john-t's - Rented List
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Four exceptional astronomers celebrate 50 years of work and friendship on a road trip in the south-western United States, recapturing youthful adventures and recounting each other's influences on the most exciting period in astronomy's history: Donald Lynden-Bell the theoretician, Nick Woolf the visionary, Roger Griffin the inventor, and Wallace Sargent the observer. Together they represent the most productive period astronomy has ever had. They helped build the world's biggest observatories and made revolutionary discoveries about the evolving universe. Featuring breathtaking landscapes and astonishing night sky footage, 'Star Man' is an intimate portrait of friendship and the discoveries that have the power to change the way humanity sees itself. - Director:
- Alison E. Rose
- Cast:
- Donald Lynden-Bell, Nick Woolf, Roger Griffin
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A revealing portrait of this most self-effacing photographer emerges through conversation, anecdote and candid reflection. In the almost six decades that Jane Bown (b 1925) worked for the Observer newspaper, she became renowned for insightful, highly individualistic portraits of the famous. Some of these portraits are now regarded as classics of the genre - Samuel Beckett, Queen Elizabeth, the Beatles. This feature documentary is a beautiful portrait of Jane Bown, her quiet determination to succeed in an almost exclusively male world, and her legendary no-nonsense working method. It includes interviews with Rankin, Nobby Clark, Edna O'Brien and Don McCullin and her many iconic photographs of the great and the good of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. - Director:
- Luke Dodd
- Cast:
- Jane Bown, Edna O'Brien, Rankin O'Hagan
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"Expresso Bongo" takes the lid off the seedier side of showbiz! Cliff Richard plays Bongo Herbert, a young singer, playing for peanuts in Soho's sleazy clubs with its striptease snows, clip joints and teenage dens. He becomes an overnight success when taken up by wide boy showbiz agent Johnny (a brilliant performance from Laurence Harvey) but at what price? Cliff's first role is packed with punch and the great soundtrack includes the hit single Voice in the Wilderness and I've Never had It So Good. His co-stars include Yolande Donlan, as man-crazy American singer Dixie Collins and Sylvia Syms cast against type as a dancer in a strip show. - Director:
- Val Guest
- Cast:
- Laurence Harvey, Sylvia Syms, Yolande Donlan
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La Dolce Vita (1960)The Sweet Life
Perhaps his most famous film, La Dolce Vita slices into the decadent amoral core of Roman society with Fellini's trademark attention to detail and spectacular photography. Marcello Mastroianni plays a gossip columnist (the term 'paparazzi' derives from the in a film) who aspires to be a more serious writer but knows he never will be, because like society, he is fascinated by the decadent hedonist pursuits which are seemingly everywhere. The Vatican was appalled by the film, but the public adored it, relishing the images Fellini fed them, most notably the now infamous scene of Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg frolicking in the Trevi Fountain. - Director:
- Federico Fellini
- Cast:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée
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Eager to shift thoughts away from the Troubles during the 1970s, music fanatic Terri Hooley (Richard Dormer) opens a record store, 'Good Vibrations', in the heart of one of Belfast's roughest districts. As the shop gains a loyal following, Terri starts a small record label with the aim of launching some of the local bands, including The Undertones whose first single, 'Teenage Kicks', is championed by legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel... - Director:
- Lisa Barros D'Sa
- Cast:
- Jodie Whittaker, Pierre Adeli, Richard Dormer
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Anyone who lived through the '80's experienced the magic of 'Gremlins'. For everyone else, now is the time to see one of the decade's defining movies, a wildly original blend of comedy and horror. When Billy (Zach Galligan) receives an adorable, mysterious pet named Gizmo for Christmas, he's given three rules for its care. Inadvertently, he breaks the rules, and a resulting army of duplicate furballs wreaks havoc throughout the town... - Director:
- Joe Dante
- Cast:
- Don Steele, Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates
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Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson bring to life the untold true story about the origins of one of the most treasured Disney classics of all time. John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) directs this acclaimed film, which reveals the surprising backstory behind the making of Mary Poppins. Determined to fulfill a promise to his daughters, Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) tries for twenty years to obtain the rights to author P. L. Travers' (Emma Thompson) beloved book. Armed with his iconic creative vision, Walt pulls out all the stops, but the uncompromising Travers won't budge. Only when he reaches into his own complicated childhood does Walt discover the truth about the ghosts that haunt Travers, and together, they set Mary Poppins free! - Director:
- John Lee Hancock
- Cast:
- Emma Thompson, P.L. Travers, Tom Hanks
