
The Kobayashi family finally get the chance to move out of their tiny, cramped Tokyo apartment in favour of the suburban house of their dreams. But all is not well: the house is infested by termites and the family starts cracking up: Son Masaki is studying so obsessively for his exams that he’s losing his mind; daughter Erika is oblivious of all but her forthcoming record company audition, grandfather Yasukuni starts getting World War II flashbacks and father Katsuhiko is so worried about his family’s “sickness” that he thinks can only be cured by group suicide…
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The Land That Time Forgot (1974) Kevin Connor, Doug McClure, John McEnery, Susan Penhaligon, Adventure, Fantasy

Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) is among a small group of survivors taken in by a German submarine after the vessel has sunk their ship. When a struggle ensues between the German officers and their captives, the U-boat, which is running out of fuel, ends up coming across an uncharted island. Unfortunately for the passengers and crew, dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures roam the land, and everyone must fight to survive the perils of the lost island.
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Youth Never Returns / Ji ran qing chun liu bu zhu (2015) Meng Tian, Han Chang, Joe Chen, Xiaofan Lin, Romance

Youth Never Returns is a 2015 Chinese romantic comedy film directed by Tian Meng and produced by Manfred Wong, and starring Hans Zhang and Joe Chen. The film is an adaptation of Gu Wei’s novel of the same name.
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In weiter Ferne, so nah! / Faraway, So Close! (1993) Wim Wenders, Otto Sander, Bruno Ganz, Peter Falk, Drama, Fantasy, Romance

In Faraway, So Close! angels watch over the people of Berlin. The world weighs heavily upon these men and women. Their attachment to things diminishes their desire for the invisible. As one angel laments, “It’s so exhausting to love people who run away from us.”
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Monkey Shines (1988) George A. Romero, Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kate McNeil, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

When Allan becomes a quadriplegic he loses all hope for living until he meets Ella – a monkey trained to fetch and carry for him around the house, obeying him in all things. But Ella is part of another experiment, and when she starts responding to Allan’s underlying rage and frustration she has the ability to carry out her master’s darkest wishes.
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Wild Rovers (1971) Blake Edwards, William Holden, Ryan O’Neal, Karl Malden, Western

Ross Bodine and Frank Post are cowhands on Walt Buckman’s R-Bar-R ranch. Bodine is older and broods a bit about how he will get along when he’s too old to cowboy. Post is young and rambunctious and ambitious for a better life than wrangling cows. When one of their fellow cowboys is killed in a corral accident, Post suggests a way into a better life for himself and his friend: robbing a bank. Bodine reluctantly joins in the plan and the two contrive to rob the local bank. They make good their escape initially, but Walt Buckman and his two sons, John and Paul, are incensed at this betrayal by their own trusted employees. John and Paul set out to bring Bodine and Post to justice.
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Fatal Intuition / Geunomida (2015) Yoon Joon-Hyeong, Won Joo, Hae-jin Yoo, Lee Yoo-Young, Thriller

Since their parents’ death in a car accident, Jang-Woo (Joo Won) has taken care of his younger teen sister, Eun-Ji (Ryoo Hye-Young). He watches over her almost too protectively. One night, Jang-Woo goes out and when he returns he finds Eun-Ji missing. Later, Jang-Woo notices a suspicious fellow lurking in the background. He gives chase.
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Blind terror / See No Evil (1971) Richard Fleischer, Mia Farrow, Dorothy Alison, Robin Bailey, Mystery, Thriller

Sarah is a blind girl who has returned to her home, a country manor in which all of the occupants are dead. She unknowingly sleeps overnight, among a houseful of corpses, arising the next morning to quietly creep out of bed, in order not to awaken the other members of the household.
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Everyone Loves Alice / Alla älskar Alice (2002) Richard Hobert, Lena Endre, Mikael Persbrandt, Marie Richardson, Drama

A dramatic love story of a man, two women and three children. When love suddenly explodes in these people’s lives it creates a pressure wave that changes the lives of everyone. Johan is married with Lotta and has two children, when Johan and his colleague Anna falls in love with one another. A love that causes anger, hate, joy and eventually new possibilities.
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Darò un milione / I’ll Give a Million (1935) Mario Camerini, Vittorio De Sica, Assia Noris, Luigi Almirante, Comedy

Daro un Milione was another felicitous collaboration between director Mario Camerini and his favorite star Vittorio de Sica. Read More »
Bakuto Kaisan-shiki / Gambler’s Farewell (1968) Kinji Fukasaku, Kôji Tsuruta, Fumio Watanabe, Tetsurô Tanba, Action, Crime

The story of men devoted to the yakuza lifestyle and their struggles during a time of fading yakuza power.
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Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street (1973) Samuel Fuller, Glenn Corbett, Christa Lang, Sieghardt Rupp, Crime, Thriller

Following Shark!, Sam Fuller’s luck getting films funded didn’t change much; Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street is Fuller’s only film of the ’70s. Technically, it’s not even a proper film, but if you didn’t know it was made as an episode of the German cop series Tatort (which is amazingly still running), you’d never have guessed it. Where American television stifled Fuller’s creative spirit and made him conform to the norms of whatever show he was working on, the producers of Tatort allowed Fuller the freedom to make whatever he wanted. He took this freedom and ran with it, crafting a unique, exciting picture unlike anything else in the Fuller catalog. Part crime thriller, part farcical comedy, Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street is a hidden gem in Fuller’s filmography.
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Abe ichizoku / The Abe Clan (1995) Kinji Fukasaku, Yumi Asô, Mariko Fuji, Renji Ishibashi, Drama, Action

A Choice between Loyalty or Duty of the Samurai! Can the heartlessness of society crush the honor of an individual? In the spring of the 18th year of Kanei (Feb/30/1624 – Dec/16/1644), Hosokawa Tadatoshi, feudal lord of the Higo area, died. Although Tadatoshi forbade his vassals to follow him in death before he died, they still committed seppuku one after the other. The new feudal lord, Mitsunao, Tadatoshi’s son, also gave the order forbidding seppuku. Abe Yaichiemon obeyed his former lord’s last wish but is now being called a coward by his comrades and finally decided to follow Tadatoshi in death in order to save his family’s honor. Mitsunao, upset by Yaichiemon actions, punished the Abe family unfairly. Objected to this, the Abe family shut themselves up in their manor as the lords troops moved in… This is the true story of what happened within the Hosokawa clan in early Edo era. A masterpiece by director Kinji Fukasaku that boldly depicts the struggle between humanity and the code of the Samurai.
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Le Voyou / The Crook (1970) Claude Lelouch, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Danièle Delorme, Charles Gérard, Crime, Thriller

When Simon (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is released from prison, he emerges with a bold kidnapping scheme. He enlists the help of an old cohort and his former lover, Martine (Christine Lelouch), to kidnap a young boy. The child’s father is an employee at a bank, and the three criminals blackmail the financial institution, demanding $1 million in ransom. Out of fear, the bank pays the sum, but the kidnappers may have bitten off more than they can chew.
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Deep Trap / Ham-jeong (2015) Hyeong-jin Kwon, Ji An, Han Sun Jo, Dong-seok Ma, Crime, Horror, Thriller

Despite her will to become a mother, So Yeon cannot achieve her goal because of her husband’s uncooperative behavior. Even though he showed her no response, she tried many ways to reach pregnancy. Knowing her mind, her husband feels guilty for not being able to do anything more and then try to stay away from her and his remorseful conscience. As a last resort, So yeon finds an isolated restaurant on an isolated island. With the help of the restaurant’s owner, she draws a plan for her husband…
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