28 Days

2000

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Viggo Mortensen, Dominic West

Director: Betty Thomas

ASIN: B00004UEDQ

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A big-city newspaper columnist is forced to enter a drug and alcohol rehab center after stealing a limousine and crashing it into a house.  After getting into a car accident while drunk on the day of her sister's wedding, Gwen Cummings is given a choice between prison or a rehab center. She chooses rehab, but is extremely resistant to taking part in any of the treatment programs they have to offer, refusing to admit that she has an alcohol addiction. After getting to know some of the other patients, Gwen gradually begins to re-examine her life and see that she does, in fact, have a serious problem. The path to recovery will not be easy, and success will not be guaranteed or even likely, but she is now willing to give it a try.

Adam & Paul

2004

Starring: Tom Murphy, Mark O'Halloran

Director: Leonard Abrahamson

ASIN: B000JD4UG8

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Two friends whose main interest is drugs spend a day on the scrounge looking for more drug money.

Another Day in Paradise

1999

Starring: James Woods, Melanie Griffith, Vincient Kartheiser

Director: Larry Clark

ASIN: B00000IBL1

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In the hope of a big score, two junkie couples team up to commit various drug robberies which go disastrously wrong leading to dissent, violence and murder.  Bobbie is an addict and small-time thief. When one of his jobs goes bad, Mel is called in to patch him up. Mel offers him a chance at a bigger score. Over time, Mel and his girlfriend Sid become almost like parents to Bobbie and his girlfriend Rosie, but this can't last.

Basketball Diaries

1995

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco

Director: Scott Kalvert

ASIN : B00049QQHI

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Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. As a member of a seemingly unbeatable high school basketball squad, Jim's life centers around the basketball court and the court becomes a metaphor for the world in his mind. A best friend who is dying of leukemia, a coach ("Swifty") who takes unacceptable liberties with the boys on his team, teenage sexual angst, and an unhealthy appetite for heroin -- all of these begin to encroach on young Jim's dream of becoming a basketball star. Soon, the dark streets of New York become a refuge from his mother's mounting concern for her son. He can't go home and his only escape from the reality of the streets is heroin for which he steals, robs and prostitutes himself. Only with the help of Reggie, an older neighborhood friend with whom Jim "picked up a game" now and then, is he able to begin the long journey back to sanity.

Blow

2001

Starring: Todd Field, Jason London, Roxana Zal

Director: Scott Ziehl

ASIN : B00003CXWV

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The story of George Jung, the man who established the American cocaine market in the 1970's.  A boy named George Jung grows up in a struggling family in the 1950's. His mother nags at her husband as he is trying to make a living for the family. It is finally revealed that George's father cannot make a living and the family goes bankrupt. George does not want the same thing to happen to him, and his friend Tuna, in the 1960's, suggests that he deal marijuana. He is a big hit in California in the 1960's, yet he goes to jail, where he finds out about the wonders of cocaine. As a result, when released, he gets rich by bringing cocaine to America. However, he soon pays the price.

Bright Lights, Big City

1988

Starring: Michael J Fox, Keifer Sutherland, Phoebe Cates

Director: James Bridges

ASIN : B00009OWJR

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A young kid from Kansas moves to New York to work on a magazine. He gets caught up in the world of drink and drugs, and starts a steady decline. The only hope is the cousin of one of his drinking partners, can she pull him through it ?

Broken Vessels

1999

Starring: Todd Field, Jason London, Roxana Zal

Director: Scott Ziehl

ASIN : B0001DCYM8

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A young Pennsylvania man (Jason London) moves to Los Angeles to begin work for an ambulance service. There he is teamed with a supremely confident vet (Todd Field) who seemingly has gone through a large number of partners. Initially the novice is awed by the more experienced man's capabilities to deal with the high pressure situations they encounter. However, gradually he discovers that all is not as it seems. While the vet is ice on the surface, he actually gets through the ordeals by heavy drug use and avoids commitments. Soon the younger man finds himself pulled into the same world and has to decide what direction he wants to take.

