ajb's - Rented List
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Set in the glamour of 1950's post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the centre of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock's life until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by the scariest curse of all...love. And so begins a Gothic Romance of twists, turns and power struggles of "pure, delicious pleasure" that is "devilishly funny and luxuriantly sensuous". - Director:
- Paul Thomas Anderson
- Cast:
- Vicky Krieps, Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville
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Loveless (2017)Nelyubov
Zhenya (Maryana Spivak) and Boris (Aleksey Rozin) are going through a vicious divorce marked by resentment, frustration and recriminations. Already embarking on new lives, each with a new partner, they are impatient to start again, to turn the page - even if it means threatening to abandon their 12-year-old son Alyosha (Matvey Novikov). Until, after witnessing one of their fights, Alyosha disappears. - Director:
- Andrey Zvyagintsev
- Cast:
- Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Maryana Spivak, Aleksey Rozin
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A Journey Through French Cinema (2016)Voyage à travers le cinéma français
French director, screenwriter, actor and producer Bertrand Tavernier looks at the rich history of French cinema and its impact on his life, from his youth as a movie buff to his own career as a filmmaker. Along the way, he explores the works of acclaimed French directors such as Jacques Becker, Jean-Pierre Melville, Claude Sautet, Frangois Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard. - Director:
- Bertrand Tavernier
- Cast:
- Bertrand Tavernier, André Marcon, Thierry Frémaux
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Lauren Greenfield's postcard from the edge of the American Empire captures a portrait of a materialistic, image-obsessed culture. Simultaneously photographic journey, memoir, and historical essay, the film bears witness to the global boom-bust economy, the corrupted American Dream and the human costs of late stage capitalism, narcissism and greed. - Director:
- Lauren Greenfield
- Cast:
- Limo Bob, George W. Bush, Paris Cronin
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From Academy Award Winner Steve McQueen, the director of '12 Years a Slave', and from Gillian Flynn, the writer of 'Gone Girl', comes a powerful thriller with a stellar cast, including Oscar Winner Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki and Cynthia Erivo. Four women - with nothing in common except a debt left by their dead husbands' criminal acts - conspire to take fate into their own hands. Also featuring Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall and Liam Neeson, Widows delivers explosive action and gripping suspense! - Director:
- Steve McQueen
- Cast:
- Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki
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"The Revenant" follows the story of legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) on his quest for survival and justice. After a brutal bear attack, Glass is left for dead by a treacherous member of his hunting team (Tom Hardy). Against extraordinary odds, and enduring unimaginable grief, Glass battles a relentless winter in uncharted terrain. This epic adventure captures the extraordinary power of the human spirit in an immersive and visceral experience unlike anything before. - Director:
- Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Cast:
- Leonardo DiCaprio, Charles Fathy, Tom Hardy
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This three disc set contains three feature length episodes of the cutting edge television drama penned by Lynda La Plante. Amanda Burton returns in the role of Lynda la Plante's The Commander, featuring an outstanding supporting cast including Mark Lewis Jones, Paul Brightwell, Celia Imrie, Penny Downie And Gerard Kearns. - Director:
- Michael Whyte
- Cast:
- Amanda Burton, Matthew Marsh, Nicholas Jones
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Robbie Coltrane stars as Fitz, a brilliant but flawed, wise-cracking criminal psychologist who looks behind the evidence of murder to discover what lies within the criminal mind. Homeless factory worker Bill Nash (John Simm) is given refuge by his foreman Stuart Grady (Liam Cunningham), but the landlady gets into an argument with Bill, and he murders her. After being interviewed by the police, Bill and Grady go on the run which leads them to Nash's adoptive family's home and yet another death. The police make the connection between Bill and Grady, who is in hospital after getting burnt. With Grady captured, Fitz realises where Bill will go next but can he make it in time to save Diane Nash (Annette Ekblom)? - Director:
- Charles McDougall
- Cast:
- John Simm, Suzy Yannis, Liam Cunningham
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Weaving tales of fascinating hypothetical scenarios, Accused is a gripping blend of true-to-life situations, moral dilemmas and intriguing characters. Each story is about an ordinary person who ends up in the dock. But should these men and women be there? Are they innocent or guilty or somewhere in between? As each hour long episode unravels we see how these people became the accused and finally whether they walk free or go down... - Director:
- David Blair
- Cast:
- Christopher Eccleston, Wes Nike, Emma Stansfield
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All five episodes from the ninth series of the BBC drama created by Jimmy McGovern. Each episode tells a self-contained contemporary story in which the characters have reached a turning point in their lives and are trying to move on.
