graham-willis's - Films of the Year 1946-Present Day List

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You know legendary maniacs Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger. Now meet Leslie Vernon, the next great psycho-slasher.

Nathan Baesel of Invasion stars as Vernon, a good-natured killing machine who invites a documentary film crew to follow him as he reminisces with his murder mentor (Scot Wilson) evades his psychiatrist/nemesis (Robert Englund), deconstructs Freudian symbolism, and meticulously plots his upcoming slaughter spree. But when the actual carnage begins, where do you draw the line between voyeuristic thrills, mythic evil and good old-fashioned slasher movie mayhem?

Stephen King and director Frank Darabont comes one of the most tense and terrifying films since The Shining. After a mysterious mist envelops a small New England town, a group of locals trapped in a supermarket must battle a siege of otherworldly creatures... and the fears that threaten to tear them apart.

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On November 5, 2001, Dr..Andrew Bagby was murdered in a parking lot in western Pennsylvania; the prime suspect, his ex-girlfriend Dr. Shirley Turner, promptly fled the United States for St. John's, Canada, where she announced that she was pregnant with Andrew's child.

She named the little boy Zachary. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne, Andrew's oldest friend, began making a film for little Zachary as a way for him to get to know the father he'd never meet. But when Shirley Turner was released on bail in Canada and was given custody of Zachary while awaiting extradition to the U.S., the film's focus shifted to Zachary's grandparents, David and Kathleen Bagby, and their desperate efforts to win custody of the boy from the woman they knew had murdered their son.

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A darkly comic, discomfiting and deliberately provocative work that draws parallels with recent contemporary events. Dogtooth is shocking, compelling and perversely erotic. In a house on the edge of the city live a self-contained family. The only person allowed to leave is the father.

The mother remains enclosed, 'protecting' her son and two daughters from the evils of the outside world. However, when the son reaches an age where it is deemed that his sexual needs should be met, this insular and radical environment is threatened by the arrival of a female security guard. Capturing incidents that range from the weird to the repulsive, Dogtooth presents a sharp and frequently startling look at modern life. Particularly evocative of the work of Michael Haneke this is cinema at its most bold and brilliant.

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When Frank's ex-junkie wife Sarah leaves him forthearms of sleazy drug-dealer Jacques, he is touched by the finger of God and decides to take the law into his own hands, becoming his own crime fighting superhero: The Crimson Bolt.

What Frank lacks in superpowers he makes up for with his trusty wrench in his one-man war on petty criminals. Powers or not, every superhero needs a sidekick! Enter Libby, a cute psychopath working at the local comic book store. Transforming into 'Boltie', Libby teams up with Frank to take Jacques down in his quest to win back his wife.

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A rambunctious group of five college friends steals away for a weekend of debauchery in an isolated country cabin, only to be attacked by horrific supernatural creatures in a night of endless terror and bloodshed. Sound familiar? Just wait.

As the teens begin to exhibit standard horror movie behaviour, a group of technicians in a control room are scrutinizing, and sometimes even controlling, every move the terrified kids make! With their efforts continually thwarted by an all-powerful "eye in the sky", do they have any chance of escape?

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"The Hunt" unfolds in a small provincial town in the days leading up to Christmas. Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), a forty year old divorcee, is finally getting his life under control.

He's got himself a new girlfriend, a new job and is in the process of re-building his relationship with his teenage son, Marcus. But things soon start to unravel. Nothing significant, just a slight comment here, a random lie there. And as the snow falls and the Christmas lights are lit, the lie spreads like an invisible virus. The shock and mistrust gets out of hand, and the small community suddenly finds itself in a collective state of hysteria, while Lucas fights a lonely fight for his life and dignity. "The Hunt" is a disturbing depiction of how a lie can quickly become truth - a modern tale of a witch-hunt, injustice, guilt and, ultimately, forgiveness. A fable on how fragile a community can become when gossip, doubt and malice are allowed to flourish. It is a stirring portrait of a man struggling to exonerate himself, and a father and a son reaching out for one another as their world crumbles.

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In the mountain retreat of a gifted internet billionaire, a young man takes partin a strange experiment: testing an artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.

But the experiment twists into a dark psychological battle - a love triangle, where loyalties are torn between man and machine.

Ma has created a whole universe in 'Room' for five-year-old Jack, where they have both lived for Jack's whole life. But when Ma decides they have to escape, she risks everything to give Jack the chance to make a thrilling discovery: the world.

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"Brimstone" is a suspenseful tale of retribution set at the end of the 19th century in the American West. Dakota Fanning plays a mute young woman Liz whose life changes dramatically when a vengeful and mysterious preacher (Guy Pearce) comes to town with sinister motives.

Forced to go on the run and pursued across unforgiving terrain, where danger lurks around every corner, Liz soon learns that she'll need to engage in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse in order to turn the tables on her ruthless nemesis and come out alive.

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Seeking a fresh start, socially awkward Iona (Lily Newmark) and cat-obsessed mum Lyn (Joanna Scanlan) move to a new town. The pair put on a brave face, finding and creating comfort as one another's sole friend.

However, life begins to get tricky after the town's small-minded denizens reveal themselves to be as petty and cruel as those from the town they just fled. Daughter and mother find refuge in an elaborate fantasy world founded on denial and delusion; ultimately putting distance between them when they need each other most.

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When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter Annie (Toni Colette) and her husband (Gabriel Byrne) and their two children begin to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry.

The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.

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Failed comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) encounters violent thugs while wandering the streets of Gotham City dressed as a clown.

Disregarded by society Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as Joker in director Todd Phillips' thrilling origin story.

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Set in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia, 'The Devil All the Time' follows a cast of compelling and bizarre characters from the end of World War II to the 1960's.

There's Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgård), tormented veteran of the carnage in the South Pacific, who can't save his beautiful wife, Charlotte (Haley Bennett), from an agonizing death by cancer no matter how much sacrificial blood he pours on his "prayer log". There's Carl (Jason Clarke) and Sandy (Riley Keough) Henderson, a husband-and-wife team of serial killers, who troll America's highways searching for suitable models to photograph and exterminate. There's the spider-handling preacher Roy (Harry Melling) and his crippled virtuoso-guitar-playing sidekick, Theodore (Pokey LaFarge), running from the law. And caught in the middle of all this is Arvin Eugene Russell (Tom Holland), Willard and Charlotte's orphaned son, who grows up to be a good but also violent man in his own right.

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Directed by Peter Jackson, 'The Beatles: Get Back' is a three-part documentary series that takes audiences back in time to the band's intimate recording sessions.

The documentary showcases the warmth, camaraderie and creative genius that defined the legacy of the iconic foursome, and is compiled from 60 hours of unseen footage shot in January 1969 (under the supervision of Michael Lindsay-Hogg and his director of photography Tony Richmond), and more than 150 hours of unheard audio, all of which has been brilliantly restored. Also featured - for the first time in its entirety - is The Beatles' last live performance as a group - the unforgettable rooftop concert on London's Savile Row - as well as other songs and classic compositions featured on the band's final two albums, 'Abbey Road' and 'Let It Be'.

Part One
The band gathers at Twickenham Film Studios to rehearse for a concert.
Part Two
Rehearsals continue at Apple Studios and the mood lifts.
Part Three
The Beatles perform on the roof of the Apple Offices.