Bitter Moon 1992   R, 139 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Peter Coyote, Hugh Grant, Emmanuelle Seigner, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Victor Banerjee, Sophie Patel, Patrick Albenque, Stockard Channing, Luca Vellani, Eric Gonzales, Richrd Dieux, Danny Wuyts, Daniel Dhubert, Olivia Brunaux, Heavon Grant
In typical Roman Polanski style, this film brings together psychologically impaired characters who search for offbeat sexual fulfillment. The story takes place on an ocean voyage where a British couple, Nigel (Hugh Grant) and Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas), meet wheelchair-bound novelist Oscar (Peter Coyote) and his French wife Mimi (Emmanuelle Seigner). When Oscar realizes that Nigel is drawn to Mimi, he makes him listen to the stories (told in flashbacks) of how Mimi's actions caused Oscar to turn their relationship around from Mimi's degrading sex games into his sadistic abuse. Matters get really out of hand during the New Year's Eve party.
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Blood for Dracula 1974  R, 93 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
aka: Andy Warhol's Dracula
Young Dracula
Director: Paul Morrissey
Cast: Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro, Arno Juerging, Vittorio De Sica, Maxime McKendry, Roman Polanski, Milena Vukotic, Dominique Darel, Stefania Casini, Silvia Dionisio
Count Dracula (Udo Kier) pursues the blood of virgins as his means of sustenance in this offbeat, Andy Warhol production.
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 Chinatown 1974  R, 131 min.
Genre: Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, John Hillerman, Diane Ladd, Perry Lopez, Darrell Zwerling, Roy Jenson, Richard Bakalyan, Roman Polanski, Joe Mantell, Bruce Glover, James Hong, Roy Roberts, Noble Willingham
It's Los Angeles in the 1930s, and J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a P.I. hired by a strange woman (Faye Dunaway). The more he becomes involved in her case, the more he realizes that there is something much bigger going on, and his client has a dark, secret past. Robert Towne won an Oscar for his great screenplay, and Robert Evans produced this outstanding film, which had 10 Academy Award nominations in addition to the Oscar.
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Cul-De-Sac 1966  N/R, 111 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Donald Pleasence, Francoise Dorleac, Lionel Stander, Jack MacGowran, Iain Quarrier, Geoffrey Sumner, Jacqueline Bisset, Renee Houston, William Franklyn, Marie Kean
Two wounded gangsters hide out on a lonely island where they terrorize the couple who inhabit the island's castle. A good cast certainly helps this production.
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The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me But Your Teeth.. 1967 N/R, 91 min.
Genre: Comedy / Horror
aka: The Fearless Vampire Killers
Dance of the Vampires
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Jack MacGowran, Roman Polanski, Alfie Bass, Jessie Robins, Sharon Tate, Ferdy Mayne, Iain Quarrier, Terry Downes, Fiona Lewis, Ronald Lacey, Sydney Bromley, Andreas Malandrinos
[Full title: "The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me But Your Teeth Are in My Neck"] Vampire hunter Professor Abronsius (Jack MacGowran) and his bumbling assistant, Alfred (Roman Polanski), arrive in a remote Slovanian village in search of vampires. They quickly become involved with an assortment of weird vampires when the innkeeper's daughter (Sharon Tate) is kidnapped by head vampire Count von Krolock (Ferdy Mayne). A funny and scary caper–with an excellent soundtrack–from a master director, Roman Polanski.
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Frantic 1988 R, 120 min.
Genre: Action / Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Harrison Ford, Emmanuelle Seigner, Betty Buckley, John Mahoney, Jimmie Ray Weeks, David Huddleston, Yorgo Voyagis, Gerard Klein, Dominique Pinon, Alexandra Stewart, Djiby Soumare, Robert Barr
While American surgeon Doctor Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is visiting Paris, his wife Sondra (Betty Buckley) disappears from their hotel. This sets off a frantic chain of events leading to a miniature Statue of Liberty: the key to identifying the kidnappers.
