griggs's - Rented List
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Death in Venice (1971)Morte a Venezia
Based on the classic novella by Thomas Mann, this late-career masterpiece from Luchino Visconti is a meditation on the nature of art, the allure of beauty, and the inescapability of death. A fastidious composer reeling from a disastrous concert, Gustav von Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde, in an exquisitely nuanced performance) travels to Venice to recover. There, he is struck by a vision of pure beauty in the form of a young boy named Tadzio (Bjorn Andrcscn), his infatuation developing into an obsession even as rumors of a plague spread through the city. Setting Mann's story of queer desire and bodily decay against the sublime music of Gustav Mahler, 'Death in Venice' is one of cinemas most exalted literary adaptations, as sensually rich as it is allegorically resonant. - Director:
- Luchino Visconti
- Cast:
- Dirk Bogarde, Romolo Valli, Mark Burns
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The story about the special bond between a father and his daughter. Actor Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) is leading the fast-paced lifestyle of a tabloid celebrity. He's comfortably numb with his life of women and pills when his 11-year-old daughter, Cleo (Elle Fanning), unexpectedly arrives at his room at Hollywood's legendary Chateau Marmont hotel. Their time together encourages Johnny to re-question his life in ways he never expected. - Director:
- Sofia Coppola
- Cast:
- Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius
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Justin Playfair (George C. Scott) is a retired New York judge who retreats into fantasy following the death of his wife. Believing himself to be Sherlock Holmes, equipped with deerstalker hat, pipe and cape, he whiles away his days in a homemade criminal lab where he plots to foil the dastardly schemes of elusive arch-enemy Moriarty. When his brother Blevins (Lester Rawlins) tries to have him committed to a mental institution, Playfair is assessed by psychiatrist Mildred Watson (Joanne Woodward), who becomes absorbed by his delusions. In no time at all, Dr. Watson becomes the bogus fictional detective's constant companion. What follows is a playful exploration of individuality and insanity in an alienating world, in which phantom obsessions and shared mysteries can lead to true fellowship and romance. Adapted by James Goldman (The Lion in Winter) from his own stage play, 'They Might be Giants' is a captivating Quixote for modern times. - Director:
- Anthony Harvey
- Cast:
- George C. Scott, Joanne Woodward, Jack Gilford
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With the imminent arrival of the Queen, Britannia Hospital couldn't be any less prepared. With striking workers only allowing patients near to death into the hospital, the kitchen staff refusing to prepare food until union leaders are bought off with promises of O.B.E. 's, and the head surgeon conducting, with public funds, expensive, deranged experiments, like inventing a modern Dr. Frankenstein - there is nothing short of anarchy! With Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) hot on their heels as the undercover investigative TV reporter catching all this bedlam on film, this energetic black comedy is a very bleak insight into the wrongs of modern Westernised culture. - Director:
- Lindsay Anderson
- Cast:
- Leonard Rossiter, Brian Pettifer, John Moffatt
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Shoeshine (1946)Sciuscia
De Sica's film depicts the troubled lives of two young boys caught up in the chaos of a world plagued by poverty and unemployment. Giuseppe (Rinaldo Smordoni) and Pasquale (Franco Interlenghi) work on the street, where they shine the shoes of American troops. They dream of a better life, seeking solace in a horse that they ride to escape their harsh reality. When the boys are implicated in a petty crime, they are punished by the society that has robbed them of their innocence, resulting in tragic consequences. - Director:
- Vittorio De Sica
- Cast:
- Rinaldo Smordoni, Franco Interlenghi, Annielo Mele
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After escaping from a violent cult in rural New York, Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) tries to reconnect with her estranged sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson), and Lucy's well-to-do husband, Ted (Hugh Dancy), but the brainwashing she endured continues to prevent her from forming an identity of her own. Overwhelmed with paranoia, guilt and shame, Martha isolates herself until Lucy begins to suspect her sister's emotional trauma has deeper underlying causes. - Director:
- Sean Durkin
- Cast:
- Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes
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Jane Austen Wrecked My Life (2024)Jane Austen Hayatımı Mahvetti / Jane Austen a gâché ma vie
Aspiring French novelist, Agathe (Camille Rutherford), dreams of experiencing love akin to a Jane Austen novel. Instead she finds herself stuck in desperate singlehood, working in the legendary British bookshop in Paris, 'Shakespeare & Co.', rather than pursuing her own writing ambitions. But then an unexpected invitation to the Jane Austen Writers' 'Residency in England' arrives. An eye-opening experience, in part thanks to her eccentric co-residents, Agathe is encouraged to confront her insecurities and explore her true romantic, sexual and creative nature. It's time to stop wasting her sentimental life and take control - over both her writing aspirations, and her very own love story. - Director:
- Laura Piani
- Cast:
