Best movies like Yamato (California)

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.

Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan."

"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."

Natsume Mochizuki works as a teen model in Tokyo, but she learns that she has to move to her father's hometown of Ukigumo. She is in a desperate situation because she can't do the things she wants to do in Ukigumo. One day, she meets Koichiro Hasegawa. He is the successor of the Hasegawa family. His family is wealthy and is respected in the area. Natsume Mochizuki and Koichiro Hasegawa become attracted to each other, but something changes their fate.

For over a decade, this portrait of a North Philadelphia family and the creative sanctuary offered by their home music studio was filmed with vérité intimacy. The family's 10-year journey is an illumination of race and class in America, and it's a testament to love, healing and hope.

A coming-of-age story centered around a small-town singer brokenhearted by the death of her brother in a car crash, who had secretly submitted her for a summer session at a performing arts academy in Los Angeles. In the academy, she experiences a whole new way of life in the big city, far from the small town lifestyle she's used to.

Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.

Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That! is a 2006 concert film of the Beastie Boys. It was created by giving camcorders to 50 audience members of a sold out concert at Madison Square Garden on October 9, 2004. The audience members were instructed to keep the cameras rolling at all times. The DVD of this concert movie was released on July 24, 2006 in the UK and July 25, 2006 in the US.

Sergeant Cody Cullen is deeply touched by a homemade Christmas card he receives while serving in Afghanistan. Upon his discharge, he treks to the picturesque California town of Nevada City. Cody is soon welcomed into the Spelman home and unexpectedly falls in love with the woman who sent the card, Faith.

Years after a violent attack sent her into retirement, opera soprano Sarah Conrad has agreed to a comeback event. But when she steps back into the limelight, a series of new dangers threaten to keep her from ever singing again.

Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military training and a fearless determination to better the lives of her students -- no matter what the cost.

Mitsuki is shy and rather isolated at school. Towa is on the basketball team and Mitsuki's class-mate. Due to circumstances, Mitsuki soon begins to socialize with four jocks of the basketball team, which affects her self-esteem, her social status, her loneliness and her life. She finds a new lease in her school life.

Takeo Goda is a high school student 2 m tall and weighting more than 100 kg. He has a righteous character. The male students adore him, but female students do not like him. All of the girls Takeo likes prefer his handsome friend Makoto Sunakawa. One day, Takeo saves female high school student Rinko Yamato from a pervert on train. Takeo falls in love with her at first sight. He feels Rinko likes Makoto, but Makoto isn't the one she likes. Takeo struggles to liaise between Rinko and Makoto.

Two sets of parents divorce and marry each other, while their children Miki and Yuu are caught in the middle and start falling for each other.

A man clashes with his daughter over her choice of fiancé.

Two self-obsessed businessmen discover they're long-lost identical twins and come together to plot the reunion of their eccentric divorced parents.

Straight out of Jersey comes Patricia Dombrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$, an aspiring rapper fighting through a world of strip malls and strip clubs on an unlikely quest for glory.

Twelve-year-old mathematics genius Prem discovers his recently deceased father was a famous rapper and immediately sets out to learn more about his father’s life and passions. Empowered by imaginative hip-hop music-fueled fantasies, Prem is determined to find out if hip-hop truly is in his DNA.

On a Caribbean cruise, Jenny is marooned on a beach with her rock and roll idol. Deliriously in love with the idea of time alone with him, she manages to hide the fact that they're a stone's throw away from their resort.

Bri, a young rapper and the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died just before making it big. Her father’s legend makes him a hard act to follow, but between Bri being bullied and watching her mother struggle after losing her job, she pours out her frustration into songs that become big viral hits.

Japan and Iran are not in close relationship. More than 4 centuries ago, however, Persian carpets were used in the festival of Takayama, a historic city in mountainous area of Honsyu. A man planned to resume the carpet in the festival, and asked Kinue, a Persian carpet designer, to design it. Kinue's husband, Makoto, is a carpet importer. They send the design to Iran to weave the carpet. But just before Makoto goes to Iran to receive the carpet, Kinue dies of a traffic accident. A month before the festival, Makoto went to Isphahan, Iran, to receive the carpet. He brings his daughter Sakura, who does not open her heart after she lost her mother. To surprise, the carpet production has not even started. It will take 3 months from the start. For Makoto it means he betrays not only the festival planners but also his late wife.