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Grosse Fatigue 1994 R, 92 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
aka: Dead Tired
Director: Michel Blanc
Cast: Michel Blanc, Carole Bouquet, Philippe Noiret, Josiane Balasko, Roman Polanski, Marie-Anne Chazel, Christian Clavier, Jean-Francois Perrier, Jean-Louis Richard, Francois Morel
Written by, directed by, and starring Michel Blanc, this movie satirizes the French film industry as Blanc suffers from the actions of an impersonator who is ruining the actor's reputation.
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Innocent Sorcerers 1960 N/R, 85 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama / Romance
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Cast: Tadeusz Lomnicki, Krystyna Stypulkowska, Zbigniew Cybulski, Wanda Koczeska, Kalina Jedrusik, Teresa Szmigielowna, Roman Polanski, Andrzej Nowakowski, Jerzy Skolimowski
Although he is not interested in them, women are very attracted to Dr. Andrzej Bazyli (Tadeusz Lomnicki), and he is getting tired of all the attention. Then, Pelagia (Krystyna Stypulkowska) appears on the scene, and his life picks up as they begin a battle of wits that finally dissolves Bazyli's indifference–at least for awhile.
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Knife in the Water 1962 N/R, 94 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama / Thriller
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz
Roman Polanski hit it big with his first feature film, which won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival and received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film. Vacationing sportswriter Andrzej (Leon Niemczyk) and wife Krystyna (Jolanta Umecka) pick up a teenage hitchhiker (Zygmunt Malanowicz) and ask the young man to join them on their boat for a short trip. Tension builds as the two men's personalities clash as Andrzej continually shows up the hitchhiker, and the hitchhiker suggests violence by toying with his knife.
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Le Locataire 1976 R, 125 min.
Genre: Foreign / Thriller
aka: The Tenant
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Shelley Winters, Bernard Fresson, Lila Kedrova, Claude Dauphin, Josiane Balasko, Michel Blanc
Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski) is a mild-mannered young Pole who rents an apartment in Paris and begins to suffer delusions of being persecuted by the other tenants. Not for all tastes.
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Lotna 1959 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Cast: Jerzy Pichelski, Adam Pawlikowski, Jerzy Moes, Mieczyslaw Loza, Bozena Kurowska, Bronislaw Dardzinski, Artur Mlodnicki, Roman Polanski, Karol Rommel, Wieslaw Golas
Lotna ("swift one") is an off-white horse that Polish Cavalry Captain Chodakiewicz (Jerzy Pichelski) rides while defending his country during World War II. But, after the captain is killed in action, the horse is passed from one soldier to another as the cavalry tries to stop the invading German foot troops.
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Macbeth 1971 R, 140 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: The Tragedy of Macbeth
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Jon Finch, Francesca Annis, Martin Shaw, Terence Bayler, John Stride, Nicholas Selby, Stephen Chase, Paul Shelley, Bernard Archard, Maisie MacFarquhar, Andrew Laurence, Frank Wylie
This is, perhaps, the best of the films made about the William Shakespeare play, which tells the story of Scottish nobleman Macbeth (Jon Finch) who wants power and is driven in his quest by his mad wife Lady Macbeth (Francesca Annis) and many prophecies. Violent, but well told.
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The Magic Christian 1969 PG, 92 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Joseph McGrath
Cast: Peter Sellers, Ringo Starr, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Richard Attenborough, Christopher Lee, Raquel Welch, Roman Polanski, Peter Graves, Yul Brynner, John Cleese
Based on Terry Southern's novel, this is the story of wealthy Sir Guy Grand (Peter Sellers) and his son Youngman (Ringo Starr) who devise strange situations to observe how others will behave, especially when money is involved.
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 The Ninth Gate 1999 R, 130 min.
Genre: Horror / Fantasy / Mystery / Thriller
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, Emmanuelle Seigner, Barbara Jefford, Jack Taylor, James Russo, Jose Lopez Rodero, Toni Amoni, Willy Holt, Allen Garfield, Jaques Dacqmine, Joe Sheridan, Rebecca Pauly, Catherine Benguigue
Dean (Johnny Depp) is hired to find two missing copies of a book that give the "recipe" for conjuring up the devil. The third book is held by the man who hired Dean–but only one book is the real one. As Dean travels through Europe, it is clear that he's not the only one interested in the books. Dark and moody.
