jbp's - Favourites List
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"Wolf Hall" presents an intimate portrait of Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance), the brilliant consigliere to King Henry VIII (Damian Lewis), as he manoeuvres the corridors , of power at the Tudor court. Directed by BAFTA Award-Winner Peter Kosminsky, this powerful series follows the complex machinations and back room dealings of Cromwell - a pragmatic and accomplished power broker, from humble beginnings and with an enigmatic past. Cromwell serves king and country while navigating deadly political intrigue, the King's tempestuous relationship with Anne Boleyn (Claire Foy) and the religious upheavals of the Protestant reformation. - Director:
- Peter Kosminsky
- Cast:
- Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, Claire Foy
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Parasite (2019)Gisaengchung
Kim Ki Taek's (Song Kang Ho) family are all unemployed and living in a squalid basement. When his son, Ki Woo, gets a tutoring job at the lavish home of the Park family, the Kim family's luck changes. One by one they gradually infiltrate the wealthy Park's home, attempting to take over their affluent lifestyle, but as their deception unravels events begin to get increasingly out of hand in ways you simply cannot imagine. - Director:
- Joon-Ho Bong
- Cast:
- Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Jo
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Adapted from the classic novel by Charles Dickens, 'The Personal History of David Copperfield' brings to life one of the author's most cherished characters. From birth to infancy, from adolescence to adulthood, the good-hearted David Copperfield (Dev Patel) is surrounded by kindness, wickedness, poverty and wealth, as he meets an array of remarkable characters in Victorian England. As David sets out to be a writer, in his quest for family, friendship, romance and status, the story of his life is the most seductive tale of all. - Director:
- Armando Iannucci
- Cast:
- Dev Patel, James Daniel Wilson, Hugh Laurie
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Now reincarnated back on Earth, Eleanor and her friends have another chance to make choices that will lead them to the Good Place. Michael intervenes in the near-death accidents of Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason on Earth, in hopes that a second chance at life allows them to become better versions of themselves. - Director:
- Dean Holland
- Cast:
- Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil
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Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith present a fifth anthology of films. From night-time to half-time, from the magic of Christmas, to the mysteries of Magic, into the minds of monsters. Starring alongside Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith is a wealth of talent including: Stephanie Cole (Doc Martin), Jenna Coleman (Victoria), Kadiff Kirwan (Mary Queen of Scots), David Morrissey (The Other Boleyn Girl), Ralf Little (The Royle Family), Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk), Maxine Peake (Funny Cow), Phil Davis (Poldark) and many more. - Director:
- Barbara Wiltshire
- Cast:
- Steve Pemberton, Alistair Bruce-Ball, Reece Shearsmith
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In this funny, uplifting tale based on an actual lie. Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai. has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself. To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting family members scattered among new homes abroad. As Billi navigates a minefield of family expectations and proprieties, she finds there's a lot to celebrate: a chance to rediscover the country she left as a child, her grandmother's wondrous spirit, and the ties that keep on binding even when so much goes unspoken. With 'The Farewell', writer/director Lulu Wang has created a heartfelt celebration of both the way we perform family and the way we live it, masterfully interweaving a gently humorous depiction of the good lie in action with a richly moving story of how family can unite and strengthen us. often in spite of ourselves. - Director:
- Lulu Wang
- Cast:
- Shuzhen Zhao, Awkwafina, X Mayo
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"For Sama" is both an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war. A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab's life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice - whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter's life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much. - Director:
- Waad Al-Khateab
- Cast:
- Waad Al-Khateab, Hamza Al-Khateab, Sama Al-Khateab
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Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2020)Portrait de la jeune fille en feu
Painter Marianne (Noemie Merlant) is commissioned by an affluent countess to paint the wedding portrait of her sheltered but headstrong daughter Héloïse (Adele Haenel). While posing as her hired companion, Marianne is instructed to complete the portrait in secret, observing Héloïse by day and painting her by night. However, as the two women grow closer, their intimacy and attraction begins to blossom, paving the way for a simmering, star-crossed romance. - Director:
- Céline Sciamma
- Cast:
- Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami
- Formats:
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I Wish (2011)Kiseki
In the wake of their parent's divorce, 12-year-old Koichi (Koki Maeda) and his younger brother Ryunosuke (Ohshiro Maeda, Koki's real life brother) have been split up against their will. Koichi lives with his mother and grandparents in Kagoshima, in the shadow of a constantly rumbling volcano. Ryunosuke lives a comparatively spirited life with his rock-musician father in Fukuoka. But when Koichi discovers that a new bullet train line is due to open connecting the two towns, he determines that the intense energy generated by two trains passing in opposite directions will work a miracle, and their wish to be reunited will come true. - Director:
- Hirokazu Koreeda
- Cast:
- Kôki Maeda, Ôshirô Maeda, Hiroshi Abe
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Unlike his High School friends who become respected professionals, Martin Blank (John Cusack) found a lucrative career as a hit man.But the job has lost its appeal and Martin faces an uncertain future. Now, he finds himself back in his home town of Grosse Pointe to attend his ten-year High School reunion complete one last job and take another shot at rekindling a romance with the girl he stood up on prom night (Minnie Driver). With Dan Aykroyd as a hilarious rival assassin who wants Martin to join a union, 'Grosse Pointe Blank' is a killer comedy loaded with action and laughs. - Director:
- George Armitage
- Cast:
- John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd
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Series 3 of the Bafta-winning mockumentary sees the Mucklow cousins once again caught up in the minutiae of village life. Kerry (Daisy May Cooper) is thrilled by the return of her dad after his short spell in prison, but he's back in the family home, and cracks are beginning to show in family relationships. Kurtan's half-brother has died, but how can you celebrate the life of a man who seems to have made no mark on the world at all? Meanwhile the vicar has some important news, and he's concerned about how Kerry and Kurtan (Charlie Cooper) will take it. - Director:
- Tom George
- Cast:
- Steve Aldis, Dainton Anderson, Edd Campbell Bird
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Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and his wife, Etheline (Angelica Huston), had three children - Chas, Margot, and Richie - and then they separated. Chas (Ben Stiller) started buying real estate in his early teens and seemed to have an almost preternatural understanding of international finance. Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a playwright and received a Braverman Grant of $50,000 in the ninth grade. Richie (Luke Wilson) was a junior champion tennis player and won the U.S. Nationals three years in a row. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal., failure, and disaster. - Director:
- Wes Anderson
- Cast:
- Gene Hackman, Wes Anderson, Gwyneth Paltrow
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Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) and his crew - Team Zissou - set sail on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious, elusive, possibly nonexistent Jaguar Shark that killed Zissou's partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. They are joined on their voyage by a young airline co-pilot, who may or may not be Zissou's son (Owen Wilson), a beautiful journalist (Cate Blanchett) assigned to write a profile of Zissou, and his estranged wife and co-producer, Eleanor (Anjelica Huston). They face overwhelming complications including pirates, kidnapping, and bankruptcy. - Director:
- Wes Anderson
- Cast:
- Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston
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From David Simon, creator and co-writer of HBO's triple Emmy Award-winning mini-series The Corner, this unvarnished, highly realistic drama series follows a single sprawling drug and murder investigation in Baltimore - one that culminates in a complex series of dangerous wiretaps and surveillance. Told from the points of view of both the police and their targets, the series captures a universe where easy distinctions between good and evil, and crime and punishment, are challenged at every turn. - Director:
- Tim Van Patten
- Cast:
- Dominic West, John Doman, Idris Elba
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Like Father, Like Son (2013)Soshite chichi ni naru
Ryota has earned everything he has by his hard work, and believes nothing can stop him from pursuing his perfect life as a winner. Then one day, he and his wife, Midori, get an unexpected phone call from the hospital. Their 6-year-old son, Keita, is not 'their' son - the hospital gave them the wrong baby. Ryota is forced to make a life-changing decision, to choose between 'nature' and 'nurture'. Seeing Midori's devotion to Keita even after learning his origin, and communicating with the rough yet caring family that has raised his natural son for the last six years, Ryota also starts to question himself: has he really been a 'father' all these years... - Director:
- Hirokazu Koreeda
- Cast:
- Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki
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