Stand Up to Cancer
by yrnej | created - 23 May 2014 | updated - 12 Aug 2018 | PublicStand Up to Cancer is an organization is an entertainment industry-based foundation focused on fighting cancer by researching the most innovative and promising technologies. Each year a televised fundraising special airs simultaneously on more than 30 TV networks in the US and in various other ways in other countries. Nearly $480M has been raised in the 10 years of the groups existence and for 2018 it will air on Friday, September 7th.
Films depicting the ravages of and the right against cancer can especially moving and inspiring. Listed below are some of these films. Which was the most memorable for you?
To make a donation to Stand Up to Cancer, go to their website at: https://standuptocancer.org/take-action
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1. Dark Victory (1939)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, Romance
A young socialite is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and must decide whether or not she'll meet her final days with dignity.
Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Votes: 12,397
2. Ikiru (1952)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama
A bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin'ichi Himori, Haruo Tanaka
Votes: 87,503 | Gross: $0.06M
3. Love Story (1970)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Romance
A boy and a girl from different backgrounds fall in love regardless of their upbringing - and then tragedy strikes.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Ali MacGraw, Ryan O'Neal, John Marley, Ray Milland
Votes: 37,424 | Gross: $106.40M
4. Cries & Whispers (1972)
R | 91 min | Drama
When a woman dying of cancer in early twentieth-century Sweden is visited by her two sisters, long-repressed feelings between the siblings rise to the surface.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Harriet Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin
Votes: 36,969 | Gross: $1.74M
AKA Cries and Whipers
5. The Shootist (1976)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Romance, Western
A dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart
Votes: 26,813
6. Terms of Endearment (1983)
PG | 132 min | Comedy, Drama
Follows hard-to-please Aurora looking for love and her daughter's family problems.
Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito
Votes: 65,451 | Gross: $108.42M
7. Dying Young (1991)
R | 111 min | Drama, Romance
A caregiver falls in love with a terminally ill man.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Julia Roberts, Campbell Scott, Vincent D'Onofrio, Colleen Dewhurst
Votes: 17,206 | Gross: $33.67M
8. My Life (1993)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama
A terminally ill man prepares for his death.
Director: Bruce Joel Rubin | Stars: Michael Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Bradley Whitford, Queen Latifah
Votes: 12,181 | Gross: $27.48M
9. Marvin's Room (1996)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama
After seventeen years, a fiercely independent woman and her rebellious son return home and together they turn the family she left behind upside down.
Director: Jerry Zaks | Stars: Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro
Votes: 30,010 | Gross: $12.78M
10. One True Thing (1998)
R | 127 min | Drama
A career woman reassesses her parents' lives after she is forced to care for her cancer-stricken mother.
Director: Carl Franklin | Stars: Meryl Streep, Renée Zellweger, William Hurt, Tom Everett Scott
Votes: 12,698 | Gross: $23.25M
11. Stepmom (1998)
PG-13 | 125 min | Comedy, Drama
A terminally ill woman must deal with her ex-husband's new lover, who will be their children's stepmother.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Ed Harris, Jena Malone
Votes: 74,496 | Gross: $91.14M
12. Life as a House (2001)
R | 125 min | Drama
When a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father.
Director: Irwin Winkler | Stars: Hayden Christensen, Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jena Malone
Votes: 45,592 | Gross: $15.65M
13. Sweet November (2001)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A workaholic executive, and an unconventional woman agree to a personal relationship for a short period. In this short period she changes his life.
Director: Pat O'Connor | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron, Jason Isaacs, Greg Germann
Votes: 94,563 | Gross: $25.29M
14. Julie Walking Home (2002)
PG-13 | 118 min | Drama, Romance
A desperate mother (Miranda Otto) in the midst of a failing marriage travels to Poland in search of a mysterious man rumored to have miraculous healing powers in this fantastic romantic drama.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Miranda Otto, William Fichtner, Lothaire Bluteau, Ryan Smith
Votes: 1,072
15. A Walk to Remember (2002)
PG | 101 min | Drama, Romance
Two North Carolina teens, Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan, are thrown together after Landon gets into trouble and is sentenced to perform community service.
Director: Adam Shankman | Stars: Mandy Moore, Shane West, Peter Coyote, Daryl Hannah
Votes: 221,319 | Gross: $41.28M
16. My Life Without Me (2003)
R | 106 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman conceals the fact of her terminal cancer to live her life with a passion she never had before.
Director: Isabel Coixet | Stars: Sarah Polley, Scott Speedman, Mark Ruffalo, Leonor Watling
Votes: 25,837 | Gross: $0.40M
17. Pieces of April (2003)
PG-13 | 80 min | Comedy, Drama
A wayward daughter invites her dying mother and the rest of her estranged family to her apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.
