josh-davie's - Favourites List

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In this funny, uplifting tale based on an actual lie. Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai. has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself.

To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting family members scattered among new homes abroad. As Billi navigates a minefield of family expectations and proprieties, she finds there's a lot to celebrate: a chance to rediscover the country she left as a child, her grandmother's wondrous spirit, and the ties that keep on binding even when so much goes unspoken. With 'The Farewell', writer/director Lulu Wang has created a heartfelt celebration of both the way we perform family and the way we live it, masterfully interweaving a gently humorous depiction of the good lie in action with a richly moving story of how family can unite and strengthen us. often in spite of ourselves.

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The fourth instalment of the 'Avengers' series is the once-in-a-lifetime culmination of 22 interconnected films and the climax of an epic journey.

Earth's, heroes will finally understand how fragile our reality is - and the sacrifices that must be made to uphold it - in a story of friendship, teamwork and setting aside differences to overcome an impossible obstacle.

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Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond (Daniel Craig) is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to "00" status.

"M" (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends the newly promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attempting to restore his funds in a high stakes poker game at the Casino Royale. "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond could never imagine, and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one.

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In recent years, our knowledge of what goes on in our Ocean has been transformed. 'Blue Planet II' uses cutting-edge breakthroughs in science and technology to explore new worlds, reveals astonishing creatures and extraordinary new animal behaviours.

As we journey through our deep seas, coral reefs, open ocean, green seas and coasts we share these extraordinary new discoveries. But we now know that ocean health is under threat. Never has there been a more crucial time to explore our remotest seas, and to examine what the future will hold for our blue planet.

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When U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) arrives at the asylum for the criminally insane on Shutter Island, what starts as a routine investigation quickly takes a sinister turn.

As the investigation unfolds and Teddy uncovers more shocking and terrifying truths about the island, he learns there are some places that never let you go.

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Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) is a veteran film director, afflicted by multiple ailments, the worst of which is his inability to continue filming. His physical condition doesn't allow it and, if he can't film, his life has no meaning.

His mixture of medications, along with the occasional flirtation with heroin, means that Salvador spends most of his days prostrate and forlorn. This drowsy state transports him back to reflect on his childhood in the 60's, when his family emigrated to Paterna, a village in Valencia, in search of prosperity, through to the appearance of his first desire and his first adult love in the Madrid of the 80's. In recovering his past, Salvador finds the urgent need to recount it, and in that need he may also find his salvation.

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Writer-director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) has crafted a 'Little Women' that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author's alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life.

In Gerwig's take, the beloved story of the March sisters - four young women each determined to live life on their own terms - is both timeless and timely. Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothee Chalamet as their neighbour Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

LucasFilm and director J.J. Abrams join forces once again to take viewers on an epic journey to a galaxy far, far away with 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker', the riveting conclusion of the seminal Skywalker saga, where new legends will be born and the final battle for freedom is yet to come.

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Set in Glasgow in the 1970s, 'Ratcatcher' is seen through the eyes of twelve-year-old James Gillespie (William Eadie), a young boy haunted by a secret.

Feeling increasingly distant from his family, his only escape comes with the discovery of a new housing development on the outskirts of town where he has the freedom to lose himself in his own world. Enticed by a gang of older boys, James is thrown together with vulnerable fourteen-year-old Margaret Anne (Leanne Mullen) and the pair strike up an unlikely friendship which becomes their hesitant but touching experience of first love...

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Oppressed by her family setting, dead-end school prospects and the boys law in the neighbourhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of three free-spirited girls. She changes her name, her style, and quits school to be accepted in the gang, hoping that this will be a way to freedom.

As she falls further under their gang lifestyle, she begins to make foolish choices that could impact her life forever.

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Mads Mikkelsen gives a tour de force performance as a pilot whose plane has crashed in a remote corner of the Arctic. Stranded in the wilderness he uses his ingenuity to survive.

When about to receive his long-awaited rescue, an explosive accident means his opportunity is lost and the dire situation further complicated. The tragic turn of events, involving another crash survivor forces the pilot to make a perilous choice between the relative safety of his camp and a deadly trek into the unknown.

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On a remote mountaintop, a rebel group of commandos perform military training exercises while watching over a prisoner (Julianne Nicholson) for a shadowy force known only as 'The Organization'.

After a series of unexpected events drives them deep into the jungle, fracturing their intricate bond, their mission slowly begins to collapse. Set against a stunningly beautiful but dangerous landscape, Alejandro Landes' awe-inspiring film is a breathtakingly epic vision that will leave you both mesmerised and utterly gripped.

Starkly shot in black and white, capturing a Paris not seen on any tourist map, the film deals with France's intolerance towards outsiders, following Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Hubert (Hubert Kounde) and Said (Said Taghmaoui), three young men trapped in the Parisian economic, ethnic and social underclass.

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Sophies life is thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome-yet-mysterious wizard named Howl.

Subsequently transformed into a 90-year-old woman by the wicked Witch of the Waste, she embarks on an incredible odyssey to lift the curse, and finds refuge in Howl's magical moving castle.

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Kim Ki Taek's (Song Kang Ho) family are all unemployed and living in a squalid basement. When his son, Ki Woo, gets a tutoring job at the lavish home of the Park family, the Kim family's luck changes.

One by one they gradually infiltrate the wealthy Park's home, attempting to take over their affluent lifestyle, but as their deception unravels events begin to get increasingly out of hand in ways you simply cannot imagine.