Foreign films

The cinematography here was kinda cool. The whole movie itself had a very abstract feeling and other than a few scenes which were over enhanced, I quite liked it. The soundtrack which accompanied the movie was pretty cool too.

The only problem was the subtitles I downloaded and manually added didn't fit with the dvd's timestamp and I couldn't understand much of what happened here. But the story seemed kinda cool and I'd not mind watching this again with subtitles that work.

Also I award bonus points for the hot n' cute Asian chick with orange coloured hair. Oowesome. :p

Zhang Yimou's masterpiece. One of the greatest Asian films ever made. Ofcourse, not everyone would understand what's really going on here but those who do will know how brilliant the plot is. Add to that the stunning cinematography and the amazing martial arts scenes and you've got yourself a visual spectacle there.

The wuxia genre at it's mesmerising best. One of the greatest Asian films ever made and I really really love it. Yun-Fat Chow, Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh delivers excellent performances and Tan Dun's well crafted score was a bonus. This is a real gem of a film, with a beautiful plot and cinematography as well as the graceful on screen choreography and martial arts scenes. Watch it and you'll understand why this is a true timeless masterpiece.

This film depicts very well what war is all about. The cast was excellent, but they could perhaps improve the visuals a bit more and depict the battle scenes a little bit better to make it perfect. Kind of heartbreaking to see the girl drown near the end of it. :(

But the plot was excellent nonetheless and the characters very much believeable.

Shigeru Umebayashi's soundtrack is certainly the highlight here except for Zhang Ziyi's phenomenal perfomance and a few amazing scenes like the the echo game for example, which was amazing as hell. Ziyi deserves a nod here for her portrayal of the blind girl which was truly mesmerising. The film has it's flaws though like some way too unrealistic fight scnenes and below par acting and visuals in some scenes. But at the end of it all, the positives far outweigh the negatives. So hats off to Zhang Yimou for directing another memorable and brilliant movie.

Really loved the amazing fight scenes in this one. Too bad I watched a dvd rip without the subtitles. So I actually never understood much of what happened in this film. Yet I thought it was good. I'll definitely give this one another try with the subtitles. The unique and sad ending was quite a twist. Didn't really expect it.

2 November 2007

It's a stupid plot but an amusing one nonetheless. Had to utilise the subtitles here and listening to Japanese was annoying as hell at the beginning, but got used to it after a while. An English language remake please!

One of the greatest films you'll ever watch. It's incredible how realistic it all looked and it really succeeds in delivering a powerful message. I wish they make more films like these. Highly recommended.

A story of love, relationships, sex and coming of age in general with an element of racial differences added to spicen things up. It's about an Iranian immigrant boy who falls in love with a Swedish girl.

Loved the cinematography but can't say the same for the film itself. It wasn't bad but it wasn't anything special either. It could've been a lot better though and that ultimately is what disappoints me. It relies too much on cliche' and quirky dialogue to build up the story. It kinda felt like as if it was written by a kid or something.

Maybe it's another one of those films lost in translation if you know what I mean. It's a Swedish film. Sometimes when you translate something directly to English, it doesn't quite mean what was intended originally. Maybe that's the case with this.

Damn! They totally ruined it with that cast. I didn't like a single one of them. The acting was horrible mostly and the plot was quite bad as well.

I'm a big fan of films like these and to say the least, this is a huge disappointment. The only redeeming factor is perhaps the quality of costume design as well as the overall visual style. It's the classic case of style over substance. It's a shame this turned out so bad.

This is bad enough that a 2/5 sounds really generous.

Truly a brilliant achievement in film making. One of the greatest movies of all time and it's of surprisingly good quality considering what might've been a low budget production. I'll give five stars for everything from the cast, the camera work and the phenomenal performances given by pretty much everyone in the leading roles to the brilliantly written dialogue. Nearly flawless direction and execution from the beginning till the very end.

I doubt that everything depicted here is the absolute true though. Much of this is based on the accounts of people like Hitler's secretary who've claimed to have had very close relations with him. One thing I'll respect the film makers here is for the fact they never try to shove any political agenda down your throat, unlike most documentaries and films depicting these events. You're free to make of it what you will after watching it.