- Camille Rutherford, Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson
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Berlin, 1923. Out-of-work circus performer Abel Rosenberg (David Carradine) is living in poverty. When his brother commits suicide, he moves into the apartment of his cabaret singer sister-in-law (Liv Ullmann), but the pair soon attract the attentions of both the police and a professor with a terrifying area of research when they start to make enquiries about Abel's brother's mysterious death. - Director:
- Ingmar Bergman
- Cast:
- Liv Ullmann, David Carradine, Gert Fröbe
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In Praise of Love (2001)Eloge De L'Amour
Shot in a dazzling combination of luminous black and white celluloid and state of the art colour saturated digital video, 'Eloge de l'amour' concerns an author (Bruno Putzulu) and the beautiful young woman (Cecile Camp) he is considering for a part in a project he is writing which deals with the four key moments of love. Convinced that he may have met the woman before, we travel back two years in time to a series of interviews with an elderly couple who fought in the Resistance. Could this be where the enigmatic pair first met? - Director:
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Cast:
- Bruno Putzulu, Cécile Camp, Jean Davy
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Twelve-year-old Fresh (Sean Nelson) is a runner in Brooklyn, carrying heroin for the intimidating Esteban (Giancarlo Esposito) and crack cocaine for local dealers. Seeking an escape from the ruthless environment he's been subjected to, Fresh uses the lessons learnt from his chess-playing father (Samuel L. Jackson) - as well as his own sharp survival instincts - to turn his dangerous employers against each other in the hope that it will free him from their grip. - Director:
- Boaz Yakin
- Cast:
- Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson
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Bogie's on the run and Bacall's at his side in Delmer Daves' stylish film-noir thriller that's the third of four films Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made together. Bogart is Vincent Parry, a prison escapee framed for murder who emerges from plastic surgery with a new face. Bacall is Irene Jansen, his lone ally. In sharp support, Agnes Moorehead plays a venomous harpy finding pleasure in the unhappiness of others. The leads' chemistry is undeniable, augmented here with exceptional tenderness. Exceptional too are San Francisco locations and creative camerawork that shows Vincent's point of view - but not his face - until bandages are removed. Lest Irene get ideas, post-surgery Vincent tells her: "Don't change yours. I like it just as it is". So do we. - Director:
- Delmer Daves
- Cast:
- Humphrey Bogart, Jo Stafford, Lauren Bacall
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Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg co-star in this haunting drama about the obsessive love between a therapist and his patient. Vincent (Beatty), a war veteran, returns to his bleak Maryland hometown and takes a job as an occupational therapist at Poplar Lodge, a private mental institution for the wealthy. There, Vincent meets a young schizophrenic, Lilith (Seberg), an enchanting patient whose fragile beauty bewitches all those with whom she comes in contact - especially Stephen (Peter Fonda), a troubled young man. As Vincent is drawn even deeper into her private world, he too becomes captivated by Lilith and will lie, betray and even destroy to keep her. Soon Vincent himself can no longer determine which of the two worlds - his or Lilith's - is the sane one. - Director:
- Robert Rossen
- Cast:
- Warren Beatty, Jean Seberg, Peter Fonda
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Nine Queens (2000)Nueve Reinas
Set in Buenos Aires over the course of 24 hours, 'Nine Queens' is a taut, highly seductive heist thriller in which nothing is what it seems and where no one can be trusted. A naive young con artist Juan (Gaston Pauls) teams up with an enigmatic, experienced master criminal Marcos (Ricardo Darin) for what could be the crime to end all crimes. But in a relationship propelled by brinkmanship and double-cross, corruption rarely has a happy ending. - Director:
- Fabián Bielinsky
- Cast:
- Ricardo Darín, Claudio Rissi, Gastón Pauls
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Better Off Dead (1985)Better Off Dead...
After his girlfriend (Amanda Wyss) ditches him for a boorish ski jock, Lane (John Cusack) decides that suicide is the only answer. However, his increasingly inept attempts bring him only more agony and embarrassment. Filled with the wildest teen nightmares, a family you can't help but identify with and a host of wonderful comic characters, Savage Steve Holland's writing/directorial debut is a masterful look at those painfully funny teen years. - Director:
- Savage Steve Holland
- Cast:
- John Cusack, Rich Little, David Ogden Stiers
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Uncle Boonmee (Thanapat Saisaymar) has chosen to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the remote forest, an important place from his childhood and, he believes, the possible location of his former existences. Surprisingly, the ghost of his deceased wife appears to care for him, and the spirit of his long lost son returns. Contemplating the reasons for his illness, Boonmee treks through the jungle with his family to a mysterious hilltop cave - the birthplace of his first life. - Director:
- Apichatpong Weerasethakul
- Cast:
- Thanapat Saisaymar, Namthip Meaungmaha, Jenjira Pongpas
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