Rueben

Ask This of Rikyu

September 2013 •Japanese

Sen no Rikyu (Ebizo Ichikawa) is the son of a fish shop owner. Sen no Rikyu then studies tea and eventually becomes one of the primary influences upon the Japanese tea ceremony. With his elegant esthetics, Sen no Rikyu is favored by the most powerful man in Japan Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Nao Omori) and becomes one of his closest advisors. Due to conflicts, Toyotomi Hideyoshi then orders Sen no Rikyu to commit seppuku (suicide). Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka's adaptation of Kenichi Yamamoto's award-winning novel of the same name received the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 37th Montréal World Film Festival, the Best Director Award at the 2014 Osaka Cinema Festival, the 30th Fumiko Yamaji Cultural Award and the 37th Japan Academy Film Prize in nine categories, including Best Art Direction, Excellent Film and Excellent Actor.

The Little French Girl

February 1925 •English

Madame Vervier, a sophisticated woman, sends her daughter Alix to live with Owen Bradley's parents in London.

Cowardice Court

June 1919 •English

A feud in the Adirondack Mountains develops when Randolph Shaw will not give up a shack and its acreage adjoining the estate of Lord Cecil Bazelhurst, whose wife, the former Evelyn Banks of Jersey City, married him for his title and now wants to get rid of Randolph's ugly shack. When Randolph meets Cecil's sister Penelope, a romance begins which is furthered after one of the Bazelhurst servants shoots Randolph in the arm for trespassing and Penelope, who earlier had looked upon the feud as a joke, runs away to Randolph's house and accepts his engagement proposal. Cecil and his men pursue Penelope, but are frightened away by Randolph's men and are forced to spend a miserable stormy night in the woods. The next day everyone becomes reconciled when Lady Evelyn realizes that the desired property will now be in the family, and Randolph offers Cecil and his men dry, if ill-fitting, garments to wear.

The Dancing Girl

January 1915 •English

Drusilla Ives, a young Quaker girl living on an isolated island, leaves to become the servant of the spendthrift Duke of Guisenberry in London, who is the Lord of her village. She finds that she is attracted to the bustling city's night life, and when the duke discovers that she is a fine dancer, he helps her turn professional. In short order she becomes known as Diana Valrose, the city's favorite dancer. Unfortunately, her strict father and her Quaker fiancee, John Christison, back on the island find out about her newfound fame and career and strongly disapprove--her father places a curse on her and her boyfriend marries her sister Faith. Complications ensue.

The Half-Way Girl

August 1925 •English

When her traveling theatrical group goes broke, Poppy, an actress in the troupe, finds herself stranded in Singapore. She's reduced to working in a bar in the seedy part of town as a "hostess", where she meets a down-on-his-luck Englishman. While drunk he gets into a fight, and is forced to kill his opponent in self-defense. The girl helps him escape and goes to Sam, a shady plantation owner, to try to get them out of Singapore. However, Sam has his own plans for Poppy, and they don't include potential rivals for her affections.

Sold Out

October 2021 •English

A female talent scout takes a down-on-his-luck construction worker under her wing and helps him rise to his potential as a singer/songwriter.

Pushpaka Vimana

November 1987 •Kannada

An unemployed man, who dreams of living it large, finds a rich man drunk and lying in the sewer. Things take a turn when he imprisons him and takes his identity to get a taste of his lifestyle.

Cremaster 3

May 2002 •

CREMASTER 3 (2002) is set in New York City and narrates the construction of the Chrysler Building, which is in itself a character - host to inner, antagonistic forces at play for access to the process of (spiritual) transcendence. These factions find form in the struggle between Hiram Abiff or the Architect ...

A Quiet Man

February 2021 •French

From the 17th floor of an office building, Pierre is staring out a colleague that is here for hours.

Man of a Thousand Faces

August 1957 •English

The turbulent life and professional career of vaudeville actor and silent screen horror star Lon Chaney (1883-1930), the man of a thousand faces; bearer of many personal misfortunes that even his great success could not mitigate.

hands

August 2023 •English

A personal reflection on hands, the word "tear," and caring for oneself that experiments with sound, silence, and definitions.

Molly Bawn

December 1916 •English

Molly Bawn. British silent drama movie. Directed by Cecil M Hepworth. Starring Alma Taylor, Stewart Rome an Violet Hopson. adaptation of the1878 Irish novel of the same name by Margaret Wolfe Hungerford. Molly Bawn the novel by M. W. Hungerford contains her most famous idiom: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." It is also referenced in chapter 8 of James Joyce's Ulysses.

The Layabout and Seabathing

August 1933 •Japanese

The seventh film in the popular series starring the Yotamono trio (Mitsui, Abe and Isono). Summer came and the three of them decided to open a store on the beach to get rich...

The Ace Files: Opening Act

November 2023 •English

Introducing the Ace Cinematic Universe

The Parson's Widow

October 1920 •Swedish

A newly elected village parson is required to marry his predecessor's widow. However, he's already married, and the woman is old enough to be his grandmother.

Quarantine

October 2021 •Russian

The main character of the film writes a diary. For over 20 years he has lived in a bunker and has not ventured outside. His only companions are ghosts of the past. He tries to find an explanation for the fateful course of events, which has destroyed the whole earth. The feeling of guilt does not leave him, as he believes that he could have prevented the apocalypse and the death of his beloved.

1984

November 2023 •Russian

In a bleak and oppressive totalitarian society ruled by Big Brother, personal freedoms are nonexistent and surveillance is constant. Art is mocked and destroyed, and imagination is considered a serious illness. In this grim world, a brilliant mathematician engages in a forbidden romance with a colleague and learns about a secret resistance. He is faced with a choice - to join or betray it.

Maree

March 2023 •French

A young painter, Léon, spends his days painting and creating art in order to keep up with the uproar of artists in Paris during the 70's. This passion of his slowly begins to sabotage his relationship with his girlfriend Maree. After their separation, he slowly begins to reflect on their relationship and realises that she may have been his most inspiring muse all along.

SLEIGH!

August 2021 •English

Jacob tries to keep a tradition alive by throwing a Christmas party for his distant friends. The night takes a deadly turn when they brush off an antique Christmas board game. It proceeds to show him his friends aren't who they seem.

Komsomol Is My Motherland

January 1931 •Russian