This will give you more than just a glimpse of Adolf Hitler and his henchmen like you've never seen or imagined before, raging with emotions in their very last moments watching their ideas, visions and basically their whole world collapse right infront of their own eyes. It's both an eye opening experience and sad at the very same time coz it felt so real and humane. Infact, I felt sympathy for some of them. I really do, however wrong it might seem to be.

Yet another magnificent Asian martial arts tale of honour and loyalty. The choreography and cinematography was amazing to say the least and the story is very compelling and well balanced. Probably Jet Li's finest film other than Hero and one of the best martial arts movies ever.

ps. The dubbed English sounds very cheesy but still if you could get past that, you'll love this one. A better option would be to get the original Mandarin version with English subs. The acting looks much better when they speak in their own language.

A very compelling and beautiful plot, with two very seemingly different yet interconnected strories switching back and forth. One, a fairy tale as imagined by a little girl and the other, reality; which in here is a bloody struggle between facist Spanish troops and a guerilla uprising in a rural area up North in Spain, 1944. But it never get's too chaotic or confusing for the viewer and will keep your eyes glued to the screen from the beginning till the very end. It's absolutely magical.

This is too dark, violent and graphic to be a children's movie even though at first it looks a lot like one, which is a good thing in my book.

Excellent film making. The use of dramatic classical music and lighting here is remarkable.

Juliette Binoche was exceptional in her role as well. Dark, mysterious and sexy, as it says on the cover. One fine film that was well worth watching.

Absolutely wonderful film set in the most beautiful and amazing of places. The mansion really helps in building up the chilling atmosphere and the scenes at the beach near the lighthouse were nothing short of breathtaking. This film to me is everything a true horror should be. The tension and suspense some of the scenes build up is unbelieveable. If you can really get into it, you're in for a real spine chilling experience. There's little violence and blood in it yet it's more engaging and scary than the majority of horror flicks out there today. The fact that the film's blessed with an amazing cast who all threw in terrific performances helps a lot as well I guess. Kudo's t Belen Rueda specially for a memorable performance.

Contrary to many people, I even liked the ending. It packs quite the bittersweet emotional punch. I can't think of any other way to end it all which would have been say as much satisfying and realistic.

The film's real beauty to me lies in the ambiguity of it all. It's up to you to decide what it all meant. Very much like Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. Infact this film has del Torro written all over it. I'm quite surprised that it wasn't him who directed this. But it's original and different enough for me to say that this is definitely one of 2008's finest films. A true masterpiece. Hell I wouldn't even mind an Oscar.

p.s. People who don't like reading subtitles have absolutely no idea how many amazing films they're actually missing out on. Seriously.

Directed by Leni Riefenstahl and comissioned by Adolf Hitler himself, this is certainly a masterclass in propaganda film making.

You'll really be blown away by some of the scenes showing the absolute loyalty and respect one man commanded from hundreds of thousands of his followers. Some of the speeches and scenes are nothing short of stunning and spectacular.

The only negative perhaps is that it's a bit too long at two hours of running time and it does get a bit boring at times but that is understandable considering that this is a political film in black and white.

A very smart and funny storyline. One of the nominee's for the best animated short film at the 80th Oscars.

An excellent film from Sweden. Great performances by both the beautiful and talented leads. Apart from a few noticeable flaws, the film was superbly done.

A lot of similarities with "Fucking Amal". Both films dealing with the issue of adolescence and sexuality among girls. As with that, the highlight here is the two leads; Adele Haenel & Pauline Acquart. Very impressive performances from both.

It's a good French film but there were a couple things which I didn't like about it. For starters, I didn't like the fact that the stupid girl (Anne) got so much screen time. Didn't like her character at all and frankly, she was a distraction. More of an annoyance than anything and the nude scene involving her was totally unnecessary as well I thought.

