plastic-teaspoon's - Rented List

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A subtle and beautifully observed social satire that deftly balances hope and despair, 'A Blonde in Love' is widely celebrated as one of the great films of the 1960's.

This bittersweet romance from Milos Forman, the multiple Oscar-winning director of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' and 'Amadeus', unfolds as a sweetly seductive tale of young love, but also provides a wry critique of life under totalitarianism. Aided by gorgeous cinematography and naturalistic performances, the film adeptly distils universal truths from the simplest of situations, presenting them with a sharp yet compassionate eye.

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"The Hunt" unfolds in a small provincial town in the days leading up to Christmas. Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), a forty year old divorcee, is finally getting his life under control.

He's got himself a new girlfriend, a new job and is in the process of re-building his relationship with his teenage son, Marcus. But things soon start to unravel. Nothing significant, just a slight comment here, a random lie there. And as the snow falls and the Christmas lights are lit, the lie spreads like an invisible virus. The shock and mistrust gets out of hand, and the small community suddenly finds itself in a collective state of hysteria, while Lucas fights a lonely fight for his life and dignity. "The Hunt" is a disturbing depiction of how a lie can quickly become truth - a modern tale of a witch-hunt, injustice, guilt and, ultimately, forgiveness. A fable on how fragile a community can become when gossip, doubt and malice are allowed to flourish. It is a stirring portrait of a man struggling to exonerate himself, and a father and a son reaching out for one another as their world crumbles.

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Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is truly living the high life. Flying all over the world on business, he never stops moving until he meets Alex, a fellow passenger and learns that life isn't about the journey, but the connections we make along the way.

Acclaimed by critics and audiences everywhere, Up In The Air is light and dark, hilarious and tragic, bouncy and brainy, romantic and real.

In the middle of the Second World War, Alyosha (Vladimir Ivashov) is commended for destroying two German tanks. Rather than take a medal, he requests a four-day pass to visit his mother. The film is about this journey and the life enhancing encounters therein.

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When Babette (Stéphane Audran), a beautiful and mysterious French refugee, arrives in a remote Danish town the tight-knit, puritanical community begrudgingly let her in, providing her with shelter and work.

But after the town patriarch passes away and Babette insists on preparing a feast in his honor, a magical world of sensory revelations is thrown open to the villagers, changing their lives forever...

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The goalkeeper Josef Bloch is sent off after committing a foul during an away game. Losing his bearings, he wanders aimlessly through the unfamiliar town, spends the night with the box-office attendant of a movie theatre and commits a crime.

But instead of turning himself in or fleeing, Bloch goes to his exgirlfriend's place in the country and passively waits for the police to catch him. The visual idiom of Hitchcock's films provided the model for Wenders' debut feature and he adheres minutely to the thoroughly "cinematic"' source, a novella by Peter Handke. With his cameraman Robby Muller and his editor Peter Przygodda, in 'The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick' Wenders set forth a collaboration that would weld this team together for years.

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Surrealism was arguably the most important artistic movement of the 20th century in Slovakia as it challenged both cultural and political establishments.

Stefan Uher's 'The Miraculous Virgin', an exquisite, surreal, mystery drama set in the art scene of the 1960's became one of Slovak cinema's most admired and controversial works. Centring on the 'dream' figure of Anabella (Knife in the Water's Jolanta Umecka) who casts her spell on a group of young artists, the film, through its embracing of fantasy and imagination, becomes a provocation to those only concerned with the material world.

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It's the story of a child and his obsession of pursuing his dream to become a filmmaker. How he buys his first camera, shoots his first amateur film, which marks the beginning of one of the most prestigious careers of any French director, Jacques Demy.

The story is told with emotion by Agnes Varda, who shared his life for years.

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Giulietta Masina gives a superb performance as the bored, timid, frumpy and ultimately unfilled housewife who suspects her husband is being unfaithful.

