mervyn-verstellung's - Rented List

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After being robbed and attacked one night in Kuala Lumpur, Hsiao-Kang (Lee Kang-Sheng), a homeless Chinese man, is rescued and taken in by some itinerant workers. One of them, Rawand, lets him sleep beside him on an old mattress that he had found on the street.

Later, when Chyi, a waitress at a coffee-shop, meets Hsiao-Kang, she is filled with lustful desire. As Hsiao-Kang slowly recovers, he finds himself caught between Rawang and Chyi - as well as Chyi's female boss. Meanwhile, a heavy haze descends on the city. These men and women and the old mattress lose their way in the haze but find one another..

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Unfolding over the course of a late summer's day in the stunningly beautiful Portuguese town of Sintra, the wonderful new film from acclaimed director Ira Sachs follows a family that has gathered for a holiday organised by family matriarch Frankie (Isabelle Huppert).

In this fairy tale setting, husbands and wives, parents and children, friends and lovers - all stirred by their romantic impulses - discover both the cracks between them but also unexpected depths of feeling.

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Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried star as a couple seeking a restful vacation in a remote home in the Welsh countryside.

What at first seems like a perfect retreat distorts into a terrifying nightmare when reality begins to unravel, dark episodes from the past resurface, and a sinister force in the house refuses to let them leave.

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When her mother falls ill under mysterious circumstances, young Eve (Fantine Harduin) is sent to live with her estranged father's wealthy relatives in Calais. But trouble is brewing, as a series of intergenerational back-stabbings threaten to tear the family apart.

Meanwhile, distracted by infidelities and betrayals, they fail to notice that their new arrival has a sinister secret of her own.

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Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) is a nobody. As an overlooked and underestimated father and husband, he takes life's indignities on the chin and never rocks the boat. But when his daughter (Connie Nielsen) loses her beloved kitty-cat bracelet in a robbery, Hutch hits a boiling point no one knew he had.

What happens when a pushover finally pushes back? Hutch flips from regular dad to fearless fighter by taking his enemies on a wild ride of explosive revenge.

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Half Human, Half Wolf, All Heart. 'Wolf Children' is a staggeringly beautiful animated feature film from director Mamoru Hosoda. This epic cinematic achievement follows Hana, a woman who falls in love with a Wolf Man and gives birth to two half human, half wolf children.

After fate intervenes and a tragic incident occurs, Hana seeks refuge in a rural town where she attempts to build a life for herself - and her children.

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Following the death of her mother, Ida (Sandra Kampp) moves in with her aunt (Sidse Babette Knudsen) and her grown sons. Though her Aunt's home is filled with physical tenderness and love, the family leads a violent and criminal life.

And when an unforeseen murder puts pressure on the family and their loyalty to each other, tension builds as love and violence become impossible to separate. Featuring a breakout performance from Kampp, the acclaimed debut feature from Jeanette Nordahl is an enthralling, brooding and utterly gripping thriller that packs a powerful emotional punch.

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Francis (Liam Aiken), a dispossessed young man, is summoned to the secluded home of his wealthy childhood friend, JP Luret (Joe Adler), who is suffering from a mysterious affliction.

Upon his arrival, Francis realizes that JP and his ethereal twin sister Vivian (Annalise Basso) are the sole surviving members of the privileged Luret family, whose legacy has been one of depression and self-destruction, and the only occupants of their family estate. As the old friends attempt to reconnect, a number of inexplicable incidents begin to occur within the house, and Francis finds himself drawn into a world of malaise and despair, where an act of betrayal might provide his only way out...

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Ben Sharrock's critically adored 'Limbo' is a wry, funny and poignant cross-cultural satire that subtly sews together the hardship and hope of the refugee experience. Set on a fictional remote Scottish island, it follows a group of new arrivals as they await the results of their asylum claims.

Among them is Omar (Amir El-Masry), a young Syrian musician struggling with the guilt, regret and grief that comes with leaving his former life behind. This deadpan comedy-drama from a bold new voice in British cinema shines a light on the hearts and lives of those at the centre of a crisis that is mostly only experienced through the headlines.

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An intoxicating, time-bending experience bathed in the golden glow of oil lamps and wreathed in an opium haze, this gorgeous period reverie by Hou Hsiao-hsien traces the romantic intrigue, jealousies, and tensions swirling around four late-nineteenth-century Shanghai "flower houses", where

courtesans live confined to a gilded cage, ensconced in opulent splendor but forced to work to buy back their freedom. Among the regular clients is the taciturn Master Wang (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), whose relationship with his longtime mistress (Michiko Hada) is roiled by a perceived act of betrayal. Composed in a languorous procession of entrancing long takes, Flowers of Shanghai evokes a vanished world of decadence and cruelty, an insular universe where much of the dramatic action remains tantalizingly offscreen - even as its emotional fallout registers with quiet devastation.

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Following the closure of a gypsum mine in the Nevada town she calls home, Fern (Frances McDormand) packs her van and sets off on the road in this "exquisite film" (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal).

Exploring an unconventional life as a modern-day nomad, Fern discovers a resilience and resourcefulness unlike any she's known before long the way, she meets other nomads who become mentors in the vast landscape of the American West.

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It's a rare person who would give up fame and fortune to toil in obscurity for someone else's creative vision. Yet, that's exactly what Leon Vitali did after his acclaimed performance as Lord Bullingdon in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon.

The young actor surrendered his thriving career to become Kubrick's loyal right-hand man. For more than two decades, Leon played a crucial role behind-the-scenes helping Kubrick make and maintain his legendary body of work. The complex, interdependent relationship between Leon and Kubrick was founded on devotion, sacrifice and the grueling, joyful reality of the creative process. By entering their unique world we come to understand how the mundane gives rise to the magnificent as timeless cinema is brought to life at its most practical and profound level.

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From acclaimed genre director Chris Smith (Creep, Severance, Triangle) comes 'The Banishing', which tells the true story of the most haunted house in England.

A young reverend (John Heffernan) and his wife (Jessica Brown Findlay) and daughter (Anya McKenna-Bruce) move into a manor with a horrifying secret. When a vengeful spirit haunts the little girl and threatens to tear the family apart, the reverend and his wife are forced to confront their beliefs. They must turn to black magic by seeking the help of a famous Occultist...or risk losing their daughter.

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Rebellious teenage boy Ben (John-Paul Howard) makes a haunting discovery while visiting his father for the summer: a malevolent fiend from the deep woods stalking the young family living next door.

Taking a hold of the mother, the creature begins playing a terrifying game of house while preying upon the local children. Alone in his suspicions, Ben launches into a perilous crusade to stop the wretched evil before it consumes everything he holds dear.

Holy Motors is a fascinating, visually striking labyrinth of interwoven fantasies that follows the mysterious Monsieur Oscar (played in jaw-dropping style by the miraculous Denis Lavant) who, over the course of a single day, takes on 10 bizarre guises, ranging from a gangster and ageing millionaire to a troubled parent and anarchic tramp.