A truly magnificent remake of the 1922 Nosferatu film. However influential and innovative the original film maybe, you have to understand the fact that some things just weren't possible back then so I'd say this is actually better than the original. It's definitely one of the best remakes I've ever seen and quite possibly the best vampire film of all time as well.

Klaus Kinski's performance as Count Dracula is one of the film's strongest points and it's nothing short of phenomenal. As memorable as they come. Isabelle Adjani was perfect for the role as well. She's stunning and it's impossible to keep your eyes off her. As for Bruno Ganz, he did a fine job. Renfield's character on the other hand I think was played better in the original.

Above all, the one thing that got me instantly hooked is perhaps the haunting and evocative atmosphere which owes much to the cinematography and the bleak ambient music which was played throughout the film. It works like a charm. This film also has one of the best opening sequences I've ever seen and it really set the mood for what is to come and make no mistake, it's all about the mood here. You need to be in a right mood to appreciate this.

I'll have to say the only thing that even slightly disappointed me was perhaps the ending, but it's no deal breaker. Lastly I've gotta give credits to the writers. It was quite poetic writing without being over done and I really liked it. I think the film is well ahead of it's time and unappreciated much.

A seminal piece of work which has pretty much single handedly defined a whole genre of films and continue to be a huge influence to this day. A true classic.

I've never been a fan of silent films and I don't really intend to watch too many more but this is exceptional for it's time.

A very unique experience which I quite enjoyed. At first I wasn't really sure what to make of it but after a while, it won me over. But it's definitely not for everyone.

It's still worth the watch if you enjoy films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which stimulates your mind rather than spoon feed each and every detail.

11 January 2008

A Takashi Miike masterpiece. Hollywood could learn a thing or two about making a real horror from this film. More than half the film is used to develop the characters and the plot before it all comes crashing down. Like someone hitting you with a sledgehammer.

The toture scene at the end is like one of the most disturbing things I've seen in a film. You can just feel your skin crawling and you'll feel like throwing up. It works so well coz the director spent a long time building up likeable characters and when things go wrong for them, you actually care about it unlike the pointless killings in gore films. I love the music, and the acting is superb. This film is pure artistry in the most dark and demented ways imaginable. Not for the faint hearted though.

The only thing that disappointed me was the direct word to word translation in the subtitles.

17 August 2008

The plot is not this is not the easiest to follow at the beginning but this is probably the most artistic of the Vengeance trilogy from Chan-wook Park. His ideas just don't seem to run out and you wonder what he'll come up with next. I love the music used here as well and it worked really well. My favourite scene is probably the scene where the parents are shown the videos of the kids before they were murdered. The whole thing was pure genius. Quite disturbing though.

To craft three incredible films like these in a row is one hell of a feat and by no means an easy task, even for the most talented of directors. Each of these films deserve a standing ovation on it's own.

17 August 2008

"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone."

You couldn't guess where this was heading if you life depended on it. It just throws in surprise after surprise at you. It's disturbing ofcourse and you could definitely use the word 'wierd' as well here but the fact is, above all it's a fucking good film. Absolutely amazing I must say. One of the finest offerings from Asian cinema.

ps. That Octopus scene was gut wrenching. I've seen people do that before on tv but never such a big one.

11 August 2008

The first of Chan-woo Park's Vengeance trilogy. Each one crafted almost to perfection. This guy really knows how to make a good film that will dazzle most who give it a chance, but there'll be some who simply can't stomach the violence. It's very realistic. A cinematic experience that you'll remember for a long time to come.

16 August 2008

Mixed reactions from me to say the least. I liked part of it, part of it I found a bit unrealistic and pretentious.

Throughout the movie, there are many themes switching back and forth. Bashing the Taliban regime, fighting for your own freedom and standing up for your own rights, courage, honour, loyalty, friendship and family are among some of the matters addressed. But I think the main message it delivers is about redemption from a sin one man commited long back as a young boy. For me, what ruined it as a whole was the pretentious parts and it felt like it was missing something, but it's a very compelling coming of age story nonetheless.

One thing I could absolutely agree on though is about the cinematographic quality of the film as well as the score. Quite amazing. But the film I have to say is a bit disappointing. Could've been better.

