jrp's - Favourites List

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Sebastian Faulks' epic love story set against the First World War, which became a modern classic when it was published in 1993, is adapted for the screen for the first time by Abi Morgan.

The action of the two part film moves between 1910 and 1916, telling the story of Stephen Wraysford (Eddie Redmayne), a young Englishman who arrives in Amiens in Northern France to stay with the Azaire family and falls desperately in love with Isabelle Azaire (ClémencePoésy). They begin an illicit and all-consuming affair, but the relationship falters. Years later, Stephen finds himself serving on the Western Front in the very area where he experienced his great love. As he battles amidst the blood and gore of the trenches he meets Jack Firebrace (Joseph Mawle), a tunneller who unexpectedly helps him endure the ravages of war and enables him to make peace with his feelings for Isabelle.

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Captain Phillips is a multi-layered examination of the true story of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates.

Based on a true story, the film focuses on the Alabama's commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who takes him hostage. The two men are set on an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips' unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control.

During the darkest days of World War II, the British government enlist the help of mathematician Alan Turing to crack Enigma, the unbreakable German encryption device. Turing and his team of code breakers must unlock the Enigma Code before their operation is infiltrated and more lives are lost.

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When Iris (Emily Blunt) finds her best friend Jack (Mark Duplass) is down in the dumps she suggests he spend a weekend at her family's remote island retreat.

Upon arriving Jack discovers Iris's attractive sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt) had the same idea and is in a similar emotional state of despair. The two find common ground over a large bottle of tequila and one thing leads to another. When Iris arrives the next morning unannounced she further complicates matters for Jack and Hannah as she confides to her sister she has fallen in love with Jack.

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Raised on hip-hop and foster care, defiant city kid Ricky (Julian Dennison) gets a fresh start in the New Zealand countryside. He quickly finds himself at home with his new foster family: the loving Aunt Bella, the grumpy Uncle Hec (Sam Neill), and dog Tupac.

When a tragedy strikes that threatens to ship Ricky to another home, both he and Hec go on the run in the bush. As a national manhunt ensues, the newly branded outlaws must face their options: go out in a blaze of glory or overcome their differences and survive as a family.

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Nobel Prize winning German scientist, Werner Heisenberg, is aiding the Nazis' efforts to develop an atom bomb using 'heavy water' from a factory deep in the Norwegian mountains.

Desperate to crush Hitler's catastrophic goal, The Allies plan and mount a series of daring sabotage missions to blow up the plant before the Germans can create their potentially devastating nuclear weapon, an enterprise fraught with many dilemmas and epic challenges, the outcome of which will determine the future of democracy itself. Leading English, Norwegian and German actors portray the real-life characters and heroes of one of the most exciting stories from the Second World War, dramatised over six parts.

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1943. They had never set foot on French soil, but because France was at war, four young Algerian men, Said, Abdelkader, Messaoud and Yassir, enlisted in the French army along with 130,00 other 'indigenous soldiers', to liberate the 'fatherland' from the Nazi enemy.

Days of Glory chronicles the story of these forgotten heroes and the discrimination they subsequently faced from the French authorities. After seeing the film, French President Jacques Chirac agreed to restore veterans' pensions to the North Africans who fought along French troops during the war. A movie can make a difference...

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In Cairo at the height of the Arab Spring, hotel night manager Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) receives a plea for help from the beautiful Sophie Alekan (Aure Atika).

As the mistress of the powerful but dangerous hotel owner, Sophie has evidence of an arms deal that could help crush the popular uprising. Compelled to do what he thinks is right, Pine makes contact with his friend at the British Embassy. But his actions unwittingly draw him into the terrifying world of ruthless arms dealer, Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie). When Sophie's information makes its way to Angela Burr (Olivia Colman), a government anti-corruption agent intent on bringing down Roper's empire, a leak in her network triggers a chain of events that end in tragedy.

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In a small German town in 1919, Anna (Paula Beer) repeatedly visits the grave of her fiance, Frantz (Anton von Lucke), who was killed in battle during World War I. One day she spies a mysterious young Frenchman Adrien (Pierre Niney), also laying flowers at the grave.

She enquires about his business there and he explains he was a friend of Frantz. The pair become increasingly close and Anna becomes more and more intrigued by Adrien's history with her fiance. Long buried secrets are revealed that will illuminate unknown areas of their past lives and impact their future ones in a wearied and battle-scarred Europe. At once graceful and gripping, 'Frantz' is an intimate and timely exploration of healing and forgiveness across European borders.

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Tawai is a word the nomadic hunter gatherers of Borneo use to describe the connection they feel to their forest home.

In this dreamy, philosophical and sociological look at life, Bruce Parry (of the BBC's Tribe, Amazon and Arctic) embarks on an immersive odyssey to explore the different ways that humans relate to nature and how this influences the way we create our societies. From the forests of the Amazon and Borneo to the River Ganges and Isle of Skye, Tawai is a quest for reconnection, providing a powerful voice from the heart of the forest itself.

A murdered girl's defiant mother (Frances McDormand) boldly paints three local billboards, each with a controversial message, igniting a furious battle with a volatile cop (Sam Rockwell) and the town's revered chief of police (Woody Harrelson).

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"Spiral" is back for another intriguing, gripping and critically acclaimed series about the imperfect people upholding law and order in Paris.

Laure Berthaud (Caroline Proust) returns early from maternity leave to help the team put a name to an anonymous murder victim identifiable only by use of his dismembered torso. Meanwhile, a high-profile trial involving a boy accused of murdering his own father tempts a jaded Joséphine (Audrey Fleurot). Magistrate Roban (Philippe Duclos) grows distracted and makes uncharacteristic mistakes.

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When the mutilated body of a young woman is found on a disused railway track in the North of Paris, Police Captain Laure Berthaud seizes the opportunity to restore a tarnished reputation and leads her squad on the hunt for what she believes to be a deranged serial killer.

However, with her personal life in tatters and a potential rift emerging from within her own ranks, Berthaud's world is on the verge of disintegration. Meanwhile the impeccable career of Public Prosecutor Pierre Clement falls into disrepute when his insistence on integrity makes him a pariah in the corridors of justice and ambitious barrister Josephine Karlsson attempts to untangle herself from some dubious associations - with dangerous consequences.

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Sixteen years after their first collaboration on the groundbreaking Rivers and Tides, filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer returns with 'Leaning Into the Wind: Andy Goldsworthy', an absorbing documentary portrait of the influential British sculpter and environmentalist.

The film journeys from Andy's home in Dumfriesshire to France, Brazil and the USA as he creates stunning works of art from the world around him. Meditative, transportive and visually ravishing, this is an essential reflection of its subject's increasing prominence and how his work continues to astound and inspire.

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When a man stumbles on a bloody crime scene, a pickup truck loaded with heroin, and two million dollars in irresistible cash, his decision to take the money sets off an unstoppable chain reaction of violence. Not even west Texas law can contain it.

Based on the novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy.