awwatchedthese's - Rented List
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Departures (2008)Okuribito
Professional cellist Daigo (Masahiro Motoki) is left jobless after the orchestra he plays in disbands. He and his wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) move back from Tokyo to the family home in rural Yamagata left by his mother, who passed away two years previously. Here he stumbles upon a vaguely-worded advert in a local newspaper for a job "assisting departures". He is hired on the spot by his new boss Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki), only to discover the post is for an assistant nokanshi, or traditional mortician, performing the Buddhist rites of washing and preparing corpses for their final journey. Initially he keeps the nature of his employment hidden from Mika, but as his disgust for his work turns to pride, he soon finds himself coming to terms with his own life, and the past memories of the father who abandoned him as a child. - Director:
- Yôjirô Takita
- Cast:
- Masahiro Motoki, Ryôko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki
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During the early days of post-colonial India, a company of nomadic actors travel across the country performing Shakespeare. When a young troupe member, Lizzie (Felicity Kendal), falls in love with playboy Sanju (Shashi Kapoor), the pair must overcome cultural differences and the scheming of film actress and rival for Sanju's affections Manjula (Madhur Jaffrey). - Director:
- James Ivory
- Cast:
- Shashi Kapoor, Felicity Kendal, Geoffrey Kendal
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Christine 'Lady Bird' McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mum (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working tirelessly to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird's father (Tracy Letts) loses his job. 'Lady Bird' is an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the unmatched beauty of a place called home. - Director:
- Greta Gerwig
- Cast:
- Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts
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Written by and starring Jimmy Nail, 'Crocodile Shoes' follows the life of Jed Shepperd, a Geordie factory worker who writes country music in his spare time. With the prospect of redundancy looming, Jed makes a lifetime decision to quit his job and pursue his dream career as a country singer. From Newcastle to Nashville and back again, this is a story of fame and fortune; adventures, opportunities, confl icts, heartache, the rise, the fall. Featuring a critically acclaimed soundtrack that launched the real-life music career of Jimmy Nail, 'Crocodile Shoes' is the original musical drama. - Director:
- Alan Almond
- Cast:
- Jimmy Nail, Leonard Silver, James Wilby
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The unbelievable but entirely true story of four friends (Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner and Jared Abrahamson) living a routine existence in Kentucky, who brazenly attempt one of the most audacious art heists in US history. Determined to live lives that are out of the ordinary, they plan the brazen theft of some of the world's most valuable books from the special collections room of Transylvania University Library. But not everything is as it seems, and as the thrilling theft unfolds, each of them starts to question whether their attempts to inject excitement and purpose into their lives is simply a misguided attempt at achieving the American Dream. - Director:
- Bart Layton
- Cast:
- Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk
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Hilary Swank delivers an unforgettable performance as Amelia Earhart, the legendary American aviatrix who boldly flew into the annals of history. Richard Gere co-stars as her charismatic business partner and adoring husband, George Putnam. Bound by ambition and love, their enduring marriage could not be broken by Amelia's determination to fly - nor her passionate affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). - Director:
- Mira Nair
- Cast:
- Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor
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The Ghost Train (1941)Spöktåget
Classic ghostly comedy, starring Arthur Askey and based on the play by 'Dad's Army' actor Arnold Ridley. When a group of mismatched train passengers are stranded at a rural station overnight, they soon hear of a sinister local legend telling of a ghostly train that passes through the area, ever since a terrible accident 43 years ago. Anyone who happens to gaze upon the train will face death and disaster. When the station master is suddenly found murdered, and when a disturbed young girl arrives from the local mental hospital, the passengers are thrown into further panic when they hear the roar of the approaching ghost train... - Director:
- Walter Forde
- Cast:
- Arthur Askey, Richard Murdoch, Kathleen Harrison
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Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)Heaven Can Wait
A sophisticated supernatural Hollywood comedy whose influence continues to be felt, 'Here Comes Mr. Jordan' stars the eminently versatile Robert Montgomery as a working-class boxer and amateur aviator whose plane crashes in a freak accident. He finds himself in heaven but is told, by a wry angel named Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains), that his death was a clerical error, and that he can return to Earth by entering the body of a corrupt (and about-to-be-murdered) financier - whose soul could use a transplant. - Director:
- Alexander Hall
- Cast:
- Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains, Evelyn Keyes
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Metropolis (1927)Metrópolis
