Sex is power, and Waseem, a Syrian gay-for-pay hustler seeking asylum in Cologne, wields it like a shield. Keeping his johns at an emotional arm’s length while satisfying their most carnal desires in order to eke out a living, he meets his match in Lars: a kind, affluent professional with a growing personal interest in Waseem. This gripping tale of transactional identity explores the tactical exchange of trust and intimacy in a partnership, and the divisions between immigrants and their host countries in contemporary Europe.
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Biography of the curvaceous and sharp-witted actress who scandalized Broadway and Hollywood in the 1920s-30s with her frank approach to sex.
The third film in the Jingle Ma-directed franchise, following “Tokyo Raiders” from 2000 and “Seoul Raiders” from 2005. Mr. Lin and Ms. Lin are the number one and number two in the field. They are neither friends nor enemies, but they ultimately join hands along with trusty assistant Le Qi as they track down an infamous thief who has stolen the ‘Heavenly Emperor’s Hand’. Unbeknownst to them, they become the common target in a manhunt by the European triads, the CIA and many other agencies.
A couple’s visit with their son takes a dramatic turn when the father tells him he plans on leaving his mother.
Widower Tom, on the recent passing of his wife Mary, uses his free bus pass to travel the length of Britain from John O’Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall, their shared birthplace, using only local buses. It’s an incident-fuelled nostalgia trip and his encounters with local people make him a media phenomenon. Tom is totally unaware and to his surprise on arrival at Land’s End he’s greeted as a celebrity.
THE PRODIGAL BOXER features Chinese folk hero Fong Sai Yuk (aka Fong Si Yu), the subject of dozens of HK kung fu films. The role is played by Meng Fei as a callow, unschooled youth and wrongfully accused murderer. Two vicious masters of the local kung fu school, seeking revenge against Fong Sai Yuk, attack his home and kill his father while Fong is away. Fong’s attempts to avenge the death of his father result in his being badly beaten. Fong trains at the hands of his martial artist mother as she puts him through rigorous training and an herbal bath that makes him invulnerable. A trail of revenge is set in motion with Fong against the two masters, played by formidable kung fu villains Yasuaki Kurata and Wang Ching. Can a year’s worth of training prepare Fong Sai Yuk for his deadly confrontation with the vicious masters?
An architect has an affair with a woman who inspires him. Her brother is in love with the architect’s daughter. The complicated entanglement leads to misunderstanding and dissolution, but ultimately love.
Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law.
A desperate young journalist turns to podcasting to salvage her career, but her rush to make headlines leads her to an alien conspiracy.
A pre-Depression slice of proletarian life from Weimar Germany, Harbour Drift is unusually interesting for its indifferent pessimism, rejecting even the minor rays of hope which permeate the other low-life ‘street films’ of the period. A sordid tale of poverty and greed set within a quayside milieu of crime and prostitution, the narrative centres on the quest for a sparkling pearl necklace stolen by a beggar under the gaze of a prostitute, who persuades her unemployed friend to steal it back, with tragic consequences. The story unfolds in flashback, without irony or a hint of redemption: life simply goes on. The film is remarkable for the innovative camerawork of Friedl Behn-Grund, which manipulates light and shadow to create a nightmarish atmosphere of fear and premonition.