awwatchedthese's - Rented List
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Set in a bomb damaged London hotel during the aftermath of World War II "Close to the Enemy" is a thriller that follows British intelligence officer Captain Callum Ferguson (Jim Sturgess). His last task for the army is to ensure that Dieter (August Diehl), a captured German scientist, develops cutting edge jet engine technology for the British. Such expertise is becoming vital to Britain as they try to maintain any kind of superiority in the emerging Cold War. Callum employs unorthodox methods in his attempt to convince Dieter to work for the British, eventually developing a friendship with him - a friendship which becomes threatened as those around him believe that the Dieter may have stood by as innocents in labour camps perished under the rule of the Nazi party. - Director:
- Stephen Poliakoff
- Cast:
- Ciara Charteris, August Diehl, Jim Sturgess
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It's more than 40 years since their classic crime capers in The Lady Vanishes, Night Train to Munich and It's Not Cricket. The gentleman-sleuth duo may be retired but they still leap at the chance to investigate a new murder mystery. Caldicott (Michael Aldridge) lives in splendid luxury at Viceroy Court, Marylebone, while Charters (Robin Bailey) resides in leafy Reigate - and as ever they meet at their posh Pall Mall club. When the body of an old friend's daughter is found in Caldicott's flat, the pair forgo their regular Friday lunch to solve the crime. The mystery deepens, though, when Charters receives a phone call from the supposedly dead girl! Over the six entertaining episodes the plot thickens as the case is linked to a cargo of gold on a sunken German WWII U-Boat. And from there the excitement builds to a thrilling climax at Lords Cricket Ground - both on and off the pitch! - Director:
- Julian Amyes
- Cast:
- Robin Bailey, Michael Aldridge, Caroline Blakiston
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Set in May 1940 this tense World War II spy thriller is set against the impending invasion of Holland by the Nazi's. In London, Jan Smit (Peter Finch) is in exile whilst his father, an eminent diamond merchant, remains in Amsterdam. Together with his countryman, Walter Keyser (Alexander Knox) Smit is persuaded to return to his homeland under the command of British Agent Major Dillon (Tony Britton). Their mission is to recover the industrial diamond stocks from the traders in Amsterdam before they fall into the hands of the advancing Wehrmacht. Landing secretly on the Dutch coast, our heroes are greeted with the chaos of locals fleeing the threat of the German invaders, and narrowly avoid disaster from a failed suicide attempt by the beautiful Anna (Eva Bartok). Anna is persuaded to drive the group through the deserted streets of Amsterdam where Smit attempts, with his fathers help, to persuade the diamond merchants to part with their stocks. His problem, the diamond merchants many of them Jewish, will be left behind to face the wrath of the Germans whilst their stocks have returned to London. Faced with a race against time Smit, Dillon and Keyser must recover what diamonds they can, dodge the fifth columnists roaming the streets, and make their rendez-vous on board ship in order to return to London... or suffer the consequences. - Director:
- Michael McCarthy
- Cast:
- Peter Finch, Eva Bartok, Tony Britton
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'Who Do You Think You Are?' follows the journeys of eight well known personalities as they explore their family trees, uncover their family history and discover fascinating and poignant facts about their ancestors that have been, until now, hidden in the annals of time. In the fifth series, Patsy Kensit uncovers a healthy and hardworking mix of criminals and curates; Boris Johnson is never happier than when he discovers he's descended from both a heroic journalist and royalty; Jerry Springer finds darker and more terrible truths about the fate of his relatives; while Esther Rantzen starts off with silver and ends up in diamonds. Ashley Harriott visits West Indian lands of slaves and soldiers, policemen, free negroes and slaveowners; David Suchet researches how the Shokhet family became the Suchedowitz's and eventually Suchet; Jodie Kidd tracks down both a scandalous Baronet and a pilgrim heritage; while Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen finds himself all at sea as he investigates some very watery roots. - Director:
- Christopher Bruce
- Cast:
- Mark Strong, Patsy Kensit, Boris Johnson
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Triple bill of British crime dramas.
The Third Alibi (1961)A composer (Laurence Payne) is stuck in a middle-class marriage and finds that his affair with his wife's half-sister (Jane Griffiths) has resulted in a pregnancy. When his wife refuses to give him a divorce he hatches a murder scheme that is too clever by half.
