Klara Jagovit

Little Miss Sunshine

beauty 03:13:00

Family. Tensions. Friendships. Jealousy. Support. Acceptance. Disillusionment. Our family situation is rarely simple and straightforward. There are siblings who used to hate each other and now they prove to be each others' greatest support in times of life trials. There are mothers who are too demanding for their daughters and there are daughters who push themselves too hard to prove that they're worth their mothers' love. Relationships come and go but your family members might prove your greatest support. While love, understanding, and acceptance are hard, the above showed by your family can be unconditional.

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The Human Experiment

cancer 03:12:00

Do you pay attention to what mattress you sleep on? Do you read the ingredients of baby products which you use to take care of your children? Have you checked the content of your walls, wall paint, tiles on the floor? Are you aware what is inside the deodorant you press against your armpits every single day? To be honest, we shouldn't worry about it, since the majority of us are not chemists, scientists or the producers of goods. There are, however, standards which a lot of products available to us don't meet. Such products are responsible for cancer, infertility, autism and many other health hazards. This is a good eye-opener for a lot of us. And since standard requirements vary from one country to another, I doubt whether Europe has cleaned its deal way better than the USA.

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Miss Julie

class 03:11:00

One night stand. Happens to so many. In some cases, it ends up in an unwanted pregnancy. In others, the outcome is a tricky venereal disease. Sometimes it leads to a romance. Occasionally it's the trigger for a long-lasting relationship. In the majority of cases, it's something you quickly forget like a blackout party, boring birthday celebration or a drunk evening at home. In 1890 such one night stand could lead to a way different outcome, especially if it connected people from different social classes. Enjoy.

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The Others

children 11:51:00

Abandoned places always boost our imagination. Shorter days make us come back home with fear or anxiety that there might be someone waiting for us behind this wall, behind this fence, behind this bridge. People were always afraid of the lack of sun. Equally, they feared things which were unknown and new, be it a different culture, custom, possibly a disease. In a house traumatized by fate, there was the family which might give you creeps. Fear is yet one more emotion.

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Shawshank Redemption

crime 04:28:00

The nightmare of spending a night in a cell can happen to any of us. You are a human being. You make mistakes. Law system was introduced for a reason. The nightmare of spending half of your life behind bars is rarely something we wish to experience. And the nightmare of being falsely accused, wrongly sentenced and unfairly placed in prison evokes feelings of hopelessness and anger. Imagine your life behind bars. Imagine how strong may be the certainty of being innocent and what such certainty might drive you to achieve. Stephen King's classic at its best. Enjoy.

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RRRrrrr!!!

comedy 01:12:00

There were times when there was no technology, no machines, no houses, no luxury. People used to sleep in caves, they ate what they picked and hunted, they weren't attached to each other as losing one mate in an accident, a wild beast attack or due to disease was common. Children were resourceful and could fight for themselves. Roles between men and women were divided. Yet, this film shows how similar we had been centuries and centuries before, driven by the same instincts and emotions. And finally, it's a great opportunity to laugh at a pristine detective story with creme de la creme of the French acting team.

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What's Eating Gilbert Grape

disability 01:49:00

You don't choose your family. You don't have any influence over your family history, your family members' character, their decisions or views. You tolerate each other for years, you vividly remember your past mistakes, the awkward periods of adolescence, you circulate: bumping daily at each other as if checking whether you are still the same people. You are attached like primary school children, always having each other in mind, and holding nothing but good wishes, old grudges or warm feelings. This is one such complicated family in which love mixes with hatred, responsibility with a wish to escape and start anew, and a bond only those few living withing the walls of one house can truly understand.

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We Need To Talk About Kevin

children 01:47:00

Motherhood is a hard job. You constantly worry about your child's health, balancing between life and death, stumbling upon every table corner, electric socket and abandoned pin. Due to the lack of experience, you fear your every move, deciding whether you're bringing up a human being in a right way. There are thousands of mothers who were helpless, despite the efforts they put into bringing up their progeny. Is it their fault? Can we really be responsible for the actions of our children? What do the mothers of well-known murderers and assassins feel? Does the society teach us important lesson that bringing up is not limited to food, sport, and school education? While there are parents incapable of raising a child, there are children who are resistant to any form of guidance.

