lyn's - Rented List
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The location: a picturesque seaside town in 1991. The scene: two bodies in a carbon monoxide filled car. Nurse, Lesley Howell, and police officer, Trevor Buchanan, have apparently taken their own lives... This is the true story of a Sunday school teacher and respectable dentist and pillar of the community, who formed a murderous partnership. Hazel Buchanan and Colin Howell met at their local Baptist Church in Coleraine, Northern Ireland and embarked upon a passionate and destructive affair, which climaxed in an elaborate plot to commit the "perfect murder". - Director:
- Nick Murphy
- Cast:
- James Nesbitt, Genevieve O'Reilly, Katherine Kingsley
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The Emmy Award-winning 'Justified' returns for its fourth season with U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) picking at the thread of a cold case over 30 years in the making and unravelling a riddle that echoes all the way back to his boyhood and his criminal father's bad dealings. Meanwhile, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) finds his own criminal grip on Harlan County loosening due to a Pentecostal preacher with a penchant for theatrics and a knack for manipulation. Developed by Graham Yost, 'Justified' is based on the works of crime novelist Elmore Leonard, including Leonard's short story "Fire in the Hole". - Director:
- Michael Dinner
- Cast:
- Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter
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The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)Le chagrin et la pitié
Marcel Ophuls' four-and-a-half hour portrait of the French town of Clermont-Ferrand under German occupation from 1940-44 is one of the greatest documentaries ever made, as important as Claude Lanzmann's 'Shoah' in its value not just as a film but as an essential historical record in its own right - not least since its interviewees are all long dead. Describing the fall of France and the rise of the Resistance, with the aid of newly-shot interviews and eye-opening archive footage including newsreels and propaganda films, Ophuls painstakingly crafts a complex, nuanced picture of what really happened in France over this period. He also demolishes numerous self-serving national myths to such an extent that, although he made the film for French television, they wouldn't show it for over a decade. But, as he demonstrates again and again, the overwhelming majority of French citizens during this period weren't heroes, villains or cowards, but simply ordinary people trying to make the best of an impossible situation. And it's Ophuls' portrayal of these people, their hopes, their fears and their appalling moral quandaries, that remains unmatched in film history. - Director:
- Marcel Ophüls
- Cast:
- Georges Bidault, Matthäus Bleibinger, Charles Braun
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As shown on TV, 'Nazi Collaborators' explores the fascinating and often shocking tales of how individuals from all walks of life: the privileged; the political elite; ordinary working men; turned against their nations and races to fight alongside the Nazis during World War 2. Many did it for financial gain, others for the promise of elevated status. Some believed that siding with the imperialist Germans offered the best chance of survival for their people, whilst others would later claim they would be killed if they refused. From the Jewish leader who offered up his people as free labour, to the ex-French Prime Minister who actively aided the Nazi hunt for the Resistance. And from the IRA-German plot to invade Northern Ireland to the brutal killing squads of Lithuania, this ground-breaking series explores the complex motivations behind the controversial paths these collaborators chose. - Director:
- Nick Aarons
- Cast:
- Gilbert Achcar, Helen Aronson, Konstantin Cande
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Len Green is a man in crisis. After four and a half years in prison and having more than provided for his family through a lifetime of crime, the one-time getaway driver has decided to go straight and earn an honest living. But how will his wife, Gloria and four daughters adjust to their new-found, and much less influential, status? And will it really be so easy for Len to resist the temptations offered by his criminal past, particularly when his old cohorts are so reluctant to let him go? Offered work in his Uncle Irwin's undertaking business, Len's rose-tinted view of his family life is gradually obliterated. Faced with a series of challenges, in the form of the seven deadly sins, he struggles to reach a greater understanding of his life, love, family and friends - and of himself. - Director:
- Sallie Aprahamian
- Cast:
- Pete Postlethwaite, Geraldine James, Caroline Hayes
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Written and directed by four-time Oscar nominee Gary Ross and starring Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey, "Free State of Jones" is an epic action-drama set during the Civil War, and tells the story of defiant Southern farmer, Newt Knight, and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Banding together with other small farmers and local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones. - Director:
- Gary Ross
- Cast:
- Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali
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When a counterterrorism raid goes tragically wrong, Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott refuses to participate in a cover-up. Ostracised by colleagues, he transfers to an anticorruption unit, AC-12, in the process of investigating one of the Force's most respected officers, Detective Chief Inspector Tony Gates. Not only has Gates just been awarded Officer of the Year, his squad has returned the best crime figures for three consecutive years. But can anyone really be that good? Arnott doesn't think so and soon he and Gates are embroiled in a game of cat-and-mouse but as the stakes get higher it isn't just careers on the line it's lives. - Director:
- David Caffrey
- Cast:
- Martin Compston, Darren Morfitt, Owen Teale
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"Prohibition", a three-part documentary series, is the fascinating story of idealism, folly, and above all, unintended consequences. In 1920, after a century of debate, America amends the Constitution to ban the manufacture and sale of alcohol, turning millions of law-abiding citizens into lawbreakers overnight. Over the next 13 years, a society founded on individual freedom becomes a nation of scofflaws - and hypocrites.
Here are the stories of the small-time whiskey-jobbers, big-time bootleggers, and brutal gangsters; flappers dancing the Charleston in speakeasies; immigrant families stomping grapes in basements and making moonshine in their backyards. But beyond the cocktails, this is also a darker tale about divisive single-issue lobbyists; fear-mongering and smear campaigns; and the perils of unfunded mandates. It raises profound questions about the proper role of government, individual rights and responsibilities, and who is and who is not a real American.
