jbp's - Rented List

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A modern-day Grapes of Wrath, Jesse Moss's award-winning documentary "The Overnighters" engages and dramatises a set of universal societal themes: the promise and limits of re-invention, redemption and compassion, as well as the tension between the moral imperative to "love thy neighbour" and the

resistance that one small community feels when confronted by a surge of desperate, job-seeking strangers. In the tiny town of Williston, North Dakota, tens of thousands of unemployed hopefuls show up with dreams of honest work and a big paycheck under the lure of the oil boom. However, busloads of newcomers chasing a broken American Dream step into the stark reality of slim work prospects and nowhere to sleep. The town lacks the infrastructure to house the overflow of migrants, even for those who do find gainful employment. Pastor Jay Reinke of the Concordia Lutheran Church, is driven to deliver the migrants some dignity. Night after night, he converts his church into a makeshift dorm and counselling centre, opening the church s doors to allow the "Overnighters" (as he calls them) to stay for a night, a week or longer. Many who take shelter with Reinke are living on society s fringes and with chequered pasts, and their presence starts affecting the dynamics of the small community. When the City Council threatens to shut the controversial Overnighters program down, Reinke must make a decision which leads to profound consequences that he never imagined.

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By day, Mark Hunter (Christian Slater) is a painfully shy new kid in a small Arizona town. But by night, he's Hard Harry, the cynical, uncensored DJ of a pirate radio station.

Idolided by his high school classmates (who are unaware of his real identity), Harry becomes a hero with his fiercely funny monologues on sex, love and rock and roll. But when he exposes the corrupt school principal, she calls in the FCC to shut Harry down. An outrageous rebel with a cause, Slater gives a brilliant performance as the reluctant hero who inspires his classmates to find their own voices of rebellion and individuality.

Justine (Brie Larson) has brokered a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two Irishmen (Cillian Murphy) and a gang led by Vernon (Sharlto Copley) and Ord (Armie Hammer) who are selling them a stash of guns. But when shots are fired in the handover, a heart stopping game of survival ensues.

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Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana (Gal Gadot), princess of the Amazons, raised on a sheltered island paradise and trained to be an unconquerable warrior.

When an American pilot (Chris Pine) crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers...and her true destiny.

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What does it mean to film another person? How does it affect the person - and what does it do to the one who films? A boxing match in Brooklyn; life in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina; the daily routine of a Nigerian midwife; an intimate family moment at home: these scenes and others are woven into

Cameraperson, a tapestry of footage captured over the 25-year career of documentary cinematographer Kirsten Johnson. Through a series of episodic juxtapositions, Johnson explores the relationships between image makers and their subjects, the tension between the objectivity and intervention of the camera, and the complex interaction of unfiltered reality and crafted narrative. A work that combines documentary, autobiography, and ethical inquiry, Cameraperson is both a moving glimpse into one filmmaker's personal journey and a thoughtful examination of what it means to train a camera on the world.

In a majestic world of intricate hand-drawn textures, a shipwrecked man is found marooned on a desert island. With his attempted escapes thwarted by the stranger and larger-than-life titular red reptile, the man's existence is forever altered when something extraordinary occurs.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team's adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill's true parentage.

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An edifying must-see that has received accolades at film festivals the world over, We Were Here is the first film to take a deep and reflective look back at the arrival and impact of a definitive chapter in a city's queer history.

It explores how the inhabitants were affected by, and how they responded to, a calamitous epidemic. Though a San Francisco-based story, We Were Here extends beyond San Francisco and beyond AIDS itself. It speaks to our capacity as individuals to rise to the occasion, and to the incredible power of a community coming together with love, compassion, and determination. In the face of adversity they stood strong and united. This is their story.

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1940, London, the Blitz. With the country's morale at stake, inexperienced screenwriter, Catrin (Gemma Arterton) and a makeshift cast and crew, work under fire to make a film to lift the country's flagging spirits and inspire America to join the war.

Alongside fellow screenwriter, Buckley (Sam Clafiin) and a gloriously egotistical actor, Ambrose (Bill Nighy) they set off to make a film that will warm the hearts of the nation.

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Scarlett Johansson is terrific in the visually stunning 'Ghost in the Shell', an action-packed adventure set in a future world where people are enhanced with technology.

Believing she was rescued from near death, Major (Johansson) becomes the first of her kind: a human mind inside an artificial body designed to fight the war against cyber crime. While investigating a dangerous criminal, Major makes a shocking discovery -the corporation that created her lied about her past life in order to control her. Unsure what to believe, Major will stop at nothing to unravel the mystery of her true identity and exact revenge against the corporation she was built to serve.

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Set in 1970's Santa Barbara, '20th Century Women' is the story of Dorothea (Annette Bening), a single mother, and her son Jamie, as he comes of age at a time brimming with cultural change and rebellion.

As life challenges both of them in new ways, Dorothea enlists the help of two younger women in Jamie's upbringing; Abbie (Greta Gerwig), a free-spirited punk artist living as a lodger in their home, and Julie (Elle Fanning), a savvy and provocative teenage neighbour.

Legendary hit-man John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is forced out of retirement again by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins' guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome, where he squares off against some of the world's deadliest killers.