alec-guimness-films's - Rented List

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"Toni Erdmann" is a touching and remarkably funny portrait of an offbeat father-daughter relationship. Sandra Huller plays Ines, a highly-strung career woman whose life in corporate Bucharest takes a turn for the bizarre with the arrival of her estranged father Winfried (Peter Simonischek).

An incessant practical joker, Winfried attempts to reconnect with Ines by introducing the titular eccentric alter ego to catch her off guard, unaware of how capable she is of rising to the challenge... This breakout German comedy, which has been met with universal critical acclaim, is as humanist as it is absurdist - a film about the importance of celebrating the humour of the everyday.

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Five-year-old Saroo (Sunny Pawar) gets lost on a train travelling away from his home and family. Frightened and bewildered, he ends up thousands of miles away, in chaotic Kolkata.

Somehow he survives living on the streets, escaping all sorts of terrors and close calls in the process, before ending up in an orphanage that is itself not exactly a safe haven. Eventually Saroo is adopted by an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham), and finds love and security as he grows up in Hobart. As an adult, not wanting to hurt his adoptive parents' feelings, Saroo (Dev Patel) suppresses his past, his emotional need for reunification and his hope of ever finding his lost mother and brother. But a chance meeting with some fellow Indians reawakens his buried yearning. Armed with only a handful of memories and his unwavering determination, Saroo sets out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home.

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Everyone knows that growing up is hard, and no one can relate to this more than Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), who is already at peak awkwardness when her popular older brother starts dating her best friend.

All at once, Nadine feels more alone than ever, until she seeks the help of her reluctant teacher (Woody Harrelson), who helps her discover that what feels like the end of the world may just be the beginning of growing up.

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In an Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe winning performance, Casey Affleck stars as Lee, a man whose spare existence is suddenly ruptured when the death of his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) forces him to return to the hometown he abandoned years before.

Rocked by contact with his estranged ex-wife (Michelle Williams) and the revelation that Joe has made him guardian of his teenage son (Lucas Hedges), Lee is forced to face up to painful memories and newfound levels of responsibility as he reconnects with his family. Kenneth Lonergan's critically acclaimed masterpiece is an extraordinary journey of grief, love and wit that will stay with you long after watching.

"Hacksaw Ridge" is the epic and inspiring true story of Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), an army medic and conscientious objector who, during one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, saved 75 men without firing or carrying a gun.

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An astonishing portrait of youth on the American fringe, 'American Honey' is told through the eyes of a vivacious teenage rebel who joins a group of fellow misfits hustling and partying their way across the country.

Bursting with electric, primal energy, 'American Honey' is an immersive, exhilarating odyssey of heartbreaking beauty - a generation-defining film that celebrates the defiant resilience of youth in pursuit of the American Dream.

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The London Nobody Knows

Based on Geoffrey Fletcher’s book, this captivating documentary exposes the real London of the swinging sixties. Turning its back on familiar sights, the film explores the hidden details of a crumbling metropolis. With James Mason as our Guide, we are led on an tour of the weird and wonderful pockets of London from abandoned music-halls to egg breaking factories.

The London Nobody Knows paints a fascinating picture of London as a city where there is joy and wonder to be found at every turn. A compelling portrait of a bygone era, The London Nobody Knows is a unique piece of film history.

Les Bicyclettes de Belsize

An enchanting musical love story about a young man who falls for a model after seeing her picture and then takes to the streets on his bicycle to find her...

Directed by Douglas Hickox (Sitting Target), this cult favourite is a long-lost classic of the swinging sixties. An evocative, dreamlike trip though leafy London, Les Bicyclettes de Belsize stars sixties bombshell Judy Huxtable (the one-time wife of comedian Peter Cook) and boasts an outstanding soundtrack. Shot in North London in 1968, the film perfectly captures the fashions, verve and innocence of the time

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From Director Amma Asante, starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike and set against the breath-taking backdrops of the African savannah and period London, 'A United Kingdom' tells the inspiring real-life romance of Seretse Khama, King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana), and Ruth Williams, the London

office worker he married in 1948 in the face of fierce opposition from their families and the British and South African governments. 'A United Kingdom' celebrates one of the greatest love stories ever told.

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In the sublime new film from Jim Jarmusch, Adam Driver gives a career-best performance as Paterson, a bus driver in the New Jersey city of the same name. He's also a poet, recording his daily observations and thoughts into a notebook.

Paterson thrives on routine: he drives his bus route, he goes home for dinner with his wife Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), he walks his dog, he visits his local bar for one beer. By contrast Laura's world is ever-changing, with new projects and ideas striking her daily. The film quietly observes the triumphs and defeats of daily life, along with the poetry evident in its smallest details.

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When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team - led by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) - are brought together to investigate.

As nations struggle to coordinate a response, mankind teeters on the verge of global war, leaving Banks and the team in a race against time for answers - and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity's very existence.

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Jenny Davin (Adele Haenel) is a young doctor who receives a late night call at the door of her practice after hours and decides to ignore it. The next morning she learns that the caller was a girl who has been found dead and that the police have no way to identify her.

Shocked and guilt-stricken by the news, Jenny resolves to discover the name of the young girl so that she will not be buried anonymously. Playing intelligently with the traits of traditional detective dramas, 'The Unknown Girl' is another characteristically engaging social commentary from the Dardenne brothers - a morally astute and compelling investigation of personal responsibility, justice and guilt.

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An argument about a restaurant bill spirals out of control, a karaoke night veers wildly off script, and a mysteriously exclusive art exhibition brings sharp new meaning to the term 'cutting-edge culture'.

Belly laughs and macabre twists combine in six endlessly inventive episodes with guest stars including Philip Glenister (Outcast), Jason Watkins (W1A), Fiona Shaw (True Blood), Keeley Hawes (The Durrells), Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) and Derek Jacobi (Vicious). Pemberton and Shearsmith deliver their most daring series yet, as they rewrite the rules of comedy and drama with this genre-bending masterpiece.

Episodes Comprise:
1. The Devil of Christmas
2. The Bill
3. The Riddle of the Sphinx
4. Empty Orchestra
5. Diddle Diddle Dumpling
6. Private View

In Marvel's Doctor Strange, a world-famous neurosurgeon seeking a cure finds powerful magic in a mysterious place known as Kamar-Taj - the front line of a battle against unseen dark forces bent on destroying our reality.

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Arlis Sweeney (Dennis Quaid) leads a life as simple and unchanging as his native West Texas plains. He stocks vending machines, moving from town to town and from one familiar lover to another. Kay Davies (Meg Ryan) also calls the road her home.

Running from a broken marriage, she doesn't know where she's headed, but any place is better than where she's been. Fate brings them together and gives them a future, until a figure from the past - Arlis's father (James Caan) - awakens a memory as deep and dark as a grave: a family history written in cold blood.

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'Mad' Mary McArdle (Seána Kerslake) returns to Drogheda after a short spell in prison - for something she'd rather forget. Back home, everything and everyone has changed. Her best friend, Charlene (Charleigh Bailey), is about to get married and Mary is maid of honour.

When Charlene refuses Mary a 'plus one' on the grounds that she probably couldn't find a date, Mary becomes determined to prove her wrong. Her attempts at dating are a disaster and she winds up feeling more alone... until she meets Jess and everything changes. 'A Date for Mad Mary' is a tough and tender story about friendship, first love, and letting go of the glory days.