| # |
Title |
Director |
Starring |
Myrating |
Year |
Country |
Genre |
| 1 |
[Rec] |
Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza |
Manuela Velasco, Javier Botet, Manuel Bronchud, Martha Carbonell, Claudia Font |
 |
2007 |
Spain |
Horror |
Awards: 12 wins & 4 nominations
Comments: As far as hand-held camera things go, I really enjoyed this one. The supernatural aspects of the film were on a different level than the gritty realism of the rest of the movie, and there are a couple ridiculous scenes thrown in for story, but all in all a fun ride.
I watched this second time and I think it still holds up. If you can tolerate the hand-held camera thing, ala Blair Witch/Cloverfield, etc, lots of hysterical screaming, a little gore (but given the filming technique it's hard to focus on it) once this gets going it keeps up a pretty good pace for a short 70 minutes. I thought the hostess we follow around was kinda quirky cute and her 'behind the scenes' moments amusing. The ending seals the deal. It's fresh and different.
Summary: [Rec] revolves around a television reporter, Ángela, and her cameraman, Pablo, who cover the night shift in one of Barcelona's local fire stations. The firehouse receives a call from an old lady trapped in her house. When they arrive, and the firemen and the police break down the door, the old lady suddenly attacks and bites one of the policemen, and it is revealed that an unknown but virulent disease is infecting people, causing them to turn in to infected cannibals. The police and military quarantines the building and the camera crew is trapped inside, constantly recording the mayhem that ensues.[
- Manuela Velasco Ángela
- Javier Botet Niña medeiros
- Manuel Bronchud Abuelo
- Martha Carbonell Sra. Izquierdo
- Claudia Font Jennifer
- Vicente Gil Policía
- María Teresa Ortega Abuela
- Pablo Rosso Marcos
- Jorge Serrano Sergio
- Maria Lanau Jennifer's Mother
- Ferran Terraza Manu
- Carlos Lasarte Cesar
- David Vert Álex
- Pep Sais (voice)
- Carlos Vicente Guillem
|
| 2 |
21 Grams |
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu |
Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, Carly Nahon, Claire Pakis |
 |
2003 |
USA |
Crime, Drama |
Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 34 nominations
Comments: Naomi Watts's performance of a lifetime ... great wins. Watch "Babel" and then "Love's a Bitch (Amores Perros)". Keep an eye on this director. He's mastered a narrative style that other writers and directors constantly try to execute.
Summary: This is the story of three gentle persons: Paul Rivers (Penn) an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English emigré (Gainsbourg), Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife, happily married and mother of two little girls, and Jack Jordan (Del Toro), an ex-convict who has found in his Christian faith the strength to raise a family. They will be brought together by a terrible accident that will change their lives. By the final frame, none of them will be the same as they will learn harsh truths about love, faith, courage, desire and guilt, and how chance can change our worlds irretrievably, forever.
- Sean Penn Paul Rivers
- Naomi Watts Cristina Peck
- Danny Huston Michael
- Carly Nahon Cathy
- Claire Pakis Laura
- Benicio Del Toro Jack Jordan
- Nick Nichols Boy
- Charlotte Gainsbourg Mary Rivers
- John Rubinstein Gynecologist
- Eddie Marsan Reverend John
- Loyd Keith Salter Fat Man
- Antef A. Harris Basketball Guy
- Melissa Leo Marianne Jordan
- Marc Musso Freddy (as Marc Thomas Musso)
- Teresa Delgado Gina
|
| 3 |
The 40-Year-Old Virgin |
Judd Apatow |
Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen |
 |
2005 |
USA |
Comedy |
Awards: 5 wins & 6 nominations
Comments: Somehow Steve makes locker room humor palatable. It took me a couple years to see this film because I was sure I would hate it. It's the kind of film I hate. I've watched it a dozen times now. It's funny and very sweet and every film with Katherine Keener has Katherine Keener in it. She's wonderful.
Summary: Andy at the age of 40 still hasn't had sex. He lets his secret slip at a poker game with his buds from work. After the revealing all his friends are on a mission to help get him laid. Along the way Andy meets a nice mom: Trish who fall head over heels for each other.
