alec-guimness-films's - Favourites List

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15-year-old Adele (Adele Exarchopoulos) feels like an average teenager, with school, friends, parents and boys taking up most of her time and thoughts.

That is until a chance encounter with a beguiling blue-haired girl (Lea Seydoux) turns her world upside down, forcing her to question her desires and assert herself as a woman and as an adult.

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A divorced and single parent, Eva (Julia Louis Dreyfus) spends her days enjoying work as a masseuse but dreading her daughter's impending departure for college. She meets Albert (James Gandolfini) a sweet, funny and like-minded man also facing an empty nest.

As their romance quickly blossoms, Eva befriends Marianne (Catherine Keener), her new massage client. Marianne is a beautiful poet who seems "almost perfect" except for one prominent quality: she rags on her ex-husband way too much. Suddenly, Eva finds herself doubting her own relationship with Albert as she learns the truth about Marianne's ex.

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Long distance lorry driver Ruben (German de Silva) agrees to drive'Jacinta (Hebe Duarte) and her 5 month old child en route from Paraguay to-Buenos Aires.

As the miles slowly melt the two damaged souls, LAS ACACIAS grows into a heart rending tale about a passing encounter between two strangers and the unlikely bond that grows between them.

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Shot in the summer of 1975 as General Franco lay dying, Saura's masterpiece takes its title from a sinister Spanish proverb: 'Raise ravens and they'll pluck out your eyes'.

A subtle yet unmistakable indictment of the family as a repressive force in Spanish society, 'Cria cuervos' centres on an eight-year-old orphan (the spellbinding Ana Torrent) who believes herself to have poisoned her cold, authoritarian father (Hector Alterio), a high-ranking military man whom she blames for the death of her adored mother (Geraldine Chaplin).

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Film recounts the adventures of Gustave H., a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars; and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.

The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting; a raging battle for an enormous family fortune; a desperate chase on motorcycles, trains, sleds, and skis; and the sweetest confection of a love affair - all against the backdrop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.

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Relive the fun and excitement of keeping up with the Joneses in 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'.

In a prologue that reveals a young Indiana Jones (River Phoenix) in one of his first adventures, this thrilling screen epic continues as an adult Indy embarks on a perilous quest to find his cantankerous father, Professor Henry Jones, Sr. (Sean Connery). The Nazis are on the trail of the Holy Grail, and have kidnapped Indy's father, the foremost authority on the Cup of Christ. Follow Indy as he inches through the rat-filled catacombs of Venice, battles Nazi flying aces in a thrilling biplane dogfight, and braves the thunderous fire-power of an unstoppable tank...

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Millions know their voices, but no one knows their names. In his compelling new film 'Twenty Feet from Stardom', award-winning director Morgan Neville shines a spotlight on the untold true story of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century.

Triumphant and heartbreaking in equal measure, the film is both a tribute to the unsung voices who brought shape and style to popular music and a reflection on the conflicts, sacrifices and rewards of a career spent harmonizing with others. These gifted artists span a range of styles, genres and eras of popular music, but each has a uniquely fascinating and personal story to share of life spent in the shadows of superstardom. Along with rare archival footage and a peerless soundtrack, 'Twenty Feet from Stardom' boasts intimate interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, Mick Jagger and Sting to name just a few. However, these world-famous figures take a backseat to the diverse array of backup singers whose lives and stories take center stage in the film.

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A gripping tale of secrets and lies amongst a tight-knit group of friends holidaying on the Caspian Sea.

With an expertly paced narrative and an impressive ensemble cast, including Golshifteh Farahani, "About Elly" is a cinematic masterclass that works as both a thriller and a convicting character study. Intelligent, shrewd and meticulously crafted, "About Elly" confirms Asghar Farhadi's status as one of World Cinema's finest talents.

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Simon (Kacey Mottet Klein) lives with his older sister Louise (Lea Seydoux) in a housing complex below a luxury Swiss ski resort. With Louise drifting in and out of jobs and relationships, twelve year-old Simon takes on the responsibility of providing for the two of them.

Every day, he takes the lift up to the opulent ski world above, stealing equipment from rich tourists to resell to the local kids down in the valley. He is able to keep their little family afloat with his small-time hustles and Louise is thankful for the money he brings in. But, when Simon partners with a crooked British seasonal worker, he begins to lose his boundaries, affecting his relationship with his sister and plummeting him into dangerous territory.

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In the 1920s, political activist Jimmy Gralton built a dance hall in rural Ireland. As the hall grew in popularity its free-spirited reputation brought it to the attention of the church and politicians who forced Jimmy to flee and the hall to close.

A decade later, at the height of the Depression, Jimmy returns from the US. The hall stands abandoned but as Jimmy sees the poverty and growing oppression in the village, the leader and activist within him is stirred. He decides to reopen the hall, and so takes on the established authorities of the church and the government.

Mr. Devereaux is a powerful man. A man who handles billions of dollars every day. A man who controls the economic fate of nations. A man driven by a frenzied and unbridled sexual hunger. A man who dreams of saving the world and who cannot save himself. A terrified man. A lost man. Watch him fall.

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A nail-biting fight against the clock to save Great Britain. This is the remarkable human drama behind the invention that was to prove pivotal in the Battle of Britain.

Eddie Izzard stars in this funny, moving and inspiring factual drama about the pioneering work on radar by a little known team of scientists in the run up to the Second World War. On 26th February 1935, Robert Watson-Watt demonstrated for the first time that aircraft could be detected by bouncing radio waves off them. By the time the war began in 1939, radar stations were dotted along the British coast, tracking aircraft at distances of 100 miles away. It was this invention - more than any other - that saved the RAF in the 1940 Battle of Britain. But getting to this stage was a battle in itself.

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From acclaimed director Pawel Pawlikowski comes "Ida", a poignant and powerfully told drama about 18-year-old Anna, a sheltered orphan raised in a convent, who is preparing to become a nun when she discovers that her real name is Ida and her Jewish parents were murdered during the Nazi occupation.

This revelation triggers a heart-wrenching journey into the countryside, to the family house and into the secrets of the repressed past, evoking the haunting legacy of the Holocaust and the realities of postwar Communism. Powerfully written and eloquently shot, "Ida" is a masterly evocation of a time, a dilemma, and a defining historical moment.

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Concluding a powerful and groundbreaking five-season run, 'Boardwalk Empire', the Emmy - winning HBO drama series from Academy Award nominee/Emmy Award winner Terence Winter and Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese begins its final season in 1931, a full six years after the end of Season

4. In stark contrast with the Roaring '20s, the country is in the throes of the Great Depression, and with the end of Prohibition in sight, Nucky is looking to legitimise himself by forging alliances with liquor producers. Season 5 also includes flashback scenes of Nucky, Eli, the Commodore, Gillian and others from 1884-1900 - childhood experiences that would shape their relationships and their futures.

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Mary Bee Cuddy is an Independent frontier woman, living a life of solitude. When three women are declared insane by the local preacher (John Lithgow), she volunteers for the dangerous task of taking them to Ohio, where a ministers wife is waiting for their lost souls.

Along the way she stumbles across a reprobate claim-jumper, and agrees to save his life in exchange for his help. Together the unlikely pair are pushed to their limits as they traverse the harsh, untamed Nebraska Territories on a perilous and unforgettable journey.