Foreign Films Lovers Unite's Journal (original) (raw)

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

1:28 pm
[displacedbrett]

Treeless MOuntain A Korean indie drama that follows two young girls who are left by their mother (who goes searching for their estranged father). The girls are sent to live with various, incompetent relatives such as an alcoholic aunt and out on the farm with their grandparents. Writer/Director So Yong Kim does an excellent job of establishing intimacy by using a lot of close up shots on the faces of the two very expressive young actors. Though this film is obviously shot on a low budget, it has excellent cinematography, thanks to Kim's sharply focused aesthetic vision.

My initial thoughts when I heard about this movie was that it would be an overly sentimental tear-jerker, but that turned out not to be the case at all. In fact, if there is a knock on this film, it may be that it lacks strong enough conflict to really resonate. However, to me the movie is a lot like the song used in the its trailer, "Layers" by Asobi Seksu - it's beauty comes from its understatement.

Trailer for Treeless Mountain

Friday, April 10th, 2009

3:21 pm
[sontmoi]

hello I'm new here! how are you.

For any who haven't heard of it, I have heard this movie, Let the Right One in (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/) is excellent. I'm planning on reading the book first, so I've yet to personally see it.

I absolutely love surreal movies, such as Paprika and The Science of Sleep, but I'm looking to broaden my horizons a bit. Any suggestions?

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

2:30 pm
[mrheather]

Scottish Movies My husband is really into Scotland and anything Scottish. I'm really into foreign and independent films. I've only seen two Scottish film that I can think of and I don't remember what they were called. I was hoping some of you could recommend some good Scottish movies for us.

Thanks!

Saturday, January 20th, 2007

9:21 pm
[mathew5000]

Foreign Language Oscar shortlist This is a post on my blog:

In a slight change from previous years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a nine-film shortlist of contenders for this year’s foreign-language-film Oscar:

These films were chosen by a committee “consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members”, from 61 films submitted by countries around the world. (The official rule governing the award is here.)

Now, a committee of 30 members will view the nine shortlisted films and select the five official “nominees” for the category.

Of these films, I have seen six, of which After the Wedding is the best. Not much surprise considering how strong Danish cinema has been this decade.

After the Wedding has an engaging, twisty plot, sharp dialogue, and great performances, particularly by Mads Mikkelsen in the lead role. The film is about a man returning from India to Denmark, to secure a corporate donation that will keep afloat an orphanage for which he is responsible; the question is whether he will compromise to the will of the corporation’s CEO.

I also liked Days of Glory, Water, The Lives of Others, and Pan’s Labyrinth. As for Volver, I can’t understand why so many people like it; I thought it was crap. I will be pleasantly surprised if it does not receive a nomination.

I have not seen Avenue Montaigne, Black Book, or Vitus.

Some links:

Friday, October 20th, 2006

4:29 pm
[bruisedpetal]

The Ring/ The Grudge questionnaire :) If you have seen both the Japanese original and American remake of either of these films, please could you answer these questions quickly? :)

Ringu/The Ring Ju-On/The Grudge

( The questions...Collapse )

Thank you so very much, it's for my A2 media coursework project on Asian Cinema :) xx

(x-posted)

Current Mood: cheerful

Monday, October 2nd, 2006

12:38 pm
[zipzilla]

A few movies I've seen lately and really liked -

Kamikaze Girls - a bit of fluff but very fun to watch.
Beautiful Thing -A coming of age story set in London. Good solid characters that were easy to identify with.
Wings of Desire -a beautiful film.

Any thoughts?

7:48 am
[_missjones]

"cache"
thoughts?

Current Mood: cranky

Monday, September 18th, 2006

1:48 pm
[katrina_na]

Hello! New member...I hope this is allowed! If not just say so and I'll delete this. Anyway, I just created a community for Seijun Suzuki, and I thought that some members of this community might be interested in joining...so if you're a fan, please join! seijun_suzuki

Saturday, September 16th, 2006

12:04 am
[queenmau]

Eternal Return I was wondering if anyone knew if Eternal Return, a Jean Cocteau movie, was released on DVD. I do most of my movie searching on Amazon (I like having all of my little lists)and was surprised that it only listed a VHS option available. If not, any idea whether one will be made? It seems odd that I can find his other movies on DVD and not this one.

x-posted

Thursday, August 31st, 2006

2:32 pm
[steffyrawkchick]

Sprechen sie Deutsch Hello Everyone!

I am taking a German class and would like to immerse myself into more of the German culture. I thought maybe watching some film might help :)

Do you have any suggestions on German flicks for me?

I've already seen Run, Lola, Run and I rented Goodbye Lenin last night.

thanks :D

*EDIT*
Thank you to everyone who made suggestions! It was very helpful and if you'll excuse me I have some new movies to see! :D

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006

10:10 am
[linktv]

Tune in to Link TV’s new world cinema series: CINEMONDO

Love foreign and indie films but hate standing in line and spending $50 on a movie night? Put on your pajamas and tune in to Link TV’s new world cinema series: CINEMONDO. Hosted by Peter Scarlet, executive director of Robert DeNiro’s famed Tribeca Film Festival, the series will feature the U.S. premiere of racy and politically-charged films every Saturday — starting August 26 and ending in November 4.

The lineup isn’t bad either: China’s racy Stolen Life, which details the life of a young girl who is tricked into a heartless baby trafficking machine, South Korea’s The President’s Last Bang, which dramatizes the real life assassination of head of state Park Chung Hee, Iran’s Beautiful City, which offers an examination of Iran’s ancient capital punishment laws with a tender look at retribution, compassion and love and seven other audacious and award-winning films. Forget going out to the movies or netflixing something everyone else has already seen, how about staying in and trying something new? There’s a whole world of cinema you’ve been missing out on and it’s time for you to catch up.

The following films will receive their U.S. television premiere on Link TV as part of CINEMONDO:

· Stolen Life (China) directed by Li Shaohong

· Beautiful City (Iran) directed by Asghar Farhadi

· Wrong Side Up (Czech Republic) directed by Petr Zelenka

· The President’s Last Bang (South Korea) directed by Im Sang-soo

· Rana’s Wedding (Palestine) directed by Hany Abu-Assad

· Fuse (Bosnia) directed by Pjer Zalica

· Almost Brothers (Brazil) directed by Lucia Murat

· May 6th (Holland) directed by Theo van Gogh

· Border Café (Iran) directed by Kambuzia Partovi

· Waiting for Happiness (Mauritania) written and directed by Abderrahmane Sissako

· Hostage (Greece) directed by Constantine Giannaris

To check out Link’s schedule for show times and find out where to tune in, click here . Don’t forget to pass the word on to your friends!

Current Mood: ecstatic

Saturday, August 19th, 2006

10:01 pm
[bruisedpetal]

Hi

Does anyone happen to have/know where I can find English subtitles for the film, Das Experiment?

Thank you!

Monday, July 24th, 2006

5:30 pm
[eye_of_the_calm]

any classic John Woo flicks still in print? I'm a fan of John Woo. I seen a couple of his movies and I want to get the rest, not the Hollywood kind but the ones where he was in his prime. Are there any existing copies of his old movies anywhere at least in the US? Is it possible that I can order them imported if they are still selling overseas? Help.

Current Mood: curious

Friday, June 30th, 2006

11:45 pm
[onthe___edge]

Recommendations, por favor? Hello all. A newbie here and not just to the community. I've always admired foreign culture and ci, foreign films as well. Ages ago (in addition to watching "La Vita E Bella [Life Is Beautiful]" years and years ago in school plus "Malena" too) I caught the movie "Fanfan" (starring Vincent Perez and Penelope Cruz...that's the title, I think) and a few months ago, "Mar Adentro [The Sea Within]" on TV.

I liked them (as well as a couple of random foreign films I was able to catch on TV such as "La Finestra di Fronte [Facing Windows]" with Raoul Bova) and I've really gotten into foreign movies since then. I recently saw the infamous "Y Tu Mama Tambien [And Your Mother Too]" (though I've been aware of it and what it was way before) and I just LOVED it. I chose to see "La Mala Educacion [The Bad Education]" then "Amores Perros [Love's A Bitch]" (Gael fan, obviously ;) and I adored the 2 as well.

Very recently (and I mean yesterday!), I was able to get "Diaros de Motocicleta [The Motorcycle Diaries]" and "Cidade de Deus [City of God]" though I haven't had the chance to watch either yet. Well with that said...

Can you please recommend to me more similar/worthwile contemporary foreign films, particularly Spanish language films?

Thank you so much/muchas gracias! I can't wait to watch more worthwile films. Bless and nice to meet you all! ;)

X-POSTED.

Friday, June 23rd, 2006

12:03 pm
[flavordav]

Japanese Visual Culture This course will explore the vibrant world of Japanese visual culture. In an era which is increasingly dominated by the flow of images, contemporary Japan has a high profile, producing, for example, manga (comic books), anime (animation), video games, and associated products which are consumed on a global scale, generating their own subcultures of enthusiasts in many countries....

http://w00.middlebury.edu/ID085A/intro/index.html

Current Mood: working

Tuesday, June 13th, 2006

5:29 pm
[bruisedpetal]

Hi

I'm doing A2 Media Studies in the UK and am looking at World Cinema as part of my course. So I thought the best way to start researching it would be to watch some foreign films. I've seen The Edukators, Audition and Battle Royale, so could you guys just list off a few films & what countries they're from which you think I'd like?

Thanks xxx

Friday, May 19th, 2006

8:57 pm
[takbotayo]

Osama hi all, this is my first post. i have just watched Osama the first Afghan movie that was released after the fall of the tlaiban. I loved the movie. It was very simple yet very menaingful, since the director/writer/editor (one person) used non-professional actors who were natives of afghanistan. What left me hanging though is the symbolisms of some parts of the movie.

If anyone of you has watched the film, do you know what any of these mean?

1. The giving of the lock of the husband in the end.
2. Osama's skipping rope scene at the very end of the film
3. The old man takng a bath at the end of the film
4. the boys' lessons on how to.. "take a bath"

thanks in advance to anyone who can help me.

Monday, May 1st, 2006

8:42 pm
[la_belle_vie_]

hey i have to do a project on a french film for my final grade in french class. can anyone suggest movies that are appropriate for school and not really mainstream? thanks so much! =]

Sunday, April 23rd, 2006

3:49 am
[catharticrepose]

hello, i am a NEWBIE to the COMMUNITY! lol
i haven't seen too many foreign films, but i truly like what i have seen thus far.
can anyone give me some recommendations of where i should start? what movies should i try?
thanks! :D

Saturday, April 15th, 2006

10:07 pm
[mispeliculas]

Peliculas

e n t e r

We set our sights on portraying films that aren’t widely reviewed. Most importantly we don’t want to marginalize films because that would restrict further climb! We’re fond of supplemental film information, the criterion collection and friends. This site is updated daily. Thanks!