alec-guimness-films's - Favourites List

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Eddie Marsan plays John May, a council worker tasked with tracing the relations of those who have passed away alone. When he is one day made redundant he throws all of his energy at the last case on his desk, a war veteran who also happens to be his neighbour.

As he searches for the people who once shared this man's chaotic life, his own ordered existence opens up to new and unexpected experiences.

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The Internet's Own Boy follows the story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz. From Swartz's help in the development of the basic internet protocol RSS to his co-founding of Reddit, his fingerprints are all over the internet.

But it was Swartz's ground-breaking work in social justice and political organising combined with his aggressive approach to information access that ensnared him in a two-year legal nightmare. It was a battle that ended with the taking of his own life at the age of 26. Aaron's story touched a nerve with people far beyond the online communities in which he was a celebrity. This film is a personal story about what we lose when we are tone deaf about technology and its relationship to our civil liberties.

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Belfast, 1971: a young, rookie soldier, Gary Hook (Jack O'Connell), is sent on his first field operation as the British military deploy emergency troops to try to suppress the increasing violence. When their first mission sparks a riot, Gary is accidentally abandoned by his unit in the frenzy.

Unable to tell friend from foe, the raw recruit must survive the night and find his way back to base through a disorientating, alien and deadly landscape.

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The new film from Andrey Zvyagintsev, the visionary director of "The Return" and "The Banishment", tells the tragic tale of Kolya, who employs a lawyer friend to help fight his case for ownership of the land on which he and his family live when the nefarious town mayor attempts to seize it.

But standing up against such men begins a whirlwind of dire consequences, infusing every area of Kolyas life and all he holds dear. A visually arresting epic which takes an unflinchingly direct look at modern day Russia and the corruption that seethes in even its quietest corners, "Leviathan" will not only open your eyes but also stay in your mind for years to come.

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From writer/director J.C. Chandor comes "A Most Violent Year", a riveting crime thriller set in New York City during the winter of 1981, the most dangerous year in the city's history.

Starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, this gripping story shows one man's determined battle to build his business in the midst of corruption and mob rule whilst protecting his family, without resorting to the violence that surrounds them.

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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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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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Following the exploits and conquests of two constantly introspective college roommates, from anxious and awkward virginity to domesticated frustration and jaded middle-aged impotence, Carnal Knowledge tackled the provocative issues that preoccupied a whole generation.

From the conservative values of the Kennedy era to the hedonistic, experimental pursuits of the sexual revolution, Carnal Knowledge perfectly captures a time of social upheaval and change.

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In the blistering heat of the Mexican sierra, a village trembles in fear - waiting for the savage onslaught from Calvera and his bandidos. Terrorised, robbed, humiliated, the villagers are desperate to hit back and set off for the American border to buy guns.

But in their quest they come across seven awesome weapons of destruction: a group of hard-riding, mercenary Western gunmen who will ride with them to the village and take out the bandidos. Led by Chris Adams (Yul Brynner), the seven find themselves plunged into a fight for the life of the village. In this classic Western inspired by the Seven Samurai of Japan, Brynner - together with a cast of the caliber of Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and Horst Buchholz - fire the first bullets in a fight to the death.

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From the director of Frances Ha and starring Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts, 'While We're Young' is a hilarious cross-generational comedy of manners about aging, ambition, and relationships.

No film has better captured the weird, upended logic of urban sophisticates: the older ones embracing their iPads and Netflix, the young ones craving vinyl records and vintage VHS tapes.

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'Good Kill' tells the story of a Las Vegas fighter-pilot turned drone-pilot, Major Thomas Egan (Ethan Hawke), who fights the Taliban via remote control for half of his day, then goes home to his wife (January Jones) and kids in the suburbs for the other half.

But Thomas is starting to question the mission. Is he creating more terrorists than he's killing? Is he fighting a war without end? This is one soldier's tale...with epic implications.

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Determined to prove that he's a true artist, has-been movie superhero Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) risks everything to finance a Broadway show.

Now, as he grapples with inner and outer critics, a deranged alter ego, his estranged daughter (Emma Stone) and a temperamental stage star (Edward Norton), Thomson aims to soar above mediocrity.

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Shaun Evans returns to duty at Oxford City Police as Colin Dexter's cerebral Endeavour Morse, with four new gripping murder mysteries set amidst the turning tides of 1960s Britain.

His partnership with DI Fred Thursday (Roger Allam) now firmly cemented, the two men must band together to crack this fresh quartet of dazzingly complex cases, shaking the highest pillars of Oxford society as they go. A parade soured by suspected suicide; a girls' school haunted by memories past, a strangler stalking the foggy autumn twilight; and conspiratorial whisperings in the corridors of power. Endeavour must risk all if he is to bring those responsible to justice, and escape with brain and body intact.

Greta Gerwig gives a glowing performance as Frances, a twenty-something woman living in New York, who dreams of being a dancer and, despite the obstacles that stand in her way, lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness.

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Kate Mercer (Charlotte Rampling) is planning a party to celebrate her 45th wedding anniversary. One week before the celebration, however, a letter arrives for her husband, Geoff (Tom Courtenay), containing news that reawakens troubling and long-hidden memories.

Though Kate continues to prepare for the anniversary, she becomes increasingly concerned by Geoff's preoccupation with the letter and the ensuing revelations about his past. By the time the party comes round, there may not be a marriage left to celebrate.