mpb's - Rented List

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Los Angeles, city of angels. Amnesiac and wounded, a mysterious femme fatale wanders on the sinuous road of Mulholland Drive. She finds a shelter at Betty's house (Naomi Watts). an aspiring actress just arrived from her hometown and in search of stardom in Hollywood.

First of all intrigued by the stranger who calls herself Rita (Laura Elena Harring), Betty discovers that her handbag is dull of dollar bundles. The two women get to know each other better and decide to investigate in order to discover Rita's true identity....

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In 1991, Nick Broomfield made "Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer". Aileen's lawyer, her born again Christian mother and the Florida state police had all been involved in trying to sell her story, that of America's first female serial killer, to the highest bidder.

Aileen herself, who was convicted of murdering seven men, ironically emerged as the most honest person. Aileen and Nick kept in touch, writing occasionally until 2002 when he was served with a subpoena to appear at her final state appeal before execution. It was at this point that Broomfield and longtime collaborator Joan Churchill, then still working on Biggie and Tupac,decided to make a second film about Aileen. "Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer" looks at Aileen's violent, tortured childhood in Troy, Michigan and her subsequent years on the road as a hitch-hiking prostitute which culminated in the murders. In her last interview, conducted by Broomfield at Aileen's request, she said she believed her mind was being controlled by radio waves. On October 9th 2002 she was executed in Florida. Shot entirely by Broomfield and Churchill, longtime collaborators who worked together on the acclaimed Kurt and Courtney, the film provides a disturbing and humane insight into the mind of a deeply paranoid yet sympathetic person. Together for the first time on video, these two films form a powerful statement against the k death penalty, raising serious questions about the US legal system and the political impetus behind Aileen's execution. Both films were used by Charlize Theron as the basis of her Oscar-winning performance as Aileen in Monster. The packed disc also features the trailer for Monster, and an exclusive interview with Broomfield about his experiences when making these two extraordinary films.

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Isolation...alienation...happiness. In America they all go hand in hand. Buy a new TV and you will be happy. Still not happy? Experience alienation. Can't afford a new TV? Then live in isolation. 'Be happy', and if that doesn't work, pretend to make it work.

For the characters in Todd Solondz' award winning, subversively funny film Happiness, the struggle to attain such a state is fraught with perils both heartbreaking and hilarious.

In Marvel Studios' 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3', the MCU expands to the far reaches of the galaxy. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) rallies his unlikely team to embark on a dicey, action-packed mission to protect one of their own. And a new force threatens to bring the Guardians down for good.

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With art being used by the Soviet state for propaganda, Eisenstein was commissioned by the authorities to celebrate the tenth anniversary of 1917's October Revolution.

However, his presentation of the events through experiments in editing and camera angles, rather than by using traditional narrative, managed to link religious leaders with pagan idols and the army. It won international praise, except back home where Eisenstein once again fell foul of the Soviet authorities, accused of not using the language of the masses.

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A spaceship lands in Washington, D.C., capturing the attention of the world. But the peaceful alien emissary (Michael Rennie) it brings fails to earn the public's trust.

When a young woman and her son befriend him, they soon realise they may be all that stands between the human race and total destruction.

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fter serving a five year sentence for a crime he didn't commit, a bitter, violence-prone Billy Brown (Vincent Gallo) is released from prison. Billy is hell-bent on convincing his dysfunctional parents that he is leading a respectable life and has spent the last five years doing top-secret CIA work.

To back up his story, he impulsively kidnaps Layla (Christina Ricci) and forces her to pose as his girlfriend. Bizarrely, Layla takes to the role with a great enthusiasm, and remains alongside Billy as he tries to impress his parents and take revenge on those he blames for his prison term. Layla's understanding of the comical grimness of Billy's life leads him to explore new levels of redemption, acceptance and ultimately... love.

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The first Iranian film to win the Palme d'Or, this austere, emotionally complex drama by the great Abbas Kiarostami follows the enigmatic Mr.