Buffalo Soldiers

2001

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Anna Paquin

Director: Gregor Jordan

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1989. The Berlin Wall is about to fall, and the world is about to be made safe for the new world order. But outside of Stuttgart, West Germany, at Theodore Roosevelt Army Base, Specialist Ray Elwood of the 317th Supply Battalion (Joaquin Phoenix) is about to find his own cold war turn white hot. Elwood's a loveable rogue, a conscript who's managed to turn his military servitude into a blossoming network of black market deals, more out of boredom than ambition. When a new top sergeant arrives, with the avowed intention of cleaning the base up, Elwood thinks the new blood is nothing he can't handle, especially after he lays eyes on the top's daughter, rebellious Robyn. But that was before he figured in the $5 million in stolen arms that just landed on his lap, Berman's jealous wife, an insane Turkish drug dealer, and, of course, the resulting lust, betrayal, and murder.

Chappaqua

1966

Starring: 

Jean-Louis Barrault, William S Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg

Director: Conrad Rooks

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Semi-autobiographical story of Conrad Rooks, who travels to France to undergo a drug-withdrawal cure. Flashbacks to the beginings of psychedelia in San Fran.

Christiane F.

1981

Starring: Natja Brunckhorst, Thomas Haustein, 

Jens Kuphal

Director: Uli Edel

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This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 70s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14 years old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-storey apartment building in Berlin. She's fascinated by the 'Sound', a new disco with most modern equipment. Although she's legally too young, she asks a friend to take her. There she meets Detlef, who's in a clique where everybody's on drugs. Step by step she gets drawn deeper into the scene.

Clean and Sober

1988

Starring: Michael Keaton, Kathy Baker, Morgan Freeman

Director: Glenn Gordon Caron

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(Region 1)

Michael Keaton plays Daryl Poynter, a hot shot real estate agent who just happens to have a cocaine and drinking problem. One morning, he wakes up to find a dead woman in his bed(someone he had been partying with the night before)from a cocaine overdose. He also just happenes to recieve a phone call from his employers telling him a huge sum of money is missing from one of his accounts. Panicing, Daryl decides to check into a drug rehab to hide from the law, where he meets tough cookie Morgan Freeman. A recovering addict himself, he now works as a drug counselor, and knows all the tricks Daryl tries to pull. Soon Daryl discovers he just might be in the right place, afterall.

Dogs in Space

1987

Starring: Michael Hutchence, Saskia Post, Nique Needles

Director: Richard Lowenstein

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The film is set in a house occupied by a collection of social misfits. The main storyline is that of a strange musician's relationship with a girl, their drug use and his band. These events are surrounded by a chaotic myriad of sub-plots. A homicidal chainsaw maniac's lust for his machine and a T.V station's offer of money in return for a piece of the Skylab satellite that has fallen to earth are just two. The film is composed of small fragments in the lives of its inhabitants, each following onto the next, sometimes overlapping and ending in tragedy.

Drugstore Cowboy

1989

Starring: Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James LeGros

Director: Gus Van Sant

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A realistic road movie about a drug addict, his 'family', and their inevitable decline into crime.  A group of drug users in the 1970's help finance their habit by robbing drug stores. Matt Dillon's character is very superstitious and eventually his luck runs out.

Easy Rider

1969

Starring: Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James LeGros

Director: Gus Van Sant

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Two long-haired bikers from Los Angeles take off on a cross-country trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. On the way they meet several unusual characters. A rancher and his family, a hitchhiker and the hippie commune where he lives, hookers, red-necks, but most noticeably George Hansen.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

1998

Starring: Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Tobey Maguire

Director: Terry Gilliam

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An oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychadelic escapades.  The big-screen version of Hunter S. Thompson's seminal psychedelic classic about his road trip across Western America as he and his large Samoan lawyer searched desperately for the "American dream"... they were helped in large part by the huge amount of drugs and alcohol kept in their convertible, The Red Shark.

