mfb's - Rented List
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Featuring an award-winning creative team and all-star cast, 'Harlots' is a powerful drama set against the vibrant, cosmopolitan backdrop of 18th century Georgian London, offering a bold new take on the city's most valuable commercial activity - sex. Inspired by the stories of real women, and the men who surround them, this provocative character-driven series centres on the formidable Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton) and her daughters (Jessica Brown Findlay and Eloise Smyth) as she struggles to reconcile the role of mother with brothel owner. When her business comes under attack from Lydia Quigley (Lesley Manville), a rival madam with a ruthless streak, Margaret will fight back, even if it means putting her family at risk. Combining wit with high drama, this fast-paced tale of family, power and brutal economics shines a light on the extraordinary businesswomen who helped to build the London we know. - Director:
- Coky Giedroyc
- Cast:
- Bronwyn James, Alexa Davies, Dorothy Atkinson
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Strike (1925)Stachka
Taking an historical event from 1912, Eisenstein marries the new Soviet propaganda ideals of the heroic worker with his own theories of avant garde art. Following the suicide of a sacked factory worker, his colleagues hold a peaceful strike, but their bosses retaliate with savage force. Capturing the brutality with power and immediacy, Eisenstein's visuals move from the slaughter of cattle to the butchery of the Cossack army, simultaneously inventing and breaking cinematic rules. - Director:
- Sergei Eisenstein
- Cast:
- Maxim Shtraukh, Anatoli Kuznetsov, Grigori Alexandrov
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It is 1941 and Nazi Germany, having won the Battle of Britain, is the occupying force in the UK. Based on SS-GB, the bestselling novel by Len Deighton, renowned London murder detective Douglas Archer (Sam Riley) is caught between his brutal new SS superiors and a ruthless British resistance as he investigates what looks like a blackmarket-related murder. Determined to uphold the law and protect the ones he loves, Archer soon finds himself drawn into a treacherous plot with global implications. In a country under hostile occupation, how do you do the right thing when you're on the wrong side? - Director:
- Philipp Kadelbach
- Cast:
- Sam Riley, Maeve Dermody, James Cosmo
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One of the earliest adaptations of L Frank Baum's compelling children's book, it was directed by and starred Larry Semon, one of his few feature length films. Its revival however owes much to the presence of Oliver Hardy in the role of a farmhand/tin woodsman, four years before he was linked with Stan Laurel. Whilst the story of 'The Wizard of Oz' has become universally popular, thanks in large measure to the success of the 1939 film, this version offers an interesting variation on the theme - there's no witch! - Director:
- Larry Semon
- Cast:
- Dorothy Dwan, Charles Murray, Oliver Hardy
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When Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty (Amy Huberman) discovers that her fiancé and fellow solicitor, Eric (Rory Keenan), has been cheating on her with a colleague, she breaks up with him, quits her job at the prestigious law firm where they worked together, and begins accepting clients out of a makeshift office in the back of a café. With the help of Ray (Emmet Byrne) her street-smart client-turned-assistant, private detective Meg Riley (Fiona O'Shaughnessy), and friend and mentor Senior Counsel Vincent Pike (Neil Morrissey), Tara takes on a series of cases that often pit her against her former colleagues and the influential families of the legal establishment she is trying to leave behind. - Director:
- Lisa James-Larsson
- Cast:
- Ingrid Craigie, Amy Huberman, Elva Trill
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Master of the House (1925)Du skal ære din hustru
Since the failure of his small business, Victor has become a household tyrant, constantly complaining and criticising his long-suffering family. The saintly forbearance of his wife Ida seems only to drive Victor to ever more vindictive acts of tyranny. Finally Victor's old nanny, watching his behaviour with increasing fury, takes drastic action. With an enchanting performance from Astrid Holm at its centre, this is a carefully observed comedy of manners, tackling issues of domestic inequality which are still relevant today. Meanwhile the wonderful Mathilde Nielsen as Nanny Mads ensures a rich vein of humour runs through this emotional and deeply affecting film. - Director:
- Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Cast:
- Johannes Meyer, Astrid Holm, Karin Nellemose
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From Illumination Entertainment, the studio that brought you 'The Secret Life of Pets', comes an animated comedy about finding the music that lives in all of us. 'Sing' stars Matthew McConaughey as Buster Moon, an eternally optimistic koala who puts on the world's greatest singing competition to save his crumbling theatre; Reese Witherspoon as Rosita, an overworked and underappreciated mother of 25 piglets desperate to unleash her inner diva; Scarlett Johansson as Ash, a punk rock porcupine with a beautiful voice behind her prickly exterior; and Taron Egerton as Johnny, a young gangster gorilla looking to break free of his family's felonies. 'Sing' is the musical comedy event of the year! - Director:
- Christophe Lourdelet
- Cast:
- Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane
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Go West (1924)
A fascinating alternative to the manic stunt work and elaborate sight gags that distinguish the films of Buster Keaton, Go West offers a rare and satisfying glimpse of his talent for more expressive comedy: charming moments of intimate humor flavoured with rich pathos.Hard Luck (1921)
Sight gags a galore, Hard Luck (which Keaton named as his favourite short work) follows a suicidal Buster as he makes a final effort at fitting in with society at a swank country club.