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Do I Sound Gay?

documentary 01:44:00

People do have low self-esteem. Nowadays, when the western world suffers more from the surplus of food rather than its inadequate amount, people are bullied for being too fat. While fashion shows, lingerie, and chain brands campaigns are promoted by super attractive people, people fall into the madness of plastic surgery and enhancing their appearance. Poor look up to the rich, rich look up to the richer ones, creating a vicious circle of never having enough. Being gay is not only hard since teenage bullying is omnipresent at schools, but even though you look gay, and possibly are gay, you don't want to sound gay. However silly the problem might seem, it opened my eyes to many little problems which make people uncomfortable. The timbre of your voice is just one of these problems. Enjoy.

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Lust.Caution

Ang Lee 12:43:00

Sexuality cannot be ignored. A lot of problems with institutions, governments and schools could be solved, or at least attempted at being solved, if we didn't ignore people's basic need. Touch, sexual fulfillment, sexual fantasies are inseparably connected to our love life. The business of sex toys, pornographic materials, and erotic films is flourishing. We circulate between love, drive, attractiveness, fondness, and desire. Sometimes we need to let us forget that we are machines raised by civilization and, apart from the mind, there's also the body which needs to be caressed. This time Asia. Having in mind Japanese love hotels, there are areas where the civilization of computers and digital equipment still loses the battle with the human need for one good act of sexual intercourse. A dive between passion and politics, a clash between weaknesses of heart, and duties. Lust. Caution.

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Amour/Love

death 02:40:00

Everybody now gets divorced. Be it the incompatibility of characters, cheating, irreconcilable differences, or the fact that love disappeared somewhere on the way. We stop caring about the other person or simply the idea of a stable marriage is not appealing to us at all. Maybe it's really something from the past, an outdated concept, having to do more with finances than mutual fondness. But we all know happy stories of happy couples who stayed with each other for over 30 years. Possibly we are set towards such a happy story, slowly building the relationship from scratch, this time hoping for a positive outcome. But what life spent next to each other really means? Is it all blissful happiness or is it a demanding journey keeping you in a love cage? Is it work beyond our efforts?

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Fucking Amal

growing-up 10:44:00

This is one of the first films about love between girls. It's still amazing that such relations were persecuted, illegal and that in some countries you can get in jail for same-sex relations. In some, you can be even killed. To keep at bay political and global problems, let's focus on an individual. Sexuality might be the result of a lot of factors. But the process of falling in love is a complex and layered experience, especially if you have just started dating, flirting and appreciating yourself as a sexual being. A Swedish love story that some time ago broke some taboos.

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Meet Joe Black

Anthony Hopkins 04:58:00

There was once a classic which showed the unquestioned handsomeness of Brad Pitt. On a more serious note, while we are still somehow attracted to the lives of rich and beautiful, we are intrigued by their romances and adventures, we also seek the second bottom. Is there anything we can call fate? Is there a higher plan for us, a bigger purpose? Do we have a guardian angel? Have you ever encountered people who turned your life upside down or made you look at things differently? Maybe you were such a person for someone else? A film with a twist, still good humor and a sense that there is something beyond our earthly day-to-day. And weren't we all in love with the childlike innocence of Brad Pitt and his unsurpassed charm? On a serious note though, weren't we?

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Being Ginger

documentary 04:56:00

It seems that hair color is such a trivial thing when it comes to valuing a person. It shouldn't be an obstacle in meeting people and falling in love. Yet, it is. One man tried to find out why for him dating seems to be impossible, why women are prejudiced against ginger hair and why maintaining your self-esteem on a high level might be hard. Reminding ourselves Harry Potter series, wasn't that the case that almost all Weasley boys ended up with a girlfriend? Isn't there light at the end of the tunnel? And me being an owner of almost all hair colors due to university dying experiments, is the color of your hair really a defining factor in the creation of you as a human?