Gia

1998

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elizabeth Mitchell, Eric Michael Cole, Kyle Travis

Director: Michael Cristofer

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Fact-based story of top fashion model Gia Marie Carangi follows her life from a rebel working in her father's diner at age 17 to her death in 1986 at age 26 from AIDS, one of the first women in America whose death was attributed to the disease. In between, she followed a downward spiral of drug abuse and failed relationships.

Girl Interrupted

1999

Starring: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall

Directors: James Mangold

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Susanna is rushed to the hospital. Afterwards she discusses this with a psychiatrist. She had been having some delusions. She had also been having an affair with the husband of her parents' friend. The doctor suggests that combining a bottle of aspirin and a bottle of vodka was a suicide attempt. This she denies. He recommends a short period of rest at Claymoore. Claymoore is a private mental hospital full of noisy, crazy people. Georgina is a pathological liar. Polly has been badly scarred by fire. Daisy won't eat in the presence of other people. Lisa is a sociopath, the biggest exasperation for the staff - like Nurse Valerie - and the biggest influence on the other girls in the hospital. Lisa has a history of escapes, so gaining access to personal medical files is not a problem... Susanna's boyfriend Toby is concerned that she seems too comfortable living with her institutionalized friends...

Last Exit to Brooklyn

1989

Starring: Stephen Lang, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Directors: Uli Edel

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From the story by Hubert Selby Jr, about life in a working class district of Brooklyn during the 1950s. It follows the lives of struggling characters amid a world of poverty and despair. Harry Black (Stephen Lang) is a corrupt union official who beats his wife at night and spends embezzled money exploring his homosexuality. He discovers himself infatuated with a frail young man who calls himself Georgette (Alexis Arquette), who has a crush on well-muscled hood Vinnie (Peter Dobson). But Harry doesn't confront his problem head-on until he falls head-over-heels in love with Regina (Bernard Zette), a local transvestite. As Harry sinks into obsession, other characters float through the decaying streets. There's the attractive prostitute Tralala (Jennifer Jason-Leigh) who falls in love with one of her clients. There is also an agreeable young man named Tommy (John Costelloe) who is beaten by his soon-to-be father-in-law Big Joe (Burt Young) for making his daughter Donna (Ricki Lake) illegitimately pregnant. This is a disturbing book successfully brought to the screen.

MacArthur Park

2001

Actors: Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Brandon Quintin Adams

Director: Billy Wirth

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(Region 1)

Life in the park is daily warfare with rival gangs, police raids, the wealthy decadents who now come for drugs and the ongoing demons of addiction. This is where we meet Cody, once a dedicated family man whose addiction to crack cocaine met no criticism and was welcomed by others like him. The harder Cody tries to escape the parameters of the park, the more it seems to close in on him. Finally, Cody surrenders his pipe to reclaim a relationship with this son and a life outside MacArthur Park.

More

1969

Actors: Mimsy Farmer, Klaus Grunberg, Heinz Engelmann

Director: Barbet Schroeder

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The making of a heroin addict. Stefan, fresh from college, hitches from Germany to Paris, where he does a little breaking and entering to get some money and soon meets Estelle, a young American. Even through a friend warns him off Estelle, Stefan falls for her (she's quixotic). Although he's quickly petulant and possessive, she invites him to follow her to Ibiza for romance in the sun and sand. There Stefan meets another German, Wolf, whose connection with Estelle Stefan can't fathom. He also meets Kathy, whose relationship with Estelle is also unclear at first. What explains her disappearances and furtive behavior? And once Stefan understands, what will he do about it?

Naked Lunch

1991

Starring: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm

Director: David Cronenberg

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Not an adaptation of beat writer William S. Burrough's novel but a mix of biography and an interpretation of his drug- induced writing processes combined with elements of his work in this paranoid fantasy about Bill Lee, a writer who accidentally shoots his wife, whose typewriter transforms into a cockroach and who becomes involved in a mysterious plot in an Islamic port called Interzone. Wonderfully bizarre, not unlike Burrough's books.

