soniagee's - Rented List
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City of Women (1980)La città delle donne
Federlco Fellini's epic 1980 fantasia introduced the start of the Maestro's delirious late period. A surrealist tour-de-force filmed on soundstages and locations alike, and overflowing with the same sensory (and sensual) invention heretofore found only in the classic movie-musicals (and Fellini's own oeuvre), La citta delle donne (City of Women) taps into the era's restless youth-culture, coalescing into nothing less than Fellini's post-punk opus. Marcello Mastroianni appears as Fellini's alter ego in a semi-reprise of his character from 8 1/2, Snaporaz. As though passing into a dream, the charismatic avatar finds himself initiated into a phantasmagoric world where women - or an idea of women - have taken power, and which is structured like an array of psychosexual set-pieces - culminating in a bravura hot-air balloon that decisively sticks the "anti" up into "climax". A great adventure "through the looking-glass", as it were, of Fellini's own phallic lens and life-long libidinal ruminations, La citta delle donne sharply divided critics at the 1980 Festival de Cannes, some of whom had merely anticipated a nostalgic retread of the earlier Mastroianni works. What they were greeted with, and what remains today, is, in the words of Serge Daney, "a victory of cinema". - Director:
- Federico Fellini
- Cast:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Prucnal, Bernice Stegers
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Take a hilarious ride with the Hoovers, one of the most endearingly fractured families in comedy history. Father Richard (Greg Kinnear) is desperately trying to sell his motivational success programme... with no success. Meanwhile, "pro-honesty" mom Sheryl (Toni Collette) lends support to her eccentric family, including her depressed brother (Steve Carell), fresh out of the hospital after being jilted by his lover. Then there are the younger Hoovers - the seven-year-old, would-be beauty queen Olive (Abigail Breslin) and Dwayne (Paul Dano), a Nietzsche-reading teen who has taken a vow of silence. Topping off the family is the foul-mouthed grandfather (Alan Arkin), whose outrageous behaviour recently got him evicted from his retirement home. When Olive is invited to compete in the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant in fat-off California, the family piles into their rusted-out VW bus to rally behind her - with riotously funny results. - Director:
- Jonathan Dayton
- Cast:
- Steve Carell, Regis Philbin, Toni Collette
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"The Lion in Winter", is set in England during Christmas 1183. Henry II (Peter O'Toole) is deliberating over who to chose as his successor, and plans a family reunion in the hope to resolve this. His scheming wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), and 3 sons: Richard the Lion-Hearted (Anthony Hopkins), Prince Geoffrey (John Castle), and Prince John (Nigel Terry) are all in attendance, and are all vying for the throne. Princess Alias (Jane Merrow) - Henry's mistress whom he wishes to marry and her brother, the young and crafty King Philip of France (Timothy Dalton) are also at the reunion. With much at stake, rebellion, treachery and deception is rife as everybody fights for their position on the throne. - Director:
- Anthony Harvey
- Cast:
- Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins
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From time to time Zapa (Jorge Roman), a thirty-something locksmith in a small Argentinean town, is pressured by his shifty boss to employ his safecracking skills on the wrong side of the law. Arrested during one such job, he's bailed out by his uncle, who also conveniently happens to be the former police chief of the town. Strings are summarily pulled, and Zapa is swiftly despatched to Buenos Aires where he joins the city's police force, the notorious bonaerense. After striking up a frenzied sexual relationship with one of his female instructors (Mimi Ardu), Zapa finds himself slowly but surely sucked into a hellish and unforgiving environment governed only by violence and corruption. - Director:
- Pablo Trapero
- Cast:
- Jorge Román, Mimí Ardú, Darío Levy
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Lo and Behold (2016)Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
Academy Award-nominated director Werner Herzog chronicles the virtual world from its origins to its outermost reaches, exploring the digital landscape with the same curiosity and imagination he previously trained on earthly destinations as disparate as the Amazon, the Sahara, the South Pole and the Australian outback. Herzog leads viewers on a journey through a series of provocative conversations that reveal the ways in which the online world has transformed how virtually everything in the real world works - from business to education to space travel and healthcare. - Director:
- Werner Herzog
- Cast:
- Elon Musk, Lawrence Krauss, Lucianne Walkowicz
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Based on the best-selling novel by Daphne du Maurier (author of the peerless Rebecca), My Cousin Rachel (1952) weaves an eerie tale of Gothic romance, set against the backdrop of the wild, rock-ribbed Cornish coast. Richard Burton, in his first American film role, stars as an anguished young Englishman, torn between dark suspicion of and an uncontrollable passion for his guardian's widow, the alluring and mysterious Rachel (Olivia de Havilland). With atmospheric direction by Henry Koster (The Robe) and a darkly romantic score by Franz Waxman (Sunset Boulevard), 'My Cousin Rachel' is a seductive entry in the annals of cinematic ambiguity. - Director:
- Henry Koster
- Cast:
- Olivia De Havilland, Richard Burton, Audrey Dalton