1. InvisibleHappily-married mother of two Rachel is forced to revisit her tragic childhood when her past is reopened.
2. Lost
A bereaved woman finds comfort in her local spiritualist church, much to the horror of her sceptical son.
3. Two Fat Ladies
When Cath wins a big money prize at bingo, she falls out with her mate Debs, leaving their friendship in tatters.
4. Neighbour
When their business fails, a couple is forced to downsize, but Michelle is unwilling to get to know her new neighbour.
5. The Registrar
A marriage registrar discovers her husband is being unfaithful.
Jimmy McGovern's anthology series has been running since 2009 featuring Britain's top acting and writing talent, telling contemporary stories about people confronting the dilemmas life throws at them.- Director:
- Julia Ford
- Cast:
- Kate Anthony, Sinéad Cusack, Simon Rouse
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When Danny, a young boy, is found dead on the beach of a small resort town it throws the community into turmoil. Soon deemed a homicide, the case is taken up by a new-hire Detective Emmet Carver (David Tennant) taking a job promised to Detective Ellie Miller (Anna Gunn). Danny's parents Mark and Beth Solano are distraught as, from the father to the local priest, friends and acquaintances, all become suspect. Now the two detectives must learn to work together, drawing on their strengths against the odds and within a town that wants to keep its secrets to itself. A powerhouse supporting cast including Nick Nolte, Michael Pena, Virginia Kull and Kevin Rankin contributes to a drama that draws on and echoes the TV phenomenon 'Broadchurch', but the path of which leads to an altogether different and more devastating conclusion. - Director:
- James Strong
- Cast:
- David Tennant, Anna Gunn, Virginia Kull
- Formats:
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Written by Jimmy McGovern and starring Tim Roth and Anna Maxwell Martin, this film tells the story of Reg Keys, the man who took on Prime Minister Tony Blair over Britain's involvement in the Iraq war. Lance Corporal Tom Keys was one of six British Military Policemen murdered in Iraq in 2003 when angry crowds descended on a police station. As his parents, Reg and Sally Keys, struggle to come to terms with the devastating news, questions begin to arise not only around the events that led to their son's death, but also the legitimacy of the war as a whole. Left with questions that the New Labour government and Prime Minister Tony Blair refuse to answer, Reg decides to stand as an independent candidate in the 2005 general election and in Blair's own constituency of Sedgefield. This heart-wrenching film follows Reg's journey of grief and defiance, from his decision to stand to his experiences on the campaign trail, all the way through to election night as the results are announced. - Director:
- David Blair
- Cast:
- Charlie Anson, Kelva Barrett, Tim Bentinck
- Formats:
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Zev Guttman (Academy Award Winner Christopher Plummer), receives a mysterious package from his close friend Max (Academy Award Winner Martin Landau), containing a stack of money and a letter detailing a shocking plan. Both Zev and Max were prisoners in Auschwitz, and the same sadistic guard was responsible for the death of both their families - a guard who, immediately after the war, escaped Germany and has been living in the U.S. ever since under an assumed identity. With Max wheelchair-bound, Zev must embark on a crosscontinental road-trip to bring justice once and for all to the man who destroyed both their lives. - Director:
- Atom Egoyan
- Cast:
- Christopher Plummer, Kim Roberts, Amanda Smith
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Tony Webster (Jim Broadbent) is divorced, retired and leads a reclusive and relatively quiet life. One day, he learns that the mother of his university girlfriend, Veronica (Charlotte Rampling), left in her will a diary kept by his best friend. Tony's quest to recover the diary forces him to revisit his flawed recollections of his youth and, digging deeper, uncovers deceit, regrets and guilt buried long ago. Can Tony bear to face the truth and take responsibility for the devastating consequences of actions he took so long ago? 'The Sense of an Ending' is a deeply moving and uplifting story about the paths chosen in life, and the power of memory, love and forgiveness. - Director:
- Ritesh Batra
- Cast:
- Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter
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Love and Friendship (2016)Lady Susan
Beautiful widow Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) arrives at the estate of her in-laws to wait out the colourful rumours of her dalliances which are circulating through polite society. While ensconced there, she attracts the simultaneous attentions of the young, handsome Reginald DeCourcy, the rich and naive Sir James Martin and the divinely attractive, but married, Lord Manwaring. However, cunningly engineering such matters for her own benefit is something Lady Susan is quite used to. Based on the Jane Austen novella 'Lady Susan' and set in the high society of the 1790s, acclaimed writer-director Whit Stillman's 'Love and Friendship' is an exquisitely witty and devious comedy of Machiavellian matchmaking and heartbreaking, with a note-perfect ensemble cast including Chloe Sevigny and Stephen Fry. - Director:
- Whit Stillman
- Cast:
- Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel
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