Few people watch Kanopy, which is available free from your local library. Unfortunately in Belmont we are limited to 10 films a month. If you inadvertently touch your touch-screen in a manner that starts a film, then your film count goes down by one.
Because so few people watch Kanopy, I will merely list some films that I have found there along with the description provided by Kanopy.
Beware that Kanopy offers conventional and truly bizarre films. Since Kanopy is free I generally opt for taking a chance on unusual films, some of which were TERRIBLE (and which I did not list).
Two siblings (Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde) fend for themselves in the wake of a botched casino heist, only to reunite during another family’s Thanksgiving celebration in this thriller.
Family bonds are stretched to the breaking point in the emotionally stunning directorial debut from Paul Dano. Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal star.
- The Dream Children (2014)
The challenges of a young gay male couple who decide to have a baby are explored in this Australian melodrama set in the early 2000s. Hunky architect Alex wants a child while his partner, TV game show host, Steven is closeted at work and not all too keen on exposing himself to public scrutiny. Adding to the problem is the government’s policy against same sex adoptions and their own, far from settled, home life. They decide to illegally hire a surrogate mother to carry the baby, but the woman, a bit homophobic, plots her own scheme to get more money from the two.
- Death in Buenos Aires (2014)
The biggest hit of the year in its native Argentina, DEATH IN BUENOS AIRES is a gripping police thriller about corruption, paranoia, and the secret gay lives of the wealthy elite of Buenos Aires during the politically tumultuous 1980s. At the scene of a murder of one of the city’s high society figures, veteran police inspector Chavez (Academy Award nominee (A Better Life, 2011) Demian Bichir, runs into Gomez (Chino Darin), a.k.a. “El Ganso” (The Goose), a handsome young rookie cop with dreams of advancement. When Chavez uncovers that the murder may be linked to a small-time hustler, and the gay nightclub La Manila, the detective sends the rookie undercover to pose as a gay newcomer on the prowl for an older benefactor. As they come close to luring out the killer, the erotic charge of their new surroundings triggers changes in both Chavez and Gomez. Director Natalia Meta’s deeply involving debut film delivers rich, multi-faceted characters that match the complexity of its riveting story.
The Treatment is an unsettling Belgian murder mystery that gets under your skin and stays there. A nail-biting suspense yarn based on one of a series of best-selling novels by British crime writer Mo Hayder, the film is not an old-fashioned Agatha Christie-type whodunit, but its gritty themes of sexual violence and pedophilia give it a raw, contemporary intensity that places it in the same company as the “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” book and film series. Police inspector Nick Cafmeyer is investigating a case where a mother and father have been bound and beaten, and their young son is missing. An obsessive loner, Cafmeyer discovers that there are other similar cases – tragedies where the parents were forced by a psychopath to harm their own children, who then vanish. For the inspector, this triggers memories of his own brother’s abduction as a child, and the possibility that he may still be alive somewhere. Grim and wholly engrossing, The Treatment is a thriller with an edge.
Geoffrey Rush is stunning as an eccentric art auctioneer obsessed with an heiress in this compelling mystery. Also stars Donald Sutherland.
Acclaimed filmmakers Moorhead and Benson return with this mind-bending thriller that follows two brothers who receive a cryptic video message inspiring them to revisit the UFO death cult they escaped a decade earlier.
Set in 1972 Canada, SAINT-NARCISSE follows Dominic, a handsome narcissistic young man who discovers the existence of his twin brother, living in a remote monastery led by a depraved priest. Dominic sets out to save him and reunite once and for all. The two beautiful, identical brothers are soon embroiled in a strange web of sex, revenge and redemption.
A man from another world crash lands on Earth during the age of the Vikings.
Antonio Banderas stars as an insurance agent investigating robots who violate their primary protocols against altering themselves.
A psychological thriller about a tormented son who makes a desperate bid to save his sanity by unearthing family secrets before his father dies. Plagued by terrifying visions, Tommy Shellner hijacks a family celebration in an attempt to force a confession from his once CIA psychiatrist father. The warm reunion in their family home turns icy and spirals out of control when Tommy alleges his father adopted three children for the purposes of psychological experimentation.
Set over 24 hours in London, this stripped-back thriller follows a man who goes on a bold and reckless journey of self-liberation.
Alma (Eggert) is a scientist coerced into participating in an extraordinary study in order to obtain research funds for her work. For three weeks, she has to live with a humanoid robot tailored to her character and needs, whose artificial intelligence is designed to be the perfect life partner for her. Enter Tom (Stevens), a machine in human form in a class of its own, created solely to make her happy. The film is a humorous tale about the questions of love, longing and what makes a human being human.
Star of Sense8, Max Riemelt and Hanno Koffler (Summer Storm, Coming In) co-star as gay lovers in this wildly popular drama. It’s been called the German Brokeback Mountain for its portrayal of forbidden love between two police cadets as previously heterosexual Marc (Hanno Koffler) and fellow male cop Kay (Max Riemelt) embark on an unexpected life-changing affair.
With a promising law enforcement career and a child on the way, Marc’s life is all going according to plan until he meets the free spirited Kay. They start jogging together, bringing a breath of fresh air into Marc’s life — and, for the first time, he develops feelings for a man. Torn between the life he knows so well and the exhilaration of this new adventure, his life rapidly spins out of control. In this state of free fall, it seems Marc cannot make anyone happy anymore. Least of all himself. FREE FALL is part of a new wave of powerful German cinema.
In this provocative psychological thriller a young high school teacher unravels after she begins a torrid love affair with one of her teenage students. What starts as an a fling soon becomes dangerous and destructive.
In this Hitchcockian Thriller, when Gunnar receives a distraught phone call from his ex, he drives up to a secluded cabin to see him. He discovers that there’s more going on than he imagined. Someone is lurking outside and the two find that they are haunted by someone — or something.
An ancient Danish story of evil, power and human spirit, that subsequently inspired William Shakespeare on his tragedy, Hamlet. When the king of Jutland is murdered by his brother, the dark prince claims both the throne and Queen Geruth. Although her son saw the murder, he feigns madness to spare his life.
This historical drama features a stellar cast including Oscar-winners Christian Bale and Helen Mirren.
- Neither Heaven Nor Earth (2015)
French Army Captain Antares Bonassieu and his squad are assigned to monitor a remote valley of Wakhan, Afghanistan on the border of Pakistan. Negotiating control of the region between local shepherds and possible Taliban sympathizers grows more and more tenuous for them as men from all sides start mysteriously disappearing. Unable to explain this eerie phenomenon, the soldiers find themselves embroiled in an existential nightmare, desperate for their own safety.
Crafting a deliriously cinematic web of suspense, shock, eroticism, and power dynamics, writer/director Francois Ozon returns to master the thriller genre with DOUBLE LOVER.
Chloe, who works as a guard at a museum in Paris, seeks to shore up her resiliency and enters psychoanalysis. Following the end of the treatment with psychiatrist Paul Meyer, both realize that they have fallen in love. A new chapter begins for Chloe when she and Paul move in together…yet Chloe soon comes to believe that Paul is keeping a secret. She impulsively visits another psychiatrist, Louis Delord. Spiraling emotional and sexual stakes will push all three of them to extremes, forcing Chloe to take action in order to solve a mystery and save herself.
Nigel has fallen in love. But when you live in orbit, aboard a ramshackle space hovel with the most risk-averse family imaginable, it isn’t easy to follow your heart – especially when the girl of your dreams is spinning around earth the wrong way!