- Steve Carell Andy Stitzer
- Catherine Keener Trish
- Paul Rudd David
- Romany Malco Jay
- Seth Rogen Cal
- Elizabeth Banks Beth
- Leslie Mann Nicky
- Jane Lynch Paula
- Gerry Bednob Mooj
- Shelley Malil Haziz
- Kat Dennings Marla
- Jordy Masterson Mark
- Chelsea Smith Julia
- Jonah Hill eBay Customer
- Erica Vittina Phillips Jill
|
| 4 |
Address Unknown |
Ki-duk Kim |
Dong-kun Yang, Min-jung Ban, Young-min Kim, Eun-jin Bang, Gye-nam Myeong |
 |
2001 |
South Korea |
Drama |
(Suchwiin bulmyeong) Awards: 1 win & 1 nomination
Comments: Address Unknown is about the occupants of a small town situated next to an American military base in the Korean countryside. Writer/Director Kim goes beyond a mere indictment of American presence. He displays brother against brother (North vs. South) and calls into question the responses to it.
This one is probably for Kim Ki-Duk completists only. It is a remarkable film in its relentless presentation of pain. Every single scene in this 2 hour film involves pain, emotional or physical.
An American soldier pays for the surgery so a young Korean girl can regain the sight in her impotent, freaky-looking right eye and then wants her to be his sweetheart in return, wink-wink. When she shows a little interest in the Korean boy who liked her just the way she was before the surgery, the American becomes incredulous and tries to hurt her, but before he can she pokes her own eye out to erase her debt to the soldier. Meanwhile, the Korean boy who liked her just the way she was schemes to kill the two Korean boys who have been stealing his money and beating him up. When the girl looks freaky again and goes to express her love to the Korean boy, she finds him in jail for shooting the American soldier in the genitals with a bow and arrow.
That's only one of the subplots. I've seen a lot of films about pain and despair but none that have been so oppressively constant in their execution. This is a great film by one of the great contemorary directors. But you need to be ready for it or you may be repulsed. It's not slasher film gross at all. The really dirty stuff, like hanging dogs from a tree and beating them to death with a baseball bat, is done off camera. Thank God. •••
Summary: Romances end in blood and the frail hopes of individuals are torn apart in a vile karmic continuity of colonialism, civil war and occupation. After surviving Japanese colonization, Korea became the first war zone of the Cold War. The legacy of war remains today in this divided country. Three forlorn teenagers, Chank-guk, Jihum and Eunok are figures in the landscape of this story, which highlights the global implications of a very Korean reality. None of them is able to escape the withering pull of tragedy. All desperate pleas for love and redemption are returned stamped in red with blood.
- Dong-kun Yang Chang-guk
- Min-jung Ban Eunok
- Young-min Kim Jihum
- Eun-jin Bang Chang-guk's Mom
- Gye-nam Myeong Jihum's father
- In-ok Lee Eun-ok's mother
- Jae-hyeon Jo Dog Eyes
- Ho-jun Park composer
- Jeong-min Seo Cinematographer
|
| 5 |
Africa: The Serengeti |
|
The Serengeti |
 |
1994 |
USA |
Nature & Wildlife |
Director:
Writer: George Casey, Mose Richards
IMDb
Netflix
Amazon
Wikipedia
Rotten Tomatoes
sitenoise
Awards: 1 nomination
Comments: The equation of life on the Serengeti is simple. Herbivores eat plants. Carnivores eat herbivores.
This feature is not specifically focused on big cats but it sets the stage where many big cat documentaries take place.
Summary: The Serengeti is a huge area of grassland in Tanzania, Africa. Once a year, in the time of drought, about two million herd animals like antelopes travel north to feed and mate before moving south again, when plants there begin to blossom.
James Earl Jones narrates this award-winning IMAX film that explores the natural beauty and timeless cycles of Africa's Serengeti plains. The highlight is a spectacle that few humans have witnessed--the great migration--during which 2 million wildebeests, zebras and antelope travel over 500 miles across the plains.
|
| 6 |
All the President's Men |
Alan J. Pakula |
Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Hal Holbrook |
 |
1976 |
USA |
History |
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Writer: Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman
IMDb
Netflix
Amazon
Wikipedia
Rotten Tomatoes
sitenoise
Awards: Won 4 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 20 nominations
Comments: At times it looked like it might cost them their jobs, their reputations, and maybe even their lives.