The Scarecrow (1920)
One of Keaton's most mind-boggling mechanical comedies, The Scarecrow follows two roommates vying for the attention of a young lady.- Director:
- Buster Keaton
- Cast:
- Buster Keaton, Howard Truesdale, Kathleen Myers
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Jen (Matilda Lutz) is enjoying a romantic getaway with her wealthy boyfriend Richard (Kevin Janssens) until his two sleazy friends arrive early for an unannounced hunting trip. As tension mounts in the house, the situation abruptly and viciously intensifies, culminating in a shocking act that leaves Jen for dead. Unfortunately for her assailants, she survives and soon begins a relentless quest for bloody revenge. - Director:
- Coralie Fargeat
- Cast:
- Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Avant Strangel, Kevin Janssens
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Genius: Series 1 (2017)Genius: Albert Einstein
From executive producers and Academy Award Winners Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, National Geographies first-ever scripted series, 'Genius', offers an extraordinary look into the life of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein. Academy Award Winner Geoffrey Rush stars as the rebellious daydreamer who went on to become the greatest scientific mind of the 20th century. Beyond his groundbreaking theories of relativity, you'll witness Einstein's struggles to be a good husband and father - and a man of principle during a time of global unrest. With Johnny Flynn as young Albert and Emily Watson as his second wife, Elsa, 'Genius' takes you on an unprecedented, 10-episode journey of discovery guided by Einstein's wit, wisdom and insatiable thirst for knowledge. - Director:
- Ron Howard
- Cast:
- Geoffrey Rush, Johnny Flynn, Samantha Colley
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When Ellen (Morven Christie), a successful architect in her mid-thirties, becomes pregnant, she finds maternity cover in Paula (Vicky McClure): brilliant and enthusiastic. Ellen champions her, but quickly begins to feel uneasy, as she is convinced something is not right about Paula. Are her suspicions simply a result of female rivalry and her own insecurity or do they speak to something deeper? This psychological thriller set in Glasgow examines workplace rivalry, motherhood and the issues that arise from making 'the right choice'. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Morven Christie, Vicky McClure, Richard Rankin
- Formats:
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In 2008, a nine-year-old girl goes missing on a bleak council estate in the north of England. A frantic search ensues but no trace of her can be found and within a few hours the police investigation takes on the scale of a murder enquiry. Appeals by the apparently grief-stricken mother, Karen Matthews, come to nothing and yet the community, led by the indomitable Julie (played by Sheridan Smith) stand by her and make extraordinary efforts of their own to find Shannon. The case rapidly becomes one which grips the entire nation. And then, just as all hope is close to fading, she is found alive. The wild celebrations of the community are cut short when they learn that Shannon has been found with a man known to Karen Matthews. Was there a conspiracy? - Director:
- Paul Whittington
- Cast:
- Dean Andrews, Kirsty Armstrong, Catherine Breeze
- Formats:
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Loveless (2017)Nelyubov
Zhenya (Maryana Spivak) and Boris (Aleksey Rozin) are going through a vicious divorce marked by resentment, frustration and recriminations. Already embarking on new lives, each with a new partner, they are impatient to start again, to turn the page - even if it means threatening to abandon their 12-year-old son Alyosha (Matvey Novikov). Until, after witnessing one of their fights, Alyosha disappears. - Director:
- Andrey Zvyagintsev
- Cast:
- Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Maryana Spivak, Aleksey Rozin
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Emily Watson stars as Dr. Yvonne Carmichael, a smart, successful woman with a conventional and contented life, married to husband Gary, mother to two grown up children. When a chance encounter builds to a passionate affair, fantasy and reality soon start to overlap; finally everything she values is put at risk as a life-changing act of violence leads to a Crown Court trial... - Director:
- Jessica Hobbs
- Cast:
- Wendy Albiston, Greg Bennett, Kezia Burrows
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It is summer 1962, and England is still a year away from huge social changes: Beatlemania, the sexual revolution and the Swinging Sixties. Florence (Saoirse Ronan) and Edward (Billy Howie) are just married and honeymooning on the dramatic coastline of Chesil Beach in Dorset. However, the hotel is old fashioned and stifling, and underlying tensions between the young couple surface and cast unexpected shadows over their long anticipated wedding night. 'On Chesil Beach' is a tender story which shows how the entire course of a life can be changed simply by a gesture not made or a word not spoken. - Director:
- Dominic Cooke
- Cast:
- Billy Howle, Saoirse Ronan, Andy Burse
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