agpw's - Rented List
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Wise Blood (1979)John Huston's Wise Blood
Legendary film director John Huston creates one of his most cerebral films that will stay with the viewer for a long time. Set in the American Deep South during the post-war era, 'Wise Blood' stars Brad Dourif as Hazel Motes, an unhinged and aimless war-veteran, who decides to become a Bible-thumping preacher for a quasi-religious cult called 'The Church Without Christ'. Linking up with a fraudulent hustler from hellfire-and-brimstone preaching circuit - who pretends to be blind for the assembled believers - Motes is put under pressure by the fraudster to blind himself for real so that he can truly 'see the light'. A dark satire on religious movements that, beautifully acted by Dourif, Huston and William Hickey. - Director:
- John Huston
- Cast:
- Brad Dourif, John Huston, Dan Shor
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I Wish (2011)Kiseki
In the wake of their parent's divorce, 12-year-old Koichi (Koki Maeda) and his younger brother Ryunosuke (Ohshiro Maeda, Koki's real life brother) have been split up against their will. Koichi lives with his mother and grandparents in Kagoshima, in the shadow of a constantly rumbling volcano. Ryunosuke lives a comparatively spirited life with his rock-musician father in Fukuoka. But when Koichi discovers that a new bullet train line is due to open connecting the two towns, he determines that the intense energy generated by two trains passing in opposite directions will work a miracle, and their wish to be reunited will come true. - Director:
- Hirokazu Koreeda
- Cast:
- Kôki Maeda, Ôshirô Maeda, Hiroshi Abe
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Bearing witness to the barbaric reign of the Sicilian mafia, Letizia Battaglia's black-and-white photography captures decades of violence on the streets of her home town, Palermo. Kim Longinotto traces Battaglia's journey from marriage aged 16 to a new career at 40 as the first Italian woman to be a photographer for a daily newspaper, defiantly pointing her camera at the devastation wrought by the Cosa Nostra. With a wealth of archive material - from classic Italian cinema to nail-biting contemporary reportage - 'Shooting the Mafia' is a portrait of a fearless journalist, a passionate activist and a courageous woman who has broken free of convention and expectation in every area of her life. - Director:
- Kim Longinotto
- Cast:
- Letizia Battaglia, Maria Chiara di Trapani
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Heal the Living (2016)Réparer les vivants
Simon (Gabin Verdet) is a young surfer who heads down to the beach one morning to catch some early waves. But on the way home an accident occurs. Now entirely hooked up to life-support, Simon's existence is little more than an illusion to his grieving parents. Meanwhile, in Paris, a woman awaits an organ transplant that will give her a new lease on life and it's Simon's parents who have to make the most difficult decision any parent can make. Based on a Wellcome Prize winning novel, 'Heal the Living' is a tender cross-section of humanity's intertwining lives and how a selfless decision in the shadow of tragedy can have profound effects on the life of another. - Director:
- Katell Quillévéré
- Cast:
- Tahar Rahim, Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Dorval
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From the director of Waiting for "Superman" and the Academy Award-Winning 'An Inconvenient Truth' comes this highly inspiring and deeply moving documentary about courage, survival, and empowerment. "He Named Me Malala" tells the remarkable true story of teenager Malala Yousafzai, who was attacked by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan for advocating girls' education. Rather than be silenced, Malala emerged as a global voice for the education rights of all children, and in 2014, she became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize recipient. This intimate glimpse into the life of an extraordinary girl is sure to inspire your entire family! - Director:
- Davis Guggenheim
- Cast:
- Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzai, Toor Pekai Yousafzai
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Wild Style (1982)Graffiti Wild Style
A movie whose influence cannot be underestimated and hailed as the most inspirational hip-hop movie of all time, Wild Style captures the birth of an underground hip-hop scene about to explode around the world changing the face of music, fashion, art and a way of life forever. Following street artist Zoro (played by legendary subway artist Lee Quinones) and his crew as they journey through the streets, projects and train yards of New York, keeping one step ahead of the cops and their rivals, the film climaxes in one of the most famous hip-hop concerts in history. - Director:
- Charlie Ahearn
- Cast:
- 'Lee' George Quinones, Lady Pink, Fab 5 Freddy
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Award-winning writer/director John Butler (The Stag) returns with a charming story of the unlikely friendship between two boarding school roommates - music-mad Ned (Fionn O'Shea) and macho rugby player Conor (Nicholas Galitzine). In this funny and observant tale, i the boys take an instant dislike to each other but are/ encouraged by their teacher (Andrew Scott) to find their own voices and defy the status quo. - Director:
- John Butler
- Cast:
- Fionn O'Shea, Nicholas Galitzine, Andrew Scott
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Port of Shadows (1938)Le Quai Des Brumes
Jean (Jean Gabin), a deserter, arrives in Le Havre and looks for a shelter before leaving the French territory. Housed in a shed on the harbour, at the end of the docks, he meets an eccentric painter and a mysterious and beautiful girl called Nelly (Michèle Morgan)... From then on he will be trapped in a tragic destiny, in spite of his passion for Nelly and his will to live... - Director:
- Marcel Carné
- Cast:
- Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Michèle Morgan
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Hail, Caesar! follows a single day in the life of a studio fixer who is presented with plenty of problems to fix.