Summary: In the run-up to the 1972 elections, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward covers what seems to be a minor break-in at the Democratic Party National headquarters. He is surprised to find top lawyers already on the defence case, and the discovery of names and addresses of Republican fund organisers on the accused further arouses his suspicions. The editor of the Post is prepared to run with the story and assigns Woodward and Carl Bernstein to it. They find the trail leading higher and higher in the Republican Party, and eventually into the White House itself.
- Dustin Hoffman Carl Bernstein
- Robert Redford Bob Woodward
- Jack Warden Harry M. Rosenfeld
- Martin Balsam Howard Simons
- Hal Holbrook Deep Throat
- Jason Robards Ben Bradlee
- Jane Alexander Judy Hoback
- Meredith Baxter Debbie Sloan
- Ned Beatty Martin Dardis
- Stephen Collins Hugh W. Sloan, Jr.
- Penny Fuller Sally Aiken
- John McMartin Scott, Foreign Editor
- Robert Walden Donald H. Segretti
- Frank Wills Himself - Watergate Security Guard
- F. Murray Abraham Sgt. Paul Leeper, Arresting Officer #1
|
| 7 |
Apocalypse Now |
Francis Ford Coppola |
Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms |
 |
1979 |
USA |
War |
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writer: Joseph Conrad, John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Herr
IMDb
Netflix
Amazon
Wikipedia
Rotten Tomatoes
sitenoise
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 32 nominations
Comments: No denying it. So much passion went into the making of this film it drips off the screen.
••
Summary: Based on Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness, this is a controversial addition to the multitude of Vietnam war movies in existence. Set in 1969 Vietnam, we follow U.S. Special Forces Captain Willard on his mission up a river into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Green Beret who has set himself up as a God among a local tribe.
- Marlon Brando Colonel Walter E. Kurtz
- Martin Sheen Captain Benjamin L. Willard
- Robert Duvall Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore
- Frederic Forrest Jay 'Chef' Hicks
- Sam Bottoms Lance B. Johnson
- Laurence Fishburne Tyrone 'Clean' Miller
- Albert Hall Chief Phillips
- Harrison Ford Colonel Lucas
- Dennis Hopper Photojournalist
- G.D. Spradlin General Corman
- Jerry Ziesmer Jerry, Civilian
- Scott Glenn Lieutenant Richard M. Colby
- Bo Byers MP Sergeant #1
- James Keane Kilgore's Gunner
- Kerry Rossall Mike from San Diego
|
| 8 |
Audition |
Takashi Miike |
Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura, Renji Ishibashi |
 |
1999 |
Japan |
Horror, Drama |
(Ôdishon) Awards: 3 wins & 2 nominations
Comments: The infamous needle torture is more conceptually gruesome than it appears in practice at the end of this film, but the foot amputation by wire is kick-ass-sexy-hard-to-watch. I wish Miike would have shot it without those few quick flashbacks, however. They cut into the flow.
This is a pretty normal film about a man who lost his wife to illness and is being encouraged by his colleagues and his son to find another partner. That is, until it goes bonkers at the end ... a nice manipulation technique by the director. Eihi Shiina's range of performance from ideal femininity to psycho-killer is fabulous and accounts for a sizable chunk of the shock we experience at the end of the film. You'll watch the wire part because this woman is so beautiful and the pleasure she takes in her work so adorable. •••
Summary: Seven years after the death of his wife, company executive Aoyama is invited to sit in on auditions for an actress. Leafing through the resumés in advance, his eye is caught by Yamazaki Asami, a striking young woman with ballet training. On the day of the audition, she's the last person they see. Aoyama is hooked. He notes her number from her file, calls her and takes her to dinner. He hesitates to call again, worried that he'll seem too eager. When he does, Asami knowingly lets the phone ring for some time before answering. She's alone in her darkened room - alone, that is, apart from the writhing victim she has tied up in a sack on the floor...