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Oliver Twist 2005 PG-13, 130 min.
Genre: Family / Drama
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Barney Clark, Leanne Rowe, Mark Strong, Jamie Foreman, Harry Eden, Edward Hardwicke, Ian McNeice, Lewis Chase, Jeremy Swift, Frances Cuka, Alun Armstrong, Paul Brooke, Levi Hayes, Patrick Godfrey
In this adaptation of Charles Dickens' story, Barney Clark takes on the role of well-mannered nine-year-old orphan Oliver Twist who meets London pickpocket Artful Dodger (Harry Eden) and joins a group of boys who steal for their master, Fagin (Ben Kingsley).
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The Pianist 2002  R, 148 min.
Genre: Drama / Musical
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Ed Stoppard, Julia Rayner, Jessica Kate Meyer, Ruth Platt, Michal Zebrowski, Wanja Mues, Richard Ridings, Nomi Sharron, Anthony Milner, Lucy Skeaping
After conquering Poland, Nazis place celebrated Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody) and his family in a Warsaw ghetto from which he escapes the planned deportation to a concentration camp. But there is no relief for Szpilman who is forced to endure not only Nazi brutality but disease and starvation as well on Warsaw's streets. A good film depicting the power inherent in man's inhumanity to man. The film won three Oscars, including Best Director and Best Actor (Brody), and received four other nominations, including Best Picture.
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Pirates 1986  PG-13, 117 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Walter Matthau, Charlotte Lewis, Cris Campion, Damien Thomas, Richard Pearson, David Kelly, Roy Kinnear, Bill Fraser, Ferdy Mayne, Emilio Fernandez
When pirate Capt. Thomas Bartholomew Red (Walter Matthau) and a French sailor (Cris Campion) are captured by the crew of the Spanish galleon, Red evokes a crew mutiny, and the adventures continue.
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Pokolenie 1955 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: A Generation
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Cast: Tadeusz Lomnicki, Urszula Modrzynska, Tadeusz Janczar, Tadeusz Fijewski, Ryszard Kotys, Roman Polanski, Zbigniew Cybulski, Janusz Paluszkiewicz, Zofia Czerwinska, Ludwik Benoit, Zygmunt Hobot, Cezary Julski, Bronislaw Kassowski, Jerzy Krasowski, August Kowalczyk
In this film–the first entry in Andrzej Wajda's World War II trilogy ("Kanal" and "Ashes and Diamonds" followed it)–a generation of Polish youths comes of age under Nazi occupation. The story centers on Stach (Tadeusz Lomnicki) who joins Dorota's (Urzsula Modrzynska) "Fighting Youth" group, falls in love with her, and recruits others to help with the Communist cause and ridding Poland of Nazis.
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 Repulsion 1965 N/R, 105 min.
Genre: Horror / Drama / Thriller
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, John Fraser, Yvonne Furneaux, Ian Hendry, Patrick Wymark, James Villiers, Renee Houston, Valerie Taylor, Helen Fraser, Hugh Futcher, Monica Merlin, Imogen Graham, Mike Pratt, Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski brings to the screen this story of sexual repression and its effects on Carol Ledoux (Catherine Deneuve) when her sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux) and Helen's married boyfriend Michael (Ian Hendry) leave on vacation. Carol is paranoid and cannot deal with being left alone in the apartment for several days. She loses control and suffers bizarre hallucinations that lead to murder. Powerful! This film is Polanski's first movie that was filmed in the English language.
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Rosemary's Baby 1968 R, 136 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller / Mystery / Romance
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Mia Farrow, Ruth Gordon, John Cassavetes, Charles Grodin, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy, Elisha Cook Jr., Tony Curtis, Patsy Kelly, Victoria Vetri, Emmaline Henry, Hanna Landy, Phil Leeds, Hope Summers
Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and her actor husband Guy (John Cassavetes) move into a creepy apartment building in New York City where Rosemary begins to experience eerie situations. She has very disturbing dreams, and after one in which she is raped by something inhuman, she learns that she is pregnant. Her neighbors Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon) give Rosemary a strange potion to help her through the pregnancy. After their friend Hutch (Maurice Evans) tells Rosemary that Roman and Minnie are members of a coven of witches, Rosemary realizes that she is being victimized. Finally, Rosemary delivers a healthy baby–SATAN! Ruth Gordon won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
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Rush Hour 3 2007 PG-13, 90 min.