In Hollywood, the land of illusion, never have those words rung so true… until S1MONE. Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) is a down-and-out Academy Award-nominated director who loses his last chance for a comeback when temperamental actress (Winona Ryder in a cameo role) walks off his set. But now computer genius Hank Aleno (Elias Koteas) shows up. S1MONE is a director’s dream: She won’t get old, won’t gain an ounce. She’ll never need rehab, doesn’t have an agent, manager, entourage or guru. She won’t demand a bigger trailer or a private jet. She does her own stunts. She has no problem with nudity. The only power she craves comes from an electrical outlet. What could possibly go wrong?
Allan Dawson has recently inherited his grandmother’s island estate in picturesque Santorini, Greece. It provides the perfect temporary break from his loveless marriage to Sylvia. However he is not the only transatlantic traveler. A human clone who was part of a lost cargo shipment has washed up on shore and he too is looking to upgrade.
This macabre tale follows Allan’s attempts to mold D’Agostino into the perfect pet. Domesticating D’Agostino and keeping him secret from the outside proves increasingly difficult and Allan quickly finds himself in way over his head with man’s best friend.
Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man who has frequent business visits in Berlin. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking for answers regarding his death. Under a fabricated identity, Thomas infiltrates into the life of Anat, his lover’s newly widowed wife, who owns a small Cafe in downtown Jerusalem. Thomas starts to work for her and create German cakes and cookies that bring life into her Cafe. Thomas finds himself involved in Anat’s life in a way far beyond his anticipation, and to protect the truth he will stretch his lie to a point of no return.
- Draughtman’s Contract (1982)
Set in a richly exaggerated 17th-century England, Peter Greenaway’s sumptuous and sensuously charged brainteaser catapulted him to the forefront of international art cinema. Adorned with intricate wordplay, extravagant costumes and opulent photography, Greenaway’s first narrative feature weaves a labyrinthine mystery.
An aristocratic wife commissions a young, cocksure draughtsman to sketch her husband’s property while he is away–in exchange for a fee, room and board, and one sexual favor for each of the twelve drawings. As the draughtsman becomes more entrenched in the devious schemings in this seemingly idyllic country home, curious details emerge in his drawings that may reveal a murder. THE DRAUGHTMAN’S CONTRACT is a luscious cinematic banquet for eye, ear and mind.
- The Boondock Saints (1999)
Fraternal twins Murphy (Norman Reedus, THE WALKING DEAD) and Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery, POWDER) become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian Mafia in self-defense.
After both experience an epiphany, the brothers set out to rid Boston of evil while being tracked down by FBI agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe, SPIDERMAN, PLATOON, SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE) in this stylish and violent crowd-pleaser.
“Willem Dafoe’s portrayal of the conflicted homosexual FBI agent is overacted to such an extent that it is hilarious, amazing and entertaining. His is an unforgettable character.” – Robert Rote
Truck-driver Brewster takes over his missing brother’s delivery of a load of coffins to a funeral home. He picks up hitchhiking gay couple Cary and Vogel whose relationship is in trouble to help him stay awake but when his GPS leads them into a deserted junkyard, his truck breaks down, stranding them. NIght falls, and the coffins reveal blood-thirty vampires. Now the mismatched trio must barricade themselves in the cab of the truck and try to survive until dawn…
Andreas and Stefan lead an idyllic life near Vienna and even work in the same orchestra, as manager and musician. But one morning an unexpected outburst of violence from Stefan shakes their harmonious relationship to its core. Writer-director Klaus demonstrates exceptional sensitivity for the male psyche, drawing the viewer into Andreas’ and Stefan’s most intimate physical and emotional moments in this poetic ballad about the fragility of love.
This Berlin-set dramedy from the director of Run Lola Run and Cloud Atlas centers on a 40-something couple who, separately, fall in love with the same man.
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
From producer Joel Silver and screenwriter Shane Black, both of Lethal Weapon fame, comes an action-comedy spoof of rough-and-tumble buddy films–KISS KISS BANG BANG. A private detective (Val Kilmer – Alexander), a thief posing as a struggling actor (Robert Downey Jr. – Gothika) and an actual struggling actress (Michelle Monaghan – The Bourne Supremacy) become entangled in a murder mystery filled with twists, turns, betrayal and, most importantly, romance.
