obsessed. Instead, it lets real hip-hop artists, known and unknown, weave their story out of a passionate mix of language, politics, and spirituality.

Nishko is a chief's son in the Great Plains, before Europeans arrive. During his rite of passage, he's determined to tame a painted pony. He approaches manhood while his peaceful clan is set upon by a nearby tribe willing to break a treaty. He must also contend with the kidnapping of three young women from his village, his pony's illness behind enemy lines, his mother's coma after a rattlesnake bite, the medicine man's urging that he sacrifice what he loves best, the attack of a cougar and of wolves, and his own injury while alone in the woods. His kindness, bravery, and quick thinking serve him well, but rescue come from an unexpected source.

In June of 1994, one of the most brutal mass slaughters in history occurred in the backwoods of northern New England. Four months later, history is about to repeat itself. The end of summer signals the brink of manhood for a group of lifelong friends who proudly call New Hampshire their home. But when they embark upon a local rite of passage - traveling north for one final weekend of debauchery together - it just might prove to be their final weekend PERIOD, as this rite is doomed to go frightfully wrong. When they find themselves ensnared in a struggle for survival amongst a sinister hunting party, a bloodthirsty tribe AND a mythical beast, what began as a comedy of errors devolves into an all-out Darwinian duel to the death, and less than 24 hours will pass before a slew of lives have been claimed and the last of the living remains.

A bizarre rite of passage at the local deli determines the fate of a generation of teenagers, leading some to escape their suburban town and dooming others to remain…

Frustrated with being broke, Beans decides that the only way to grasp the American Dream is to take it.

Paper Soldiers follows an overeager burglar named Shawn (Kevin Hart) through the ups and downs of his short, stressful career.

Onyx rapper Sticky Fingaz directs and stars in this hip-hop musical about a gangster who gets caught up in a bloody war between two feuding crime families while struggling to leave the streets behind. When Black's family raids one of Stick's drug houses and kills two of his men, Stick is forced to choose between leaving it all behind or seeking revenge and feeding the cycle of violence.

Trying to bootstrap his way out of Brooklyn's mean streets is Diamond, a rap musician. With his long-time pal Gage acting as his manager, he's trying to lay down a demo tape with cut-rate studio time. To pay the bills, he and Gage run drugs for "Mr. B." Inside a week, Diamond's beloved mother dies suddenly, his father appears after an absence of 12 years and wants a relationship, and his girlfriend Kia tells him she's pregnant, asking him if he's ready to be a father. Gage steals $100,000 in a multiple-felony robbery so that Diamond can record a full album, not knowing it's Mr. B's money he's taken. B wants his money, Diamond wants his music, Tia wants an answer.

An aspiring DJ, from the South Bronx, and his best friend, a promoter, try to get into show business by exposing people to hip-hop music and culture.

Street dancer, Thomas Uncles is from the wrong side of the tracks, but his bond with the beautiful Megan White might help the duo realize their dreams as they enter in the mother of all dance battles.

Jaxx is an aspiring rapper/singer who is signed to a west coast record label run by Domino Breed, a tyrant who rules almost every aspect of his artist's career - and life. Similar to the real events leading to the death of 2Pac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., a east coast/west coast battle goes on leading to death and deceit

The Mirror Boy is a mystical journey through Africa, seen through the eyes of a 12 year old boy, Tijan. After a London street fight, in which a local boy is hurt, Tijan's mother decides to take him back to their roots, to Gambia. On their arrival in Banjul, Tijan encounters a strange apparition, a boy smiling at him in a mirror and vanishing. Seeing the same boy in a crowded street market the next day sets in motion a chain of events, with Tijan finding himself lost. While Tijan's panic-stricken mother struggles to find her son, Tijan is left alone in the company of the enigmatic Mirror Boy, seemingly only visible to him. After a bruising spiritual rite of passage, The Mirror Boy takes Tijan on a mystical journey, but not all is what it seems.