As for the book, I haven't read it. I don't read too many books and I can't be bothered seriously, even if it's way better than the film.

There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.

Absolutely fucking incredible cinematic experience. I loved every second of it. If ever you needed any proof as to how good cinema can be, this would do it nicely.

The music, the writing, the camera work, the acting, it was all perfect in a way. Audrey Tautou is such an amazing actress and Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a genius. Seriously, I'm still in awe.

19 August 2008

Pornographe, Le (2001)

Explores the relationship between an aging porn director and his son. Could've been a good drama given the premise but it turned out to be quite bland and I didn't really care about any of the characters. I wasn't in the least bit interested as to where it was going.

22 January 2008

Mighty impressive for a film supposed to be made only for around a mere 7000 bucks. It's crude and cheesy in a way but on a budget like that, the fact that it still beats the majority of multi million dollar Hollywood flicks for pure entertainment value is something I should really acknowledge. A true classic which must be quite the inspiration for everyone who aspires to be a filmmaker.

20 August 2008

It's easy to indulge yourself when a film get's this good. Irène Jacob is a wonderfully talented actress and I love the overall feel of the film but the ending felt way too forced for my liking.

Blue was perfection while Red and White are both are excellent films.

12 September 2008

12 September 2008

Well worth the hype. It's so good that you almost forget it's an animated film.

24 August 2008

I'm not really a big fan of old people and there's a lot of old people in here but the film is worth a watch coz there's Audrey Tatou and Guillaume Canet in it. The chemistry between the two is wonderful and Tatou is lovely as always. Good film with a lot of potential.

6 October 2008

Georg: Why are you doing this to us?
Paul: Why not?

Watching this film is like being tortured. It's intense, painful to watch and looks extremely realistic, until he picks up that remote control that is.

7 October 2008

A bunch of gangsters steal Buddha's head from a village shrine and a Muay Thai warrior from the village accepts the task of recovering it as his responsibility. That's basically the story here and it's average at best but what seperates this from a whole range of mediocre action films is the quality of the fight scenes. Tony Jaa's fighting skills are unbelieveably good at times and a real treat for anyone who loves martial arts. Highly entertaining flick with non stop ass kicking.

27 October 2008

Some breathtaking scenery and a great battle scene aside (of which we unfortunatley got to see only a small skirmish), this was quite disappointing. The acting I think is either weak or maybe it's supposed to be that way to be more realistic. Also the dialogue sucked in a way or it could be that I'm not too familiar with the structure of Mongolian language or it could even be some bad translation and I have no idea to be honest.

I'm not sure how historically accurate the film is but I think they missed a lot of it and yes I know that it would be impossible to fit Temudgin's life into a single film but from what I heard, this could be the first film of a trilogy. That would be nice but still, the film leaves you unsatisfied very much and there's so much of it which seems to have been simply edited out to fit the time frame. For instance, near the end we see him escape for the third or fourth time in the film and all of a sudden, we're fast tracked to a battle scene where he has amassed a huge army and is on the battle field. How he got there is left for us to imagine and this ain't the only ocassion where that happens in the film. It's got the look and feel of a very big budget film and though the cinematography is very nice, they've done a very bad job at editing and directing I think. The pacing sucked. It's very disjointed and there's no real flow and the film didn't play out as powerful as it should have give the storyline.

Don't expect to see Genghis Khan the ruthless conqueror of much of the known world at his time coz they seemed to have rather ignored it, but you might get a glimpse of his early life and how he grew up to be perhaps the greatest ruler of all time. Even though it's not exactly great film making, it's still very much worth a watch for an insight into one of histories most famous figures and to see some of the beautiful landscapes which make up much of Mongolia. Loved the music as well. I've been fascinated with this man's life for a long time (read about him as a kid after playing the Age of Empires games) and I've waited a long time to see a film about his life and I'm gald they finally made one and I hope they improve on this the next time around. This actually got nominated for the best foreign film this year. Unbelieveable! Maybe it's for the effort and likewise, I'll be very generous with the rating coz I really wanted someone to make this film.