- Ryo Ishibashi Shigeharu Aoyama
- Eihi Shiina Asami Yamazaki
- Tetsu Sawaki Shigehiko Aoyama
- Jun Kunimura Yasuhisa Yoshikawa
- Renji Ishibashi Old man in wheelchair
- Miyuki Matsuda Ryoko Aoyama
- Toshie Negishi Rie
- Ren Osugi Shimada
- Shigeru Saiki Toastmaster
- Ken Mitsuishi Director
- Yuriko Hirooka Michiyo Yanagida
- Fumiyo Kohinata TV station presenter
- Misato Nakamura Misuzu Takagi
- Yuuto Arima Shigehiko as a child
- Ayaka Izumi Asami as a child
|
| 9 |
The Aura |
Fabián Bielinsky |
Ricardo Darín, Dolores Fonzi, Pablo Cedrón, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Jorge D'Elía |
 |
2005 |
Argentina, France, Spain |
Crime |
(El Aura) Awards: 10 wins & 6 nominations
Comments: It's truly sad Fabián Bielinsky died (young) after making this film because Le Aura demonstrates clearly that its director has mastered his domain. There are a few puzzling moments in the script and its characters, but this isn't one of those "Don't go in that room!" thrillers, it's old-school/neo noir; quietly intense and full of suspense.
Ricardo Darín's peculiarly charactered performance is executed with such subtlety and nuance that it's hard to believe he's acting. The sound design and original score are beautiful, and so perfect for the film, they seem to be growing out of it rather than being imposed upon it. There are times when the lack of any soundtrack is deafening. The droning tensions and lilting piano ennui disappear, punctuating the moments of action with a moribund silence.
Sometimes I complain when a film ends with such ambiguity it appears to be a copout. But not here. The ending will make you rethink the journey you were just on but it won't devalue its magnificence. This is one of those rare films where the ride is so engaging that its hard to imagine anything but disappointment merely because it does end.
"Aura" is what doctors use to describe the moment before falling into epileptic seizure. Ricardo Darín's character describes it as a moment of pure freedom. The inevitable is so clear that decisions are impossible, hence ... Freedom. Clarity. Bielinsky's film. •••
Summary: A quiet, cynic taxidermist, who suffers epilepsy attacks, is obsessed with committing the perfect crime. He claims that the cops are too stupid to find out about it when it's well executed, and that the robbers are too stupid to execute it the right way; and that he could do it himself relying on his photographic memory and his strategic planning skills. After he is invited on a hunting trip away from his home, an accident gives him the chance of his life: the possibility to commit the perfect crime he has been waiting for.
- Ricardo Darín Esteban Espinosa (The taxidermist)
- Dolores Fonzi Diana Dietrich
- Pablo Cedrón Sosa
- Nahuel Pérez Biscayart Julio
- Jorge D'Elía Urien
- Alejandro Awada Sontag
- Rafa Castejón Vega
- Manuel Rodal Carlos Dietrich
- Walter Reyno Montero
- Alejandro Gancé
- Daniel Alejandro Ovando
- Guido D'Albo Hotel administrator
- Daniel Delevin
- Eva The dog
- Claudio Rissi Vega (voice)
- Victoria Vescio Vanina, the prostitue's daughter
|
| 10 |
Babel |
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu |
Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Mohamed Akhzam, Peter Wight, Harriet Walter |
 |
2006 |
USA |
Drama |
Awards: Won Oscar. Another 25 wins & 73 nominations
Comments: If You Want to be Understood...Listen
Summary: 4 interlocking stories all connected by a single gun all converge at the end and reveal a complex and tragic story of the lives of humanity around the world and how we truly aren't all that different. In Morocco, a troubled married couple are on vacation trying to work out their differences. Meanwhile, a Moroccan herder buys a rifle for his sons so they can keep the jackals away from his herd. A girl in Japan dealing with rejection, the death of her mother, the emotional distance of her father, her own self-consciousness, and a disability among many other issues, deals with modern life in the enormous metropolis of Tokyo, Japan. Then, on the opposite side of the world the married couple's Mexican nanny takes the couple's 2 children with her to her son's wedding in Mexico, only to come into trouble on the return trip. Combined, it provides a powerful story and an equally powerful looking glass into the lives of seemingly random people around the world and it shows just how connected we really are.
