In honor of this weekend’s Academy Awards ceremony, Amazon’s running a sale on past winners and nominees. The sale includes such titles as (descriptions from IMDB):
Avatar (PG-13, 4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent in SD / $3.99 in HD, $8.99 to buy in SD / $9.99 in HD)
When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge’s intentions of driving off the native humanoid “Na’vi” in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland.
In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na’vi people with the use of an “avatar” identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand – and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.
– Written by The Massie Twins
Pan’s Labyrinth (R, 4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent in SD / $3.99 in HD, $7.99 to buy in SD / $4.99 in HD)
In 1944, in the post-Civil War in Spain, rebels still fight in the mountains against the falangist troops. The young and imaginative Ofelia travels with her pregnant and sick mother Carmen Vidal to the country to meet and live with her stepfather, the sadistic and cruel Captain Vidal, in an old mill.
During the night, Ofelia meets a fairy and together they go to a pit in the center of a maze where they meet a faun that tells that she is a princess from a kingdom in the underground. He also tells that her father is waiting for her, but she needs to accomplish three gruesome, tough and dangerous assignments first.
Meanwhile, she becomes friend of the servant Mercedes, who is the sister of one of the rebels and actually is giving support to the group. In a dark, harsh and violent world, Ofelia lives her magical world trying to survive her tasks and see her father and king again.
– Written by Claudio Carvalho
Inception (PG-13, 4/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent in SD / $3.99 in HD, $9.99 to buy in SD / $4.99 in HD)
Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb’s rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved.
Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one.
If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming.
– Written by Warner Bros. Pictures
Schindler’s List (R, 4/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent in SD / $3.99 in HD, $9.99 to buy in SD / $8.99 in HD)
German businessman Oskar Schindler doesn’t hesitate to use Jewish slave labor in his new factory. A member of the Nazi party, Schindler is essentially apolitical but knows how to deal with the bureaucracy and those in power to get what he wants. Over time, he is deeply affected by the treatment of Jews and begins to take steps to protect the 1500 or so people who work for him.
He convinces the authorities to build a new factory where the employees are interned and goes out of his way to hire those who face the wrath of the camp commandant, Amon Goeth. When the camp is closed, he arranges for “his” Jews to be transferred to a new factory in Czechoslovakia.
When the train carrying the women is diverted to Auschwitz, he races to have them freed using a part of his fortune to have them released to him. By the end of the war, Schindler has lost everything but has saved the lives of over 1000 of his employees
– Written by garykmcd
Click here to browse the full Instant Video Oscars Sale.
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