Badii (Homayoun Ershadi) as he drives around the hilly outskirts of Tehran looking for someone who will agree to bury him after he commits suicide, a taboo under Islam. Extended conversations with three passengers (a soldier, a seminarian, and a taxidermist) elicit different views on mortality and individual choice. Operating at once as a closely observed, realistic story and a fable populated by archetypal figures, 'Taste of Cherry' challenges the viewer to consider what often goes unexamined in everyday life.

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John McTeague (Gibson Gowland) was a simple slow man who became a dentist after working at the Big Dipper Gold Mine. He is now being hunted in Death Valley by his ex-best friend Marcus (Jean Hersholt) and the law.

His lot was cast the day that he meet his future wife Trina (Zasu Pitts) in his office. She was with Marcus and she bought a lottery ticket. Well Mac fell for her and Marcus stepped aside. When Mac and Trina married, she won the Lottery for $5000 and became obsessive about the money in gold. Marcus is steamed as he stepped aside and now she is rich so he has the law shut down Mac as he has no official schooling for his dentistry. Trina fearful that they will take her gold away sells everything and takes all Mac earns when he is working. She adds to her stash of gold as they both live as paupers. When Mac has no job and no money, he leaves and Trina moves. Driven to desperation at being poor and hungry he finds Trina and demands the gold.

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The unforgettable original version of acclaimed filmmaker Michael Haneke's classic exploration of screen violence is an uncompromising, sometimes uncomfortable, but never less than compelling experience.

Arriving at their remote lakeside holiday home, a middle class family are alarmed by the unexpected arrival of two young men who soon begin to subject them to a twisted and horrifying ordeal of terror. With characteristic mastery, Haneke turns the conventions of the thriller genre upside down and, directly challenges the expectations of his audience, forcing viewers to question the complacency with which they receive images of casual violence in contemporary cinema.

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One of the most controversial issues in America today - drugs - forms the centre of 'Drugstore Cowboy', a powerful story of a Junkie's life of crime and redemption in the 1970s. Despite today's outcry against the dangers of drugs, the world of the dope addict remains shrouded in mystery.

A painstakingly authentic depiction of the life of drug addicts, 'Drugstore Cowboy' tells the shattering tale of the destructive force of narcotics and reveals an inspiring example of human resilience, hope and survival against the odds.

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When the government of Indonesia was overthrown by the military in 1965, more than one million people were killed in less than a year. Anwar and his friends were promoted from ticket scalpers to death squad leaders, and Anwar killed hundreds of people with his own hands.

In 'The Act of Killing', Anwar and his friends agree to tell us the story of the killings. But their idea of being in a movie is not to provide testimony for a documentary: they want to be stars in their favourite film genres - gangster, western, musical. They write the scripts. They play themselves. And they play their victims. 'The Act of Killing' is a nightmarish vision - a journey into the memories and imaginations of the unrepentant perpetrators and the shockingly banal regime of corruption and impunity they inhabit.

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Darren Aronofsky follows up his acclaimed debut 'Pi' with this gritty, emotionally charged film set amidst the abandoned beaches and faded glory of Coney Island, Brooklyn. Based upon the novel by celebrated author Hubert Selby Jr.

, the story intricately links the lives of a lonely widowed mother (Ellen Burstyn), her son Harry (Jared Leto), his beautiful girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly), and his best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans). Requiem for a Dream is a hypnotic tale of four human beings each pursuing their vision of happiness. Even as everything begins to fall apart, they refuse to let go, plummeting with their dreams into a nightmarish, gut-wrenching freefall.

The stand-out film of the 2011 Berlin Film Festival and winner of the Golden Bear is a suspenseful and intelligent drama that details the manipulations and confrontations brought into play when a couple's marriage painfully breaks down.

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Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 1994 Academy Awards, "The Wedding Banquet" brought Ang Lee to international prominence in this warm-hearted comedy depicting the farce behind a life led by deception. Wei-Tung and Simon are a gay couple living together in Manhattan.

To deter the suspicions of Wei-Tung's parents, Simon suggests a marriage of convenience between Wei-Tung and Wei-Wei, an immigrant in need of a green card. When Wei-Tung's parents arrive in America insisting upon an elaborate wedding banquet, plans spiral out of control and ultimately threaten every one of Wei-Tung's relationships.