jill-from-london's - Favourites List
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Regarded by his neighbours as a harmless misfit, Josie has spent all his adult life as the caretaker of a crumbling petrol station on the outskirts of a small town in the mid-west of Ireland. He is limited, lonely, yet relentlessly optimistic and, in his own peculiar way, happy. Garage is the story of Josie's hapless search for intimacy over the course of a summer, which sees his life changed forever. A landmark in Irish cinema. Garage is a beautifully portrayed cinematic drama interspersed with razor sharp shards of black humour, with acutely observed characters that leave a lasting impression. - Director:
- Lenny Abrahamson
- Cast:
- Pat Shortt, John Keogh, George Costigan
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The Lives of Others (2006)Das Leben Der Anderen
In this outstanding psychological and political thriller, we get a fascinating insight into the lengths and depths that the East European government went to in order to keep tabs on the lives of its population in 80's. When cold and brutal official Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) is given the task of spying on acclaimed playwright Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his actress girlfriend, he relishes the task, knowing that if he uncovers subversive behaviour he will gain favor with his boss. But the longer he listens in on the couple, their friendships, passions and ideas, the more he realises that his own life and the harsh political regime are lacking in color and joy in many respects. Slowly he begins to doubt morality of is job and politics. As the lines between orders and compassion become blurred, Wiesler becomes more involved with his subject, walking a dangerous path between his duty and his new found reality. - Director:
- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
- Cast:
- Ulrich Mühe, Klaus Münster, Martina Gedeck
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The Passenger (1975)Professione: reporter
When a fellow traveler dies suddenly, burned-out journalist David Locke (Jack Nicholson) assumes his identity. Using the dead man's datebook as a guide, Locke travels throughout Europe and Africa, taking meetings with dangerous gun runners and falling for a beguiling young woman (Maria Schneider). But his exciting newfound freedom carries a fateful price as Locke gradually realizes he is in over his head. - Director:
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Cast:
- Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Jenny Runacre
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Neighbouring Sounds (2012)O Som ao Redor / Neighboring Sounds
The convergences and complexities of life in a middle-class suburb of Recife, Brazil, are played out in mesmerising style in this stunning debut feature from film critic turned director Kleber Mendonca Filho. Taking a broad, diverse set of strikingly realistic characters -including a bored housewife seeking solace in technology, a descendant of colonial landowners struggling with his dark, mysterious past and a security company employed to provide protection to them all - Filho paints a rich, detailed portrait of a community connected and engulfed by fear, desire and the incessant murmur of modern life. A beautifully subtle, fiercely intelligent and utterly engrossing snap-shot of present-day Brazil, this bold, compelling and endlessly intriguing film has announced one of the most exciting new voices in contemporary world cinema. - Director:
- Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Cast:
- Ana Rita Gurgel, Caio Almeida, Maeve Jinkings
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Strange things are afoot in Bad City. The Iranian ghost town, home to prostitutes, junkies, pimps and other sordid souls, is a place that reeks of death and hopelessness, where a lonely vampire is stalking the towns most unsavory inhabitants. But when boy meets girl, an unusual love story begins to blossom... blood red. - Director:
- Ana Lily Amirpour
- Cast:
- Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh
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Tuesday, After Christmas (2010)Marti, dupa Craciun
A man finds himself in love with two women. Paul (Mimi Branescu) is successful and married to Adriana (Mirela Oprisor) but is having an affair with the younger Raluca (Maria Popistasu). In the days leading to Christmas, Paul decides he needs to choose between his two lives. Radu Muntean's frank, resonant and highly acclaimed film examines the emotional impact of adultery upon its three participants. - Director:
- Radu Muntean
- Cast:
- Dragos Bucur, Maria Popistasu, Mimi Branescu
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Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus is a captivating and compelling road trip through contemporary Southern America, a marginalised world of unique and intense homemade culture. Singer Jim White takes his muscle car through a gritty terrain of churches, prisons, truck stops, biker bars and coal mines, where everybody has a story in some form, almost invariably of sudden death, sin or redemption - yet all transformed by the characteristic grim humour and natural eloquence of the Southern imagination. Along the way are roadside encounters with present-day musical mavericks including the Handsome Family, Johnny Dowd, David Eugene Edwards and David Johansen; old time banjo player Lee Sexton; Rockabilly and mountain Gospel churches - and novelist Harry Crews telling grisly stories down a dirt track. And all the while, a strange Southern Jesus looms in the background. - Director:
- Andrew Douglas
- Cast:
- Harry Crews, Johnny Dowd, David Eugene Edwards
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Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014)Bai ri yan huo
Zhang Zili wasn't always a badly paid security guard. He was once one of the best detectives on the police force. That is until injuries sustained during an investigation into a gruesome and unsolved murder case forced him into early retirement. That was five years ago and the killings have started again. Determined to track down the killer, Zhang is drawn towards a mysterious woman seemingly connected to each victim. But nothing is what it appears to be... - Director:
- Yi'nan Diao
- Cast:
- Fan Liao, Lun Mei Gwei, Xuebing Wang
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"An Angel at My Table" is the internationally acclaimed second film by Oscar-winning director Jane Campion. It is an extraordinarily moving celebration of the life of Janet Frame, New Zealand's most distinguished author, based on her autobiographical trilogy. The film follows Janet through her poor childhood in the depression and her growing fascination with literature; her painfully shy student days and subsequent treatment for misdiagnosed schizophrenia; and finally on her travels to Europe where she samples Bohemian life and achieves international success as a writer. - Director:
- Jane Campion
- Cast:
- Kerry Fox, Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson
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12:08 East of Bucharest (2006)A fost sau n-a fost?
