soniagee's - Rented List
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'Mad' Mary McArdle (Seána Kerslake) returns to Drogheda after a short spell in prison - for something she'd rather forget. Back home, everything and everyone has changed. Her best friend, Charlene (Charleigh Bailey), is about to get married and Mary is maid of honour. When Charlene refuses Mary a 'plus one' on the grounds that she probably couldn't find a date, Mary becomes determined to prove her wrong. Her attempts at dating are a disaster and she winds up feeling more alone... until she meets Jess and everything changes. 'A Date for Mad Mary' is a tough and tender story about friendship, first love, and letting go of the glory days. - Director:
- Darren Thornton
- Cast:
- Seána Kerslake, Tara Lee, Charleigh Bailey
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In the 1920s, political activist Jimmy Gralton built a dance hall in rural Ireland. As the hall grew in popularity its free-spirited reputation brought it to the attention of the church and politicians who forced Jimmy to flee and the hall to close. A decade later, at the height of the Depression, Jimmy returns from the US. The hall stands abandoned but as Jimmy sees the poverty and growing oppression in the village, the leader and activist within him is stirred. He decides to reopen the hall, and so takes on the established authorities of the church and the government. - Director:
- Ken Loach
- Cast:
- Barry Ward, Simone Kirby, Andrew Scott
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In this personal pilgrimage, world-renowned pianist and conductor, Daniel Barenboim, travels to Buenos Aires to rediscover his home town, the magic of tango and the legend of its greatest pioneer, Carlos Gardel. Interviews and fabulous archive footage evoke the glamorous and optimistic spirit of Buenos Aires in the early 20th century, and provide a framework for investigating the forces which brought such material and artistic wealth to its impoverished, immigrant communities. Barenboim demonstrates tango styles and techniques, and brings the music of Gardel, Salgan, Piazzolla and Ginastera to life in performances with Rodolfo Mederos and Hector Console, and in a thrilling partnership with Placido Domingo. - Director:
- José Montes-Baquer
- Cast:
- Daniel Barenboim, Hector Console, Rodolfo Mederos
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It is summer in Santiago and Tristan's perfect life is falling apart. His girlfriend leaves him, his job is interrupted by a strike, and his suitcase is stolen. On the other end of the city, Cristina's quiet life is changing. She finds the suitcase inside a garbage can and enters Tristan's world through his big headphones, smoking his cigarettes and becoming the silent witness to his downfall. Cristina and Tristan wander a hot and polluted Santiago de Chile, both searching but unable to find each other. - Director:
- Alicia Scherson
- Cast:
- Viviana Herrera, Andres Ulloa, Aline Küppenheim
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8½ (1963)Otto e mezzo
Marcello Mastroianni is (Fellini's alter ego) Guido, a successful filmmaker who, embarking on his next film, discovers he has a complete "director's block": he has no story to tell! Harassed by his producers, his mistress (Sandra Milo) and his wife (Anouk Aimee), while struggling to find the inspiration for his film, he increasingly retreats in dreamy recollections of his life and lovers, until fantasy, memories and reality merge in the director's mind - and on screen, in an astonishing, masterful spectacle, culminating in an electrifying triumph of optimism. As Guido-Federico says at the end of 8 1/2: "Life is a party, let's live it together!" - Director:
- Federico Fellini
- Cast:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale
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"Molly's Game" is based on the incredible true story of Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain), a former Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested by armed FBI agents. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba), who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe. - Director:
- Aaron Sorkin
- Cast:
- Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner
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I Vitelloni (1953)I vitelloni
The film is essentially a rites of passage story involving a group of friends growing up together in a small provincial town. This seemingly aimless fraternity is led by Fausto in their daily routine of hanging around in bars and wasting their days whilst dreaming of breaking free of their parochial chains to taste the adventure the world has to offer. Events force the womanising Fausto to choose between responsibility and freedom which in turn prompts the other members of the group to look at their own futures in a new light. - Director:
- Federico Fellini
- Cast:
- Alberto Sordi, Franco Fabrizi, Franco Interlenghi
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Christine 'Lady Bird' McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mum (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working tirelessly to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird's father (Tracy Letts) loses his job. 'Lady Bird' is an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the unmatched beauty of a place called home. - Director:
- Greta Gerwig
- Cast:
- Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts
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The Ways of Wine (2010)El Camino del Vino
A tender mockumentary that goes down as smooth as a swill of Merlot. World-renowned sommelier Charlie Arturaola is living his dream; he "travels the world on a wine bottle"... until he quite literally loses his taste for the tipple. When Arturaola arrives in Argentina for the prestigious Masters of Food and Wine event, he rapidly gets caught up in a fluster of glamour, stress, and far too many varieties of grape. Without warning, the wine expert's taste suddenly vanishes. In a quest to recover his lost palate, Arturaola encounters some of the biggest names in the real-life world of wine. Traversing from tiny backyard wineries to vast vineyards, the sommelier's touching journey eventually takes him back to his humble Uruguayan roots. Nicolas Carreras' poignant, joyful tale stars major real-world wine heavyweights Susana Balbo and Patricia Ortiz, as well as Charlie Arturaola's wife, Pandora Anwyl. - Director:
- Nicolás Carreras
- Cast:
- Pandora Anwyl, Charlie Arturaola, Susana Balbo
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A Trip to the Moon (2017)Un viaje a la luna
A deliriously stylish journey through the mind of an outcast adolescent, 'A Trip to the Moon' (Un viaje a la luna) is the first feature from Argentinean director Joaquin Cambre. Featuring memorable cinematography from Nicolas Trovato, this playfully exciting coming-of-age dramedy has gained great acclaim on the festival circuit. Tomas is a teenager with problems. Socially awkward and under constant pressure from his family, exam-related stress and unrequited love for his neighbour Iris finally tip him over the edge and he begins to plan a trip to the moon. - Director:
- Joaquín Cambre
- Cast:
- Leticia Brédice, Luis Machín, Angelo Mutti Spinetta
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Based on the novel by Katherine Anne Porter 'Ship of Fools' is set in 1933 aboard a luxury liner bound from Mexico to Germany. Among the many passengers are Vivien Leigh as a divorce desperate for love and lost youth. Also starring are Simone Signoret as a Spanish noblewoman being deported as a political prisoner, Lee Marvin as an aging, alcoholic ballplayers, and Jose Ferrer as a budding Nazi whose brutishness foreshadows the holocaust to come. Their separate but interlocking stories, beautifully observed by director Stanley Kramer, serve as a brilliant microcosm of a world on the verge of war. - Director:
- Stanley Kramer
- Cast:
- Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, José Ferrer
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Hungry for Love (1960)Adua E Le Compagne
Four prostitutes abandon their 'working girl' lifestyle after a change in the law closes their bordello. They open a restaurant. Flourishing, successful and happy they find that their past comes back to haunt them as they are reported to the police and forced to consider their old 'jobs' as part of the landlord's tenancy agreement. - Director:
- Antonio Pietrangeli
- Cast:
- Simone Signoret, Marcello Mastroianni, Sandra Milo
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Journey to Italy (1954)Viaggio in Italia
Widely misunderstood and shamefully denigrated at the time of its original release, but now recognised as not simply one of Rossellini's greatest films but as one of the key works of modern cinema, 'Journey to Italy' is a deceptively simple piece. There is little plot to speak of: a marriage is breaking up under the strains of a trip to Italy, and we watch. But in its deliberate rejection of many aspects of 'classic' Hollywood narrative and its stubborn pursuit of a quite different aesthetic, its meandering story line creates space for ideas and time for reflection. - Director:
- Roberto Rossellini
- Cast:
- Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders, Maria Mauban
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The Holy Girl (2004)La Nina Santa
Lucrecia Martel's outstanding new film is an enigmatic and absorbing tale about the temptation of good and the evil it causes. Sixteen year old schoolgirl Amalia (Maria Alche) lives with her divorcee mother, the manager of a shabby hotel which is hosting a medical conference. When a stranger makes a crude pass at her in a crowded street, Amalia later discovers that it was in fact one of the distinguished conference attendees, Dr Jano (Carlos Belloso). Consumed by the heady combination of her fervent religious education and burgeoning sexuality, Amalia resolves to save the respected doctor from sin, a mission that brings both their works to the brink of collapse. - Director:
- Lucrecia Martel
- Cast:
- Mercedes Morán, Carlos Belloso, Alejandro Urdapilleta
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The legendary dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, who died in 2009, transformed the language of dance with her extraordinary and revolutionary body of work. This mesmerising film by the acclaimed director Wim Wenders, captures Bausch's aesthetic in an utterly thrilling way and features some of her greatest choreographies, brilliantly performed by her Tanztheater Wuppertal ensemble. A visually dazzling celebration of her life and work, 'Pina' is a feast for the senses and one of the film events of the year. - Director:
- Wim Wenders
- Cast:
- Pina Bausch, Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo
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