Lara is Palestinian and lives in London. She has everything she wants in her life: a husband, a son and a beautiful house in one of the best areas of the city. Nevertheless, her everyday life appears cold and grey, only brightened up by surreptitious sips of vodka. But one day, Inam, a sensual, resolute girl, knocks on her door. Lara seems to be transported back to her adolescence when she and Inam were close friends, and studied together in Ramallah. In Lara's astonished eyes we see a mixture of fear and desire towards the woman whom she had lost sight of. A deceptive tangle of memories which a trauma, a love affair and an experience with two Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem an re-surface. From a gripping, well structured emotional thriller that traces back their memories through recurrent flashbacks that take us to the West Bank in 1994, during the Intifada.

Based on the Best Selling Anime Series "SAIKANO" Shy coed Chise (played by Aki Maeda from Battle Royale) is madly in love with high school athlete Shuji. The two share a bond which only intensifies when war breaks out in futuristic Japan. But Chise has a secret that - if revealed - would not only destroy her relationship but would also put her life at risk. Chise is not an ordinary teenage girl, she is actually the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, a genetically engineered cyborg built specifically for extreme military use. When she goes into battle, Chise strikes fear in everyone around her, including her own troops. Her boyfriend must never know.

As the young girls have discovered the truth about the cruel fate of a magical girl, one magical girl after another is destroyed. Throughout it all, there is one magical girl who continues to fight alone - Homura Akemi. Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part II: Eternal is a retelling of the second half of the TV anime series.

Ten year old Jared Marshall's life crumbled down after his parents' divorce a year ago. Not only does his dad put his job first since, mother uproots him from Iowa by moving in with her ma so she can take a job in California. When Jared's class writes letters to US troops in Bosnia from the nearest base, kindhearted Sergeant First Class Vince Carerra, who grew up fatherless and got divorced because his wife wasn't faithful while he was on tour of duty, takes to the kid and starts a correspondence with 'fatherly' advice. Once his unit returns to Fort Sebastian, Vince calls on Jared's home, warmly welcomed. Vince becomes Jared's personal baseball coach and after some Cupid encouragement, his mother's boyfriend, but on an understanding not to commit because he's likely to be redeployed.

A high school teacher, struggling to keep up with today's youth and estranged from his only son, receives the news about a terrible accident that left his son in a coma. Wanting to know more about his son's life, he finds out that he's been working as a producer for a new underground idol group who are now left without a guiding hand.

When five lovely young girls who hate studying hire part-time tutor Futaro, he guides not only their education but also their hearts. Time spent has brought them all closer, with feelings growing within the girls and Futaro. As they finish their third year of high school and their last school festival approaches, they set their sights on what’s next. Is there a future with one of them and Futaro?

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.

Fu and Suzu are two pretty anarchist girls who decide to take to the road. They set off on a journey to visit the tomb of a small pig by name Pupu. On the way, they meet Suzu's ex-lover, a gay couple, and a golf player; always getting in trouble. But whenever trouble comes, 'Trunk Man' the hero appears to save them.

Based on a 2016 novel by Mana Sakura, “The Lowlife” shows the stories of three women who work in Japan’s adult video industry.

A quiet teen's life is shaken up when she's forced to be her arrogant neighbor's slave. He loves her, but they both have a lot to learn about trust.

A group of actors take the audience hostage during a theatre play. Based on Shugo Fujii's stage play and partly on a real-life incident which he was involved with.

A story of finding a place to root yourself when life’s obstacles have dispirited you. Chang-su, a former equestrian athlete for the South Korean national team, was forced to give up on his dream early. He finds himself working at a quarry in the rural town of Minawa in western Japan, where he lives with Minami and her infant daughter. Yamabuki, a teenage girl, begins to stage silent protests that blossom into community action, much to the dismay of her policeman father. The quiet surface of this rural town is gradually peeled off to reveal frustration and loneliness that, once given a voice, begin to connect people.

An in-depth look at the personal life of rapper and singer Nicki Minaj, whose fast-paced rap style and interesting alter-egos connected with audiences all over the world.

Thirteen years afterward, I wonder if those who bombed Hiroshima are looking at me and saying: 'We did it! We were able to kill another person!' They should be," murmurs Minami (played by Kumiko Aso), one of the two leading female characters in Yunagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni, as she lies dying in 1958, her life brought to a premature end by sickness resulting from her exposure to atomic bomb radiation. This is a story about those who at least initially survived the first U.S. atomic bombing of 1945 and their descendants in contemporary times. The film, based on a comic by Fumiyo Kono, jumps between the two time frames and quietly depicts the sorrow and mortification experienced through the everyday lives of laid-back and soft-spoken Hiroshima people. Only a few scenes of the bombing and the ensuing devastation are featured.