ryan-the-american's - Rented List

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The speakeasy era never roared louder than in this gangland chronicle that packs a wallop under action master Raoul Walsh's direction.

Against a backdrop of newsreel-like montages and narration, it follows the life of jobless war vetran Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney) who turns bootlegger, dealing in 'bottles instead of battles'. Battles await eddie within and without his growing empire. Outside are territorial feuds and gangland bloodlettings. Inside is the treachery of double-dealing associate (Humphrey Bogart). It would be 10 years before Cagney played another gangster (in White Heat), a time in which gangster movies themselves became rare. 'He used to be a big shot'. Panama Smith (Gladys Goerge) says at the finale, marking Bartlett's demise...and signalling the end of Hollywood's focus on the gangster era.

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Two men enter. One man leaves. That's the law in Bartertown's Thunderdome arena. But lawmaker Aunty Entity will soon add another.

Don't get Max mad! 'Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome' stars Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon, Maverick) for his third go-round as the title hero who takes on the barbarians of the post-nuclear future - and this time becomes the saviour of a tribe of lost children. Music superstar Tina Turner steals what's left of the screen as Aunty Entity, a power-mad dominatrix determined to use Max to tighten her stranglehold on Bartertown. Directors George Miller and George Ogilvie deliver another rousing final apocalypse-on-wheels and one of the best movie fight scenes ever, as Max and the gladiatorial Blaster face off with maces, chainsaws and anything not nailed down inside Thunderdome. 'Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome': watch and you'll agree with the soundtrack song that "We Don't Need Another Hero".

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In the annals of action movies few can compare with 'Mad Max 2', a full-throttle epic of speed and carnage that rockets you into a dreamlike landscape where the post-nuclear future meets the mythological past. More simply, its also one of the most mind-blowing stunt movies ever made.

Max (Mel Gibson) the heroic loner who drives the roads of outback Australia in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defenders of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by the Humungus (Kjell Nilsson), notorious for never taking prisoners when they can pulverise them instead. When the battle is joined, the results are savage, spectacular and with Mad Max 2 on your side, screen action doesnt get any better.

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From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) moves relentlessly towards her goal: taking the reins of power from the great actress Margo Channing (Bette Davis).

The cunning Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend (Gary Merrill), her playwright (Hugh Marlowe) and his wife (Celeste Holm). Only the cynical drama critic (George Sanders) sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit. Thelma Ritter and Marilyn Monroe co-star in this acclaimed classic, which won six Academy Awards and received the most nominations (14) in film history.

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On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, rookie LA cop, Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) is sent out on the streets with veteran detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington) for a day that will make or break him. Pass the test he becomes a detective. Fail, it's back to traffic duty.

As Alonzo pushes his young charge to cross lines and break rules, Jake's misgivings about his superior grow as he begins to suspect that Alonzo does not simply push the boundaries... he has become a rogue cop.

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Amidst the neon and glitter of Las Vegas, the tumultuous relationship of two ordinary people, Frannie (Teri Garr) and Hank (Frederic Forrest), flames out on a Fourth of July weekend.

Immediately, each flies off on passionate flights of fancy: Frannie with the handsome and romantic Ray (Raul Julia) and Hank with Leila (Nastassja Kinski), a seductive European runaway. But it's not until the dawn of a new day that they will learn where their hearts will truly lead them.

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Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) lives above the world, alongside a flock of birds, in a homemade shack on the roof of an abandoned building. Guided by the words of an ancient Samurai text, Ghost Dog is a professional killer able to dissolve into the night and move throughout the city unnoticed.

When Ghost Dog's code is dangerously betrayed by the dysfunctional mafia family that occasionally employs him, he must find a way to defend himself without breaking the code of the samurai.

A troubled young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and religious cousin in a small Pennsylvania town where he tries to redeem his bloodcraving urges after he falls for a lonely housewife, all the while his hostile cousin becomes convinced that the young man is actually Nosferatu.

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Following Pu Yi (John Lone), the last of the Emperor's of China, from his birth in 1908, through his childhood in the fortress-like Forbidden City and his later misguided collaboration with the Japanese in World War II, 'The Last Emperor' tells the history of modern China through the eyes of the

man brought up to believe that he was the country's divine ruler.

When a young office clerk, Bartleby (John McEnery), becomes increasingly defeated by the pressures of modern life, he gradually opts out of all forms of social engagement and his frustrated employer (Paul Scofield) does all he can to stop him from withdrawing entirely into his own world.

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In 1926 the tragic and untimely death of a silent screen actor caused female moviegoers to riot in the streets and in some cases to commit suicide - that actor was Rudolph Valentino. Ballroom dancer Valentino manipulated his good looks and animal-like grace into a Hollywood career.

His smouldering love making, tinged with a touch of masterful cruelty, expressed sexuality which was at once both shocking and sensual.

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This monumental mid-nineteenth-century epic from Jan Troell charts, over the course of two films, a Swedish farming family's voyage to America and their efforts to put down roots in this beautiful but forbidding new world.

Movie legends Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann give remarkably authentic performances as Karl Oskar and Kristina, a couple who meet with one physical and emotional trial after another on their arduous journey. The precise, minute detail with which Troell depicts their story - which is also that of countless other people who sought better lives across the Atlantic - is a wonder to behold. Engrossing at every step of the way, the duo of 'The Emigrants' and 'The New Land' makes for perhaps the greatest screen drama about the settling of America.

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With stunning performances from Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen and Marion Bailey this film also gave several of a new generation of British actors their first lead roles on the big screen including: Sally Hawkins, James Corden and Daniel Mays.

Following different tales of melancholy, alcoholism, a violent abusive boyfriend and a frustrated unemployed youth - there seems to be no hope for a brighter future and no chance of escape yet glimmers of joy and humour still prevail. An authentic and deeply enjoyable Mike Leigh classic.

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When Eve (Geraldine Page), an interior designer, is deserted by her husband of many years, Arthur (E.G. Marshall), the emotionally glacial relationships of the three grown-up daughters are laid bare.

Twisted by jealousy, insecurity and resentment, Renata (Diane Keaton), a successful writer; Flyn (Kristin Griffith), a woman crippled by indecision; and Joey (Marybeth Hurt), a budding actress; struggle to communicate for the sake of their shattered mother. But when their father unexpectedly falls for another woman (Maureen Stapleton), his decision to remarry sets in motion a terrible twist of fate...

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A critically acclaimed film that won a total of eight 1970 Academy Awards (including Best Picture), 'Patton' is a riveting portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest military geniuses. One of its Oscars went to George C.

Scott for this triumphant portrayal of George Patton, the only Allied general truly feared by the Nazis. Charismatic and flamboyant, Patton designed his own uniforms, sported ivory-handled six-shooters, and believed he was a warrior in past lives. He outmaneuvered Rommel in Africa, and after D-Day led his troops in an unstoppable campaign across Europe. But he was as rebellious as well as brilliant, and as 'Patton' shows with insight and poignancy, his own volatile personality was one enemy he could never defeat.