Night Was Our Friend (1951)
Missing for two years husband (Michael Gough) returns home to his wife (Elizabeth Sellars) suffering with severe mental problems. However, his wife in her husband's absence - has met and fallen in love with a doctor (Ronald Howard) she looks after her husband who becomes more deranged and commits suicide putting his wife under suspicion of murder.
Stranger In Town (1957)
An American composer living in a sleepy English village is shot dead. A journalist (Alex Nicol) probes the death, the trail running to the local gossip (Mona Washbourne) who is found gassed.- Director:
- Montgomery Tully
- Cast:
- Laurence Payne, Patricia Dainton, Jane Griffiths
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Chinese Puzzle (2013)Casse-tête chinois
Xavier's life is turned upside down when his wife Wendy announces she's moving to New York and taking the kids. A few months later, he's on a transatlantic flight as well. From fathering a child to a lesbian couple, to marrying a Chinese-American to obtain citizenship, to reigniting a flame with his first love who comes to visit, Xavier and his world really do seem like a Chinese Puzzle... - Director:
- Cédric Klapisch
- Cast:
- Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Cécile De France
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Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)Kingsman 2
"Kingsman: The Secret Service" introduced the world to Kingsman - an independent, international intelligence agency operating at the highest level of discretion, whose ultimate goal is to keep the world safe. In 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle', our heroes face a new challenge. When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, their journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organisation in the US called Statesman, dating back to the day they were both founded. In a new adventure that tests their agents' strength and wits to the limit, these two elite secret organisations band together to defeat a ruthless common enemy, in order to save the world, something that's becoming a bit of a habit for Eggsy. - Director:
- Matthew Vaughn
- Cast:
- Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong
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As jaded cabaret Mademoiselle Amy Jolly (Marlene Dietrich) falls for Tom Brown (Gary Cooper), a devil-may-care private in the French Foreign Legion. In spite of the clamor of other suitors, including man-of-the-world Kennington (Adolphe Menjou), Amy arranges a rendezvous with Tom Brown when their aloof attraction turns to love. But when Tom overhears the wealthy Kennington propose to Amy, he accepts a dangerous assignment, convinced that only Kennington can give the beautiful chanteuse the life she wants. All proves fair in love and war, however, when on the eve of the engagement to Kennington, Amy steals away to find the man she truly loves. - Director:
- Josef Von Sternberg
- Cast:
- Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, Adolphe Menjou
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Based on the novels by E.F. Benson, this bitingly funny comic drama, adapted by Steve Pemberton, celebrates and lampoons the snobberies and pretensions of small-town life. Starring an acclaimed ensemble cast led by Miranda Richardson and Anna Chancellor in the title roles. Over the course of a 1930s summer the sly, scheming Miss Elizabeth Mapp and the gloriously haughty Mrs Emmeline 'Lucia' Lucas jockey for social supremacy in Tilling. This quaint English town may seem tranquil on the surface, but its eccentric inhabitants exist in a world seething with gossip, faddishness and petty one upmanship... As Mapp and Lucia go into battle, friends and neighbours rally to the flags. When the smoke clears which of the ladies will have won the dangerously well-mannered fight to be Tilling's finest? - Director:
- Diarmuid Lawrence
- Cast:
- Anna Chancellor, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton
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Led by Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) the families are soon lost and start to mistrust each other and their guide. After, days of wandering in the inhospitable landscape and becoming more disorientated, a Native American crosses their path. The group must decide if they can trust this man to lead them to water or a more sinister fate. - Director:
- Kelly Reichardt
- Cast:
- Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano
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Rick Stein's Tastes of the World (2016)Rick Stein's Tastes of the World: From Cornwall to Shaghai
Collection of culinary programmes in which chef Rick Stein travels the globe to sample a range of traditional foods and create his own inspired dishes.
Rick Stein's Taste of ShanghaiShanghai is one of the biggest cities in the world and is rapidly expanding, but has it hung on to its culinary roots?
Rick Stein and the Japanese Ambassador
Rick visits Japan to get a feel for its cuisine before creating a banquet at the invitation of the Japanese Ambassador in London.