- Brad Pitt Richard
- Cate Blanchett Susan
- Mohamed Akhzam Anwar
- Peter Wight Tom
- Harriet Walter Lilly
- Trevor Martin Douglas
- Matyelok Gibbs Elyse
- Georges Bousquet Robert
- Claudine Acs Jane
- André Oumansky Walter
- Michael Maloney James
- Dermot Crowley Barth
- Wendy Nottingham Tourist #1
- Henry Maratray Tourist #2
- Linda Broughton Tourist #3
|
| 11 |
Battle Royale |
Kinji Fukasaku |
Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sousuke Takaoka |
 |
2000 |
Japan |
Action, Horror |
(Batoru rowaiaru) Awards: 7 wins & 7 nominations
Comments: Could you kill your best friend?
Summary: Forty-two delinquent students, three days, one deserted Island: welcome to Battle Royale. A group of delinquent students from a Japanese high school have been forced by legislation to compete in a new forum of reality television.The students are each given a bag with a randomly selected weapon and a few rations of food and water and sent off to kill each other in a no-holds-barred (with a few minor rules) game to the death, which means that the students have three days to kill each other until one survives--or they all die. The movie focus on a few of the students and how they cope. Some decide to play the game like the psychotic Kiriyama or the sexual Mistuko, while others like the heroes of the movie--Shuya, Noriko, and Kawada--are trying to find a way to get off the Island without violence. However, as the numbers dwell down lower and lower on an hourly basis, is there any way for Shuya and classmates to survive?
- Tatsuya Fujiwara Shuya Nanahara - Boys #15
- Aki Maeda Noriko Nakagawa - Girls #15
- Taro Yamamoto Shougo Kawada - Boys #5
- Chiaki Kuriyama Takako Chigusa - Girls #13
- Sousuke Takaoka Hiroki Sugimura - Boys #11
- Takashi Tsukamoto Shinji Mimura - Boys #19
- Yukihiro Kotani Yoshitoki Kuninobu - Boys #7
- Eri Ishikawa Yukie Utsumi - Girls #2
- Sayaka Kamiya Satomi Noda - Girls #17
- Aki Inoue Fumiyo Fujiyoshi - Girls #18
- Takayo Mimura Kayoko Kotohiki - Girls #8
- Yutaka Shimada Yutaka Seto - Boys #12
- Ren Matsuzawa Keita Iijima - Boys #2
- Hirohito Honda Kazushi Niida - Boys #16
- Ryou Nitta Kyouichi Motobuchi - Boys #20
|
| 12 |
Bella |
Alejandro Gomez Monteverde |
Eduardo Verástegui, Tammy Blanchard, Manny Perez, Ali Landry, Angélica Aragón |
 |
2006 |
USA, Mexico |
Drama |
Awards: 5 wins
Comments: After having dinner with Jose's family Nina asks, "Is it always like that? Did you grow up with that?" "With what?" asks Jose.
"Joy? Love?"
That joy and love was palpable through every minute of this sad and touching story, written and played very well.
•••
Summary: An international soccer star is on his way to sign a multi-million dollar contract when a series of events unfold that bring his career to an abrupt end. A beautiful waitress, struggling to make it in New York City, discovers something about herself that she's unprepared for. In one irreversible moment, their lives are turned upside down... until a simple gesture of kindness brings them both together, turning an ordinary day to an unforgettable experience.
- Eduardo Verástegui Jose
- Tammy Blanchard Nina
- Manny Perez Manny
- Ali Landry Celia
- Angélica Aragón Mother
- Jaime Tirelli Father
- Ramon Rodriguez Eduardo
- Lukas Behnken Johannes
- Peter Bucossi Angry Driver
- David Castro David
- Michael Chin Bodega Clerk
- Dominic Colon Pepito
- Hudson Cooper Father on Beach
- Tawny Cypress Frannie
- Ewa Da Cruz Veronica
- Sara Dawson Helen
- Doug DeBeech Pieter
- Alexa Gerasimovich Lucinda
- Herb Lovelle Homeless Man
- Michael Mosley Kevin
- Wade Mylius J.J. Janze
- Stan Newman Businessman on Phone
- Sophie Nyweide Bella
- Kola Ogundiran African Cabbie
- Melinda Peinado Clinic Nurse
- Alfonso Ramírez Leonardo
- Armando Riesco Francisco
- Jamie Schofield Hostess
- James Stanek Henri
- Marilyn Torres Carla
- Teresa Yenque Amelia
|
| 13 |
The Big Lebowski |
Joel Coen |
Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston |
 |
1998 |
USA |
Comedy |
Awards: 1 win & 7 nominations
Comments: They figured he was a lazy time wasting slacker. They were right.
