m-balsara's - Rented List
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Director Mike Nichols brings Patrick Marber's highly acclaimed theatrical tour de force Closer to the screen. An uncompromisingly honest look at modern relationships, Closer is the story of four strangers (Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen) - their chance meetings, instant attractions and brutal betrayals. - Director:
- Mike Nichols
- Cast:
- Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Clive Owen
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George Khan, proud Pakistani and chip shop owner, rules his family with a rod of iron. He thinks he's raising his seven children to be respectable Pakistanis - but this is Salford in the North of England, in 1971. For the seven kids of George Khan life is one long compromise. Tomboy Meenah prefers playing footie to wearing a sari, hippie Saleem pretends to be studying engineering when he's really at art school, heart throb Tariq has got a reputation as a local Casanova, and Sajid hasn't even been circumcised yet! In the Khan's cramped terrace house with its scant indoor plumbing, anarchy erupts on a daily basis. - Director:
- Damien O'Donnell
- Cast:
- Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Jordan Routledge
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In the wake of a painful estrangement from his daughter, boxing trainer Frankie Dunn has been unwilling to let himself get close to anyone for a very long time - then Maggie Fitzgerald walks into his gym. In a life of constant struggle, Maggie's gotten herself this far on raw talent, unshakable focus and a tremendous force of will. But more than anything, she wants someone to believe in her. The last thing Frankie needs is that kind of responsibility - let alone that kind of risk - but won over by Maggie's sheer determination, he begrudgingly agrees to take her on. In turns exasperating and inspiring each other, the two come to discover that they share a common spirit that transcends the pain and loss of their pasts, and they find in each other a sense of family they lost long ago. Yet, they both face a battle that will demand more heart and courage than any they've ever known. - Director:
- Clint Eastwood
- Cast:
- Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman
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Layer Cake (2004)L4yer Cake
From the producer of Snatch, Matthew Vaughn makes his directorial debut in the stylish crime thriller Layer Cake. Based upon J.J. Connolly's London crime novel, 'Layer Cake' is about a successful cocaine dealer (Daniel Craig) who has earned a respected place among England's Mafia elite and plans an early retirement from the business. However big boss Jimmy price (Kenneth Cranham) hands down a tough assignment: find the missing daughter of Jimmy's old pal Edward (Michael Gambon). Complicating matters are millions of pounds worth of Grade A ecstasy, a brutal Serbian gang and a whole series of double crossing. When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, he (Craig) has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin... - Director:
- Matthew Vaughn
- Cast:
- Daniel Craig, Sienna Miller, Michael Gambon
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Tess, portrayed by the entrancing Nastassja Kinski, is the daughter of a poor, drunken farmer who discovers that he is actually of noble descent. Tess is sent off to live with their proper and wealthy relatives. There, she is seduced by a suave but sinister cousin and bears him a bastard son who dies while still an infant. The backdrop is morally rigid Victorian England where Tess must carry the shame of her past even into her marriage to a minister's son, until she cleanses herself of all guilt in one ultimate act of passion. - Director:
- Roman Polanski
- Cast:
- Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, Leigh Lawson
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Yesterday strangers, today inseparable soulmates. But separate they must in just a few hours. Jesse and Celine are making every moment count, pouring as much living as they can into the time 'Before Sunrise'. From Richard Linklater comes another smartly observed tale of young people at a crossroads. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy play twenty-somethings who meet on a train in Europe, sense a connection and explore after-hours Vienna together. The people, places and allure of the city become their sudden itineraries. Love is their destination. On the way there's the mutual sharing of hopes, jokes, dreams, worry and wonder. It's a day to linger in their memories. And a valentine to young love forever. - Director:
- Richard Linklater
- Cast:
- Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Andrea Eckert
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Intimate Strangers (2004)Confidences Trop Intimes
Walking into the wrong room, Anna (Sandrine Bonnaire) ends up confessing her marriage problems to a financial adviser named William Faber (Fabrice Luchini). Touched by her distress and somewhat excited by her presence, Faber does not have the courage to reveal to her that he is not actually a psychiatrist. As time progresses, a strange relationship ensues. William is moved by the young woman, and fascinated to hear her confess her deepest secrets. But who is Anna and is she really fooled by this little game? - Director:
- Patrice Leconte
- Cast:
- Sandrine Bonnaire, Fabrice Luchini, Michel Duchaussoy