Rick Stein's Cornish Christmas
Rick joins in the ancient festival of wassailing, tries the festive ice rink at Eden and is joined by Port Isaac's Fishermen's Friends at his Cornish Christmas banquet.
Rick Stein's Taste of Italian Opera
Rick takes a light-hearted look at the role that food played in the creation of Italian opera and shows how music and food are intrinsically linked to the works of Rossini, Puccini and Verdi.
Rick Stein Tastes the Blues
Based at the famous Shack Up Inn, a rusty, rickety old hotel full of blues enthusiasts, Rick seeks out his favourite music and the food ingrained in its heritage in the southern state of Mississippi.
Rick Stein's German Bite
Rick Stein sets out on his German voyage with his usual appetite to unearth the country's culinary gems and delve into his family roots.- Director:
- David Pritchard
- Cast:
- Rick Stein, Yoshiro Mori, Yoshiji Nogami
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In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli-the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults. Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser, Michael Pollan along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising-and often shocking truths-about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here. - Director:
- Robert Kenner
- Cast:
- Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Richard Lobb
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Popular chef Rick Stein gives the inside track on some of our favourite destinations for a weekend jaunt. 'Rick Stein's Long Weekends' is sure to inspire viewers to try new places and avoid the usual tourist traps. In Bordeaux, Berlin, Reykjavik, Bologna and Vienna, Rick is the ideal guide to this exciting collection of weekend breaks. From fabulous local markets and great restaurants to wineries, cafes and bars, Rick showcases food excellence and brilliant recipes that people will love to cook at home. - Director:
- David Pritchard
- Cast:
- Rick Stein
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Van Veeteren: Films: Vol.1 (2005)Borkmann's Point/Münster's Case/Moreno and Silence
The Van Veeteren detective series is based on the best-selling crime novels by one of Sweden's most popular mystery writers, Hakan Nesser. Set in the fictitious city of Maardam, the series follows the murder cases of retired chief inspector, Van Veeteren, and his two crime squad proteges, Munster and Moreno.
Borkmann's Point (2005)
Van Veeteren finds that retiring from the police force is easier said than done when two decapitated bodies are found in quick succession. The matching MO in the two grisly murders brings the investigation teams of Maardam and Kaalbringen together - a collaboration that is not without its problems, especially when those in charge of the case seem a little too eager to make an arrest. In solving the case, Van Veeteren learns that it is not always easy to distinguish friend from foe.
Munster's Case (2005)
When the body of a wealthy wine merchant washes up on a beach with multiple stab wounds, police fear a media frenzy. But the quick arrest of the man's former partner in the face of damning evidence promises a quick resolution to the case. Miinster is unconvinced and angers his superiors when he follows up leads that hint at a dark secret in the dead man's family. Removed from the investigation, Munster teams up with Van Veeteren in a deadly race to solve the case.
Moreno and the Silence (2006)
When a girl is murdered soon after leaving a closed religious community, Moreno faces a difficult investigation as the community closes ranks and refuses to cooperate. When another girl is abducted and her bloody fingernails mailed to the police, tongues begin to loosen. But time is running out as the disturbed killer prepares to carry out another ritual murder - will Moreno be able to crack the case in time?- Director:
- Erik Leijonborg
- Cast:
- Sven Wollter, Lars-Erik Berenett, Thomas Hanzon
- Formats:
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When their mother needs to leave in order to find their estranged father, seven year old Jin and her younger sister, Bin, are left to live with their Big Aunt for the summer. With only a small piggy bank and their mother's promise to return when it is full, the two young girls are forced to acclimate to changes in their family life. Counting the days, and the coins, the two bright-eyed young girls eagerly anticipate their mother's homecoming. But when the bank fills up, and with their mother still not back, Big Aunt decides that she can no longer tend to the children. Taken to live on their grandparent's farm, it is here that Jin comes to learn the importance of family bonds in this beautiful, meditative, and thought-provoking second feature from So Yong Kim, the acclaimed director of In Between Days. - Director:
- So Yong Kim
- Cast:
- Chae Gil Byung, Jung Gil Ja, Shin Hyun Je
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