Director: Peter Hedges | Stars: Katie Holmes, Oliver Platt, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke
Votes: 22,117 | Gross: $2.53M
18. Time to Leave (2005)
Unrated | 81 min | Drama
A fashion photographer with terminal cancer elects to die alone, preparing others to live past him rather than prolong the inevitable with chemotherapy or be smothered in sympathy by those who know him.
Director: François Ozon | Stars: Melvil Poupaud, Jeanne Moreau, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Daniel Duval
Votes: 9,263 | Gross: $0.12M
AKA Time to Leave
19. The Bucket List (2007)
PG-13 | 97 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd
Votes: 259,774 | Gross: $93.47M
20. Keith (I) (2008)
PG-13 | 95 min | Drama, Romance
Natalie, head of her curriculum activities in high school and riding on a tennis scholarship for college, gets Keith as her Chemistry lab partner. As Natalie can be uptight, Keith proves to be the opposite, even while hiding a secret.
Director: Todd Kessler | Stars: Elisabeth Harnois, Jesse McCartney, Margo Harshman, Ignacio Serricchio
Votes: 37,387
21. Funny People (2009)
R | 146 min | Comedy, Drama
When seasoned comedian George Simmons learns of his terminal, inoperable health condition, his desire to form a genuine friendship causes him to take a relatively green performer under his wing as his opening act.
Director: Judd Apatow | Stars: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana
Votes: 123,607 | Gross: $51.86M
22. My Sister's Keeper (2009)
PG-13 | 109 min | Drama, Family
Anna Fitzgerald looks to earn medical emancipation from her parents who until now have relied on their youngest child to help their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate remain alive.
Director: Nick Cassavetes | Stars: Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin, Walter Raney
Votes: 98,315 | Gross: $49.20M
23. Biutiful (2010)
R | 148 min | Drama, Romance
A man dying of cancer tries his best to leave the world on his own terms.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella
Votes: 94,591 | Gross: $5.10M
24. Death of a Superhero (2011)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama
A dying 15-year-old boy draws stories of an invincible superhero as he struggles with his mortality.
Director: Ian Fitzgibbon | Stars: Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Lilly Forgách, Ian Fitzgibbon, Michael McElhatton
Votes: 3,706 | Gross: $0.00M
25. 50/50 (2011)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.
Director: Jonathan Levine | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard
Votes: 342,857 | Gross: $35.01M
26. A Little Bit of Heaven (2011)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
An irreverent young woman who uses her humor to prevent matters from getting serious has a life-changing visit with her doctor.
Director: Nicole Kassell | Stars: Kate Hudson, Gael García Bernal, Kathy Bates, Peter Dinklage
Votes: 29,697 | Gross: $0.01M
27. Restless (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 91 min | Drama, Romance
The story of a terminally ill teenage girl who falls for a boy who likes to attend funerals and their encounters with the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot from WWII.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Henry Hopper, Ryô Kase, Schuyler Fisk
Votes: 18,404 | Gross: $0.16M
28. Now Is Good (2012)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama, Romance
A teenage girl dying of leukemia compiles a list of things she would like to do before passing away. Topping the list is her desire to lose her virginity.
Director: Ol Parker | Stars: Dakota Fanning, Josef Altin, Jeremy Irvine, Paddy Considine
Votes: 35,030
29. August: Osage County (2013)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama
A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.
Director: John Wells | Stars: Meryl Streep, Dermot Mulroney, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis
Votes: 95,318 | Gross: $37.74M
30. The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Hazel and Gus are teenagers who meet at a cancer support group and fall in love. They both share the same acerbic wit and a love of books, especially "An Imperial Affliction", so they embark on a journey to visit an author in Amsterdam.
Director: Josh Boone | Stars: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern
Votes: 401,011 | Gross: $124.87M
31. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
PG-13 | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
High schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer.
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon | Stars: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman
Votes: 138,249 | Gross: $6.74M
32. Miss You Already (2015)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The friendship between two life-long girlfriends is put to the test when one starts a family and the other falls ill.
Director: Catherine Hardwicke | Stars: Drew Barrymore, Toni Collette, Dominic Cooper, Paddy Considine
Votes: 19,878 | Gross: $1.16M
33. Other People (I) (2016)
Unrated | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
A struggling comedy writer, fresh off a breakup and in the midst of the worst year of his life, returns to Sacramento to care for his dying mother.
Director: Chris Kelly | Stars: Jesse Plemons, Molly Shannon, Bradley Whitford, Maude Apatow
Votes: 12,600 | Gross: $0.09M
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