Avoid the Russian dub at all cost. It sucks so much.

26 October 2008

"Love's a bitch"

I think it might be fair to say that Alejandro González Iñárritu is the best modern latin film maker. Incredible film with some amazing performances. It felt so real and is painful to watch at times. Gael García Bernal steals the show with a stunning performance.

3 November 2008

To say that style and pace is abundant would be a huge understatement and Franka Potente's tangerine hair is uber cool. Highly original concept that get's you pumped and the techno soundtrack was a wonderful choice. Loved this film.

8 November 2008

Things I liked about it:
Zhang Ziyi
The Mongols. Specially Yu Rongguang as a general.
That's about it I think.

Negatives:
Poor acting.
The subtitles on my dvd sucked. Pretty bad job at translating.
The fight scenes weren't any good either when compared to the majority of big budget Asian epics.

The first half of the movie was quite bad actually but once the 'siege' started, it wasn't too bad I guess. It's a good story actually but the potential was never fully realised. For a similar film (in a way) which is much better, try either 'A Battle of Wits' or 'House of Flying Daggers'.

7 November 2008

The kind of film that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole time. The chase scene around the half way point was brilliantly done I thought. The film had a great score as well but the soundtrack was awful and didn't fit in at all for me.

The film's like a huge puzzle and all the pieces does fit in eventually. The ending is perhaps a bit too tightly wound but this is one exhilarating French action/thriller with a great cast.

Guillaume Canet proves here that he's not only a brilliant actor, but he's got some great film making potential in him as well.

7 November 2008

Jean Reno is super cool as a hitman. Gary Oldman throws in a pretty fuckin' badass performance. A very young Natalie Portman playing a troubled young girl is really sweet. Great acting for her age and she proves the fact that she's not just a pretty face. She's got a lot more than that.

I've gotta mention the soundtrack too. Pretty sweet. There's not much else to talk here coz I liked pretty much everything about this film. This is how action films are supposed to be made. Call me a big fan.

Look out for a ton of tributes to classic films, some amazing fight scenes and some really wacky humour which had me laughing so much at times. Very entertaining and one of the better flicks in it's genre. Stephen Chow is one of East Asia's finest film makers.

25 october 2008

A very thought provoking film which follows quite a different approach to what we've seen from most Holocaust films.

An Oscar well deserved for the best foreign film at the 80th Annual Academy Awards.

4 October 2008

Anne Parillaud is one hot femme fatale but it's rather annoying when she acts like a crazy bitch which she does on a couple of ocassions here and there. Great story with excellent character development and the protagonist is not the usual one dimensional character we see in most action flicks.

30 October 2008

"May I ask what you do?
I work.
In what field?
I work in real estate.
I'm a broker, see?
I plant rats in buildings, cut off the water and power.
Sometimes me and my pals go in with baseball bats and force people out of their homes."

A French remake of an American film named Fingers from 1978 (starring Harvey Keitel). I've heard about a lot about American remakes of foreign films, but the other way round not so often.

This here is a gripping story about a man who wants to distance himself from a life of crime inherited from his father, to fulfill his lifelong dream to become a pianist one day. A man torn apart between two very different worlds.

The acting from Romain Duris is just phenomenal. Intense and so lifelike. The abrupt transitions between the moods make it bold and striking. I haven't seen the original film but this is quite an outstanding effort.

Winner of 8 Cesar Awards (French) including best film and best director in 2005.

21 August 2008

Once the blood starts gushing out, it's a total bloodbath. A massacre. One of the bloodiest horror flicks I've seen probably. Intense, sickening and unbelieveably brutal.

It's been a long time since a film actually managed to scare me. This one did to an extent. So the horror genre's not dead after all. The French and the Spanish seems to be carrying it forward these days. It could benefit a lot from the French artistry as we see here. The acting is quite good for a horror flick. I'm not even a fan of this genre considering all the crap that get made but this one, I quite liked it. It had the potential to be even better than it now is.

"I think I can hear my heartbeat. I tell myself it's a butterfly's wings."

