wintertrees's - Favourites List
-
This film tells the story of Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) and her new love Kim (Christina Cox). Maggie has flunked law school and is working for uptight Frances, who runs a gay bookshop in Vancouver. Kim is a van-dwelling artist. It's love at first sight, but, just as their relationship is blossoming, Maggie learns that her mother and brother are coming to visit. They don't know about Maggie's sexuality, that she now has a girlfriend or that she is flat-sitting for a woman who runs Safer Sex With Latex workshops. Will Maggie come clean and come out? Will her mother cope with her recent divorce and her daughter's lifestyle? Will Frances get her books back from customs? Will post-op transsexual Judy ever break through Frances' reserve and win her heart? And who will find the stash of sex toys in the flat...? - Director:
- Anne Wheeler
- Cast:
- Wendy Crewson, Karyn Dwyer, Christina Cox
- Formats:
-
-
In a culture steeped in tradition, one young girl challenged the past and found hope for the future. The Maori living in a small village on the coast of New Zealand claim their descent from Paikea, the Whale Rider. In every generation, a male heir has succeeded as chief. That time is now. When twins are born and the boy twin dies, Koro the chief is unwilling to accept his grand-daughter, Pai, as a future leader. As Pai matures, KIoro remains convinced that the tribe's misfortunes began at her birth and calls for his people to bring their sons to him, in the hope that the new leader is among them. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must stand up to him and a thousand years of tradition to reveal the true way forward. - Director:
- Niki Caro
- Cast:
- Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton
- Formats:
-
-
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)Hauru no ugoku shiro
Sophies life is thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome-yet-mysterious wizard named Howl. Subsequently transformed into a 90-year-old woman by the wicked Witch of the Waste, she embarks on an incredible odyssey to lift the curse, and finds refuge in Howl's magical moving castle. - Director:
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast:
- Ken Yasuda, Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura
- Formats:
-
-
Spirited Away (2001)Sen to chihiro no kamikakushi
Chihiro, a headstrong 10-year-old girl, is unhappy that her family are moving house and that she will have to make new friends. As they make their way to the new home, Chihiro's father takes a detour to explore a mysterious tunnel in the woods. On the other side is what seems to be a deserted theme park but is in fact a ghostly town. Unwittingly, they have strayed into the Land of the Spirits, a world of dreamlike scenery inhabited by ancient gods and magical beings, ruled over by the sorceress, Yubaba. With her parents held captive and Yubaba set on enslaving them forever, Chihiro must use all her energy to survive in this strange new place. With the help of Haku, a brave young spirit, she is forced to overcome her Pears and join an epic battle for her family's freedom. - Director:
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast:
- Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino
- Formats:
-
-
My Neighbour Totoro (1988)Tonari no Totoro
While their mother recovers from an illness, Satsuki and her little sister Mei (voiced in English by Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning) get away from it all in an idyllic rural retreat. Far from the bustle of the city, they discover a mysterious place of spirits and magic, and the friendship of the Totoro woodland creatures.
Conceived as a family film devoid of conflict and suffused with the carefree pleasures of the summertime, My Neighbour Totoro sees Hayao Miyazaki create a parable of friendship and imagination populated with unforgettable characters. A universal classic for all generations, My Neighbour Totoro shows Japanese animation's famous Studio Ghibli at its very best, and is an elegy to two ever-fading miracles: the fairytale world of childhood and the disappearing countryside.- Director:
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast:
- Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto
- Formats:
-
-
Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)La vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2
15-year-old Adele (Adele Exarchopoulos) feels like an average teenager, with school, friends, parents and boys taking up most of her time and thoughts. That is until a chance encounter with a beguiling blue-haired girl (Lea Seydoux) turns her world upside down, forcing her to question her desires and assert herself as a woman and as an adult. - Director:
- Abdellatif Kechiche
- Cast:
- Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche
- Formats:
-
-
Created from the novels by award winning crime writer Ann Cleeves, 'Shetland' follows Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall) and his team as they investigate crime within the close knit island community. In this isolated and sometimes inhospitable environment, the team have to rely on a uniquely resourceful style of policing. Set against a hauntingly beautiful landscape, 'Shetland' is based on the best selling books Red Bones, Raven Black, Dead Water and Blue Lightning. - Director:
- Peter Hoar
- Cast:
- Sandra Voe, Douglas Henshall, Erin Armstrong
- Formats:
-
-
