saj's - Rented List

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A poor nobleman has a plan to rid his homeland of its disease infested swamp. To do this he needs backing and so heads to the court of King Louis XVI in a bid to solicit aid.

He soon discovers that the worthiness of the plan itself will not grant him an audience with the King, at Versailles the sharpness of one's wit is what gets you noticed. Those found lacking in the art of wordsmanship are maliciously despatched.

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Lonely Depression-era waitress Cecilia (Mia Farrow) is hopelessly addicted to Hollywood movies. Spellbound by her new favorite, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Cecilia is astonished when the leading man (Jeff Daniels) suddenly walks off the screen to meet her.

Wooed by his charm, Cecilia finds herself falling for him - until she meets the real actor who plays him. Romanced by both a fictional character and a famous star, Cecilia struggles to locate the shifting line between fantasy and reality, only to discover that sometimes it's just a heartbeat away.

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The quintessential Marx Brothers comedy. Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and yes, Zeppo, are at their manic peak in this uproariously anarchic parody of college life.

As the fun-loving president of Huxley College, Groucho tries to keep the student body in line while attempting to keep his own body near a flirtatious floozie (Thelma Todd) who is secretly trying to rig the big football game between Huxley and arch rival Darwin University. Plot aside, and it usually is, Horse Feathers contains some of the greatest sequences in movie comedy history, including a classic schoolroom shoot-out between Groucho and students Harpo and Chico, as well as an unforgettable football game finale. Other gems include each brother offering his personal rendition of "Everyone Says I Love You" and a speak-easy sequence that will forever give meaning to the word "swordfish". The fourth and perhaps funniest Marx Brothers comedy boasts a script by immortal humorist S.J. Perelman, songs by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (including Groucho's theme, "I'm Against It") and direction by the great Norman McLeod.

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There is a philosophical theory that we should be born with a small amount of alcohol in our blood; that modest inebriation opens our minds to the world around us diminishing problems and increasing creativity.

Intrigued Martin (Mads Mikkelsen) and three of his friends all weary high school teachers, embark on a risky experiment to maintain a constant level of intoxication throughout the workday. Initial results are positive, but as the units are knocked back and stakes are raised, it becomes increasingly clear that some bold acts carry severe consequences.

Featurete is a surreal, comic vision of modern life in which the director's much-loved character, Monsieur Hulot - accompanied by a cast of tourists and well-heeled Parisians - turns unintentional anarchist when set loose in an unrecognisable Paris of steel skyscrapers, chrome-plated shopping malls and futuristic night spots.

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Jane Palmer (Lizabeth Scott) and her husband Alan (Arthur Kennedy) mysteriously have $60,000 literally dropped in their laps. The circumstances seem mighty suspicious to Alan, who wants to turn the money over to the police. But in a materialistic rapture, Jane won't let it go.

She doesn't care where it came from, or what danger might ensue - not if it will bring her the luxury she craves. Enter shady Danny Fuller (Duryea, as cocky and menacing as ever), who claims the money belongs to him. Let the games begin! Roy Huggins' snappy script (adapted from his novel) is a complex, breezy and black-hearted homage to James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler. Rapacious housewife Jane Palmer is one of the juiciest female villains in Hollywood history, and Liz Scott's best role ever.

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Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) is a washed up Broadway producer forced to romance old ladies to finance his plays.

When timid accountant Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder) is brought in to do his books, he inadvertently reveals to Bialystock that under the right circumstances, a producer could make more money with a flop than a hit. Bialystock cajoles Bloom into helping him achieve this end and together they come up with what they consider to be a sure-fire disaster waiting to happen - a musical version of Adolf and Eva's love story entitled 'Springtime for Hitler'. But is it possible that they might actually have the most unlikely hit of all time on their hands?

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"Promising Young Woman" is a bold new vision that has ignited a debate starring Academy Award Nominee Carey Mulligan as 'Cassie': a wickedly smart but singularly focused woman, who in order to overcome events from her past lives a double life by night. Following an unexpected encounter.

