itpworld's - Rented List
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Even more compelling today than when it was first released, Sidney Lumet's 'Network' is a wickedly funny, spot - on indictment of the TV news media. Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky), this searing satire stars Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch and Robert Duvall. When longtime news anchor Howard Beale (Finch) is fired, he suffers a violent, on - air breakdown. Ironically, his angry rantings boost his sagging ratings - much to the surprise and delight of the UBS brass. Subsequently rehired and reinvented as the "mad prophet of the airwaves", he soon becomes a pawn of ruthless programming executives who milk his madness for every share point it's worth. Of course, when the "prophet" ceases to be profitable, something has to be done about Beale, preferably on camera, before a live studio audience... - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch
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Mahjong (1996)Ma jiang
Edward Yang's follow-up to 'A Confucian Confusion' is another dizzying comedy set in a globalized Taipei, but with a darker, more caustic edge. Amid a rapidly changing cityscape, the lives of a disparate group of swindlers, hustlers, gangsters, and expats collide, with a naive French teenager (Virginie Ledoyen) and a sensitive young local (Lawrence Ko) who tries to protect her caught dangerously in the middle. By turns brutal, shocking, tender, and bitingly funny, Mahjong is a dazzling vision of a multicultural Taipei where nearly every relationship has a price and newfound prosperity comes at the expense of the human soul. - Director:
- Edward Yang
- Cast:
- Tsung Sheng Tang, Chen Chang, Lawrence Ko
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The Goldfinger (2023)Jin shouzhi
Set during the 1980's, this bold crime epic follows the rise and fall of a multi-billion dollar company and its chairman Henry Ching (Tony Leung), who undergoes a major investigation led by an elite anti-corruption investigator (Andy Lau). The result is a relentless and intriguing 15-year investigation in pursuit of the truth. Boasting stellar performances from the stars of the 'Infernal Affairs' trilogy, with an engrossing story and incredible style, 'The Goldfinger' re-affirms the cinematic power and tradition of Hong Kong cinema. - Director:
- Felix Chong
- Cast:
- Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Andy Lau, Charlene Choi
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The Bride Wore Black (1968)La Mariee etait en noir
Julie (Jeanne Moreau), a beautiful young bride, has just married her childhood sweetheart and love of her life. But just moments after the ceremony, her beloved is murdered on the steps of the church. Emotionally distraught, Julie becomes obsessed with her bridegroom's death and begins a descent into madness as she relentlessly pursues the men responsible. One by one, Julie sees to their demises, and, with each murder more bone-chilling and diabolically clever than the last, the question is now who will be next - but rather how they will meet their ghastly end. - Director:
- François Truffaut
- Cast:
- Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Bouquet
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Sybylla Melvyn (Judy Davis) is the eldest daughter of an impoverished New South Wales farming family. Bold and determined, Sybylla dreams of succeeding as an acclaimed writer. But in a time of sexist ignorance and bigotry Sybylla has frequent clashes with procrustean conformists. Though it is her love for the dashing Harry Beacham (Sam Neill) that will truly test her desire to succeed as a writer. As events twist and turn, Sybylla is painfully forced to realise the emotional cost of putting her career over love. 'My Brilliant Career' is a delicate parable of one woman's fight for independence, and the sacrifices of the heart that must be made along the way. - Director:
- Gillian Armstrong
- Cast:
- Judy Davis, Sam Neill, Wendy Hughes
- Formats:
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In Bloom (2013)Grzeli nateli dgeebi
Tbilisi, 1992: Civil war is raging in the capital of the newly independent Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Amidst the mayhem, two inseparable fourteen-year-old friends, Natia and Eka, find their childhood coming to an end, with dysfunctional families, broken relationships and volatile politics all coming to a head. But the problems of disillusioned love, early marriage and oppressive male dominance will suddenly be thrown into sharp relief when one of the girls is given a gun... - Director:
- Nana Ekvtimishvili
- Cast:
- Lika Babluani, Mariam Bokeria, Zurab Gogaladze
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Black Gravel (1961)Schwarzer Kies / Haut für Haut / Kies
Sohnen is a town built on vice for the occupying American forces in post-war Germany. Robert (Helmut Wildt), a local truck driver who sells off gravel from the site he works on as a side hustle, runs into an old flame, Inge (Ingmar Zeisberg), who is now respectably married to American officer John (Hans Cossy). When the pair are driving in Robert's truck, tragedy strikes and they find themselves covering up a terrible secret...From Helmut Kautner, 'Black Gravel' was reviled on its release in Germany for its frank depiction of anti-semitism and savage depiction of a country on its knees after the war. - Director:
- Helmut Käutner
- Cast:
- Helmut Wildt, Ingmar Zeisberg, Hans Cossy
- Formats:
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A Complete Unknown (2024)Going Electric
