Director: Roland Emmerich

Main Cast: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Chris Cooper, and Tchéky Karyo

Release Date: 27 June 2000

Main Plot: Colonial South Carolina is in the year 1776. Benjamin Martin, a war hero of French and Indian descent who is plagued by his past, now desires nothing more than to live peacefully on his small plantation and avoid involvement in a conflict with Great Britain, the most powerful country in the world. When South Carolina chooses to join the rebellion against England, Gabriel instantly signs up to fight without his explicit approval. In the meantime, his two eldest sons, Thomas and Gabriel, can’t wait to enlist in the recently formed “Continental Army.” But tragedy strikes when Colonel William Tavington, a notoriously brutal British dragoon, arrives and burns the Martin Plantation.

Director: Nick Cassavetes

Main Cast: Gena Rowlands, James Garner, Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, and Tim Ivey

Release Date: 20 May 2004

Main Plot: In the film, an older man (James Garner) reads a story to an older adult (Gena Rowlands) in a nursing home. He tells a narrative about two young lovers, Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) and Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling), who meet one evening at a carnival. However, they are separated by Allie’s parents, who disapprove of Noah’s low-income family and send Allie away. After several years of waiting for Noah to write to her, Allie meets and marries a lovely young soldier called Lon (James Marsden). Allie then visits Noah’s 200-year-old home, which he rebuilt for her, “to see if he’s okay.” It is clear that they still have feelings for each other. 

Director: Lasse Hallström

Main Cast: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas, and D.J. Cotrona

Release Date: 24 January 2010

Main Plot: Sergeant John Tyree (Channing Tatum) of the Special Forces Army is on leave from Germany for two weeks. He meets Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) after diving into the ocean to recover Savannah’s purse, which had fallen off the pier. John is adored by Savannah and falls in love at first sight. Savannah is a College student. She is on spring break and is assisting in constructing a house for Habitat for Humanity. John joins Savannah in helping to build the house. A budding romance develops along the way, and Savannah falls deeply in love with John. She promises to write John overseas for the next 12 months until he gets back to her after completing his enlistment as she prepares to return to college. When John reenlists after the 9/11 attacks, their love is tested.

Director: Michael Pressman

Main Cast: Barbra Streisand, Nick Nolte, Blythe Danner, Kate Nelligan, and Jeroen Krabbé

Release Date: 25 December 1991

Main Plot: Tom Wingo is a South Carolina teacher and football coach. He is asked by his mother, Lila, to travel to New York City to assist his twin sister’s psychiatrist, Susan Lowenstein, following Savannah’s latest suicide attempt. Tom despises New York but reluctantly accepts, primarily to be alone and away from a life that does not fulfill him. Tom is hesitant to reveal many details about their dysfunctional family’s secrets throughout his initial meetings with Lowenstein. During flashbacks, Tom tells Lowenstein about events from his childhood in the hopes of learning how to save Savannah’s life. The Wingos had an abusive father and a manipulative, power-hungry mother. The father was a shrimp boat operator, but despite his success, he spent all of his money on frivolous business ventures, leaving the family impoverished.

Director: Lawrence Kasdan

Main Cast: Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, and Kevin Kline

Release Date: 9 September 1983

Main Plot: A group of friends who met at the University of Michigan in the 1960s gathered for the burial of one of their members, Alex, who committed himself. The gang, now in their thirties, has mostly stayed in touch over the years. But some have drifted apart as their lives have changed. Their personal values have also evolved from their socially concerned and radical days in college to where they now mainly enjoy comfortable and successful lives. Following the funeral, the friends spend the weekend together at married couple Harold and Sarah’s vacation cottage in South Carolina, with Alex’s considerably younger and socially naive girlfriend, Chloe, thrown into the mix. In light of Alex’s mysterious demise, the friends reflect on their lives and collective ties with one another, then, now, and in the future.