A film that might make you appreciate life a whole lot more. The cinematography is of transcnedental beauty and the poetic writing is equally impressive and so is the acting. Hugely inspiring (though not uplifting) flick but unfortunately I don't think it's for everyone coz it's quite slow paced and that tends to bore your average cinema goer.

"Like a sailor seeing the shore disappear, I watch my past recede, reduced to the ashes of memory."

11 November 2008

A cute little German romcom with probably the cutest bunch of kids you'll see in a film. The film is a lot better than what it was at the beginning but unfortunately becomes a bit too mellowdramatic for it's own good at the end. Still, worth a watch and I enjoyed watching it very much.

30 November 2008

Profound and extremely realistic. An emotional roller coaster with some pretty stunning performances. When the Yann Tiersen track Rue des Cascades kicked in at the end in what has become one of my favourite cinematic moments, I really felt like I understood what the film was all about and I think I totally got the message. It's highly thought provoking and for sure one of the best films I've watched in recent times.

1 December 2008

Great storyline but the budget limitations prevent this famous Turkish film from reaching it's full potential.

13 December 2008

"I've just finished ballasting the corpse, see? That means you fill it with certain things because...You may not be aware that a corpse under water swells up with air, see? So it tends to float to the surface. You have to load it with ballast so it sinks. You weight it down with stones and other heavy stuff.

There's a ballast ratio for corpses... Three times body weight for an average adult
like this victim. But for children and midgets it's different. Kids are lighter. So it's four times body weight.

What? Never had problems?

No. Midgets are heavier,so you double the weight. Midgets have denser bones so you double the weight. For old people, multiply by five. Old bones are porous."

You know what you're in for when a film starts with a scene of someone being strangled to death with a cord. This sure lives up to it's reputation as one of the most disturbing films out there. There's tons of people being shot, murdered, there's a graphic rape scene, theres a scene with a child being suffocated to death and all sorts of other nasty shit in here but what makes it watchable is the brilliant concotion of dark comedy and satire which it so well delivers and with Benoit Poelvoorde throwing in one hell of a performance, it actually turned out to be a surprisingly great film.

Thing with dark comedy though is not everyone gets it and furthermore, the gritty violence is going to turn off most people from seeing it so it's likely to remain a cult hit but I for one enjoyed watching it though I'm not really into sick stuff.

18 December 2008

Very similar storyline with that of Twilight Samurai but I consider that to be the better film though this comes close. I think there's no modern director who does a better job at depicting the life of Samurai warriors at the end of the Shogun era than Yoji Yamada. It's so realistic, truly fascinating and insightful.

19 December 2008

Clever plot twist but half the film is pretty average. Still, had to watch it for Audrey Tautou. She's cute. Hmmm.

19 December 2008

A poignant story of two orphaned and homeless siblings, one a streetwise young boy and the other, his rather naive older sister; both hustling to make a living in rather harsh conditions.

It's sad that a film as good and engaging as this is so underrated. Definitely one of 2007's best films for me.

20 December 2008

"Would I have been better off
knowing nothing?"

The last film of Yamada's Samurai trilogy ends up being the least impressive in my opinion but it still is an excellent film telling the tale of a blind samurai. Too bad he won't be directing any more samurai flicks. I hope he changes his mind coz I have really enjoyed watching these.

26 December 2008

6 December 2008

27 December 2008

I might've seen one or two of the old Zatoichi films over the years but I can't really remember enough to compare this to any of those and all I could say is this is one horrible and overrated film. There are so many things wrong with this film that it's not even worth it to spend my time writing all that shit. I guess it's one of those films that must be good since it's Japanese and it's about Samurai's. Doesn't work for me like that unfortunately.

That hoedown at the end where all the good guys get together and dance off like in a Bollywood film, that was fucking embarassing. I know this ain't supposed to be a conventional film but the film has a serious enough tone which made the whole thing look real silly. I don't think I'm the only one who'll agree that 19th century samurai's and rap music doesn't go too well together.

I'd recommend Yamada's Love and Honor if you're in the mood for a fine samurai flick telling the tale of a blind swordsman.