Summary: When "The Dude" Lebowski is mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, two thugs urinate on his rug to coerce him into paying a debt he knows nothing about. While attempting to gain recompense for the ruined rug from his wealthy counterpart, he accepts a one-time job with high pay-off. He enlists the help of his bowling buddy, Walter, a gun-toting Jewish-convert with anger issues. Deception leads to more trouble, and it soon seems that everyone from porn empire tycoons to nihilists want something from The Dude.
- Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Lebowski - The Dude
- John Goodman Walter Sobchak
- Julianne Moore Maude Lebowski
- Steve Buscemi Theodore Donald 'Donny' Kerabatsos
- David Huddleston Jeffrey Lebowski - The Big Lebowski
- Philip Seymour Hoffman Brandt
- Tara Reid Bunny Lebowski
- Philip Moon Woo, Treehorn Thug
- Mark Pellegrino Blond Treehorn Thug
- Peter Stormare Nihilist #1, Uli Kunkel / 'Karl Hungus'
- Flea Nihilist #2, Kieffer
- Torsten Voges Nihilist #3, Franz
- Jimmie Dale Gilmore Smokey
- Jack Kehler Marty
- John Turturro Jesus Quintana
|
| 14 |
Blind Mountain |
Yang Li |
Lu Huang |
 |
2007 |
China |
Drama |
(Mang shan) Awards: 2 wins
Comments: Bai Xuemei, recently graduated from college, is unwittingly sold, not by her family but by her friends, to a villager deep in the bowels of mountainous rural China ... in the 1990s! This is not a documentary. It's more a typical horror film pacing through the suffocating psychological terror of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre without any blood, only psychological and physical abuse, including rape—father and mother hold her down while her purchaser rapes her. Ouch!
China is a vast expanse and this film's cinematography captures that space wonderfully. Bai Xuemei is so far up in the mountains it is simply too far to run to safety.
Lu Huang who plays Bai Xuemei is the only professional actor in the film. The rest of the cast, from the shopkeeper to the Village Chief, are actual villagers. When the police arrive to make a rescue and the whole village gangs up on them demanding the girl repay the 7,000 they paid for her if she is to return home, it rings with a frightening authenticity. I watched this film feeling that with 5 minutes left to go she would be rescued despite everything suggesting otherwise.
It's not that kind of film. Blind Mountain is an essay on the collision of traditional and contemporary culture. It's not pedantic, nor is it belittling to the realities of the culture at its source, but it's hard not to see it that way, especially through twentieth-century, western eyes. The film does a remarkable job of showing that it's not a matter of simply enforcing contemporary law. It's much deeper and difficult than that.
••
Summary: Blind Mountain follows young woman, Bai Xuemei, in the early 1990s who recently graduated from college and attempts to find work to help pay for her brother's education. In the process, she is drugged, kidnapped and sold as a bride to a villager in the Qinling Mountains of China's Shaanxi province. Trapped in the fiercely traditional town, the young woman finds that her avenues of escape are all blocked. As she searches for allies, including a young boy, a school teacher and a mailman, she suffers from being raped by her "husband" and continued beatings at the hands of the villagers, her husband, and her husbands' parents.
Like Li's previous film, Blind Shaft, which dealt with the notoriously dangerous mining industry, Blind Mountain turns a sharply critical eye towards another one of China's continuing social problems, this time the illegal sex slave trade.
|
| 15 |
Blue Gate Crossing |
Chin-yen Yee |
Bo-lin Chen, Lunmei Kwai, Shu-hui Liang, Joanna Chou |
 |
2002 |
Taiwan |
Drama |
(Lanse da men) Awards: 1 win & 3 nominations
Comments: Dreamy, Romantic, Tender. OK We're been given those on the poster. They are not the words I would use. Instead I'd go with: Adorable, Sweet, Sensitive, Well-acted, Well-directed, Well-written. It was a JOY to watch this film.