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Gattaca (1997)The Eighth Day
As one of the last "natural" beings born into a genetically engineered world, Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) has none of the 'pre-ordered' DNA that will guarantee him success. Desperate to realise his dream of exploring space, Vincent assumes the identity of a genetically superior athlete (Jude Law). Avoiding detection using the athlete's genetic markers, Vincent becomes a rising star at Gattaca Aerospace, attracting the attention of a stunning co-worker (Uma Thurman). But when a flight director is brutally murdered, a clue left at the crime scene threatens to shatter Vincent's plans... - Director:
- Andrew Niccol
- Cast:
- Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law
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Central Station (1998)Central Do Brazil
Dora (Montenegro) is a lonely and cynical older woman who spends her days unhappily writing letters for illiterate customers at Rio de Janeiro's Central Station. But things begin to change when she reluctantly befriends a homeless orphan, Josue. When she agrees to help Josue search for the father he's never known, Dora also rediscovers something she'd thought was lost forever: her heart. - Director:
- Walter Salles
- Cast:
- Fernanda Montenegro, Vinícius de Oliveira, Marília Pêra
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You are invited to the hottest, funniest, most outrageous party Hollywood ever threw! Packed with gorgeous models, ravishing starlets, powerful producers - and even a baby elephant - this comic masterpiece evokes near-continuous howling laughter and stars the inimitable comic genius Peter Sellers! When accident-prone Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi (Sellers) manages to blow up an expensive Hollywood movie set - just seconds before it's scheduled to be blown up on film - the director calls a studio executive to have the actor placed on the "exclusion list". A clerical error, however, places Bakshi on the "A list" instead and earns him an invitation to the studio executive's swanky party. Once there, he manages, with nothing but the best intentions to create disaster! - Director:
- Blake Edwards
- Cast:
- Peter Sellers, Vin Scully, Claudine Longet
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Vincent (Tom Cruise) is a cool, calculating contract killer at the top of his game. Max (Jamie Foxx) is a cabbie with big dreams and no results. On this fateful night, Max has to transport Vincent on his next job - one night, five stops, five hits and a getaway. Thrown together, their lives in collision - neither man will ever be the same again. Tonight everything is changing... - Director:
- Michael Mann
- Cast:
- Tom Cruise, Michael Waxman, Jamie Foxx
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Detective Frank Bullit's new assignment seems routine: protecting a star witness for an important trial. But before the night is out, the witness lies dying and the cool, no-nonsense Bullitt (Steve McQueen) won't rest until the shooters - and the kingpin pulling their string - are nailed. From the opening shot to closing shootout, Bullitt crackles with authenticity: on-location San Francisco filming, crisp dialogue and to-the-letter police, hospital and morgue procedures. An Oscar winner for Best Film Editing (1968), this razor-edged thriller features on of cinema history's most memorable car chases. - Director:
- Peter Yates
- Cast:
- Steve McQueen, Frank Gerstle, Jacqueline Bisset
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No Man's Land (2001)Nicija Zemlja
Against the sunny landscape of a Bosnian summer, two enemy soldiers are trapped in a trench in no man's land. The world's press watch as a French UN sergeant battles with a British colonel to negotiate their safety. And the only people who speak the same language are the men fighting each other for survival in the trench. Surprisingly funny, strikingly moving, No Man's Land is a portrait of the petty normality, not only of one particular war, but of all conflicts everywhere. - Director:
- Danis Tanovic
- Cast:
- Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic
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15 miles from land. One million square miles of ocean. No one knows they're missing. Daniel and Susan are about to embark on the dive of a lifetime - an underwater tour of the Caribbean. But when the couple surface, the dive boat is nowhere to be seen. Cold and miles from land, Daniel and Susan soon discover they're not alone... as isolation and terror set in, the fight for survival is on. While they turn to each other for support, Daniel and Susan can't help but fear for their lives, and begin to question their fate at the hands of their tormentors... - Director:
- Chris Kentis
- Cast:
- Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein
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Sex and Lucia (2001)Lucía y el sexo
Lucia is a young waitress working in a restaurant in the centre of Madrid. After the loss of her long-term boyfriend, a writer, she seeks refuge on a quiet, secluded Mediterranean island. There, bathed in an atmosphere of fresh air and dazzling sun, Lucia begins to discover the dark corners of her past relationship, experienced as if through the forbidden passages of a novel which the author allows her to read from afar. - Director:
- Julio Medem
- Cast:
- Paz Vega, Tristán Ulloa, Najwa Nimri
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