Director: Michael Caton-Jones

Main Cast: Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Barnard Hughes, Woody Harrelson, and David Ogden Stiers

Release Date: 31 July 1991

Main Plot: Dr. Benjamin Stone is a hotshot young surgeon who yearns to escape the tedium of a Washington, D.C. hospital. As a cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills, he finally seizes the opportunity for more money (to settle his medical school loans) and less death. Ben’s connection with his coworkers is assumed to be anything but friendly on his last day. None of his coworkers will join him for a drink, and an iced section of the words “Good riddance, asshole” is carved out of a cake in his honor. Ben’s cross-country drive to become a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon in a 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster is cut short when he crashes in the rural redneck town of Grady, South Carolina. The crash occurs through Judge Evans’ hand-made barrier. The Judge is uninterested in Ben’s offer to pay for the fence, so he may be on his way. The Judge instead condemns him to 16 hours of community service at a neighboring hospital. Ben becomes enraged, and the harsh Judge orders him to perform 32 hours of community service.

Director: Michael Tollin

Main Cast: Cuba Gooding Jr., Ed Harris, Debra Winger, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Alfre Woodard

Release Date: 24 October 2003

Main Plot: Radio is an excellent human-interest narrative inspired by occurrences in Anderson, South Carolina, in 1976. Cuba Gooding, Jr., who plays the mentally impaired Radio, performs so well that you’ll think he’s the actual thing. His full name is James Robert Kennedy. He was dubbed Radio due to his extensive radio collection and constant radio listening. Radio spends his days in this little town pushing or pulling a food cart around the street, talking to no one. After some football players abuse Radio, Harold Jones, played by Ed Harris, takes him under his wing. The radio starts helping at football practices and sits on the bench during games. Radio gradually gains confidence in the coach. However, some people in town believe Radio is a distraction to the squad and want him to go. By this point, Radio has made friends with the coach and the team, and they all want him to stay.

Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Main Cast: Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo

Release Date: 5 September 2008

Main Plot: Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning), fourteen, is determined to learn more about her mother. Her mother died in a shooting accident when she was four years old. Her resentful father (Paul Bettany) resents her queries and violently beats her when he discovers her in their orchard. He had no idea that the child had buried items from her mother there, including a portrait of a black Virgin Mary with the inscription “Tiburon, S.C.” on the reverse. Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson), their African-American housekeeper, gets close to Lily. She is assaulted, battered, and detained by some racist males when she goes to register to vote. Lily slips past the guard at the hospital and assists Rosaleen in escaping.

Director: Edward Zwick

Main Cast: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman, and Jihmi Kennedy

Release Date: 15 December 1989

Main Plot: The Massachusetts Infantry Regiment battles Confederate soldiers in the deadly Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War. Captain Robert Gould Shaw is injured and presumed dead during the combat. Still, he is discovered alive by a gravedigger named John Rawlins and sent to a field hospital. Shaw visits his family in Boston while on medical leave and meets former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Shaw is promoted to Colonel and given command of the first all-black regiment, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, which would be made up entirely of black troops. He accepts the position and appoints his boyhood buddy, Major Cabot Forbes, as his second-in-command.

Director: James Gunn

Main Cast: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Michael Rooker, and Don Thompson

Release Date: 31 March 2006

Main Plot: A burning meteorite smashes into the dark forests of Wheelsy, South Carolina, from the depths of infinite space. As the burned rock reveals its quiet content—a dreadful parasitic organism—a gradual extraterrestrial invasion begins with Grant, the town’s local businessman, as the unlucky first victim. As an internal alteration gradually changes Grant into an utterly terrible beast. His wife, Starla, begins to suspect that something has been eating at him over the previous few days. No one is safe now in the face of an unrelenting alien invasion, and to make matters worse, Grant’s change is far from complete. Who will be able to halt the slithering army from space?

Director: Zelda Barron

Main Cast: Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda, Scott Coffey, Annabeth Gish, and Page Hannah

Release Date: 12 August 1988 

Main Plot: Luanne Clatterbuck, a recent high school graduate, an uptight, prim, and proper redhead senator’s daughter, leaves her house to pick up her pals for a weekend escape. Caroline “Pudge” Carmichael, an insecure middle-class brunette who is self-conscious about her weight, gets picked up by Luanne. Melaina Buller, the beautiful, colorful, and promiscuous daughter of a local pastor, gets picked up by them. Finally, they head to Carson McBride’s house to fetch her up for their summer weekend trip. Carson, who is engaged to her high school sweetheart, Harley Ralston, panics when she learns that the girls are bringing her to Myrtle Beach instead of Fort Sumter. As they had all informed their parents, they were going. Carson claims she is not permitted to visit Myrtle Beach, but her pals are determined to show her a nice time before her wedding.

Director: Lee Grant

Main Cast: Sean Astin, Stockard Channing, Melinda Dillon, Jim Haynie, Levon Helm, and Dinah Manoff

Release Date: 14 September 1989

Main Plot: Brian (Tim Quill), the oldest of the three rowdy McDermott sons, is having an affair with an ambitious mayoral candidate (Stockard Channing). Kit (Dermot Mulroney) is having an affair with a woman (Daphne Zuniga) who is engaged to be married. Duncan (Sean Astin) is the family wiseacre. He does not leave any stone untouched. All three sons work at McDermott’s Family Chicken until their father (Jim Haynie) chooses to sell it. The father is kind to his family, yet he’s distant and closed off. He is restricted by his aversion to assuming the role of provider. Mom (Melinda Dillon) takes after her sons with the confidence of a lady who has learned to anticipate her brood’s whims. She is giddy with maternal comprehension.

Director: Bruce Beresford

Main Cast: Albert Finney, Jill Clayburgh, Kathryn Erbe, Kyle MacLachlan, Piper Laurie, and Ethan Hawke

Release Date: October 1992

Main Plot: In their lengthy, large-family seaside house in Charleston, South Carolina, the Odoms have lived a life steeped in Southern customs. That tradition is flipped upside down when Lucille, a bright high school senior, returns home. She finds a message from her mother, Helen stating that she has departed for good. This action had been a long time in the making for her, albeit the actual act appeared to be relatively spontaneous based on evidence found about the family home. Warren, the patriarch, believes his wife will someday return. Warren and Lucille request the return of Warren’s eldest daughter/elder Lucille’s sister Rae to help with the problem. Still, she returns with her new Yankee husband Billy McQueen and the news that they married because she’s pregnant—and she doesn’t seem thrilled about it.

Director: Robert J. Siegel

Main Cast: Lauren Ambrose, Joelle Carter, Jennifer Dundas, Jamie Harrold, and James Villemaire

Release Date: 9 March 2000 

Main Plot: Two lady friends in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, find their friendship shifting when newcomers to town arrive. Frankie runs their family’s beach-front burger eatery with her brother, Neil. Nicola, Frankie’s pal, has a body-piercing store adjacent to the burger joint. Neil recruits Josee, the lifeguard’s new flame, as a waitress. Frankie has an instant relationship with Josee, which leads Nicola to be envious. Then a wanderer begins an affair with Frankie while selling t-shirts from the back of his van. This separates her from the other two ladies and gives her the courage to function independently for the first time, rather than hiding behind the other more boisterous or gorgeous women.

Director: Anjelica Huston

Main Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ron Eldard, Glenne Headly, Lyle Lovett, and Jena Malone

Release Date: 24 August 1996

Main Plot: Bone Boatwright is born out of wedlock to fifteen-year-old Anney, and her birth certificate says “ILLEGITIMATE.” Anney attempts several times without success to obtain a new birth certificate without the stamp. The extended Boatwright family is a tough but impoverished lot from Greenville County, South Carolina. After her first husband is killed in a vehicle accident, Anney works long hours at a café to support her kids. Glen Waddell, the youngest and least successful son of a dairy owner, is introduced to Anney by her brother. Over time, Anney trusts him and allows him to be a father figure to her girls. Will Glen be a good father?