I watch mostly foreign films. Any you might suggest?
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I watch mostly foreign films. Any you might suggest?
“Incendies” a 2010 Canadian film that takes place in the Middle East. It centers on violence, revenge, and redemption. It is heavy, very heavy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultralight
A few years ago I watched a few films about child predators. One that stands out as good (not fantastic, but interesting) is “Troubled Water” a Danish film about a young man out of prison for killing a child. It shows his life when integrating back into society after this heinous crime. It helps that the main character is played by a winsomely handsome actor. He is a sympathetic character.
Ypu probably follow the list of foreign films nominated for Oscars. I find that a good place for recommendations.
Subject matter?
I ask because I really liked the Millennium Trilogy. (3 movies together, not the USA version, of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). I'd like to see Kindertransport and there was one in that Genre that isn't a foreign film, but I would almost consider it one (Letters from Iwo Jima). But I have always had an interest in that subject between the HST connections, the operation paperclip connection, and the Japanese chef friend and Austrian chef neighbor, whose families fought on the other sides.
There was a vampire movie that was in my would be interested to see or read cue, and I found the dvd at a local store for $3, Let the Right One In. (would love to find the soundtrack to this one, and I would avoid the US remake)
A young lady I know, wants me to watch Battleship Royal. The plot sounds too similar to what has been coming out in the recent past.
Off the top of my head, I haven't had great access to true foreign movies. (seems if I find stuff I might want to see, there is a region code issue) One that I saw on a recommendation, as a teenager, I would NOT recommend, is RAN.
Thanks for the suggestions! Much appreciated.
Let The Right One In is an excellent film! I watched it back in graduate school. My circle of friends back then was all about it.
What else do you all have lined up to watch? Domestic films?
I LOVE Let the Right One In, Swedish version. It is on my top 25 Favorite Films list. The American version is decent, too.
We saw “I, Tonya” tongiht. It is great entertainment. It tells the story of skater Tonya Harding in an irreverant way, but still respectful to her.
“The Post” ...a Stephen Spielberg movie with Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. About Katherine Graham who owned the Washington Post at the time a not very influential paper in a very influential town. Their primary rival the New York Times published top secret and sensitive information obtained from a Rand Corp. source showing the highest level officials in government knew the Vietnam War was a debacle but chose to continue it at the risk and peril of the nation’s youth simply to postpone the embarrassment of losing a foreign war. The Nixon administration obtained an injunction against the Times and the Post was placed in a perilous position of deciding to publish the same leaked information and risk the death of the paper or keep mute and sell out the first amendment.
Katherine Graham is portrayed as breaking through the male barrier in a predominantly male profession. Streep is very good. It starts out slow but accelerates and ends quite satisfactorily.
"Loving Vincent" is a unique exquisite work of art about Vincent van Gogh that I watched tonight. "Loving Vincent - is the world's first fully painted feature film!" I found some new info about the artist but the artwork took 10 years to finish and so gorgeous.
Bicentennial Man. It was ironic hearing the Robin Williams character warned about the anguish humans can face.
Loved the Post. That and Ordinary People really brought me back in time with the fashions, hairstyles, manners, and mores.
That was my life, circa 1971. Well, minus the newspaper ownership!
We watched "Manchester by the Sea" on DVD last night. It was 2+ hours of tedium, and I would respectfully suggest that Casey Affleck find a profession for which he is better suited. There was a lot of sad stuff going on here, and the film didn't tug at my heartstrings even the tiniest bit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rosarugosa
Omg! That is the most movng film I have seen in years! It was followed closely by Moonlight which I saw the next day. Those two films back to back show the power of film to illustrate human suffering. I cnsider 2016 a good year in films due to those two.. And that scene with Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams on the sidewalk, that was a master class in acting.
Only Atonement, ten years ago, beats these films for grand emotion.
all my opinion of course, and how they affected me.
rosa, I believe you when you say you didnt have heart string tugged, but girl, I think you need to make an apointmentment to have those strings checked out by your doc! Haha. When the Albioni music started up, and ran throughout the entire scene of tragedy, that elevated the film to perfection for me. it was the perfect piece of music.
Jimi All Is By My Side about Jimi Hendrix.
We saw Dunkirk last night. My DH was dying to see it because his dad was at Dunkirk.
I thought it was pretty good, but he hated it. He felt it was too choppy/hard to follow, and there was no character development.
Anyone else see it? If so, what did you think?
I dont go to war films any more, so,didnt see this one.Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
Really? A blanket policy, not to see war movies? How come?Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
Not exactly a film, but I just watched All-American Murder, a 48 Hours documentary about Aaron Hernandez based on a book by James Patterson. When a parent's death, bad choices, and traumatic encephalopathy collide, the result isn't pretty.
They are too violent,Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
I am unable to maintan mental distance from all of the war horror. And it is too bad because
I missed several good ones of recent years.
I saw bits and pieces of Hacksaw Ridge on an airplane but missed the story arc, so might as well have not watched those bits.
The last war film I watched was not too long ago, American Sniper and it was good.
Also I dont go to Holocaust films and havent in some years. I am no longer going to Tarantino films.
When I was young I could read anything and see anything and those images didnt take up residence in my brain, but no longer. I remember being a young librarian and library patrons in their 60’s talked about how they couldnt read books with violence in them and I didnt understand. Now I do. Perhaps this mental shift comes about because as we age, we understand the fragility of human flesh, it isnt an abstract concept any more.