A group of slackers think they have found gold in the Highlands.

Devon prepares for a rap battle that will make or break him as a rapper

The hardest group you've never heard of is back. Gangsta Rap is a mockumentary based on a group of over the hill gangster rappers (circa NWA), trying to make a comeback. Its a hilarious look at the soft underbelly of hard core hip hop.

From IMDB: Angelo My Love delves into the little understood and fascinating world of New York gypsies. Using real gypsies playing fictional versions of themselves. This critically acclaimed film explores the lifestyle, rites, myths and passions of the tight-knit urban subculture. Twelve year-old Angelo Evans is the street-wise. Charmingly precocious son of a fortune teller. When the boy accuses a sleazy gypsy, Steve "Patalay" Tsigonoff, and his foul-mouthed wife, Millie, of stealing an ancestral ring, he chases them to Canada. Angelo wants the ring for his future bride, Patricia, and nearly disgraces the family to get it back. Along the way, Duvall presents an extraordinary slice of gypsy life, highlighting there music and tribal customs, a wedding and a "kris" - the gypsies' court of justice. His film has a spontaneity and exuberance that make it a one-of-a-kind experience.

Although Dave (LeVar Burton) and his family are poor sharecroppers in the Deep South in the 1930s, this 15-year-old's problem is shared by teenagers today: he stands with one foot in adulthood and the other in childhood. "Almos' A Man", yet still treated like a child, he struggles for an identity. There's one thing, one symbol of manhood, Dave thinks, that could guarantee him instant respect: a gun.

BIRD IN THE SKY is a gritty, poetic tale of a young man’s spiritual struggle on the streets of New York City. Rob has been given a second chance to right the wrongs of his street-wise past; he must perform a miracle to be saved. His fate lies in his love for a young woman, Kay, who is coping with the loss of her child.

A cop must stop the killings of rap stars. But, he gets in too deep after his partner is killed.

Laura Sommers is hearing voices in her head and consults with a psychiatrist. The therapy is suddenly cut short when New York City is rocked by an alien invasion...

Inspired by real events, a London architect travels to the grand dunes of the Namibian Desert to escape. But when he finds himself stranded alone, desperately waiting for a ride that never comes, he must embark on a bitter rite of passage.

Desperate for a breakthrough as she nears the big 4-0, struggling New York City playwright Radha finds inspiration by reinventing herself as a rapper.

A progressive graduate student finds success and sparks outrage when his interest in battle rap as a thesis subject becomes a competitive obsession.

An 11-year-old boy steals money for bribes to remove his gay older brother from Thai military conscription rolls, unaware of the ramifications.

Based upon Paul Gallico's delicate novel, Patrick Garland's Golden Globe winning The Snow Goose is a stark and hauntingly beautiful drama set amongst the striking scenery of the Essex salt marshes during the early years of WWII. A bearded Richard Harris leads the modest cast with his sensitive portrayal of tormented soul Philip Rhayader, a lonely misshapen man shunned by society but with a great love of life; Harris isnt overly bitter of his treatment and expresses his compassion through his paintings and love of the waterfowl that surround him. Harris is ably supported by the waiflike Jenny Agutter as Frith, who radiates the requisite amount of youthful innocence and naivety, and won a best supporting actress Emmy Award for her performance.

A naive young woman looking for fun stumbles upon strange neighbors living in the same apartment building which she resides in. They start her off with a career in nude modeling, but in actuality turn out to be a ruthless brother and sister team who spearhead a kinky "girl renting" business for eccentric rich folk who get their jollies out of bondage and "whipping little girls 18 to 22".

Not having heard that war has erupted between the U.S. and Mexico, a wagon train heads west, only to find itself threatened by the Mexicans who have teamed up with hostile Indians.

On the cusp of womanhood, 12-year-old Florence goes on her first deer hunt, a traditional rite-of- passage in her matriarchal family.