john-t's - Rented List

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In July 2005, Scott Hicks started shooting a documentary about the composer Philip Glass to celebrate his 70th anniversary in 2007.

Over the next 18 months, Hicks followed Philip across 3 continents - from his annual ride on the Coney Island 'Cyclone' roller coaster, to the world premiere of his new opera in Germany and in performance with a didgeridoo virtuoso in Australia. Allowed unprecedented access to Glass' working process, family life, spiritual teachers and long time collaborators, Hicks gives us a unique glimpse behind the curtain into the life of a surprising and complex man.The documentary is a remarkable portrait of one of the greatest - and a times controversial - artists of this or any era.

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Set during disco's heyday, 'Boogie Nights' is a hilarious and hysterical expose of the pornography industry as seen from those inside. Eddie (Mark Wahlberg) is a 17-year-old busboy looking for a break when veteran porn director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) spots him in a disco.

Jack immediately senses that the virile and well-endowed young man can make him very, very rich. Lead by Jack into the wickedly glamorous realm of porn movies, Eddie emerges as Dirk Diggler, the superstar who's always pleased to see you...

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While their mother recovers from an illness, Satsuki and her little sister Mei (voiced in English by Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning) get away from it all in an idyllic rural retreat.

Far from the bustle of the city, they discover a mysterious place of spirits and magic, and the friendship of the Totoro woodland creatures.
Conceived as a family film devoid of conflict and suffused with the carefree pleasures of the summertime, My Neighbour Totoro sees Hayao Miyazaki create a parable of friendship and imagination populated with unforgettable characters. A universal classic for all generations, My Neighbour Totoro shows Japanese animation's famous Studio Ghibli at its very best, and is an elegy to two ever-fading miracles: the fairytale world of childhood and the disappearing countryside.

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Carl Fredricksen (voices of Edward Asner / Jeremy Leary), a retired balloon salesman, is part rascal, part dreamer who is ready for his last chance at high-flying excitement. Tying thousands of balloons to his house, Carl sets off to the lost world of his childhood dreams.

Unbeknownst to Carl, Russell (voice of Jordan Nagai), an overeager 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer who has never ventured beyond his backyard, is in the wrong place at the wrong time - Carl's front porch! The world's most unlikely duo reach new heights and meet fantastic friends like Dug (voice of Bob Peterson), a dog with a special collar that allows him to speak, and Kevin, a rare 13-foot-tall flightless bird. Stuck together in the wilds of the jungle, Carl realises that sometimes life's biggest adventures aren't the ones you set out looking for.

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What is bicycle culture? It's what you make of it. Anything can happen: Activists educate the policymakers. Bureaucrats create whimsical public art. Strangers help each other move house by bike. Corporations turn their drive-thrus into bike thrus.

Joe Biers short movies explore all these phenomena and more as he follows the emergence of modern bike culture over the last ten years of riding the streets of U.S. cities and meeting the characters who are making the magic happen.
Twenty four short bicycle films including:
1. Martinis in the Bike Lane
2. Countdown to Carmageddon
3. One Less Truck
4. Burgerville's Bike-Thru
5. Four Less Teeth
6. Swarm the Port
7. Hood to Coast
8. The Manual
9. Transport Your Activism
10. Deep Roots
11. Disabled Cyclists
12. Bikestravaganza 2010
13. The Berlin Wall
14. Return to the Wall
15. Broken Crosswalk
16. Fixed Crosswalk
17. Bicycle Master Plan 2010
18. Sunday Parkways
19. Dinner + Bikes
20. Hunter-Gatherers Never Looked This Good
21. Last Train Out of North America and many more.

One boy must fight to save his mother from the advances of a mystic and simultaneously lure his pyromaniac girlfriend into the bedroom, armed with only a wide vocabulary and near-total self-belief. His name is Oliver Tate.

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From Disney and creative genius Tim Burton comes the hilarious and offbeat Frankenweenie, a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog.

After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life - with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor's fellow students, teachers and the entire town learn that getting a new "leash on life" can be monstrous.

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Diane Keaton stars as Carol Lipton, a bored Manhattan housewife who becomes convinced that her next-door neighbour has committed a murder. When her sceptical husband Larry (Woody Allen) rejects the idea, Carol turns to a flirtatious friend (Alan Alda) to help her search for clues.

And as their enthusiasm for the case grows, so does their interest in each other. Spurred on by jealousy - and by a seductive writer (Anjelica Huston) who's also excited by the mystery - Larry reluctantly joins the chase, only to learn that much more than his marriage is at stake. A comic romp bursting with wry one-liners and inspired sight gags.

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As one of the last "natural" beings born into a genetically engineered world, Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) has none of the 'pre-ordered' DNA that will guarantee him success. Desperate to realise his dream of exploring space, Vincent assumes the identity of a genetically superior athlete (Jude Law).

Avoiding detection using the athlete's genetic markers, Vincent becomes a rising star at Gattaca Aerospace, attracting the attention of a stunning co-worker (Uma Thurman). But when a flight director is brutally murdered, a clue left at the crime scene threatens to shatter Vincent's plans...

Welcome to a magical world of spectacular adventure! When wily and resourceful Hugo discovers a secret left by his father, he unlocks a mystery and embarks on a quest that will transform those around him and lead to a safe and loving place he can call, home.

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Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen) is a man so introverted and insecure that he has developed the ability to blend perfectly into the background of any given situation, regardless of the personality or even ethnicity of the people around him.

But when he inadvertently becomes famous as "the human chameleon" after the media takes too keen an interest in his therapy sessions with Dr. Eudora Fletcher (Mia Farrow), Zelig is faced with an unprecedented challenge: how do you fade into the background when the spotlight is firmly upon you?

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Overcoming considerable challenges, Herzog captures the stunning majesty of the Chauvet Cave in southern France, where the world's oldest cave paintings have been discovered. Herzog reveals a breathtaking subterranean world including the 32,000-year-old artworks.

With his humorous and engaging narration Herzog reflects on our primal desire to communicate and represent the world around us, evolution and our place within it, and ultimately what it means to be human.

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Reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is in search of his next big story when he encounters Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) who claims to be part of "The New Earth Army", an experimental US Army unit. According to Cassady, a legion of psychic warriors with .

unparalleled powers can read the enemy's thoughts, pass through solid walls, and even kill a goat simply by staring at it. Now, the program's founder, Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), has gone missing and Cassady's mission is to find him. Intrigued by his new acquaintance's far-fetched stories, Bob impulsively decides to accompany him on the search.

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Gil (Owen Wilson) is a successful Hollywood screenwriter struggling with his first novel whilst on holiday in Paris with his fiance Inez (Rachel McAdams).

As he starts to fall in love with the city he also discovers that after midnight, Paris is magical and it could be the ultimate source of inspiration for his writing.

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The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames are widely regarded as America's most important designers.

Perhaps best remembered for their mid-century plywood and fiber-glass furniture, the Eames Office also created a mind-bending variety of other products, from splints for wounded military during World War II, to photography, interiors, multimedia exhibits, graphics, games, films and toys. But their personal lives and influence on significant events in American life - from the development of modernism, to the rise of the computer age - has been less widely understood.