Films that stand out from the crowd (20 titles)

City Of God

A very violent but inspirational story about the street gangs of Rio de Janeiro, seen through the eyes of a young boy who struggles to make a better life for himself as a photographer. Breathtaking.

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  • our price: £4.93
• City Of God on DVD (2002)
  Starring: Matheus Nachtergaele,  Seu Jorge,  Alexandre Rodrigues
  Director: Katia Lund,  Fernando Meirelles
  Certificate:
  Two features. Youth gangs took over the slums of Rio de Janiero during the 1960s and didn't relinquish their stronghold until the mid-1980s. Only a sucker wouldn't have turned to crime and this is exactly how naive teen Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) views himself in 'City Of God'. His attempts in ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 78% from 60,284 members

Glengarry Glen Ross

A film about a bunch of struggling real estate salesmen in a small office who are told that they need to improve their sales figures to keep their jobs. On the surface. this doesn't seem an interesting plot. Who cares about a cold-call salesman? But these characters are played by amazing actors. Look at the cast: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Jonathan Pryce. They all give good performances, but Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino in particular are outstanding. The film is about the 'American Dream' and can be compared to Arthur Miller's play 'Death of a Salesman'. But 'Death of a Salesman' is far bleaker and depressing. I much prefer 'Glengarry Glen Ross', which I've watched many times and find strangely uplifting.

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• Glengarry Glen Ross on DVD (1992)
  Starring: Al Pacino,  Jack Lemmon,  Alec Baldwin
  Director: James Foley
  Certificate:
  Glengarry Glen Ross tells the powerful story of the wheelings and dealings of a small Chicago real estate office, where the name of the game is to close the deal and stay on top. The film boasts an all-star cast, including: Al Pacino; Jack Lemmon; Alec Baldwin; Ed Harris; Alan Arkin; and Kevin ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 69% from 9,552 members

Eyes Wide Shut

Kubrick's most beautiful film. Stanley Kubrick started out as a photographer and it shows. The visuals, particularly in the use of colours, are stunning. Don't worry about the plot. The film is really a long dream. It's deliberately enigmatic. Everyone who watches this film comes away with their own idea of what it is about. I've seen it several times and experienced something new each time.

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  • our price: £5.43
• Eyes Wide Shut on DVD (1999)
  Starring: Tom Cruise,  Nicole Kidman,  Madison Eginton
  Director: Stanley Kubrick
  Certificate:
  Stanley Kubrick's final film is a mature, highly intelligent, thrilling masterpiece of sexual obsession and marital (in)fidelity. Tom Cruise stars as Bill Harford, a doctor who becomes obsessed with a sexual fantasy that his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), confesses to him. Although the fantasy (..read more »
  
  Rate this: 54% from 12,559 members

The Motorcycle Diaries

Che Guevara as a young idealistic doctor, riding around South Americal on a clapped-out motorbike in the 1950's with an older friend. With wonderful location shooting in Argentina, Chile and Peru. This is a very enjoyable film.

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  • our price: £9.93
• The Motorcycle Diaries on DVD (2004)
  Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal,  Rodrigo De La Serna,  Mia Maestro
  Director: Walter Salles Jr.
  Certificate:
  An adaptation of a journal written by Che Guevara when he was 23 years old. Along with his friend Alberto Granado he crossed South America by motorcycle in the 1950s and he recounts some of their adventures.
  
  Rate this: 73% from 52,924 members

The Constant Gardener

By the same director as the 'City of God' (the brilliant Fernando Meirelle) this is a strange but intriguing thriller based on the John Le Carre novel. Ralph Fiennes gives a solid performance in the lead role. But the real star of the film is the amazing African scenery in which it is set. Africa has never looked more beautiful.

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  • our price: £2.93
• The Constant Gardener on DVD (2005)
  Starring: Ralph Fiennes,  Rachel Weisz,  Danny Huston
  Director: Fernando Meirelles
  Certificate:
  Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, whose previous film, City of God, won awards all over the world and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2004 Oscars has crafted another highly entertaining yet important film. Beautifully shot in Kenya, Germany, Sudan, Manitoba, and London, The ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 70% from 75,365 members

Donnie Darko - Feature Disc

Weird but wonderful. The lead character, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is a young lad from a well-to-do family who has a vivid imagination and apparent mental problems (he is being treated by a psychiatrist, but so are a lot of rich American kids!). He keeps meeting a giant rabbit that fortells the future and apparently learns to travel back in time. Then it gets confusing...

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• Donnie Darko - Feature Disc on DVD (2001)
  Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal,  Drew Barrymore,  Noah Wyle
  Director: Richard Kelly
  Certificate:
  October 1988 and small town USA is about to witness the end of the world. It's home to Donnie Darko, a brilliant but troubled teenager, plagued by terrifying visions which he knows the meaning of. With his class mate and soul mate Gretchen and a mysterious ex teacher, nicknamed Grandma Death, he ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 67% from 28,998 members

Three Colours Trilogy

Watch all 3 films, preferably in order. 'Three Colours Blue', the first in the trilogy, is a moving story about a young woman who is grieving over the loss of her family from a car accident. A beautiful and elegant film with lovely music. 'Three Colours White' and Three Colours Red' are also fantastic.

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• Three Colours Trilogy (4 discs) on DVD (1993)
  Starring: Juliette Binoche,  Benoit Regent,  Florence Pernel
  Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
  Certificate:
  Featuring Kieslowski's trilogy of 'Three Colours Blue', 'Three Colours White' and 'Three Colours Red'. Also includes "I'm So-So..."
  
  Rate this: 68% from 19,008 members

Pan's Labyrinth

A fairytale, but definitely not for children. This a very dark and violent film, set in rural Spain during the Spanish Civil War. The lead character is a young girl who has desperately unhappy life, so she retreats into a fantasy world of fairies, fauns, giant toads and other fantastical creatures. Sublime.

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• Pan's Labyrinth on DVD (2006)
  Starring: Ivana Baquero,  Sergi Lopez,  Maribel Verdu
  Director: Guillermo del Toro
  Certificate:
  Accompanied by her parents, Ofelia moves from a large Spanish city to a more rural area in the North of the country. Faced with the upheaval of moving home, an abusive stepfather and the general unpleasantness surrounding Franco's victory in 1944, Ofelia enters an imaginary world of creatures and ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 77% from 79,488 members

The Devil's Backbone

An earlier film by the director of Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro) and also set during the Spanish Civil War. This is a supernatural tale of young boy who is put in a strange orphanage which is haunted by a ghost. But it's not so much a ghost story, but more of a battle between good and evil.

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  • our price: £6.93
• The Devil's Backbone on DVD (2001)
  Starring: Marisa Paredes,  Eduardo Noriega,  Frederico Luppi
  Director: Guillermo del Toro
  Certificate:
  During the Spanish Civil War, newly orphaned Carlos (Fernando Tielve) is taken to a school for the children of those who died fighting against fascism. He is given the bed that formerly belonged to Santi, a boy who recently died during an attack in which a bomb dropped, landing in the school's ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 71% from 15,252 members

Being There

Peter Sellers gives an incredible performance as the simple minded gardener. Very funny but sad at the same time. Enchanting.

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• Being There on DVD (1979)
  Starring: Peter Sellers,  Shirley MacLaine,  Jack Warden
  Director: Hal Ashby
  Certificate:
  BEING THERE is based on Jerzy Kosinski's short comic novel about a simpleton, Chance (Peter Sellers), raised in isolation whose only education came from watching TV. When he's forced out of the house where he worked as a gardener by the death of the wealthy recluse who raised him from infancy, he's ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 68% from 5,507 members

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