30 December 2008

On it's own it's a brilliant film but City of God really is on a league of it's own if you compare the two. Though it's not fair to compare, it's impossible not to. The themes are similar in way and some of the actors are the same but it's not a sequel in any other way even though it's marketed as one.

I've yet to see the tv series based on this and from what I've heard it's quite good so I think I'll try getting my hands on it.

13 January 2009

Kurosawa's adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Stunning for it's time with a surreal feel to it and a story full of metaphors. A masterpiece.

17 January 2009

I was pretty sceptical about this at first considering it's a film about the Sabra and Shatila Massacre from an Israeli point of view. Was expecting major propaganda but it turns out it's more of an anti war flick (talk about good timing!) and it doesn't try too much to lay the blame on anyone. But at the end though, my initial thoughts were proved right in a way coz apart from Ariel Sharon, every other Israeli was portrayed as naive and having no clue at all even though they themselves helped the Lebanese Christian Phalangist army massacre over 3500 Palestinian refugees, most of 'em helpless kids, women and elderly.

Still, it's a powerful war film that will probably move most to tears. The story is told as a memoir from the director who after an encounter with an old friend starts having nightmares about his involvement in the whole thing and decides to take a stroll down the memory lane. The result is a harrowing tale of war and the toll it takes. Add to that a brilliant score and some of the best animation ever and it really is a film worthy of praise. At the end of the day though, one must wonder, will we ever learn from the past. Doesn't seem like so given the current situation in the region.

21 January 2009

When I first watched it, I didn't think of it as much even though the gritty and steamy style really reminded me of City of God but somehow the film has stuck in my mind for quite a while now. Here's a story about two very close friends who lived almost like brothers falling for one girl who happens to be sort of a prostitute. Things take some unfortunate turns and twists and their friendship is tested to the limit.

Not a very original plotline if you ask me but the setting as well as the superb acting really makes up for it. Somehow I still can't help but think that this could've been so much better with some little adjustments.

24 January 2009

24 January 2009

A Finnish film that deals with an overly depressive and sad series of unfortunate events. In a way it's chaos theory put on film. One bad thing leading to the other and at the end it'll most probably leave you feeling very down.

7 February 2009

A real gem of a film from Germany. Ulrich Mühe (1953-2007, RIP) with one of my all time favourite performances in a film that is just wonderful in so many ways. Quite easily a firm favourite of mine and the same goes for the soundtrack.

8 February 2009

There's a lot of comic relief in this fine Korean crime/mystery flick. It was almost a dark comedy until the very end where the tone becomes a lot more serious.

It wasn't as good as I expected given the hype but it's well worth watching.

12 February 2009

Quite an interesting story with an ending I liked very much but I found the film rather inconsistent. Parts of it were great but other parts just didn't really convince me at all. I think think this is way too overrated.

16 February 2009

You can't hope for a better ending to a film given it's content. I absolutely loved this film. It's so underrated.

17 February 2009

A great tale of morality and deception. Highly innovative, influential and original.

17 February 2009

This would score big time for originality and the totally unpredictable nature of the storyline. Great film that reminded me a lot a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but I'm not in anyway saying they have too much in common.

18 February 2009

Brillliant political comedy from Germany that deals with the unification of East and West Germany in a totally unique and clever way. Then there's Yann Tiersen's wonderful soundtrack which I really love and is probably the reason why I even watched this film in the first place.

18 February 2009

It's very sympathetic towards Che and his legacy as well as Marxism in general and that ultimately is the very reason why many will refuse to acknowledge how great a film Soderberg has come up with. Benicio del Toro was absolutely phenomenal, yet again. I'm no communist but this here is a real tribute to the legend that is Che Guevara. A man who's misunderstood by many, including even the very people who adore him.

19 February 2009

Silly at times but a highly enjoyable epic. Much better than the first film.

26 February 2009

27 February 2009

27 February 2009

A Dutch psychological thriller/horrorthat is quite unsettling but brilliantly done.

1 March 2009

"Kill off all my demons, and my angels might die, too."

