paul-b's - Rented List

Show moreShow less

This dark odyssey began with the tragic murders of three 8-year-old boys, whose bodies were discovered in a shallow creek in West Memphis, Arkansas.

The community demanded justice, and one month later the police delivered: three local teenagers accused of sacrificing the boys as part of a Satanic ritual. Despite overwhelming public antipathy towards them, defendants Damian Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley steadfastly maintained their innocence. Although the trial produced virtually no physical evidence connecting the defendants to the crime, the town, the jury, and the police felt that they had their killers, and used the young men's penchant for heavy metal music and black clothing and a fascination with the Wicca religion as evidence of their guilt. With unprecedented access to all the players, Berlinger and Sinofsky captured the events as they unfolded before their cameras. From actual courtroom footage and clandestine jailhouse interviews to behind the scenes strategy meetings and intimate portraits of grief-stricken families, "Paradise Lost" is a shocking yet uniquely American real-life drama.

Show moreShow less

For young, gifted art student Angelique, love has a name: 35-year-old cardiologist Loic. The only problem is that the object of her affections is not only a father-to-be but happily married... to someone else.

But when you are madly in love and desire something enough, nothing will stand in your way. A compelling and ingenuous feature debut from talented writer- director Laetitia Colombani, 'He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not' is a provocative and unsettling study of amour around you. A taut tale of passion and obsession recalling both Fatal Attraction and Play Misty For Me, the affair is expertly told from two visually and emotionally contrasting perspectives. 'He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not' will give you a whole new perspective on love and relationships.

Show moreShow less

Luis Bunuel's visceral depiction of life in Mexico's slums stunned audiences at the Cannes Film Festival in 1951, winning Best Director and relaunching the filmmaker's career after a twenty-year hiatus.

The film tells the story of an unloved teenage boy, Pedro (Alfonso Mejía), who fights to turn his life around against the circumstances of extreme poverty and the sinister influence of an older boy, El Jaibo (Roberto Cobo).

Show moreShow less

A visceral cinematic experience like no other, 'The Tribe' is a story that needs no translation. Deaf mute Sergey becomes embroiled in the illegal activities of the fearsome gang that rule the specialised boarding school he attends.

His burgeoning love for a fellow student however, soon leads him on a collision course with the gang's hierarchy.

Show moreShow less

In this gently probing family drama, 40-year-old Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) arrives with his wife and stepson at the home of his elderly parents to commemorate his older brother, who drowned some years earlier.

Hirokazu Koreeda's most Ozu-influenced film is a subtle, moving account of family tensions that delves deep into the differing assumptions and value systems of its generations. This was the director's first film to feature veteran actress Kirin Kiki, who would become a regular collaborator.

Show moreShow less

In one of cinemas most influential, and gripping, roles, James Dean plays Jim Stark, the new kid in town whose loneliness, frustration and anger mirrored those of most postwar teens - and reverberates more than 40 years later.

Natalie Wood (as Jim's girlfriend Judy) and Sal Mineo (in his screen debut as Jim's tag-along pal Plato) were Academy Award nominees for their achingly true performances.

Show moreShow less

On the Boardwalk of Dreams, everyone has a fantasy. Once the Queen of Resorts, Atlantic City has become the seedy Queen of Rackets. And with the legalisation of gambling, small-time gangsters like Lou (Burt Lancaster) are the losers; running numbers for the Mob can no longer offer a livelihood.

But aging Lou's life changes abruptly when he becomes involved with Dave (Robert Joy), a young dope dealer, and his estranged wife, the beautiful and ambitious Sally (Susan Sarandon). Working at the Casino oyster bar whilst taking a rigorous course in blackjack dealing, she dreams of a glamorous new life in the casinos of Monte Carlo. When Dave is killed, Lou and Sally find themselves thrown together in a real-life escapade involving love, money, dope and danger.

Show moreShow less

Frederique is a cool, rich predatory lesbian who picks up a young student, Why, taking her back to her elegant villa in St. Tropez. They lived happily together for some time, annoyed only by the lunatic pranks of the two resident camp buffoons.

At the party, Why is attracted to a young architect who readily seduces her. Frederique is rather amused by her young campions budding romance; but she later visits Paul and allows him to seduce her as well. Slowly and initially reluctantly he enters their lives and an uncertain, unsettling menage-a-trois is formed.

Malle's second film, 'The Lovers' stars Jeanne Moreau as a middle-class wife and mother who is bored with her life. But she is awakened when she meets Bernard (Jean-Marc Bory) a younger man with whom she embarks on an affair.

Show moreShow less

In 1986 Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, after two women are found raped and murdered, Seoul detective Seo Tae-yoon (Sang-kyung Kim) is brought in to help local detective Park Doo-man (Kang-ho Song) with the investigation.

As more bodies are found, the pair realise they have a serial killer on their hands. Inspired by true events, Bong Joon Ho's sophomore feature blends true-crime with social satire and even comedy is his typically masterful fashion.

Show moreShow less

When renowned TV personality Pierre Lachenay attends a conference in Lisbon, Portugal he meets Nicole a young, beautiful air hostess. He returns home to his wife. Franca, and their daughter in Paris, but he cannot get the dazzling Nicole off his mind and they soon start an affair.

But Franca is not willing to let another woman have her husband.

Show moreShow less

When his son is killed in a hit and run incident, Charles is determined to take revenge. After a long investigation, a chance meeting introduces him to Paul, whom he suspects murdered his child.

He decides to infiltrate Paul's family by faking a love affair with Paul's sister-in-law, only to find that the entire family also despise him. It is through this family hatred that Charles plots his revenge.

Show moreShow less

After a successful shoplifting spree, Osamu (Lily Franky) and his son rescue a little girl in the freezing cold and invite her home with them. Osamu's wife Nobuyo (Sakura Ando) reluctantly agrees to shelter her.

Although the family is poor, they live happily together until an unforeseen incident upsets the delicate balance they have created, revealing long-buried secrets...

Show moreShow less

A mind-bending classic of erotic cinema, 'The Lickerish Quartet' brings us a rich jaded couple and their grown-up son - bored after a night watching pornography - visiting a travelling stunt show, the star of which bears a striking similarity to the woman in the sex film they just saw.

Invited back to the castle for a drink, she soon becomes embroiled in a night of bizarre carnality, fantasy fulfilment and highly charged love games.
Hailing from a time when erotic cinema was embraced by the mainstream, 'The Lickerish Quartet' is a dream-like fantasy of liberated love and questing eroticism which blurs the boundaries between staid reality and the surreal realms of unbridled sexual fantasy.

Show moreShow less

Cassavetes' most commercially successful feature and a benchmark of American independent cinema, 'A Woman Under the Influence' is a devastating drama starring Gena Rowlands as Mabel Longhetti, a mother of three whose blue collar husband Nick (Peter Falk) toils as a construction worker.

Their simmering differences lead to a series of domestic dramas that eventually culminate in Mabel's nervous breakdown and six-month stay in a psychiatric hospital. Once released, Mabel and Nick must confront their uncertain futures.