mwdw's - Rented List
-
The Negotiator (2018)Beirut / High Wire Act
The collateral damage of civil war is all-encompassing and unforgiving; a brutal setting for tense negotiations, especially when the results could have monumental consequences. Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike star as CIA agents in this nail-biting intelligent thriller. In 1972, former US diplomat, Mason Skiles (Jon Hamm), was caught up in a terrorist attack that changed his life forever. 10 years later, whilst working as a mediator in Boston, Skiles receives an unwanted invitation to visit Beirut, a territory plagued by war and violence. Quickly dragged back into the system he hastily left, Mason is assigned a mission of negotiating a swap with a terrorist group: a kidnapped American CIA agent for a terrorist leader. Obligated to cooperate, Skiles is assigned a cultural attache (Rosamund Pike) to help navigate the city. Unravelling clues and uncovering political agendas along the way, the duo discover that relationships between America, Palestine and Israel may be more convoluted, and even more corrupt, than first thought...'The Negotiator' is a suspenseful drama that questions government loyalties, how far one person is willing to push themselves in the pursuit of justice and where the moral line in the sand is drawn when faced with the severest of situations. Clandestine operations and a web of intrigue intertwine. - Director:
- Brad Anderson
- Cast:
- Jon Hamm, Jay Potter, Khalid Benchagra
- Formats:
-
-
Things to Come (2015)L'avenir
Nathalie (Isabelle Huppert) teaches philosophy at a high school in Paris and divides her remaining time between her family, former students and her eccentric mother. But when her husband announces he is leaving her for another woman she finds a newfound freedom suddenly thrust upon her that is simultaneously liberating and disconcerting. Featuring a remarkable performance from Huppert, 'Things to Come' is an intelligent, poetic and naturalistic exploration of one woman's pursuit of contentment in the face of adversity. - Director:
- Mia Hansen-Løve
- Cast:
- Isabelle Huppert, André Marcon, Roman Kolinka
- Formats:
-
-
Lion (2016)A Long Way Home
Five-year-old Saroo (Sunny Pawar) gets lost on a train travelling away from his home and family. Frightened and bewildered, he ends up thousands of miles away, in chaotic Kolkata. Somehow he survives living on the streets, escaping all sorts of terrors and close calls in the process, before ending up in an orphanage that is itself not exactly a safe haven. Eventually Saroo is adopted by an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham), and finds love and security as he grows up in Hobart. As an adult, not wanting to hurt his adoptive parents' feelings, Saroo (Dev Patel) suppresses his past, his emotional need for reunification and his hope of ever finding his lost mother and brother. But a chance meeting with some fellow Indians reawakens his buried yearning. Armed with only a handful of memories and his unwavering determination, Saroo sets out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home. - Director:
- Garth Davis
- Cast:
- Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara
- Formats:
-