Party Monster

2002

Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, Marilyn Manson

Director: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato

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When smalltown boy Michael Alig (Macaulay Culkin) moves to New York he meets James St. James (Seth Green). In awe of this larger-than-life character and his decadent lifestyle, Alig determines to learn all he can from St. James and aspires to be even more fabulous. Soon his dream becomes a glittering reality. With his increasingly outrageous behaviour and the wild antics of his infamous ‘Club Kids’, the charismatic Alig becomes the number one promoter in clubland and a media celebrity. Before long however, the hedonistic parties and drug-fuelled existence take their toll. In a last-ditch attempt to recapture the spirit of excess, Alig makes one final outrageous gesture. But can he get away with murder?   This unbelievable but true story of the man who reinvented New York nightlife in the early 90s is a fascinating and outrageous expose of good times-turned-sour featuring brilliant performances from Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green as you’ve never seen them before.

Permanent Midnight

1998

Starring: Ben Stiller, Elizabeth Hurley

Director: David Veloz

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Comedy writer Jerry Stahl (Ben Stiller), whose $6000-a-week heroin habit had him taking his infant daughter along on his drug runs and doing smack during TV script conferences. Departing detox, Stahl explores memories with survivor Kitty, who listens patiently to Stahl's flashback. Other women in Stahl's life are his British wife Sandra (Elizabeth Hurley) and his agent Vola. For the TV series "Mr. Chompers" (inspired by ALF), Stahl meets with sitcom exec Craig Ziffer and puppeteer Allen. For freaky freebasing, Stahl hangs with mumbler Nicky and druggie Gus.

Requiem for a Dream

2000

Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto

Director: Darren Aronofsky

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Drugs. They consume mind, body and soul. Once you're hooked, you're hooked. Four lives. Four addicts. Four failures. Doing their best to succeed in the world, but failing miserably, four people get hooked on various drugs. Despite their aspirations of greatness, they succumb to their addictions. Watching the addicts spiral out of control, we bear witness to the dirtiest, ugliest portions of the underworld addicts reside in. It is shocking and eye-opening but demands to be seen by both addicts and non-addicts alike.

Rush

1992

Starring: Jason Patric, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Director: Lili Fini Zanuck

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Raynor (Patric) is an undercover narcotics cop. For his next assignment he chooses the more inexperienced but tough and good-looking Kristen (Jason Leigh). Their ultimate target is Gaines, a renowned but very elusive drug dealer. While doing their work they unexpectedly fall into a morase of drug-addiction and fall in love with each other. Despite subjecting themselves to the life of low class, one track junkies they do not get the evidence they want to convinct Gaines, and instead are forced into using false evidence in court.

Sid and Nancy

1986

Starring: Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb

Director: Alex Cox

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Morbid biographical story of Sid Vicious, bassist with British punk group the Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. When the Sex Pistols break up after their fateful US tour, Vicious attempts a solo career while in the grip of heroin addiction. One morning, Nancy is found stabbed to death and Sid is arrested for her murder.

The Corner

2000

Starring: TK Carter, Khandi Alexander, Sean Nelson

Director: Charles Dutton

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(Region 1)

THE CORNER presents the world of Fayette Street using real names and real events. The miniseries tells the true story of men, women and children living amid the open-air drug markets of West Baltimore. It chronicles a year in the lives of 15-year-old DeAndre McCullogh, his mother Fran Boyd, and his father Gary McCullogh, as well as other addicts and low-level drug dealers caught up in the twin-engine economy of heroin and cocaine.

The Doors

1991

Starring: Val Kilmer, Michael Wincott, Meg Ryan

Director: Oliver Stone

ASIN: B00005NB8K

ASIN : B00007LZ5P

The Ultimate Story of Sex, Drugs & Rock 'N' Roll.  The story of the famous and influential 1960's rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.

Oliver Stone's homage to 60's rock group The Doors also doubles as a biography of the group's late singer, the "Electric Poet" Jim Morrison. The movie follows Morrison from his days as a film student in Los Angeles to his death in Paris in 1971, at the age of 27. The movies features a tour- de-force performance by Val Kilmer, who not only looks like Jim Morrison's long-lost twin brother, but also sounds so much like him that he did much of his own singing. It has been written that even the surviving Doors had trouble distinguishing Kilmer's vocals from Morrison's originals.