Great thriller with a pretty good cast. I love films with settings like these.

1 March 2009

A little bit overrated perhaps but hey I can't complain, it's a brilliant film really with an amazing atmosphere and some real fine young acting talent at display.

2 Match 2009

Perhaps one too many concidences at the end for a film as gritty and realistic as this but I loved it. Great performances from both Emanuelle Devos and Vincent Cassel.

3 March 2009

Perhaps one too many concidences at the end for a film as gritty and realistic as this but I loved it. Great performances from both Emanuelle Devos and Vincent Cassel.

3 March 2009

One of the most bleak and depressing films I've seen yet but it's beautifully done.

4 March 2009

Almost perfect. My favourite romantic thriller.

I've actually seen the American remake of the film (Wicker Park) before watching this but I only realised it halfway through and I thought it might ruin the experience since I already knew what was going to happen but I was proven wrong coz this has very different ending. This definitely is a superior film even though Wicker Park ain't bad at all.

Monica Bellucci will always be better than Diane Kruger whether you compare the acting or the looks. Josh Hartnet isn't even half the actor that Vincent Cassel is but I like Rose Bryne a lot more than Romane Bohringer.

5 March 2009

Kinda wierd and there are quite a number of scenes which will put off most people, specially the explicit animal slaughter scenes. A very unique experience nonetheless that is quite different from the Brazilian films I've seen so far.

8 March 2009

Some of the segments were great but some seemed wholly pointless and pretentious. I don't think it works too well as a film. It's rather disjointed and I didn't quite manage to get n a mood to appreciate most of them. Still credits goes to some of the directors who really delivered, like Tom Tykwer with ''Faubourg Saint-Denis'' and Sylvain Chomet with "Tour Effiel". I quite liked those two.

19 March 2009

Probably my second favourite Brazilian film as of now.

27 March 2009

Good story with very good acting. Very engaging but it's rather unspectacular.

27 March 2009

A gem from Iranian/Iraqi (Kurdish) cinema. Highly recommended.

7 April 2009

16 April 2009

19 April 2009

Pretty amazing gangster flick from South Africa. Tsotsi has nothing on this. It's a shame so few people know about this but I guess that's to be expected given the very weak distribution.

28 May 2009

Cop flicks don't get any better than this.

14 June 2009

15 June 2009

If you can't get enough after watching the first two, this isn't bad but it's kind of an unnecessary film.

22 June 2009

Kurosawa's take on King Lear.

20 June 2009

Breathtaking cinematography and a score that is as good. The film is beautiful to watch but the ending left me a bit disappointed.

30 June 2009

A real life action movie.

10 August 2009

My favourite Wong Kar Wai film.

7 July 2009

Underrated.

11 July 2009.

13 July 2009

Very different from the Wong Kar Wai films I've seen so far but I liked it. It's not your typical asian martial arts film. Far from it.

18 July 2009

It's a very well made film technically and as far as the aesthetics go, but the film kind of falls apart in the last quarter or so.

18 July 2009

Visually stunning and the costumes and sets were great to say the least but it's as if Jakubisko couldn't decide on whether to go with a serious drama or a light hearted film. This has to be one of the most frustrating films I've watched in sometime coz it clearly had the potential to be much better but they really fucked it up with completely unnecessary and absurd humour.

24 July 2009

The quality of cinematography in this film is unreal. One of my absolute favourites along with some of Herzog's works.

25 July 2009

30 July 2009

It's sort of like a more dramatized version of Blade Runner with less action and set in Mexico, dealing with a number of interesting issues like labour and control of resources by corporations in the future.

A bold undertaking but the cheap looking effects and unconvincing acting (apart from Leonor Varela) makes it a disappointment for me at the end. The award winning screenplay could do with some work as well and quite a lot of scenes looked as if they were badly edited. It's a good story with much potential but the lack of a reasonable budget is probably the reason why it didn't turn out to be as good as the trailers promised.

Besides, having seen District 9 very recently, my expectations from a good scifi flick are pretty high at the moment.

10 September 2009