In an effort to escape the hurtful reality of her situation she enters a surreal fantasy world of her own by conjuring up spirits who lead her into a world a world of sensual pleasure. The images that Fellini creates become more and more dazzling and hypnotic in their effect. Much of the fantasy involves Juliet's fabulously outgoing and sexually liberated neighbour Suzy, but are they part of plot or is Fellini exploring his own desires?

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The tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who guide the widow of a noodle-shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe, this rapturous "ramen western" by Japanese director Juzo Itami is an entertaining, genre bending adventure underpinned by a deft satire of the way social conventions

distort the most natural of human urges - our appetites. Interspersing the efforts of Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) and friends to make her cafe a success with the erotic exploits of a gastronome gangster and glimpses of food culture both high and low, the sweet, sexy, and surreal 'Tampopo' is a lavishly inclusive paean to the sensual joys of nourishment, and one of the most mouthwatering examples of food on film ever made.

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This memorable collection of classic, British made erotica marks a mucky milestone in the history of our domestic cinema. A unique catalogue of this country's first legal full-frontal sex video's, it features a roll-call of familiar comedy actors and actresses.

Rude, nude and filthily funny, these are the hilarious and horny movies that had the 'dirty mac' brigade flocking to Soho's cinemas for more than a decade. Now widely available to buy on video for the very first time, they are a giggling, quivering mix of sex and comedy. Hove you ever wondered what really goes on behind all those sexy contact adverts in seedy magazines? Well, 'The Love Box' lifts the lid on the secret lives and lusts of the people who use them to seek out their kinky thrills. Like the bored horny housewives who long for a lusty stud; the teenage virgin seeking an older woman to 'initiate' him; and the sex-mad couples who want to spice up their lives with a bit of wife-swapping. Whatever your secret games, there are plenty of passionate playmates in 'The Love Box' - the most sexciting contact sport ever invented!

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This delightful comedy is the debut film of director Ivan Passer and a signature work of the Czech New Wave. The film follows two old friends, both musicians, reunited when one returns to the small village where they grew up.

Finding humour in every aspect of ordinary life, the film shows true affection and understanding for all its characters. Addressing the concerns of living in a totalitarian state with a beguiling lightness of touch, and enchantingly shot by Miroslav Ondricek, 'Intimate Lighting' is a subtle and beautifully observed drama of the everyday.

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Alain Delon in his star-making role, plays Tom Ripley, an American who travels to Europe on an all-expenses-paid mission to convince his friend, the charismatic playboy Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet), to travel to San Francisco at the request of the wealthy Greenleaf family.

Initially, the pair enjoy the good life in Italy, often to the anger and dismay of Philippe's much put-upon fiancee Marge (Marie Laforet). However, as Tom's funds begin to run dry, it becomes more and more apparent that Philippe has no intention of returning to the U.S., forcing Tom to consider more calculated means of maintaining his extravagant lifestyle.

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"Black Peter" is the debut feature from Oscar-winning director Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus). A wry comedy set in 1960's Czechoslovakia, the film explores the passions and confusions of teenage life.

Peter is tentatively taking his first steps into the adult world; he has a new job and a new focus for his burgeoning erotic fantasies -provoking conflict with the older generation. With a cast of mainly non-professional actors, Forman conjures up a naturalistic and witty portrait of everyday life under totalitarianism. Full of charming performances, youthful spontaneity and a rock n roll soundtrack, 'Black Peter' helped launch the internationally acclaimed Czech New Wave.

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Jacques Rivette's award-winning, critically acclaimed film stars Michel Piccoli in one of his finest performances as an artist who, ten years previously, abandoned his masterpiece entitled 'La Belle Noiseuse' (The Beautiful Troublemaker), a painting of his wife (Jane Birkin).

When he encounters the beautiful and fascinating Marianne (Emmanuelle Beart), he is inspired to return to the unfinished canvas, using her as his new model. But disturbing tensions develop as the work progresses and the reasons for the painting's original rejection begin to surface.