- Director:
- Ethan Coen
- Cast:
- Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich
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Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)Au hasard Balthazar / Balthazar
A profound masterpiece from one of the most revered filmmakers in the history of cinema, Robert Bresson's 'Au Hasard Balthazar' follows the donkey Balthazar as he is passed from owner to owner, some kind and some cruel but all with motivations beyond his understanding. Balthazar, whose life parallels that of his first keeper, Marie (Anne Wiazemsky), is truly a beast of burden, suffering the sins of humankind. But despite his powerlessness, he accepts his fate nobly. Through Bresson's unconventional approach to composition, sound, and narrative, this simple story becomes a moving parable about purity and transcendence. - Director:
- Robert Bresson
- Cast:
- Anne Wiazemsky, Walter Green, François Lafarge
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Gonzo is the definitive film biography of a mythic American figure, a man that Tom Wolfe called our greatest comic writer, whose suicide, by gunshot, led Rolling Stone Magazine, where Thompson began his career, to devote an entire issue (its bestselling ever) to the man that launched a thousand sips of bourbon, endless snorts of cocaine and a brash, irreverent, fearless style of journalism - named Gonzo after an anarchic blues riff by James Booker. - Director:
- Alex Gibney
- Cast:
- Hunter S. Thompson, Joe Cairo, David Carlo
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John Cusack stars as Rob Gordon, the owner of a semi-falling record store located on one of the back streets of Chicago. He sells music the old-fashioned way, with his two wacky clerks - the hysterically funny rock snob Barry (Jack Black) and the more quietly opinionated underachiever Dick (Todd Louiso). But Rob's business isn't the only thing in his life that's floundering - his needle skips the love groove when his longtime girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) walks out on him. And this forces him to examine his past failed attempts at romance the only way he knows how... - Director:
- Stephen Frears
- Cast:
- John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso
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Ethel and Ernest (2016)Ethel & Ernest
Forty years, one love, countless cups of tea...Starring Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent, Academy Award nominee, Brenda Blethyn in the title roles and Olivier Award winner Luke Treadaway as Raymond. The cast also includes Virginia McKenna, June Brown, Pam Ferris, Simon Day and Roger Allam, with young actor Harry Collettas young Raymond. Based on the award-winning book by acclaimed British author and illustrator Raymond Briggs, this beautifully hand-drawn, animated feature film tells the true story of Raymond's own parents - 'Ethel and Ernest' - two ordinary Londoners living through a period of extraordinary events and immense social change. Heart-warming, humorous and bittersweet, 'Ethel and Ernest' is a heartfelt and affectionate tribute to an ordinary couple and an extraordinary generation. A timeless story of love and devotion. - Director:
- Roger Mainwood
- Cast:
- Pam Ferris, Jim Broadbent, Brenda Blethyn
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Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953)Les Vacances De Monsieur Hulot / Monsieur Hulot's Holiday
The film that brought Jacques Tati international acclaim also launched his on-screen alter ego: the courteous, well-meaning, eternally accident-prone Monsieur Hulot with whom Tati would from now on be inseparably associated. As with Jour de fete, Vacances is set in a sleepy French coastal resort which is seasonally disrupted by holidaymakers in energetic pursuit of fun. At the centre of the chaos is the eccentric Hulot, struggling at all times to maintain appearances, but somehow entirely divorced from his immediate surroundings. There is little plot in Tati's beautifully orchestrated 'ballet' of comic action: it's a series of incidents, a seamless succession of gently studies of human absurdity. - Director:
- Jacques Tati
- Cast:
- Jacques Tati, Nathalie Pascaud, Louis Perrault
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Norma Rae (1979)Norma Re
Sally Field is unforgettable as Norma Rae, the Southern millworker who revolutionizes a small town and discovers a power in herself she never knew she had. Under the guidance of a New York unionizer (Ron Leibman) and with increasing courage and determination, Norma Rae organizes her fellow factory workers to fight for better conditions and wages. - Director:
- Martin Ritt
- Cast:
- Sally Field, Beau Bridges, Ron Leibman
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