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Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight (1965)Campanadas a medianoche
On the brink of Civil War, King Henry IV (John Gielgud) attempts to consolidate his reign while fretting with unease over his son's seeming neglect of his royal duties. Hal (Keith Baxter), the young Prince, openly consorts with Sir John Falstaff (Orson Welles) and his company of "Diana's foresters, Gentlemen of the shade, Minions of the moon". Hal's friendship with the fat knight substitutes for his estrangement from his father. Both Falstaff and the King are old and tired; both rely on Hal for comfort in their final years, while the young Prince, the future Henry V, nurtures his own ambitions. - Director:
- Orson Welles
- Cast:
- Orson Welles, Ralph Richardson, Jeanne Moreau
- Formats:
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Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)Kaze no tani no Naushika
A thousand years after a great war, a seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind is one of the only areas which remains populated. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaa, the people of the Valley are engaged in a constant struggle with powerful insects called ohmu, who guard a poisonous jungle that is spreading across the Earth. Nausicaa and her brave companions, together with the people of the Valley, strive to restore the bond between humanity and the earth. - Director:
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast:
- Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyôda
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The Iceman Cometh (1973)Buzcu Geliyor
A genuine lost gem of 7o's American cinema, 'The Iceman Cometh' has rarely been seen since 1973. This is one of the definitive film translations of a stage play. Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece is often referred to as the greatest work of 20th century American theatre, centring on a crowd of wastrels, misfits, anarchists, alcoholics, whores and barflies, drinking away their troubles, and making grandiose plans. When Hickey arrives, for his yearly drunken bender to celebrate landlord Harry Hope's birthday, each character's dreams and aspirations melt away with a heartbreaking poignancy, exposing the human need for illusion and fantasy as an antidote to self-delusion and despair. - Director:
- John Frankenheimer
- Cast:
- Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan
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Trouble in Paradise (1932)The Golden Widow / The Honest Finder / Thieves and Lovers
When career thief Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) meets glamorous pickpocket Lily (Miriam Hopkins), their love soon takes on a professional dimension as they initiate a plot to rob beautiful perfume magnate Mariette Colet (Kay Francis). But as Gaston gets ever closer to his intended prey, his romantic confusion, as well as the threat that his past will catch up with him, throws their plan into jeopardy. - Director:
- Ernst Lubitsch
- Cast:
- Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall
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Mr. Holmes (2015)A Slight Trick of the Mind
Academy Award nominee Ian McKellen takes on the iconic role of Detective Sherlock Holmes. In 1947, the world famous sleuth has retired to a remote Sussex farmhouse, living in relative anonymity with only his housekeeper Mrs Munro and her young son Roger for company. Cantankerous, demanding and frustrated with the mis-representation of him in Watson's best-selling novels, he diverts his attention to an unsolved case. As the mystery deepens, Sherlock tries desperately to recall the events of 30 years ago that ultimately led to his retirement. - Director:
- Bill Condon
- Cast:
- Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada
- Formats:
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Directed by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Chuck Workman, 'Magician' explores the artistic and private life of Orson Welles, taking the viewer on a wild journey through his accomplished career in theatre and radio, and in film and television - both in Hollywood and in Europe. Featuring new interviews with Welles authorities including Simon Callow and Peter Bogdanovich, and illustrated with a wealth of archival material and film extracts, Magician reveals a pioneering, uncompromising artist who, although misunderstood in his own time, is now rightfully lauded as a master of his art. - Director:
- Chuck Workman
- Cast:
- Peter Bogdanovich, Orson Welles
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Frederick Wiseman, master documentarian, takes the audience behind the scenes of a British institution, on a journey to the heart of a museum inhabited by masterpieces of Western art from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. National Gallery is the portrait of a place, its way of working and relations with the world, its staff and public, and its paintings. - Director:
- Frederick Wiseman
- Cast:
- Not Available
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Film recounts the adventures of Gustave H., a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars; and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting; a raging battle for an enormous family fortune; a desperate chase on motorcycles, trains, sleds, and skis; and the sweetest confection of a love affair - all against the backdrop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent. - Director:
- Wes Anderson
- Cast:
- Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric
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