Hank (Paul Dano) is stranded on a deserted island and given up all hope. Everything changes when a corpse named Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) washes ashore. The two become fast friends, and go on an epic adventure to bring Hank back to the woman of his dreams.
n this coming-of-age tale set in the American South, Moss is an isolated and troubled young man who embarks, on his eighteenth birthday, on an unexpected adventure never to be forgotten.
For Moss, whose mother died while delivering him, the day means freedom, especially from his father, whom Moss believes resents him for his very existence. However, it will take more than this milestone day to set him free. During a chance encounter with a woman fleeing her own heartache, the two escape into a psychedelic journey that teaches Moss lessons of life and loss.
Set against the stifling conformity of pre-World War I English society, MAURICE is a story of coming to terms with one’s sexuality and identity in the face of disapproval and misunderstanding. Maurice Hall (James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant) find themselves falling in love at Cambridge.
At a time when homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment, the two must keep their feelings for one another a secret. After a friend is arrested and disgraced for “the unspeakable vice of the Greeks,” Clive abandons his forbidden love and marries a young woman. Maurice, however, struggles with his identity and self-confidence, seeking the help of a hypnotist to rid himself of his undeniable urges. But while staying with Clive and his wife, Maurice is seduced by the affectionate servant Alec, an event that brings about profound changes in Maurice’s life and outlook.
Tell No One is based on Harlan Coben’s international best selling thriller about pediatrician Alexandre Beck who still grieves the murder of his beloved wife Margot Beck eight years earlier. When two bodies are found near the scene of the crime, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes a suspect again. The mystery deepens when Alex receives an anonymous e-mail with a link to a video clip that seems to suggest Margot is somehow still alive and a message to “Tell No One”.
When Matthieu finds out that the father he never knew has died, he decides to go to his funeral in Quebec in order to meet his two siblings. But once in Montreal, he realizes that nobody is aware of his existence or even interested in it.
A small town murder caught on camera thrusts a man and his girlfriend into the high stakes game of cat and mouse.
Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Dern, Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, and John Malkovich.
- Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976)
Based on the novel by Jorge Amado, this Brazilian comedy follows the strange events that befall Dona Flor (Sonia Braga) after she is left a widow by the death of her wild, irresponsible husband.
- The Oxford Murders (2010)
A woman is murdered and her body is discovered by a prestigious professor and young graduate student, who quickly realize that this is the first of a series of murders, all of which are announced by the murderer with strange mathematical symbols.
Paul (Paul Rudd) and celebrity chef Erasmus (Steve Coogan) live an extravagant, self-indulgent life. When the grandson they never knew existed crashes their fancy dinner party, their lives are turned upside-down.
In this steamy love triangle, Bruno questions his feelings for his loving girlfriend Carla as he grows increasingly attracted to fellow dancer Rai.
Emory Cohen (Brooklyn, Smash, The Place Beyond the Pines) and Wendell Pierce (The Wire, Treme) give gripping performances as a white gay young man named June and a middle-aged black businessman named Joe who hook-up for a secret encounter in this award-winning drama. In a simultaneous search for connection, Joe’s straight-laced daughter Abigayle (Aja Naomi King) flirts with the streetwise Dexter (E.J. Bonilla) over the course of a hot July 4th evening. Adapted from Obie-winning, Pulitzer Prize-nominee Christopher Shinn’s highly-acclaimed stage play, FOUR is full of the poetic and tender human drama of great theatre.
In a nameless, suburban American town, the smell of barbeque fills the air as the Fourth of July moves from a hot summer day into the smoldering explorations of night. With raw intimacy and emotion, these four characters explore the limits and possibilities of human connection. And for just this night, the small world that they live in will become even smaller — though the freedom they experience has never been so dangerous, fleeting and honest. Film Independent Spirit award nominee, Best Actor – Wendell Pierce.
