alec-guimness-films's - Favourites List
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Rust and Bone (2012)De rouille et d'os
Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) dreams of becoming a professional boxer. When he is suddenly put in charge of his five year old son, he moves in with his sister for support. Whilst working as a nightclub bouncer, he meets the beautiful and confident killer whale trainer, Stephanie (Marion Cotillard). He gives her his number, not expecting that she will ever call. After being the victim of a tragic accident, Stephanie surprisingly turns to Ali for support. These lost souls discover new meaning in life together when Ali enters the dangerous world of underground boxing. - Director:
- Jacques Audiard
- Cast:
- Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure
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Tabu (2012)Tabou
One of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, 'Tabu' is a diptych starting off in present day Lisbon where Teresa Madruga gives a luminous performance as Pilar, a woman concerned about her neighbour Aurora's eccentricities. Finally Pilar meets Gian Luca, a figure from Aurora's past. He starts his story and the film jumps back in time to colonial Africa, where he and Aurora had a passionate love-affair. This second part is made as a quasi-silent film, with no dialogue, just music and voice-over. Former film critic Miguel Gomes both uses and slyly comments on all the techniques of cinema to make a truly virtuoso film. With a soundtrack that ranges from Lisztian piano music to cover versions of Phil Spector. 'Tabu' is just a delight. Not to mention the sad and melancholy crocodile... - Director:
- Miguel Gomes
- Cast:
- Telmo Churro, Hortêncílio Aquina, Américo Mota
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Only once in its history, has the U.S. been at war with itself. In 1861, the Southern Confederacy is formed, and the American civil war ignites. Along the Kansas / Missouri border childhood friends Jake (Tobey Maguire) and Jack (Skeet Ulrich) join up as horseman, raiding the North's Union soldiers and sympathisers. With a harsh winter looming, their unit, known as the Bushwhackers must disperse and find shelter. Several squad members hole up in a hidden hillside dugout. Their vigil is brightened only by a compassionate young widow, Sue Lee (Jewel Kilcher). Then, the realities of the war intrude, splintering the group. In the intense and brutal battle, the young men reach turning points both in the fighting and in themselves. - Director:
- Ang Lee
- Cast:
- Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jewel Kilcher
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The Fugue Quartet has performed together for over 25 years, attracting worldwide acclaim. But when one member admits that time may have finally caught up with him the group finds itself faced with an uncertain future of shifting dynamics and strained relationships, echoed by the complexities of their swansong piece - Beethoven's notoriously difficult String Quartet No. 14. - Director:
- Yaron Zilberman
- Cast:
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener
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Live At The Top of The Tower is his first classic stand up show and highlights his unique brand of humor which is based on the acutely observed and painfully funny things that happen in everyday life. Filmed in Blackpool specially for this video Live At The Top Of The Tower is stuffed full of classic routines – Why do Mums always buy crap pop? Is teletext the best way to book a holiday? He also casts his eye over Mums and Dads (Garlic Brad?), dinner ladies (It’s spitting!), Brits abroad (Les Cadbury’s Finger Res) and even the contestants on ‘Stars In The Eyes!’ Filmed in front of a packed crowd Live At The Top Of The Tower, is the original hilarious stand up show from the country's funniest comedians. - Director:
- Marcus Mortimer
- Cast:
- Peter Kay, Dave Spikey, Archie Kelly
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Wings of Desire (1987)Der Himmel über Berlin / The Sky Above Berlin / The Sky Over Berlin
The sky over Wenders' war-scarred Berlin is full of gentle, trenchcoated angels who listen to the tortured thoughts of mortals and try to comfort them. One, Damiel, (Bruno Ganz) wishes to become mortal after falling in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, Marion (Solveig Dommartin). Peter Falk, as himself, assists in the transformation by explaining the simple joys of a human experience. - Director:
- Wim Wenders
- Cast:
- Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander
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When a young, unidentified woman is found dead by the lake - the victim of a brutal and violent crime - Walter, an aging small town police officer (Peter Stormare), is called to the scene of the town's first murder investigation in decades. Haunted by his past, and hampered by the mistrust of the community and a state police officer overseeing the investigation, he sets out to solve the murder, complicated by his ex-lover (Jill Hennessy) and his suspicion of her current boyfriend. As he delves deeper into the crime, his newly-reformed life begins to unravel threatening his relationship with Sam (Martha Plimpton) and intertwining itself within the investigation and possibly the murder itself. - Director:
- Ed Gass-Donnelly
- Cast:
- Jill Hennessy, Amy Rutherford, Peter Stormare
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A Hijacking (2012)Kapringen
The cargo ship MV Rozen is heading for harbour when it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Amongst the men on board are the ship's cook Mikkel (Pilou Asbaek) and the engineer Jan (Roland Moller), who along with the rest of the seamen are taken hostage in a cynical game of life and death. With the demand for a ransom of millions of dollars a psychological drama unfolds between the CEO of the shipping company (Soren Malling) and the Somali pirates. - Director:
- Tobias Lindholm
- Cast:
- Pilou Asbæk, Stelios Lambis, Peter Baxter
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The Lives of Others (2006)Das Leben Der Anderen
In this outstanding psychological and political thriller, we get a fascinating insight into the lengths and depths that the East European government went to in order to keep tabs on the lives of its population in 80's. When cold and brutal official Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) is given the task of spying on acclaimed playwright Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his actress girlfriend, he relishes the task, knowing that if he uncovers subversive behaviour he will gain favor with his boss. But the longer he listens in on the couple, their friendships, passions and ideas, the more he realises that his own life and the harsh political regime are lacking in color and joy in many respects. Slowly he begins to doubt morality of is job and politics. As the lines between orders and compassion become blurred, Wiesler becomes more involved with his subject, walking a dangerous path between his duty and his new found reality. - Director:
- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
- Cast:
- Ulrich Mühe, Klaus Münster, Martina Gedeck
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Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America's most creative and defiant music. Under the spiritual influence of the 'Singing River' as Native Americans called it, the music of Muscle Shoals changed the world and sold millions upon millions of copies. At its heart is Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios. Overcoming crushing poverty and staggering tragedies, he brought black and white together in Alabama's cauldron of racial hostility to create music for the generations while giving birth to the 'Muscle Shoals Sound' and 'The Swampers'. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono, and others bear witness to Muscle Shoals' magnetism, mystery, and why it remains influential today. - Director:
- Greg 'Freddy' Camalier
- Cast:
- Rick Hall, Aretha Franklin, Keith Richards
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Captain Phillips is a multi-layered examination of the true story of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. Based on a true story, the film focuses on the Alabama's commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who takes him hostage. The two men are set on an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips' unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control. - Director:
- Paul Greengrass
- Cast:
- Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman
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Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011)Ray Harryhausen, le titan des effets speciaux
The remarkable career of the movie industry's most admired and influential special-effects auteur, the legendary Ray Harryhausen, is the subject of Gilles Penso's definitive documentary 'Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan'. Leaving no doubt as to Harryhausen's seminal influence on modern-day special effects, the documentary features enlightening and entertaining interviews with the man himself, Randy Cook, Peter Jackson, Nick Park, Phil Tippett, Terry Gilliam, Dennis Muren, John Landis, Guillermo del Toro, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg and many more. These filmmakers, who today push the boundaries of special effects movie-making, pay tribute to the father of Stop Motion animation and films such as 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms', 'It Came from Beneath the Sea', 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad', 'Mysterious Island', 'Jason and the Argonauts' and 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad' - the films that enthralled them as children and inspired them to become filmmakers in their own right. - Director:
- Gilles Penso
- Cast:
- Ray Harryhausen, Peter Jackson, James Cameron
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Easy Money (2010)Snabba Cash
Poor business student JW (Joel Kinnaman) is living a double life mingling with the wealthy elite. To keep up the facade of his exclusive lifestyle and to capture the attention of a sexy heiress, he's lured into a world of crime to make some quick cash. When JW crosses paths with a fugitive on the run from both the police and the mafia, they hope that brokering a one-off cocaine deal will allow them to escape from their past for good. But when a mafia enforcer hunts them down, JW's journey ventures deeper into the dark world of organised crime, and the fate of all three men becomes entangled in a dramatic struggle between life and death. - Director:
- Daniel Espinosa
- Cast:
- Joel Kinnaman, Matias Varela, Dragomir Mrsic
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Sweet Dreams is a fitting tribute to timeless star Patsy Cline, a biopic that takes us from her upcoming days as bored housewife, to one of Nashville’s biggest sensations. Through her stormy marriage to lady-killer Charlie Dick, her life as an army wife and life on the road during her rise to fame, Lange delivers one of her best performances as the phenomenon who was Patsy Cline. - Director:
- Karel Reisz
- Cast:
- Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, Ann Wedgeworth
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Seeking a better life, Oscar Ramirez and his family decide to move from the poverty stricken rice fields of the Northern Philippine mountain ranges, and journey towards the capital mega city of Metro Manila. Upon arrival in Manila, Oscar and his family fall foul to various city inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of their survival.
Oscar manages to land a job as a driver for an armored truck company and is befriended by Ong, his senior officer. Before long, it becomes apparent that Ong has been planning the arrival of someone just like Oscar for sometime.- Director:
- Sean Ellis
- Cast:
- Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega
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