New York, 1961. Against the backdrop of a vibrant music scene and tumultuous cultural upheaval, an unknown 19-year-old named Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet), from Minnesota, arrives in Greenwich Village with his guitar and revolutionary talent, destined to change the course of American music. As he forms his most intimate relationships during his rise to fame, he grows restless with the folk movement, refusing to be defined, makes a controversial choice that culturally reverberates worldwide. - Director:
- James Mangold
- Cast:
- Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning
- Formats:
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Scala!!! (2023)Scala!!! Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World's Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits
Archive footage, eye-popping movie clips, acid-crazed animation and famous names collide to tell the story of London's infamous, influential Scala cinema. With its cracked marble floors, resident cats and mysterious, extrasensory rumblings, the Scala was magical and a refuge from the violence of Thatcher's Britain. Hilarious, irreverent and ultimately heartbreaking with a fabulous original score by Barry Adamson, Scala!!! is more than mere nostalgia - it's an X-rated love letter and a universal shout-out to the power of cinemas to inspire young minds and create a sense of community for outsiders. A place where everyone is welcome. - Director:
- Ali Catterall
- Cast:
- Barry Adamson, John Akomfrah, Rick Baker
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Lola Montès (1955)Lola Montes / The Sins of Lola Montes
"Lola Montes" is a visually ravishing, narratively daring dramatization of the life of the notorious courtesan and showgirl, played by Martine Carol. With his customary cinematographic flourish and, for the first time, vibrant color, Max Ophuls charts the course of Montes's scandalous past through the invocations of the bombastic ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) of the American circus where she has ended up performing. Ophuls's final film, 'Lola Montes' is at once a magnificent romantic melodrama, a meditation on the lurid fascination with celebrity, and a one-of-a-kind movie spectacle. - Director:
- Max Ophüls
- Cast:
- Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov, Anton Walbrook
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How to Kill a Judge (1975)Perché si uccide un magistrato
In How to Kill a Judge, Franco Nero (Django) plays filmmaker Giacomo Solaris, whose latest film features a judge corrupted by the mafia and who is later killed. The real judge the character is based on seizes the film but is later found murdered. Feeling a degree of responsibility, Solaris investigates through his police and mafia advisors, but as the assassinations increase around him, will he reach the source of the conspiracy? - Director:
- Damiano Damiani
- Cast:
- Franco Nero, Françoise Fabian, Pierluigi Aprà
- Formats:
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A Man on His Knees (1979)Un uomo in ginocchio
Nino (Giuliano Gemma), a regular guy working on a kiosk learns from a friend he has been put on a mafia hit list and is being stalked by an assassin (Michele Placido).- Director:
- Damiano Damiani
- Cast:
- Giuliano Gemma, Eleonora Giorgi, Michele Placido
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When Nicolas Ray (Johnny Guitar) turns his talents to a gangster movie, a familiar genre becomes startling and new. Set in 1930s Chicago, 'Party Girl' follows a bum-legged mouthpiece for the mob (Robert Taylor) and a gorgeous, wised-up vamp (Cyd Charisse) who fall in love, try to go straight... and head straight for trouble. Ray deepens the drama and heightens the violence with filmmaking artistry that has given Party Girl cult status: a screen painted in sinister ebony and blood red, an urban landscape of shattered glass and shattered bodies, and a scene where a Jean Harlow-besotted mobster learns his idol has married - and shreds her photo with a rat-a-tat of lead. - Director:
- Nicholas Ray
- Cast:
- Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb
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Hot Blood (1956)Bad Blood
Set in the gypsy community of contemporary Los Angeles, aspiring dancer Stephen Torino (Cornel Wilde), is tricked by his brother into an arranged marriage with tempestuous Annie Caldash (Jane Russell). Annie is willing to give the union a go, but Torino wants none of it. Several risque complications and lively musical numbers later, Torino changes his mind. - Director:
- Nicholas Ray
- Cast:
- Jane Russell, Cornel Wilde, Luther Adler
- Formats:
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Symphony for a Massacre (1963)Symphonie pour un massacre
Five gangsters raise the cash to buy a large shipment of drugs which they plan to sell on. One of the gang however plans to secretly rob his partners, beginning a spiral of violence and deception that leaves a trail of bodies across France. Fiendishly plotted with a twisty script from Jose Giovanni (Le trod) and Claude Sautet (Classe tous risques), adapting a novel by Reynaud-Fourton, 'Symphony for a Massacre' sees the French master of the mystery thriller Jacques Deray (La piscine) directing with with real energy and verve. With support from a remarkable cast of France's finest character actors, and stunning photography by Claude Renoir (La grande illusion), this is French crime cinema of the highest quality. - Director:
- Jacques Deray
- Cast:
- Michel Auclair, Claude Dauphin, José Giovanni
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