dspc's - Rented List
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Will Burton (David Tennant), a talented junior barrister of peerless intellect and winning charm, specialises in spiriting people out of tight legal corners, hence his nickname - The Escape Artist. Much to the aggravation of his courtroom rival, Maggie Gardner (Sophie Okonedo), Will is in high demand, as he has never lost a case. But when Will's talents acquit Liam Foyle (Toby Kebbell), who is standing trial for an horrific and high-profile murder, that courtroom brilliance comes back to bite him. Foyle walks free, but he is a serial killer and surely it is only a matter of time until he kills again. - Director:
- Brian Welsh
- Cast:
- David Tennant, Toby Kebbell, Gus Barry
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Churchill (2017)Warlord
Churchill follows Britain's iconic Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Brian Cox) in the days before the infamous D-Day landings in June 1944. As allied forces stand on the south coast of Britain, poised to invade Nazi-occupied Europe, they await Churchill's decision on whether the invasion will actually move ahead. Only the unflinching support of Churchill's brilliant, unflappable wife Clementine (Miranda Richardson) can halt the Prime Minister's physical and mental collapse and help lead him to greatness. Also starring John Slattery as General Eisenhower. Supreme Commander of the Allied D-Day operations, and Julian Wadham as British military commander Field Marshal Montgomery. - Director:
- Jonathan Teplitzky
- Cast:
- Brian Cox, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery
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King and Country (1964)King & Country
During World War I, a young soldier, Hamp (Tom Courtenay) deserts his post, attempting to escape the ever-present sound of guns and walk back home. Captain Hargreaves (Dirk Bogarde), an aristocratic British Army lawyer must defend Hamp before the army tribunal, for whom the crime of desertion carries a nasty stigma and the penalty of execution. Initially, Hargreaves approaches Hamp's case with disdain; however, upon learning that Hamp volunteered for duty on a dare, that he is the sole survivor of his unit and that his wife has been unfaithful in his absence, his efforts on Hamp's behalf become more impassioned and earnest. - Director:
- Joseph Losey
- Cast:
- Dirk Bogarde, Tom Courtenay, Leo McKern
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Human Capital (2013)Il Capitale Umano
A calculation used by insurers to assess the monetary worth of a life cut short, 'Human Capital' questions the material and emotional value of both the living and the dead as it weaves a tangled web of greed, lust and death. The film traces the financial and emotional entanglement of two Italian families; one bloated by the profits of lucrative hedge-funds, the other led by a modest estate agent who dreams of bigger things. Their relationship unravels around the onset of the financial crisis and the mysterious hit-and-run death of a local waiter, ultimately revealing both the financial and moral bankruptcy of each family. - Director:
- Paolo Virzì
- Cast:
- Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Matilde Gioli, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
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The Damned (1962)These Are the Damned
The brutality of modern society is fast encroaching on the picturesque seaside town of Weymouth. American tourist Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey) is looking for a relaxing holiday but he is mugged by the psychopatic King (Oliver Reed) and his gang of thugs. Wells escapes with King's sister, Joanie (Shirley Anne Field), and they stumble upon a sinister establishment where nine ice-cold children are being subjected to a horrifying experiment. The shadowy authorities in control of the base will stop at nothing to safeguard their secret, but it is the mysterious children who will doom them all... - Director:
- Joseph Losey
- Cast:
- Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Viveca Lindfors
- Formats:
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Ida (2014)Sister of Mercy
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. - Director:
- Pawel Pawlikowski
- Cast:
- Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska, Dawid Ogrodnik
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Julia's Eyes (2010)Los ojos de Julia
Julia (Belen Rueda, The Orphanage), a woman suffering from a degenerative sight disease, finds her blind twin sister Sara hanged in the basement of her house. Everything points to suicide, but Julia is compelled to investigate what she intuitively knows is murder. Determined to retrace her sister's final steps, she is drawn into a maze of hidden threats and spiralling dread - a dark world that seems to hide a mysterious, malevolent presence. As Julia begins to uncover clues to the truth of her sister's death, she is convinced that someone is watching her - someone who means her terrible harm. As those close to her are killed off, Julia's sight gradually disappears. Confined to her sister's house, Julia finds herself trapped in a nightmare from which she cannot awake. - Director:
- Guillem Morales
- Cast:
- Belén Rueda, Lluís Homar, Pablo Derqui
- Formats:
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From acclaimed director Ken Loach comes this astonishing story of triumph and adversity in modern day Britain. Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) has worked as a joiner for most of his life in Newcastle. Now, for the first time ever, he needs help from the State. He crosses paths with single mother Katie (Hayley Squires) who is battling to keep her two young children fed. Daniel and Katie find themselves in a no-man's land, striving to pull themselves out of the welfare bureaucracy of modern day Britain. - Director:
- Ken Loach
- Cast:
- Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Sharon Percy
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Natalie Portman gives the performance of a lifetime as Nina, a stunningly talented but dangerously unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to breaking point by her driven artistic director (Vincent Cassel) and the threat posed by a seductive rival dancer (Mila Kunis), Nina's tenuous grip on reality starts to slip away. As the pressure builds, Nina's all-consuming obsessions spin out of control, plunging her into a waking nightmare that will threaten not only her sanity, but her life. - Director:
- Darren Aronofsky
- Cast:
- Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel
- Formats:
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Brothers in Arms (2016)The Mountain II / Dag II
The story of a clandestine special forces squad; call sign 'Storm Bringer'. Bekir (Ufuk Bayraktar) and Oguz (Caglar Ertugrul), unlikely best friends, have enrolled in the world famous, perpetually grueling Turkish special forces training. Their first mission begins six years later - to infiltrate the most barbarous area of modern day Iraq for a rescue mission. - Director:
- Alper Caglar
- Cast:
- Ozan Agaç, Bedii Akin, Murat Arkin
- Formats:
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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. - Director:
- Ken Loach
- Cast:
- Barry Ward, Simone Kirby, Andrew Scott
- Formats:
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Stephen (Dirk Bogarde) is a middle-aged professor at Oxford University. Stifled by his life of marriage and academia, he yearns for an affair with his beautiful and enigmatic student Anna (Jacqueline Sassard). He is locked into a battle for Anna's affection against her fiance, William (Michael York), whose youthful vitality he envies, and with his friend and academic rival Charley (Stanley Baker), whose media profile and sexual success he covets. - Director:
- Joseph Losey
- Cast:
- Dirk Bogarde, Stanley Baker, Jacqueline Sassard
- Formats:
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The Criminal (1960)Concrete Jungle
Ex-con Johnny (Stanley Baker) used his time in prison wisely - to plan the biggest robbery of his career. The robbery goes smoothly and Johnny goes to bury the money in a field until the heat is off, as agreed with friend and racketeer Mike Carter (Sam Wanamaker) and the rest of the gang. In a moment of weakness, Johnny pockets five hundred odd pounds from the haul. Coupled with a tip-off from his ex-girlfriend (Jill Bennett) this proves to be his undoing and Johnny is soon back in prison. The rest of the gang try in vain to get the location of the money out of him without success until Mike hits upon the idea of a break-out using Johnny's new love Suzanne (Margit Saad) as bait. - Director:
- Joseph Losey
- Cast:
- Stanley Baker, Sam Wanamaker, Grégoire Aslan
- Formats:
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Christian (Claes Bang), a respected curator of a contemporary art museum in Stockholm, is gearing up to launch a new show, 'The Square', a daring installation examining altruism and our duty to help others. However, Christian's own views on social responsibility are put to the test when he becomes the victim of scam, forcing him to question the world around him and his place in it. - Director:
- Ruben Östlund
- Cast:
- Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West
- Formats:
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4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile
The friendship between two girls is tested to its absolute limits in this utterly compelling drama set in the twilight years of Communist-era Romania. Gabita (Laura Vasiliu), young and naive, is pregnant. She turns to her more pragmatic room mate Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) for help and a meeting is arranged in a downtown hotel with the shady Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov). Entering a dangerous and illegal underworld where the stakes are high and nothing is as it seems, the girls are set for a life-changing experience that neither will ever forget. - Director:
- Cristian Mungiu
- Cast:
- Anamaria Marinca, Vlad Ivanov, Laura Vasiliu
- Formats:
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