ajb's - Rented List

First season honors for The West Wing include the prestigious Peabody Award for excellence in television, plus an unprecedented 9 Emmy Awards that established this powerful drama as the all-time leader in single-season Emmy wins for a debut series.

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Set in Singapore during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, 'Ilo Ilo' chronicles the day-to-day drama of the Lim family - troublesome grade-schooler Jiale and his over-stressed parents, Heck and Leng.

Comfortably middle-class and with another baby on the way, they hire Teresa, a Filipino immigrant, as a live-in maid and nanny. An outsider in both the family and Singapore itself, Teresa initially struggles to manage Jiale's antics and to find her footing in her new community. However, the two eventually form a unique bond, but just as Teresa becomes an unspoken part of the family, unforeseen circumstances in an uncertain economy will challenge the new normal yet again. Touching and beautiful, the film takes the viewer on a life affirming journey through strife, love and loss.

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Inspired by four shocking (and true) events in modern-day capitalist China, 'A Touch of Sin' focuses on four people, living in four different provinces, who are driven to violent ends. An angry miner, enraged by the corruption of his village, decides to take justice into his own hands.

A rootless migrant discovers the infinite possibilities of owning a firearm; a receptionist working at a local sauna is pushed to the limit by a wealthy client; and a young factory worker goes from one discouraging job to the next, only to face increasingly degrading circumstances.

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Julianne Moore gives a unique, moving and Oscar winning performance as successful linguistics professor Alice Howland who, in the midst of her settled life, discovers she has early onset Alzheimer's disease.

As Alice regresses, feeling her memories and personality fading away, she tries to salvage what she can from the remaining moments with her family. Exploring the profound effect that such a devastating revelation can bring, 'Still Alice' is a sincere, sobering and inspiring story about human identity and love.

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Based on the best-selling novel by Lilian Lee, "Farewell My Concubine" is an epic exploration of art, friendship and betrayal.

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of more than fifty years of Chinese history, the film charts the relationship between Cheng (Leslie Cheung) and Duan (Zhang Fengyi), two stars in the Peking Opera troupe, and the woman who comes between them. Chen Kaige's sumptuous and moving epic holds an important place in the history of Chinese-language cinema.

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Once-great actor Serge Tanneur (Fabrice Luchini) spends his days alone, painting second-rate portraits and cycling through the windblown landscape of France's Ile de Re.

One day his old friend Gauthier (Lambert Wilson), a famous TV star, arrives unexpectedly to coax him into a return to the stage, promising him a role in Moliere's classic play, 'The Misanthrope'. At first Serge dismisses the idea but slowly, as the pair's relationship begins to echo the play itself, he finds himself being inextricably drawn in...

A young wide-eyed Christopher (Matt Smith) escapes repressive English society and arrives in Berlin at a time when the cabaret scene is in full swing. Launched into the thriving gay subculture, Christopher embarks on a seminal journey of self-discovery.

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From director Tim Burton, Big Eyes tells the outrageous true story of one of the most epic frauds in history.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, painter Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) had reached success beyond belief, revolutionising the commercialisation of popular art with his enigmatic paintings of waifs with big eyes. The bizarre and shocking truth would eventually be discovered though: Walter's works were actually not created by him at all, but by his wife Margaret (Amy Adams). Big Eyes centres on Margaret's awakening as an artist, the phenomenal success of her paintings, and her tumultuous relationship with her husband, who was catapulted to international fame while taking credit for her work.

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In Spain a young bullfighter is injured in the arena and the offending bull is killed. Overnight, the magnificent creature is dismembered, parcelled up, and dispatched to various destinations throughout Europe.

When a couple are sold one of the bull's bones by a struggling actress in a supermarket promotion, that give it to their little girl, Winnie, who in turn treats her Great Dane to the object. Elsewhere, a philandering scientist and his pregnant wife are given the bull's eyes, and the taxidermist receives the horns as a gift from his elderly mother. Further afield, a Spanish woman dines on Toro en Rioja in a restaurant. In this, her feature debut, Delphine Gleize effortlessly weaves these disparate stories together with elegance, humour and a remarkable visual command, creating a fresh take on one of the recurring obsessions of modern life: whether beneath the spontaneity and chaos of our lives, there is some guiding principle that connects us all.

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We know that Italy and Northern Europe are renowned for their art, but what about Spain? In this absorbing and original series, Spanish art gains centre stage as art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon goes on the road to reveal the fabulous art treasures of the country.

Travelling from the south to the north he explores some of Europe's most important artists from Renaissance to Modernist - including Goya, Picasso, Dali, El Greco and Velasquez. And, going 'off the beaten track', he reveals rich insights into the culture and people who live and work with the greatest Spanish art and architecture every day. From Moorish art and the Islamic legacy on Spain and Europe to Modernism, Seville to Barcelona, food and wine, Andrew reveals that Spanish culture is every bit as rich as Italy's, with a more surprising edge.

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Under the direction of new editor Marty Baron the team of tenacious investigative journalists at 'The Boston Globe' known as 'Spotlight' begin to delve into allegations of abuse within the Catholic Church and the wilful ignorance of those in power who have done nothing to stop it.

Facing political opposition and resistance from the far-reaching influences of the Church and government, the reporters put together an explosive expose revealing that the truth is much darker than they could have ever imagined.

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The sun is beaming and the ski slopes are spectacular for Tomas, his wife Ebba and their two children. However, during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant an avalanche suddenly bears down upon the happy diners.

As the wall of snow gets ever closer, Tomas makes a split-second decision in a moment of panic that will engulf and shake his relationship with his wife and children and leave him struggling to reclaim his role as the family patriarch.

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A series of brutal murders puts the lives of three men on a collision course: The father of the latest victim now out for revenge, a vigilante police detective operating outside the boundaries of law, and the main suspect in the killings - a religious studies teacher arrested and released due to a

police blunder. 'Big Bad Wolves' is a brutal and unpredictable thriller that addresses the perils of victimhood and the consequences of vengeance.

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Paul (Daniel Auteuil), a successful surgeon in the autumn of his life, becomes torn between a loving wife, Lucie (Kristin Scott Thomas), and a dangerous attraction for a troubled, mysterious young woman.

As Paul is drawn further to Lou (Leila Bekhti), a cafe waitress claiming to be one of his former patients, Lucie begins to suspect her husband of having an affair, but the truth proves to be far darker and complex than she expected.

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These three screen adaptations, Henry VI in two parts and Richard III, tell the story of "The War of the Roses", an exceptionally turbulent period in British history. Shakespeare's plays are filmed in the visually breathtaking landscape and architecture of the period.

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugh Bonneville, Judi Dench, Michael Gambon, Sally Hawkins, Sophie Okonedo and Tom Sturridge, these exhilarating and emotionally charged films feature some of Shakespeare's most eloquent and powerful language.