john-t's - Rented List

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When her best friend and roommate abruptly moves out to get married, Susan (Melanie Mayron), trying to be an artist while making ends meet as a bar mitzvah photographer on Manhattan's Upper West Side, finds herself adrift in both life and love.

A wonder of American independent cinema by Claudia Weill (who, when she was admitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a director in 1981, was one of only four women ever to have received that honor), 'Girlfriends' is a remarkably authentic vision of female relationships that has become a touchstone for makers of an entire subgenre of films and television shows about young women trying to make it in the big city. This 1970's New York time capsule captures the complexities and contradictions of women's lives and relationships with wry humor and refreshing frankness.

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Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) is a young film student struggling to find a firm direction in life when she meets the seemingly unwavering and decisive Anthony (Tom Burke). The two immediately take to one another and an intense romance blossoms between them.

However, as the relationship develops it becomes clear that Anthony is not being honest about all aspects of himself and Julie slowly discovers that the)' could have potentially devastating consequences for them both. One of Britain's most unique filmmakers Joanna Hogg (Archipelago, Unrelated) presents a deeply personal examination of her own youthful experiences in this beautifully crafted, Martin Scorsese produced portrait of self discovery, 'The Souvenir'.

Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) and his young nephew (Woody Norman) forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they are unexpectedly thrown together in this delicate and deeply moving story about the connections between adults and children, the past and the future, from writer-director Mike Mills.

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Laura (Rashida Jones) thinks she's happily hitched, but when her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) starts logging late hours at the office with a new coworker, Laura begins to fear the worst.

She turns to the one man she suspects may have insight: her charming, impulsive father Felix (Bill Murray), who insists they investigate the situation. As the two begin prowling New York at night, careening from uptown parties to downtown hotspots, they discover at the heart of their journey lies their own relationship.

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Ousmane Sembene's 1968 film 'Mandabi', the first ever feature length film in the African language of Wolof. Makhouredia Gueye gives a wonderful performance as jobless Ibrahima Dieng who receives a money order for 25,000 francs from his nephew in Paris.

News of his good fortune soon spreads and neighbours, friends, corrupt bureaucrats and even his own relations attempt to trick Dieng out of the money due to him. Winner of the international Critics prize at Venice Film Festival in 1968, Mandabi is a brilliant tragi-comic foray into the corrupt and absurd world of Senegalese bureaucracy.

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Following a young London DJ (David Beames) on the road to Bristol to investigate the mysterious death of his brother, 'Radio On' offers a unique, compelling and even mythic vision of a late 1970s England, stalled between failed hopes of cultural and social change and the imminent upheavals of

Thatcherism. Stunningly photographed in luminous monochrome by Martin Schäfer, and driven by a startling new wave soundtrack - and early screen performance by Sting - 'Radio On' is ripe for rediscovery.

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When Saajan (Irrfan Khan), an ill-tempered Mumbai office worker nearing retirement, is delivered the wrong lunch he is pleasantly surprised by the improvement in his food. The lunchbox had been intended for young housewife Ila's emotionally indifferent husband in an attempt to win back his favour.

When he fails to respond to her efforts, Ila decides to enclose a note in the next meal and Saajan, his taste-buds tickled and his interest piqued, decides to write back...

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Haunted by his past, WWII veteran and drifter Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) crosses paths with a mysterious movement called The Cause, led by Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) aka The Master and his wife Peggy (Amy Adams). Their twisted relationship is the core of this film.

Will Freddie be able to outrun his past? Will The Cause help or hurt him? Can this tortured, violent creature be civilized? Or is man, after all, just a dirty animal?

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From master storyteller, Guillermo del Toro, comes 'The Shape of Water', an otherworldly fairy tale set against the backdrop of Cold War-era America circa 1962. In the hidden, high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of isolation.

Elisa's life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment.

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On the surface, it is a seamless caper.

A beautiful bank robbery staged by a veteran expert and two exuberant heirs apparent Eddie (Rhys Ifans), the cocky leader, and his cohort Ian (David Schneider), dream of adventure, riches and fame, while legendary thief and safecracker, Maitland (John Hurt), harbours more complicated motives. Nevertheless, the trio unites in an ingenious scheme that comes to them almost magically. The plan is meticulous. The results are disastrous.

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William O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield), a thief turned FBI informant, infiltrates the Illinois Black Panthers to track their charismatic leader, Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), whose rising political prowess has captured the attention of J. Edgar Hoover's bureau.

As O'Neal manipulates both his comrades and handler, a battle wages in his soul. Will he align with the side of good - or follow commands to subdue Hampton by any means?

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Emma Stone stars as one of cinema's most notorious and stylish villains, Cruella de Vil. Determined to become a successful fashion designer, a creative young grifter named Estella (Stone) teams with a pair of mischievous thieves to survive on the London streets.

But when her flair for fashion catches the eye of the legendary designer Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson), Estella rises to become the raucous, revenge-bent "Cruella".

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Charles Bubbles (Albert Finney) is a famous writer from a bleak industrial town. His divorced wife (Billie Whitelaw) and son live on a farm he bought for them near his home town while he lives in a London townhouse, detached from reality.

Wretched in his wealth, Charlie stumbles through life drunk, debauched and dull, until he decides to go home again to revisit his ex-wife and child in the North.

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What makes a film score unforgettable? "Score: A Film Music Documentary" brings Hollywood's elite composers together to give viewers a privileged look inside the musical challenges and creative secrecy of the world's most international music genre: the film score.

A film composer is a musical scientist of sorts, and the influence they have to complement a film and garner powerful reactions from global audiences can be a daunting task to take on. The documentary contains interviews with dozens of film composers who discuss their craft and the magic of film music while exploring the making of the most iconic and beloved scores in history.

How can one rock band be successful, underrated, hugely influential, and criminally overlooked all at the same time? Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron and Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band's favorite band.