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Director - and piano player - Clint Eastwood explores his life-long passion for piano blues, using a treasure trove of rare historical acts as well as interviews and performances by such living legends as Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Little Richard and Dr. John. Piano Blues features interviews and live performances by Ray Charles, Dr. John, Marcia Ball, Pinetop Perkins, Dave Brubeck, J ay McShann and others; plus rare, archival performance footage from Ray Charles, Otis Spann, Art Tatum, Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, Jay McShann, Big Joe Turner, Oscar Peterson, Nat King Cole, Martha Davis, Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Charles Brown, Duke Ellington and others. - Director:
- Clint Eastwood
- Cast:
- Marcia Ball, Count Basie, Charles Brown
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Cyrano (Gerard Depardieu), a swashbuckling hero with a gift for verse, is in love with the beautiful Roxane (Anne Brochet) but fears his prominent nose would cause her to reject his romantic advances. Instead he uses his poetic artistry to help a dashing but shallow suitor, Christian (Vincent Perez), who employs the words to which Cyrano longs to give voice. But will the object of their affection realise who she’s really falling for? - Director:
- Jean-Paul Rappeneau
- Cast:
- Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, Vincent Perez
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Venus in Fur (2013)La Vénus à la fourrure
After a day of auditions for the female lead in his new play, writer-director Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) hasn't found anyone suited to the role. As he is about to leave a brash, unschooled actress named Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner) unexpectedly bursts in and Thomas reluctantly agrees to let her try out for the part. Within seconds he is stunned by her immediate transformation into a living apparition of his character. But as the likeness begins to appear to be much more than skin-deep and the extended audition builds momentum, Thomas moves from attraction to obsession... - Director:
- Roman Polanski
- Cast:
- Emmanuelle Seigner, Mathieu Amalric
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In the Academy Award-nominated classic, Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire join forces, lending their song and dance talents to the timeless musical. When a fashion magazine mogul (Kay Thompson) and her head photographer Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) scout out a bookstore for their next photo shoot, Dick discovers the unique face of bookseller and amateur philosopher Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn). Whisked off to Paris, Jo is soon transformed into a global supermodel...and finds herself falling for the photographer who first noticed her sunny, funny face. - Director:
- Stanley Donen
- Cast:
- Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson
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"The Queen of Ireland" is the incredible story of Pandora 'Panti' Bliss and her creator, Rory O'Neill. Part glamorous aunt, part Jessica Rabbit, Panti is an accidental activist arid, in her own words, 'a court jester, whose role is to say the unsayable'. Directed by Conor Horgan and produced by Blinder Films, the film follows Rory and Panti on their journey from a small town in Mayo to national figureheads for equality, and all the way to global spokespersons for LGBT rights. - Director:
- Conor Horgan
- Cast:
- Declan Buckley, Phillip McMahon, Una Mullally
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Successful doctor Artur Planck (Joseph Fiennes), his wife Clara (Neve Mcintosh) and their two daughters are seeking shelter from the Nazis storming Poland. They find a safe house in the farm of Emilia (Kelly Harrison), their local grocer who is all alone after her husband fought for his country and never returned. Amidst the horrors of the war that surrounds them, an impossible love triangle erupts as Emelia uncontrollably falls in love with Artur. Such a fragile arrangement is sustained by love - or is it just the will to survive? The answer to that question may not even be made known to those who make it out alive. - Director:
- Uri Barbash
- Cast:
- Katarzyna Al Abbas, Miroslaw Baka, Stanislaw Brejdygant
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After a stroke leaves her husband mentally disabled and fundamentally changed, spirited Irish housewife Vanetia (Maxine Peake) struggles to keep her family together in the wake of tragedy. A research grant from American doctor Ted Fielding (Will Forte), interested in documenting the father's recovery process, allows them to get by. Though Vanetia initially resents living under Ted's microscope, she soon finds comfort in his calming presence, while Ted responds to Vanetia's dynamic, unpredictable personality. As the two explore their bond within their unique situation, a new family begins to emerge. 'Run and Jump' is an unexpected, unconventional romance, intimate family portrait and emotional journey of recovery that ultimately uplifts through its heartfelt message of human connection and the power of acceptance. - Director:
- Steph Green
- Cast:
- Maxine Peake, Edward MacLiam, Will Forte
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Atlantic City (1980)Atlantic City, USA
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. - Director:
- Louis Malle
- Cast:
- Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid
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In 1939, the editor of the New York Daily Globe sends Haverstock, a crime reporter, into Europe in the hope of getting a fresh angle. Naive and wholly ignorant of international affairs, Haverstock launches himself eagerly onto the London scene, where he meets and falls in love with Carol Fisher (Laraine Day), whose father heads an important peace organisation. Before long, Haverstock witnesses the assassination of a Dutch diplomat at terrifying close hand. Hot on the trail of the killer, he soon finds himself deeply embroiled in the evil workings of an international spy ring. - Director:
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Cast:
- Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, George Sanders
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