Genre: Action / Comedy
Director: Brett Ratner
Cast: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Max von Sydow, Hiroyuki Sanada, Noemie Lenoir, Yvan Attal, Dana Ivey, Youki Kudoh, Tzi Ma, Roman Polanski, Zhang Jingchu, Julie Depardieu, Simon Rhee, Roselyn Sanchez, Henry O
Hong Kong's Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) and LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) are back and thrown into action after a sniper, Lee's adopted brother Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada), wounds Chinese Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma), and Lee chases him across Los Angeles during rush hour. When Lee and Carter learn that the Chinese Triads are behind the shooting and have gained a huge influence in Paris, they fly to Paris where their East vs. West culture clash enters a new phase of French vs. American as they vow to protect Han and his daughter Soo Yung (Zhang Jingchu). Genevieve (Noemie Lenoir), on whose head are tattooed details of the Triad, holds the key to solving the case. And the action continues!
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Tess 1979 PG, 192 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, John Collin, Tony Church, Rosemary Martin, David Markham, Richard Pearson, Arielle Dombasle, Carolyn Pickles, Leigh Lawson, Pascale de Boysson, Suzanna Hamilton, Caroline Embling, Lesley Dunlop, Sylvia Coleridge
Set in 19th-century England, this is a fine adaptation of Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles." Beautiful peasant Tess (Nastassja Kinski) is sent to live with her relatives, the D'Urbervilles. It turns out that the family living there is not her family; they have bought the family's name. "Cousin" Alec (Leigh Lawson) becomes Tess' lover, and Tess becomes pregnant but loses the baby. Now, Tess goes to work on a dairy farm where she falls in love with Angel Clare (Peter Firth), but more problems lie ahead. This film was nominated for Best Picture, Director, and Musical Score Oscars–and it won for Best Art Direction, Costume Design, and Cinematography.
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Zemsta 2002 N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
aka: The Revenge
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Cast: Roman Polanski, Janusz Gajos, Andrzej Seweryn, Katarzyna Figura, Daniel Olbrychski, Agata Buzek, Rafal Krolikowski, Lech Dyblik, Cezary Zak, Jerzy Nowak
Based on the popular play, director Andrzej Wajda teams up with long-time friend and filmmaker Roman Polanski for this light-hearted farce. Feuding neighbors, Cseznik (Janusz Gajos) and Rejent (Andrzej Seweryn ), live in separate parts of a dilapidated castle. Cseznik yearns for rich widow Podstolina (Katarzyna Figura) and solicits the help of the flamboyant, but foolish, Papkin (Roman Polanski). But Rejent has plans of his own.
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| Oscar: Best Director for The Pianist (2002) |
1. Bitter Moon (1992)
2. Blood for Dracula (1974)
aka: Andy Warhol's Dracula
aka: Young Dracula
3. Chinatown (1974)
4. Cul-De-Sac (1966)
5. Death and the Maiden (1994)
6. The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me But Your Teeth.. (1967)
aka: The Fearless Vampire Killers
aka: Dance of the Vampires
7. Frantic (1988)
8. Grosse Fatigue (1994)
aka: Dead Tired
9. Innocent Sorcerers (1960)
10. Knife in the Water (1962)
11. Le Locataire (1976)
aka: The Tenant
12. Lotna (1959)
13. Macbeth (1971)
aka: The Tragedy of Macbeth
14. The Magic Christian (1969)
15. The Ninth Gate (1999)
16. Oliver Twist (2005)
17. The Pianist (2002)
18. Pirates (1986)
19. Pokolenie (1955)
aka: A Generation
20. Repulsion (1965)
21. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
22. Rush Hour 3 (2007)
23. Tess (1979)
24. Zemsta (2002)
aka: The Revenge
In The News
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