12:08pm on the 22 December 1989 was the exact time of Ceausescu's fall from power in Romania. Sixteen years on, a provincial TV talk show decides to commemorate the event by asking local heroes to reminisce about their own contributions to the revolution. But securing suitable guests proves an unexpected challenge and the producer is left with two less than ideal participants - a drink-addled history teacher and a retired and lonely sometime-Santa Claus grateful for the company. In the farcical show that follows, the men's fanciful boasts of rebellious glory are hilariously disputed by phone-ins from viewers who recall an altogether different version of events. With entertainingly wry humour, Corneliu Porumboiu's debut feature sharply satirises the short memories and inconsistencies of post-revolutionary Romania. - Director:
- Corneliu Porumboiu
- Cast:
- Aurelia Tocu, Mircea Andreescu, Teodor Corban
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Winner of three Academy Awards including best picture, "Moonlight" is a breath-taking coming-of-age story and the best reviewed film of the year. "Moonlight" follows the story of Chiron (Ashton Sanders) from his early childhood in his depressed Miami neighbourhood to adulthood in Atlanta as he navigates the dangers of drugs, violence, family, love and sexuality. - Director:
- Barry Jenkins
- Cast:
- Mahershala Ali, Shariff Earp, Duan Sanderson
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The Golden Door (2006)Nuovomondo
In a desolate corner of the Sicilian countryside, a family's apparently changeless life of hardship and toil is interrupted by tales of the New World and its inhabitants, of the riches of this paradise. Salvatore makes the momentous decision to sell all he has - his land, his home, his livestock - and to take his children and aged mother to a better life across the ocean. As Salvatore embarks on his epic journey, he meets a mysterious English woman, Lucy (Charlotte Gainsbourgh), and their destinies begin to entwine as, amid a harrow crossing, a love story begins to unfold. To become citizens of the New World, they must die a little and be reborn. They must leave behind the antiquated customs and superstitions of their homeland - they must be strong in body and healthy in mind, learn to obey and swear loyalty - if they wish to pass through the Golden Door. - Director:
- Emanuele Crialese
- Cast:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Robert Allyn, Adriana Angrisano
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An astonishing portrait of youth on the American fringe, 'American Honey' is told through the eyes of a vivacious teenage rebel who joins a group of fellow misfits hustling and partying their way across the country. Bursting with electric, primal energy, 'American Honey' is an immersive, exhilarating odyssey of heartbreaking beauty - a generation-defining film that celebrates the defiant resilience of youth in pursuit of the American Dream. - Director:
- Andrea Arnold
- Cast:
- Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough
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South Dakota rodeo star Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau) awakens from a severe head injury after a horse stamped on his skull. The doctors tell him he must give up the sport - one that is his passion but also his lifeline - for fear it may kill him. While his sister Lily is mentally disabled and his father drinks, gambles and womanises, Brady is the crutch that supports the family - but without the rodeo, he's facing a life of misery. - Director:
- Chloé Zhao
- Cast:
- Brady Jandreau, Mooney, Tim Jandreau
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1920's outback Australia, Northern Territory. When Sam (Hamilton Morris), an Aboriginal farmhand who works for the local preacher (Sam Neill) is sent to help new neighbour and bitter war veteran Harry (Ewen Leslie), their relationship quickly deteriorates, ending in a violent and fatal shootout. Sam is forced to flee with his wife, pursued by lawman Sergeant Fletcher (Bryan Brown), but as the truth starts to surface, the community begins to question whether justice is really being served. - Director:
- Warwick Thornton
- Cast:
- Bryan Brown, Matt Day, Tremayne Doolan
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