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Tangerine
An independent ground-breaking comedy-drama that proved a big hit at the Sundance Festival in 2015. Two transgender sex-workers in LA look for a pimp that did one of them wrong. The film was shot using 3 iPhone 5S smartphones instead of traditional cameras. The money saved on equipment was used to pay for locations and…
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Maggie’s Plan
Maggie plans her life meticulously, manipulating others to get what she wants. She’s determined to have a baby engaging the services of a surrogate mother. Her plans go awry when she falls in love with a married man and wrecks his marriage. Julianne Moore steals the show as the eccentric wife – Moore as brilliant…
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Young Frankenstein
Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder’s loving pastiche of the old Universal Studios series of monster movies, some of which was shot using the original Hollywood props from the 1930s. While the critics were often sniffy on its release, the film has gone on to be considered a classic in its own right, being recognised by…
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Only Lovers Left Alive
Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive was nominated for Palme d’Or but won the Soundtrack Award. The film is full of music from different centuries, much of it performed by Jarmusch’s own band, SQÜRL. It spans from Paganini to Wanda Jackson and the Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan. Equally, the sources of the music also vary…
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The Mafia Kills Only in Summer
Putting an irreverent rom-com spin on the organized crime genre, this deceptively sunny rites-of-passage drama marks the big-screen debut of Pierfrancesco “Pif” Diliberto (b. 1972), best known in Italy as a television host and current-affairs satirist. Taking its title from one of the myths that the film’s young hero is taught to believe, The Mafia…
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A Man Called Ove
Stepping out of Fredrik Backman’s bestselling novel (Swedish, 2012), Ove is the quintessential neighbourhood grouch. A boisterous young family moves into his street, sparking a tale of unreliable first impressions, interacting opposites and life’s unexpected twists, all generously laced with Nordic black humour. Lead actor Lassgård, who played Wallander in the Swedish TV adaptation of…
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Tampopo
A lone truckdriver Goro (Yamazaki) arrives in a small town and stops for noodles. They’re not great and his remarks about the noodle bar’s mediocrity triggers a brawl with locals. A thoroughly thrashed Goro is invited by the restaurant hostess, Tampopo (Miyamoto, Itami’s wife), to help her make her noodles the best in town. Goro’s…
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Sherlock Jr
A film projectionist dreams of becoming a private detective. His wish comes true when he is framed for a theft. Suddenly, he must apply his scant sleuthing skills to save himself. Meanwhile his girlfriend takes a more practical approach. They don’t make ’em like they used to, or do they? This silent classic gives us…
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Ninotchka
Garbo stars in a comedy romance, yes, this is the film where she laughs for the first time on screen. Gone is any trace of the tragic actor as Garbo plays a serious Russian sent to Paris on official business. Inculcated with loathing for Western values, she meets a roué out to charm her, played…
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Pond Life
Entrancing 1990s coming of age drama adapted by Richard Cameron from his own play, follows a group of young people (Trevor (Tom Varey), Pogo (Esme Creed-Miles) and Malcolm (Angus Imrie) over one summer as a legendary carp focuses their attention in a South Yorkshire mining village. Riveting realism & poetry enhanced by Richard Hawley’s haunting…