By the 1930s, few can deny that Prohibition is a disaster, and with the country in the throes of the Great Depression, Americans have finally had enough. In 1933, they come to their senses and repeal the 18th Amendment, putting an end to the "Noble Experiment".- Director:
- Ken Burns
- Cast:
- Adam Arkin, Patricia Clarkson, Philip Bosco
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As a ferry carrying 300 passengers from Denmark pulls into an Icelandic town's small port, heavy snow begins to fall. The ferry can't leave until the storm passes and the main road into town is impassable. A mutilated and dismembered body washes on the shore, an unidentifiable man murdered only hours ago. The local police chief, Andri Olafssun, whose personal life is in shatters, realises a killer has descended into his town. As word spreads, order disintegrates into chaos as the ferry's passengers and the town's residents realise they are all possible suspects and that a killer is trapped among them. - Director:
- Baltasar Kormákur
- Cast:
- Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson
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Emerging from the war-torn shadows of England's Dark Ages, an idealistic mason, Tom Builder (Rufus Sewell), sets out on a quest to erect a glorious cathedral bathed in light. But when that light threatens to illuminate the dark secrets of ambitious Bishop Waleran Bigod (Ian McShane) and the battling progeny of King Henry, Queen Maud (Alison Pill) and King Stephen (Tony Curran), they'll stop at nothing to keep those secrets safe! - Director:
- Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
- Cast:
- Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne
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The explorers who searched for the source of the Nile were some of the most colourful and controversial in all history. Fueled by faith, greed and obsession they endured the hardships of grueling African expeditions while locked in fierce rivalries, each determined to claim the prize of discovery. The stories of their epic adventures are brought to life in this sumptuous 6 hour BBC production from 1971, digitally remastered and released on video for the very first time. The Emmy Award winning series, shot entirely on film in authentic locations in East Africa, was one of the most expensive and ambitious of its time and enthralled a huge audience worldwide. Today, 'The Search for the Nile' remains a powerful classic of BBC period drama. - Director:
- Fred Burnley
- Cast:
- James Mason, Kenneth Haigh, John Quentin
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This provocative and riveting four-part drama tells the story of Sugar (Romola Garai) an alluring, intelligent young prostitute who yearns for a better life away from the brothel she is attached to, run by the contemptible Mrs Castaway (Gillian Anderson). However, things change for her when she meets wealthy businessman William Rackham (Chris O'Dowd). Sugar is a thrilling antidote to William, who is saddled with a pious brother, Henry (Mark Gatiss) , and fragile wife, Agnes (Amanda Hale) who regularly endures visits from the invasive physician Doctor Curlew (Richard E Grant). William ensconces Sugar as his mistress and she soon grows accustomed to her new life. Yet unbeknownst to William, Sugar begins to hatch a plan which sets a series of events in motion that will change their lives forever... - Director:
- Marc Munden
- Cast:
- Romola Garai, Chris O'Dowd, Amanda Hale
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Can you believe what your leaders tell you - even if you are the British Ambassador in Washington? In this high octane, action-packed, conspiracy thriller, a terrifying plot is played out along the dark corridors of power. When a flight explodes in mid-air near Washington DC, the shocked capital struggles to come to terms with the disaster. For Mark Brydon, British Ambassador to Washington, the incident has immediate consequences and, driven into a web of tangled relationships and conflicting interests, his abilities are tested to their very limits. As truth and lies are sacrificed for expediency, where nothing is what it first appears, Brydon slowly realises that he is being manipulated by a powerful, invisible puppeteer. Torn between his duty and his conscience, unable to trust anyone, Brydon is about the throw away the Foreign Office manual and try to get to the heart of the conspiracy... - Director:
- Michael Offer
- Cast:
- Jason Isaacs, Ben Daniels, Eva Birthistle
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After transferring from a big city to the small town of Brokenwood Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea) has settled into the relaxed rhythms of country life. His methodical young assistant, Detective Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland), has adapted to Shepherd's unconventional ways - and even tolerates listening to country music in his 1971 "classic" car. Despite the growing accord between the mismatched pair, all is not well in Brokenwood, where passions simmering beneath the sleepy surface regularly erupt into gruesome crimes. In these four feature-length mysteries, Shepherd and Sims contend with a potential serial killer, a group of egocentric thespians, a family of territorial fishermen, and the mysterious death of Snepherd's favourite singer. Filmed on location in New Zealand's beautiful North Island, these engrossing mysteries boast compelling characters, dry humour and piquant wit. - Director:
- Mike Smith
- Cast:
- Neill Rea, Fern Sutherland, Pana Hema Taylor
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Trevor Eve is Felix Cramer, a mediocre and frustrated novelist who is fast approaching middle age and suffering writer's block. When Cramer develops a fascination for the eighteen year old daughter of his best friend Richard (Jim Carter) an illicit affair gradually begins. Sally (Rudi Davies) is about to leave for university but falls hopelessly in love. When the affair is exposed, simmering family tensions finally explode and Cramer's actions come to dramatically affect the lives of everyone around him. From author Andrea Newman, this gripping drama examines the damaging consequences of a dangerous affair and features Trevor Eve in one of his most anti-heroic roles. So convincing was his portrayal that Newman received letters from women claiming to know the real-life love-rat she based the character on. This seven part BBC series is widely hailed as a classic drama exploring the complexities and contradictions of love, friendship, marriage and adultery. - Director:
- Bruce MacDonald
- Cast:
- Trevor Eve, Lisa Harrow, Jim Carter
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