Great explanation. I agree with you, really. And the movies today are SO violent, gratuitously so. I hate Mel Gibson movies, including the movie that the rest of the family has declared our family movie, Braveheart. I just found it incredibly violent. All of his movies are filled with it. Same with Tarantino.Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
I also subscribe to the idea that what you ingest becomes you, and if you are ingesting toxins, whether through eating them or watching them on TV or movies, the effect is the same.
Dunkirk was not that bloody for a modern war film, actually. Of course there were a couple of "shut your eyes" types of moments, but it was really just a fairly boring account of a key moment in the war. I do think modern scriptwriters have lost the idea of a good story line.
I saw it recently and agree that the timeline was confusing because it was non-linear. The three timelines were One Week Out, where the troops in Dunkirk were trying to get back to England, One Day Out, where the commercial ships from England were racing across the Channel to provide help, and One Hour Out, where the RAF were engaging the German aircraft patrolling over the Channel.Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
The lack of character development reflects the fact that the characters were irrelevant, the three stories, while interlinked, stand alone as elements of a monumental effort.
I enjoyed it!
Wow, just goes to show you one size certainly doesn't fit all! I did like Moonlight though; we saw that one recently.Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
I'm going to watch "Enchanted April" this weekend, because this winter sucks. I've probably seen it 3x already.
I watched "45 Years" last night. It's on Amazon Prime. It's about a couple in the week before their 45th anniversary party, and an old secret is revealed that turns out to be pivotal to what their marriage became. It takes place in a marshy area of England (Norfolk?) Just lovely to look at; i felt i was right there. The movie is slow paced and careful, it feels honest. Charlotte Rampling's face is unforgettable. A very well crafted film.
Yes, apparently dh and I are the only ones who thoroughly disliked "Manchester by the Sea." Too many years spent in Boston, maybe.Quote:
Originally Posted by rosarugosa
Last night I watched Lucky
A small-town Arizona man in his 90s contemplates the end of life, as an atheist. He reveals amazing abilities. The screenplay was written with layers of metaphor.
Saw 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri the other night. Loved it.
Saw The Dressmaker with Kate Winslet last week. Very cute and quirky, albeit a bit dark.
Finally saw A Man Called Ove last week. Loved it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
Of those three, I think Ove irritated me the least.
While there were many things to like about 3 Billboards (especially Woody Harrelson’s role and performance), overall it was trying to hard to be something important and in that, it just insultd groups like Missouri rednecks, small town cops, etc.
The Kate Winslett film was dismal and the script not really very good. The bad people were so bad! That never makes for a good film unless the badness is dont creatively. The setting was a little bit interesting.
This one is on my long list.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gardenarian
I watched a vampire film, Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) highly recommended by a group on the MMm site. It was really really cool, I loved it! Tilda Swindon and Tom Hiddleston play century old lovers, vampires, who reside in picturesque decaying places like Tangiers and central Detroit. There isn’t much of a plot. It is about their languid lives and the man’s depression.
Spoiler alert on 3 Billboards:Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
I can see how some groups were offended by 3 Billboards, but to be honest the best and most honorable people in that film were the cops. Woody Harrelson character was inspirational in a Christ-llike way, and the impact he had on Dixon--the redeemed bad guy--was awesome. Sam Rockwell deserves his nomination. My favorite stories are stories of redemption, and that's how I saw this movie. I also loved that I struggled to understand what was likeable about Frances McDormand's character--as a protagonist she was SO long-suffering. I just found it to be a fascinating character study.
Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
Oh make no mistake, it was a film worth watching. The same director made one of my all time
favorite films ten years ago, In Bruges. It has the same themes of violence, redemption, midgets. The sublime Peter Dinklage was wasted in this film. i am glad he got work on the big screen but his role was too much about being a short man, it was a little cringe worthy.
I agree about the Dinklage character.Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
I'm familiar with McDonagh's theatrical works. I saw The Lieutenant of Inishmore on Broadway--or Off.. can't remember--but I do remember it was VERY dark comedy.
Has anyone seen "Black Panther"? I'm looking forward to it.
"Thor: Ragnarok" was one of the most entertaining films I saw last year.
We went to see Peter Rabbit last Wed. Valentine's Day. It was superb. The animation was magnificent. How they got those rabbits to seem so real was phenomenal. The settings were exquisite and they paid tribute to Beatriz Potter. We are two adult, retired teachers, no kids and just loved it.
DH and I saw Coco Sunday afternoon at the cheap theatre. We both loved it. DH admitted he teared up in a few places. Went with a couple of girlfriends to see Phantom Threads a couple of weeks ago. I went basically to see the clothes and scenery. Had heard it was quirky and it was certainly that! We all like it, though.
Phantom Thread WAS interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by beckyliz
I was surprised to see the actress whomplayed the sister be nominated for an Oscar when the actress who played hhis muse was in practically every scene, once she was introduced in the film. She was excellent, too.it was a high quality production all around.
Saw Black Panther last night with DH. It was his birthday and he LOVES the Marvel movies. It was amazing - I cannot imagine all the work that went into it. In addition to the strong African characters, I loved seeing the amazing women in the movie. Always fun to catch Stan Lee.
I tried to watch There Will Be Blood sn e that was on the top ten list of films of the 2000 decade of several of my film buddies,
ugh, I found it unwatchable. I think I understand the appeal but it was not for me.
Thanks for this review. I am going tonight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nswef
Saw The Secret Scripture with Vanessa Redgrave and Rooney Mara. I loved it. So I wanted to hear what the critics said. The critics basically panned it, but the audience gave it really high marks. Did anyone else see it?