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The Kings of Summer

children 04:55:00

There is a time in your life when you feel trapped. Stranded in your way among your family members, workmates, partners. Sometimes you lose yourself in the pursuit of making other people happy and you forget what makes you happy.

Some people need to be alone for a day. Others desire a year-long journey around the world. Yet others chose the life of isolation in academic pursuits, their hobbies, and passions, or, extremely, they bury themselves in a jungle, cave or another shelter difficult to specify. Sometimes you're just tired and you need to find yourself over again. For those craving an adventure. For those tired of the annoying nature of your loved ones. The Kings of Summer. It's never too late to set yourself free.

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Youth

loneliness 03:51:00

I was once under the impression that adult people are wise, experienced and trustworthy. Then I grew up and I realized that age doesn't make a great difference. Your body grows old, your physical and mental functions are limited, there's less ahead of you and more memories you're willing to share with others. If you surround yourself with young people, your mental state stays young. With a twist, the life of an aging composer was placed in a resort proving that age doesn't really matter. You can be infantile as an adult, mature as a kid, develop a distance to your fate, or get stuck in one memorable/traumatic phase of life and never fully get it over. Allowing the passing of time, do you count every wrinkle and every graying hair? What makes you old: life experiences or the number of candles on the cake? And considering your mistakes can you really change, rehabilitate and improve or do you stay the same for years and years?

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The Martian

experiment 03:50:00

We are fascinated with the idea of Robinson Crusoe virgin exploration of the unspoiled paradise. We make use of our inventor's instincts, survival skills and knowledge which we have accumulated for centuries. Since we cannot really discover any new lands as the era of Great Explorers has been over for centuries, we look beyond our ability of eyesight and comprehension. And since the exploration of the Earth and the Moon can be already included in the human achievement list, it's time for more distant places. A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining mission of one man and one lonely planet. The Martian.

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The Art of Getting By

art 03:49:00

Do you recall the time when with a conscious and critical eye of an adult you looked at your parents' relationship and saw the flaws and faults of people who you previously admired? You realized that half of the jobs there you'd hate deeply in your heart and the other half you are not capable of performing. The world seemed to be full of doors, either impossible to be opened, or you all of a sudden weren't the right size to fit them. At the same time you wanted to find the purpose of your life, luckily fall in love and trace the path you should follow as an adult. And looking back, I'm not really under the impression that the longer we live the easier it gets: life is more complicated, people still hurt us, parents still disappoint us, our professional life is tricky. In time, however, we gain the confidence of being ourselves and living the life we always wanted to live. We submit ourselves to a variety of stimuli and we learn what at the end of the day is best for us. The Art of Getting By is an art in every age. It never gets boring.

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Only Lovers Left Alive

love 03:47:00

The idea of never-ending love makes people fall in love with high expectations. Listening to stories about marriages that lasted over 50 years makes us look with hope for our second-half. It all seems worth at the end of the day. And when lovers are lovers with the world in the background, when they clearly remember historical and political events and when they live their passion to the fullest, we tend to believe in the romantic idea of love. And who is a better lover than a creature who, apart from sensuality, desire and physical fulfillment, can last in this state for centuries?

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Notes on a Scandal

Cate Blanchett 07:51:00

The news of extraordinary events hit the front pages of newspapers every day. In an ideal world, you fall in love with your childhood best friend, of similar age, interest, friends, and family. In a less ideal world you fall in love unexpectedly, either when you miss something from life, or when your life seems to be ordered and stagnant and then it's turned upside down by a lightning coming out of the blue. As a society, we try to impose rules of what is moral and considered a crime. We draw the line between right and wrong, adult and child, fidelity and infidelity. We condemn others until we find ourselves in a situation which others seem to condemn. This time a romance between a teacher and a student. What lines, if any, can you cross when you fall in love?