Shortly after that 1927 release, an entire quarter of Lang's original version was cut by Paramount for the US release, and by Ufa in Germany, an act of butchery very much against the director's wishes. The excised footage was believed lost, irretrievably so - that is, until one of the most remarkable finds in all of cinema history, as several dusty reels were discovered in a small museum in Buenos Aires. Argentina in 2008. Since then, an expert team of film archivists has been working at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in Germany to painstakingly reconstruct and restore Lang's film. - Director:
- Fritz Lang
- Cast:
- Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich
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A Second Chance (2014)En Chance Til
Detective Andreas' (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) perfect life is thrown into chaos when he is called out to a domestic dispute between a junkie couple only to find their infant son neglected and crying in a closet. With red tape stopping him from intervening, Andreas is shaken to the core and finds himself powerless in protecting the child from his violent father. Slowly losing his grip on right and wrong he decides to take justice into his own hands with devastating consequences. - Director:
- Susanne Bier
- Cast:
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Mal Nielsen, Ulrich Thomsen
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On August 7th 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between New York's twin towers, then the world’s tallest buildings. After nearly an hour dancing on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before he was finally released. Following six and a half years of dreaming of the towers, Petit spent eight months in New York City planning the execution of the coup. Aided by a team of friends and accomplices, Petit was faced with numerous extraordinary challenges: he had to find a way to bypass the WTC’s security; smuggle the heavy steel cable and rigging equipment into the towers; pass the wire between the two rooftops; anchor the wire and tension it to withstand the winds and the swaying of the buildings. - Director:
- Jamie Marsh
- Cast:
- Philippe Petit, Jean François Heckel, Jean-Louis Blondeau
- Formats:
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The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)Moartea Domnului Lazarescu
Mr. Lazarescu (Ion Fiscuteanu) is a 63 year old man who shares his apartment with his three cats. Suffering from pains in his head and stomach he calls an ambulance and whilst he waits, asks his neighbours for some pills. Though they disapprove of his heavy drinking and the state of his home, they try their best to help. Hindered by a major bus accident the medics eventually arrive and so begins a long and increasingly frustrating night. Shuffled from pillar to post he becomes wearier and weaker in the face of the medical professions bureaucracy and casual inefficiency. A succession of colourful characters permeates the film and the combination of dry humour and 'scalpel sharp' satire make this one of the year's most deeply affecting films. - Director:
- Cristi Puiu
- Cast:
- Ion Fiscuteanu, Luminita Gheorghiu, Doru Ana
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Ask a Policeman (1939)Will Hay: Ask a Policeman
The village of Turnbotham Round has had no crime for ten years. The police force consists of Sergeant Dudfoot (Will Hay) and his two assistants, Albert (Graham Moffatt) and the decrepit Harbottle (Moore Marriott). After a radio interview their Chief Constable suggests that it seems unnecessary to have a police force at all and threatens an investigation. In desperation the trio decide to. create an artificial 'crime wave'. They set a speed trap and arrest the Chief Constable himself and only the intervention of the Squire saves them from disaster! Foiled, they hit on the idea of finding some smugglers. They plant a keg of brandy on the shore, to 'discover' in front of witnesses, but another keg appears! Our heroes begin to suspect that something is wrong....and for once, they're right! A real gang of smugglers is indeed in action in the area. It seems that they are guided by a light from the top of the police station! The gang is led by the Squire himself who locks our unlikely heroes in their own jail! Will they ever escape to save the day? - Director:
- Marcel Varnel
- Cast:
- Will Hay, Graham Moffatt, Moore Marriott
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The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (2008)Le premier jour du reste de ta vie
Marie-Jeanne and Robert have three children: Albert, Raphaël and Fleur. Over the course of twelve eventful years, we see five key days as seen through the eyes of each one of these characters. Five days are crucial in these lonely, vibrant, frustrated, elated and triumphant lives. Five days whose consequences reverberate through this eccentric family like thunder and lightening of a gathering storm. These five days are more important then any other day. After you've experienced them, nothing will ever be the same again. - Director:
- Rémi Bezançon
- Cast:
- Jacques Gamblin, Camille Mardery, Julien Israël
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A sleeper hit of the early 1980's, 'Eating Raoul' is a bawdy, gleefully amoral tale of conspicuous consumption. Warhol superstar Mary Woronov and cult legend Paul Bartel (who also directed) portray a prudish married couple who feel put upon by the swingers living in their apartment building. One night, by accident, they discover a way to simultaneously rid themselves of the "perverts" down the hall and realize their dream of opening a restaurant. A mix of hilarious, anything-goes slapstick and biting satire of me-generation self-indulgence, 'Eating Raoul' marked the end of the sexual revolution with a thwack. - Director:
- Paul Bartel
- Cast:
- Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Robert Beltran
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