ajb's - Rented List

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Down on his luck Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) stumbles upon the dangerous, cut-throat world of underground world of freelance crime journalism - discovering that filming murder and mayhem can be a quick way to make a buck.

Aided by Nina (Rene Russo), a ruthless veteran of TV news, Lou combs LA's seedy underbelly for the city's most sensational news footage. He soon discovers he's uniquely suited to his new job, but events begin to spiral out of control as one dark choice leads to another.

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This smash hit futuristic comedy is a fresh and sublimely entertaining tale from French filmmakers, Jeunet (Amelie) and Caro. In a starving, post-holocaust France, a butcher keeps his customers supplied by his cannibalistic tendencies.

But when his daughter falls in love with a circus performer, only an underground band of vegetarian freedom fighters can save her beloved from the meat cleaver.

Where to find your favourite fast-food hamburger in Paris? How many laundry soap packets does a trip to Atlanta require? Ask Macon Leary, whose guidebooks are revered by home-loving business travellers who loathe being in transit. About matters of the heart, don't ask Macon. he doesn't have a clue. At least, not yet.

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To spy on her younger ex-lover, divorcee Claire (Juliette Binoche) creates a fake profile on social media. Posing as a 24-year-old named Clara, Claire becomes entangled with her ex's friend Alex who is instantly enamored.

Riding a wave of self-discovery but confined to her avatar, Claire falls madly in love with Alex. Although everything is played out in the virtual world, the feelings that blossom become very real. As Clara and Alex's virtual lives grow, Claire's reality begins to hang by a thread as her web of lies starts to unravel.

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Is there a secret you would kill to know? In this electrifying, suspense-packed thriller from director Christopher Nolan, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play magicians whose cutthroat attempts to better each other plunge them into deadly deceptions.

Scarlett Johansson also stars as the stage assistant who's both a pawn and player in their rivalry. A brilliant supporting cast (including Michael Caine and David Bowie). An ingenious story. An astonishing payoff. Once you see The Prestige, you'll want to see it again. Watch closely.

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"Cunningham" traces Merce's artistic evolution over three decades of risk and discovery (1944-1972), from his early years as a struggling dancer in postwar New York to his emergence as one of the world's most visionary choreographers.

The film weaves together Cunningham's philosophies and stories, creating a visceral journey into his innovative work. A breathtaking explosion of dance, music, and never-before-seen archival material, 'Cunningham' is a timely tribute to one of the world's greatest modern dance artists.

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Set in the halls of Westminster, the series follows Prime Minister Robert Sutherland (Robert Carlyle) and his Chief of Staff Anna Marshall (Victoria Hamilton) as they try to deal with a national emergency.

The pair must bear attacks from their political opponents, face family pressures and lead the 'Cobra' committee, a team of experts and politicians, to ensure the nation's safety.

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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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"Greed" tells the story of self-made British billionaire Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan), whose retail empire is in crisis. For 30 years he has ruled the world of retail fashion but after a damaging public government investigation, his image is tarnished.

To save his reputation, he decides to bounce back with a highly publicised and extravagant party celebrating his 60th birthday on the Greek island of Mykonos. A satire on the grotesque inequality of wealth in the fashion industry, the film sees McCreadie's rise and fall through / the eyes of his biographer, Nick (David Mitchell).

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Alan (Bill Nighy) is a stylish tailor with moves as sharp as his suits. He has spent years searching tirelessly for his missing son Michael who stormed out over a game of Scrabble.

With a body to identify and his family torn apart, Alan must repair the relationship with his youngest son Peter (Sam Riley / Oliver Sindcup) and solve the mystery of an online player who he thinks could be Michael, so he can finally move on and reunite his family.

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Adapted from the classic novel by Charles Dickens, 'The Personal History of David Copperfield' brings to life one of the author's most cherished characters.

From birth to infancy, from adolescence to adulthood, the good-hearted David Copperfield (Dev Patel) is surrounded by kindness, wickedness, poverty and wealth, as he meets an array of remarkable characters in Victorian England. As David sets out to be a writer, in his quest for family, friendship, romance and status, the story of his life is the most seductive tale of all.

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November 2003: Baghdad is occupied by US-led coalition forces.

Amid the chaos is the remains of a broken family: Iraqi ex-policeman Khafaji (Waleed Zuaiter) has lost everything and is battling daily to keep himself and his sick daughter Mrouj (July Namir) safe only to be forced into a desperate search when his estranged elder daughter Sawsan (Leem Lubany) goes missing. A case of mistaken identity soon sees Khafaji become the victim of arrest and torture at the hands of the US military. British ex-police officer, Frank Temple, uses this to pressurise Khafaji into working as a police officer in the Green Zone. But unbeknown to both Temple and his coalition nemesis, the upstanding American Military Police Captain John Parodi (Corey Stoll), Khafaji is compelled by his own, secret reasons to risk everything by collaborating with the occupying forces. As this addictive crime thriller unfolds, Khafaji finds himself embarking on a wider quest, not only for his family but for justice in a society that has become lawless.

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Painter Marianne (Noemie Merlant) is commissioned by an affluent countess to paint the wedding portrait of her sheltered but headstrong daughter Héloïse (Adele Haenel).

While posing as her hired companion, Marianne is instructed to complete the portrait in secret, observing Héloïse by day and painting her by night. However, as the two women grow closer, their intimacy and attraction begins to blossom, paving the way for a simmering, star-crossed romance.

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Isabelle Huppert gives a performance of astounding emotional intensity as Erika Kohut, a repressed woman in her late thirties who teaches piano at the Vienna Conservatory and lives with her tyrannical mother (Annie Girardot), with whom she has a volatile love-hate relationship.

But when one of Erika's students, the handsome and assured Walter Klemmer (Benoit Magimel), attempts to seduce her, the barriers that she has carefully erected around her claustrophobic world are shattered, unleashing a previously inhibited extreme and uncontrollable desire.

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At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield (George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) are given a seemingly impossible mission.

In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers - Blake's own brother among them.