Billy Elliot 2000 In Thatcher's England, a coal miner's 11-year-old son is drawn to a ballet class over the boxing lessons his father assigned him. Jamie Bell Susan Walters

Songcatcher 1999 In 1905, a musicologist sets out to record the music of the Appalachian Mountains, and discovers a treasury of Irish and Scottish ballads and humanity. Janet McTeer, Aiden Quinn, Jane Adams

Running on Empty 1988 After blowing up a napalm lab in 1971, two antiwar activists, succeed raising a family on the run until they discover that their eldest, a gifted pianist, is offered a scholarship at Julliard. Jud Hirsch, Christine Lahti, River Phoenix

Music of the Heart 1999 based on the documentary of a violin teacher who creates a school music program out of thin air in East Harlem, landing at Carnegie Hall. Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Angela Basset

The Late Quartet 2012 After 25 years together, a world-renowned string quartet learns that their beloved cellist may soon have to retire, stirring up competing egos and harbored resentment. Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Quartet, 2012 Maggie Smith, Tom Courtney, Pauline Collins, Michel Gambon An Opera Diva makes waves when she moves into an English retirement home for performers and musicians.