The Man With The Golden Arm

1955

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak

Director: Otto Preminger

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(Region 1)

Frankie Machine is a skilled card dealer and one-time heroin addict. When he returns home from jail, he struggles to find a new livelihood and to avoid slipping back into addiction.

The Panic in Needle Park

1971

Starring: Al Pacino, Kitty Winn

Director: Jerry Schatzberg

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This movie is a stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in "Needle Park" in New York city. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless girl who finds in her relationship with Bobby the stability she craves. She becomes addicted too, and life goes downhill for them both as their addiction deepens, eventually leading to a series of betrayals. But, in spite of it all, the relationship between Bobby and Helen endures.

Trainspotting

1996

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner

Director: Danny Boyle

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A wild, freeform, Rabelaisian trip through the darkest recesses of Edinburgh low-life, focusing on Mark Renton and his attempt to give up his heroin habit, and how the latter affects his relationship with family and friends: Sean Connery wannabe Sick Boy, dimbulb Spud, psycho Begbie, 14-year-old girlfriend Diane, and clean-cut athlete Tommy, who's never touched drugs but can't help being curious about them...

Trash

1970

Starring: Joe Dallesandro, Holly Woodlawn

Director: Paul Morrissey

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The story of Joe [Dallesandro] and his lover-protector, Holly [Woodlawn], who is something to behold, a comic book Mother Courage who fancies herself as Marlene Dietrich but sounds more like Phil Silvers. Joe and Holly try to make a go of things in their Lower East Side basement, from which Holly goes forth from time to time to cruise the Fillmore East and to scavenge garbage cans, while Joe's journeys are in search of real junk... Trash is true-blue movie-making, funny and vivid.--Vincent Canby, The New York Times. Written & directed by Paul Morrissey, "presented" by Andy Warhol.

Wasted

2002

Starring: Nick Stahl, Summer Phoenix, Aaron Paul

Film by: Stephen T. Kay

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(Region 1)

Based on a true story, WASTED is a frightening and realistic look at drug addiction. Straight-A high school student Samantha (Summer Phoenix) hides her drug habit under a blanket of ambition and achievement. Rebellious Owen (Nick Stahl) uses drugs for an escape, but becomes a hard core addict. Chris (Aaron Paul) wants to help his friends overcome their demons, but quickly develops a problem of his own. This thoughful and compelling MTV production features strong performances and a grim, uncompromising tone in its portrayal of addicted teens.

William S. Burroughs: Commissioner of Sewers

1991

Starring: William S Burroughs

Film by: Klaus Maeck

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An informal documentary on Beat/satirical/avant-garde novelist William S. Burroughs, featuring interviews, footage of Burroughs's public readings, and bits of experimental films featuring Burroughs. He discusses literature and other aspects of society.

Withnail and I

1986

Starring: Richard E Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths

Film by: Bruce Robinson

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London 1969 - two 'resting' (unemployed and unemployable) actors, Withnail and Marwood, fed up with damp, cold, piles of washing-up, mad drug dealers and psychotic Irishmen, decide to leave their squalid Camden flat for an idyllic holiday in the countryside, courtesy of Withnail's uncle Monty's country cottage. But when they get there, it rains non-stop, there's no food, and their basic survival skills turn out to be somewhat limited. Matters are not helped by the arrival of Uncle Monty, who shows an uncomfortably keen interest in Marwood...

Wonderland

2003

Starring: Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Lisa Kudrow

Director: James Cox

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John Holmes was a legend of the porn industry and revered in circles as a stud. But years after his successful career and star fading, Holmes was a desperate man with his own internal demons to live up to. He's estranged from his wife, holding onto a relationship with his teenage mistress, and living as a junkie in search of his next fix. But one fateful night left four people dead and John as a key suspect in one of the most grisly murders in Los Angeles. Was he partly responsible for what happened at Wonderland Avenue?