history-light's - Favourites List

First season honors for The West Wing include the prestigious Peabody Award for excellence in television, plus an unprecedented 9 Emmy Awards that established this powerful drama as the all-time leader in single-season Emmy wins for a debut series.

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Chris Morris' "Four Lions" is a funny, thrilling comedy that illuminates modern jihadism through the prism of farce. It understands jihadists as human beings. And it understands human beings as innately ridiculous.

What "This Is Spinal Tap" did for heavy metal and "Dr Strangelove" the Cold War, "Four Lions" does for the modern face of terrorism. In a British city, four men have a secret plan. Omar (Riz Ahmed) is disillusioned about the treatment of muslims around the world and is determined to become a soldier. This is the most exciting idea Waj (Kayvan Novak) has ever heard. Better still it's a no brainer because Omar does his thinking for him. Opposed to Omar and everyone else on earth is the white islamic convert Barry (Nigel Lindsay). He'd realize he joined the cell to channel his nihilism - If he had half the self knowledge of a duck. Faisal (Adeel Akhtar) is the odd man out. He can make a bomb – but he can't blow himself up just now coz his sick dad has "started eating newspaper". Instead he's training crows to fly bombs through windows. This is what Omar has to deal with. They must strike a decisive blow on their own turf but can any of them strike a match without punching himself in the face?

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When top London cop, PC Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), is reassigned to the quiet town of Sandford, he struggles with his seemingly crime-free…and oafish partner Danny (Nick Frost).

When several grisly accidents rock the village, it's not long before Danny's dreams of explosive, high-octane, car-chasing, gun fighting, all-out action become reality! It's time for small-town cops to hand out big-city justice!

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When a disgraced spy surfaces with information concerning a double agent at the top of the British secret service, George Smiley (Gary Oldman), an ex-MI6 agent, is drawn back into murky field of espionage.

Tasked with investigating which of his trusted former colleagues has chosen to betray him and their country, Smiley narrows his search to four suspects - all experienced, skilled and successful agents. However, past histories, rivalries and friendships make it far from easy to pinpoint the man who is eating away at the heart of the British establishment.

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Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond (Daniel Craig) is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to "00" status.

"M" (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends the newly promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attempting to restore his funds in a high stakes poker game at the Casino Royale. "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond could never imagine, and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one.

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Life is going nowhere for Shaun (Simon Pegg). He spends his life in his local pub, The Winchester, with his best mate Ed (Nick Frost), has issued with his Mum and neglects his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield). When Liz dumps him, Shaun finally decides to get his life in order.

He must win back the heart of his girlfriend, repair his relationship with his mum and face up to the responsibilities of adulthood. Unfortunately, the dead are returning to life and attempting to eat the living. For the newly inspired Shaun, this is just another obstacle. In the face of a full-scale zombie epidemic, armed with a cricket bat and a spade, Shaun sets out with Ed in tow, to rescue his mum and grudgingly his step-dad, his girlfriend and even more grudgingly her friends David (Dylan Moran) and Dianne (Lucy Davis) and take them to the safest most secure place he knows, The Winchester.

Hilarious but harrowing, the film charts the disintegration of the friendship between Renton (Ewan McGregor), Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Tommy (Kevin McKidd) and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) as they proceed seemingly towards a psychotic, drug-fuelled self-destruction.

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Joel (Jim Carrey) is stunned to discover that his girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet), has had their tumultuous relationship erased from her mind. Out of desperation, he contacts the inventor of the process, Dr Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson), to get the same treatment.

But as his memories of Clementine begin to fade, Joel suddenly realizes how much he still loves her.

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Monty Python delivers a scathing, anarchic satire of both religion and Hollywood's depiction of all things biblical with their second film. The setting is Judea 33 A.D.

, a time of poverty and chaos, with no shortage of messiahs, followers willing to believe in them, and exasperated Romans trying to impose some order. At the centre of it all is Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman), a reluctant would-be messiah who rises to prominence as a result of a series of absurd and truly hilarious circumstances providing ample opportunity for the entire ensemble (John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Chapman) to shine in multiple roles as they mock everyone and everything from ex-lepers, Pontius Pilate, and the art of haggling to crazy prophets, Roman centurions, and crucifixion.

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London. The '60s. Two unemployed actors-acerbic, elegantly wasted Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and the anxiety-ridden "I" (Paul McGann) - drown their frustrations in booze, pills and lighter fluid.

When Withnails's Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths) offers his cottage, they escape the squalor of their flat for a week in the country, but soon realise they've gone on holiday by mistake when their wits - and friendship - are sorely tested by violent downpours, less-than-hospitable locals and empty cupboards.

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King Arthur and his trusty knights fearlessly travel the length and breadth of the country in search of the mythical Holy Grail.

On their way they have to deal with the sarcastic taunts of the French Knight, the Knights who say 'Ni', Tim the Enchanter and the Terror of the Cave of Caerbannog amongst other things.

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Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) a naive writer of pulp westerns, arrives in Vienna to meet his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) but finds that Lime has apparently been killed in a suspicious accident.

Martins, too, curious for his own good, hears contradictory stories about the circumstances of Limes' death and as witnesses disappear he finds himself chased by unknown assailants. Complicating matters are the sardonic Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), head of the British forces, and Limes' stage actress mistress, Anna (Alida Valli). Will Martin's curiosity lead him to discover things about his old friend that he'd rather not know?

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A band of British soldiers are sent to the Scottish Highlands on special training maneuvers. Their biggest worry is missing the football England vs. Germany World Cup qualifier match.

They stumble upon Captain Ryan (Liam Cunningham) - the sole survivor of a Special Operations team literally torn to pieces. Ryan refuses to reveal the secret of his mission even though whoever ate his men is keen for second helpings. Help arrives in the form of local girl Megan (Emma Cleasby), who shelters them in a deserted farmhouse deep in the forest...but when they realize that it's home to a pack of blood lusting werewolves, it's apparent their nightmare has just begun! Can they hold out until first light? How much ammunition do they have left? Who is Captain Ryan? And more importantly, did England beat Germany?

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American tourists David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are savaged by an unidentified vicious animal whilst hiking on the Yorkshire Moors. David awakes in a London hospital to find his friend dead and his life in disarray.

Retiring to the home of a beautiful nurse (Jenny Agutter) to recuperate, he soon experiences disturbing changes to his mind and body, undergoing a full-moon transformation that will unleash terror on the streets of the capital...

Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz give electrifying performances in this gripping suspense thriller. A diplomat on the hunt for his wife's murderer uncovers a treacherous conspiracy that will destroy millions of innocent people - unless he can reveal its sinister roots.