Award-winning crime writer Ann Cleeves' bestselling detective series returns for a third season as DI Jimmy Perez faces a gripping new single mystery. When a young man disappears on the overnight ferry to Shetland, the team embark on a challenging case that leads them from the suspicious close-knit communities of the remote Shetland Islands to Perez's old stomping ground in Glasgow. As they start to unpick this increasingly complex conspiracy, Perez is aided by, and becomes involved with, enigmatic police official Asha. But he is unprepared for the ruthlessness of his adversaries, who are willing to take an appalling step to protect their interests: one that will have a devastating effect on them all. - Director:
- Thaddeus O'Sullivan
- Cast:
- Erin Armstrong, Victoria Balnaves, Marnie Baxter
- Formats:
-
-
Based on characters created by best-selling novelist Tess Gerritsen, homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and forensic pathologist Maura Isles are close friends, complete opposites and on the case in all 15 gritty Season Two episodes. This season sees brash Jane healing emotional and physical scars as old loves reappear and her mother Angela deals with divorce. Meanwhile Jane's ex-con brother Tommy has eyes for cerebral Maura, whose own family life is complicated by her adoptive mother Constance and a biological dad with a link to the Mob. And in an explosive season finale, Jane must choose between her job and Maura. Can their friendship survive? - Director:
- Michael Zinberg
- Cast:
- Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Jordan Bridges
- Formats:
-
-
When Marnie Was There (2014)Omoide no Mânî
When shy, artistic Anna moves to the seaside to live with her aunt and uncle, she stumbles upon an old mansion and a mysterious young girl, Mamie, who lives there. The two girls instantly form a unique friendship that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. As the days go by, a magnetic pull draws Anna back to the Marsh House again and again, and she begins to piece together the truth surrounding her strange new friend. - Director:
- Hiromasa Yonebayashi
- Cast:
- Sara Takatsuki, Kasumi Arimura, Nanako Matsushima
- Formats:
-
-
Cop Shoots Medical Examiner's Mob Boss Father! When an explosive misstep drives a painful wedge between Boston's finest crime-solving colleagues, Jane and Maura must set aside their personal difficulties in order to keep on top of the city's most heinous murder cases. Yet analysing corpses and tracking killers is child's play compared to the complications that arise from the friends' respective parental units: Maura meets her biological mother, who doesn't know Maura is her daughter, and Jane learns that her father, not her brother, might actually have fathered her infant nephew, which prompts her mother to have an affair with her boss. Using intellect and instinct, the best friends do what it takes to regain each other's trust while they bust criminals in all 15 witty, gritty Season Three episodes. - Director:
- Michael Katleman
- Cast:
- Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Brian Goodman
- Formats:
-
-
Diagnosed with terminal cancer, decorated New Jersey detective Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) wishes to leave her pension benefits to domestic partner Stacie Andree (Ellen Page). Denied by local county officials, Laurel receives help from hard-nosed colleague Dane Wells (Michael Shannon) and activist Steven Goldstein (Steve Carell), who unite to rally fellow police officers and ; ordinary citizens to support the couple's fight for equality. - Director:
- Peter Sollett
- Cast:
- Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Michael Shannon
- Formats:
-
-
Bree (Felicity Huffman), is a pre-operative, male to female transsexual who discovers she has a son, Toby, (Kevin Zegers), the product of a somewhat clumsy sexual encounter years ago when she was a man. Bree flies from Los Angeles to New York in order to bail Toby out of jail. Greeting Toby in the guise of a Christian missionary, Bree persuades him to accompany her back to the west coast - secretly planning to return him to his stepfather along the way. As each lies to and manipulates the other, Bree and Toby find themselves travelling across the heartland of a continent on an unexpected journey - Transamerica. - Director:
- Duncan Tucker
- Cast:
- Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers, Fionnula Flanagan
- Formats:
-
-
Director Donna Deitch makes a strong impression in her first feature film, a simple story of a lesbian love affair, based on Jane Rule's 1964 novel 'Desert of the Heart'. Helen Shaver stars as Vivian Bell, an uptight 35-year-old Columbia University professor who travels to Reno to get a divorce. She arrives in Reno on her way to Frances Parker's (Audra Lindley) ranch, where she is staying to establish six weeks of residency in order to obtain the divorce. Once at the ranch, Vivian catches the fancy of Frances's adopted daughter Cay (Patricia Charbonneau), a casino worker ten years younger than herself. Vivien tries to remain unruffled as Cay makes unabashed overtures to her. Cay thinks that all Vivian needs is the love of another woman, and soon enough the two are in each other's arms. - Director:
- Donna Deitch
- Cast:
- Helen Shaver, Patricia Charbonneau, Audra Lindley
- Formats:
-
-
Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship. But Tala is not ready to accept the implications of the choice her heart has made for her and escapes back to Jordan, while Leyla tries to move on with her new-found life, to the shock of her tradition-loving parents. As Tala's wedding day approaches, simmering tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself. Moving between the vast enclaves of Middle Eastern high society and the stunning backdrop of London's West End, I Can't Think Straight explores the clashes between East and West, love and marriage, conventions and individuality creating a humorous and tender story of unexpected love and unusual freedoms. - Director:
- Shamim Sarif
- Cast:
- Lisa Ray, Sheetal Sheth, Antonia Frering
- Formats:
-