Cassie is given the chance to right the wrongs of the past.

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Manic stunt work, elaborate sight gags and mind-boggling mechanical comedy are just some of Keaton's work featured in these movies.

Known the world round as the 'Stone' face comedy actor, with charming moments of intimate humour flavoured with rich pathos, uniquely graceful and characteristically hilarious. That's Buster Keaton'

Our Hospitality
Keaton plays a New Yorker who returns to his roots in the South and finds himself involved in a feud between his family and those of the woman he loves. Packed with superb visuals and sight gags including a train journey, which has to be seen to be believed.

Sherlock Junior
A mild mannered theatre projectionist dreams of becoming a great detective when he enters the film he is projecting! This is one of Keaton's finest masterpieces which within its fourty-four minutes manages to present a dazzling display of cinematic inventiveness, non-stop comedy and dare-devil stunts.

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Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood', a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.

After a jaded magazine writer (Emmy winner Matthew Rhys) is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about kindness, love and forgiveness from America's most beloved neighbour.

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Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, an ageing silent film queen, and William Holden as the struggling writer who is held in thrall by her madness, created two of the screen's most memorable characters in Sunset Boulevard.

Winner of three Academy Awards, director Billy Wilder's orchestration of the bizarre tale is a true cinematic classic. From the unforgettable opening sequence through the inevitable unfolding of tragic destiny, the film is the definitive statement on the dark and desperate side of Hollywood. Erich von Stroheim as Desmond's discoverer, ex-husband and butler, and Nancy Olson as the bright spot in unrelenting ominousness, are equally celebrated for their masterful performances.

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Prohibition era gangster Roy Earle (Humphrey Bogart) walks out of prison...and into two unfamiliar worlds: the jitterbugging 1940s and the towering majesty of 'High Sierra'. This fast-paced, heist-gone-wrong manhunt movie is also a fascinating study of a man time has passed by.

Earle identifies more with the era's homeless Okies than the callow punks he leads on a disastrous hotel robbery. Then the teenager he loves (Joan Leslie) rejects him and only Marie (Ida Lupino), a weary '30s survivor like himself, remains loyal when cops close in.

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Johnny Aysgarth (Cary Grant) is a handsome gambler who seems to live by borrowing money from his friends. Whilst travelling on a train in a first class carriage with only a third class ticket, he meets shy Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine) whom he soon starts to date and before long they marry.

Only after their honeymoon does she discover his true character in this film-noir thriller.

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Arts patron Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont) intends to pay pompous opera star Lassparri (Walter Woolf King) $1,000 per performance.

Hey, maybe that's why they call it grand opera! Grand comedy, too, as Groucho, Chico and Harpo cram a ship's stateroom and more than wall-to-wall gags, one-liners, musical riffs and two hard-boiled eggs - all while skewering Lassparri's schemes and helping two young hopefuls Rosa and Riccardo (Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones) get a break. To save the opera, our heroes must first destroy it. And they must also gain ocean passage as stowaways, pull the wool (if not the beards) over the eyes of City Hall, shred legal mumbo-jumbo into a Sanity Clause, pester dowager Claypool and unleash so much glee that many say this is the best Marx Brothers movie. Seeing is believing.

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Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) is a meek but respected bank clerk who, on his way home from a dinner in recognition of his service, goes to the aid of Kitty Marsh (Joan Bennett) who is being attacked by Johnny Prince, her lowlife boyfriend (Dan Duryea).

Attracted by her beauty, but contrary to his usual persona, he takes Kitty for a drink and tells her that he is a famous painter. Kitty and Johnnie soon plan to take Chris for all he's got. He is pulled into a world of crime and deception by this seductive femme fatale and her manipulative boyfriend. For their sins Kitty and Johnnie pay a heavy price but, after a bizarre chain of events and sordid brutality, it is Chris who is left a broken man, deranged - and in a living hell.