It took me a few minutes to warm up to the characters, but only a few. We meet the two girls first, a girly-girl who seems to be in control, and a brooding follower. Not much to go on with that. Girly girl spots sensitive boy and wants him, but insists that brooding girl act as the go-between.
The film focuses on the friendship that develops between brooding girl and sensitive boy after that. Brooding girl becomes razor-sharp, adorably mixed up commando teen when paired up with sensitive boy who has fallen in love with her.
This film did a remarkable job of capturing teens as they are: insecure and passionate; as easily hurt as they are to fall in love. They provoke each other without knowing why. One of the many highlights of this film is when the boy and girl, when they've run out of verbal ammunition, begin a shoving match. It goes on for some time and then the director simply cuts to a scene of the two of them straightening up their surroundings together. The director makes many decisions like that to keep us focused on the big picture: (stuff) happens, and then something else happens. There's no stopping it.
I have to point out that watching this Taiwanese film with English subtitles added quite a bit to the adorableness of it. For example, after brooding girl sets up sensitive boy with girly-girl, who knows he likes brooding girl, (you have to see the film to see how that happens), sensitive boy walks girly-girl home. After an uncomfortably done good-bye, girly-girl calls out after sensitive boy as he's about to mount his bicycle and says: "Zhang Shihao, (pause) can you date with me?" I don't know exactly what was said in Taiwanese, but that odd translation seemed to capture the moment perfectly.
I smiled from ear to ear while watching this movie from the time sensitive boy was introduced until the very end. This is an exceptionally well done film.
Summary: An is-she-or-isn't-she gay comedy focused on a Taiwanese teen, the boy she might like, and the girl she may love. Plot Synopsis:
- Bo-lin Chen Zhang Shihao
- Lunmei Kwai Meng Kerou
- Shu-hui Liang Lin Yuezhen
- Joanna Chou Mrs. Meng
|
| 16 |
Boogie Nights |
Paul Thomas Anderson |
Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, John C. Reilly, Julianne Moore, Heather Graham |
 |
1997 |
USA |
Drama |
Summary: Even if the notorious 1970s porn-filmmaking milieu doesn't exactly turn you on, don't let it turn you off to this movie's extraordinary virtues, either. Boogie Nights is one of the key movies of the 1990s, and among the most ambitious and exuberantly alive American movies in years. It's also the breakthrough for an amazing new director, whose dazzling kaleidoscopic style here recalls the Robert Altman of Nashville and the Martin Scorsese of GoodFellas. Although loosely based on the sleazy life and times of real-life porn legend John Holmes, at heart it's a classic Hollywood rise-and-fall fable: a naive, good-looking young busboy is discovered in a San Fernando Valley disco by a famous motion picture producer, becomes a hotshot movie star, lives the high life, and then loses everything when he gets too big for his britches, succumbs to insobriety, and is left behind by new times and new technology. Of course, it ain't exactly A Star Is Born or Singin' in the Rain. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (in only his second feature!) puts his own affectionately sardonic twist on the old showbiz biopic formula: the ambitious upstart changes his name and achieves stardom in porno films as "Dirk Diggler." Instead of drinking to excess, he snorts cocaine (the classic drug of '70s hedonism); and it's the coming of home video (rather than talkies) that helps to dash his big-screen dreams. As for the britches ... well, the controversial "money shot" explains everything. And the cast is one of the great ensembles of the '90s, including Oscar nominees Burt Reynolds and Julianne Moore, Mark Wahlberg (who really can act--from the waist up, too!), Heather Graham (as Rollergirl), William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, and Ricky Jay. --Jim Emerson
- Mark Wahlberg Eddie Adams - 'Dirk Diggler'
- Burt Reynolds Jack Horner
- John C. Reilly Reed Rothchild
- Julianne Moore Amber Waves - Maggie
- Heather Graham Brandy 'Rollergirl'
- Don Cheadle Buck Swope
- Luis Guzmán Maurice TT Rodriguez
- Philip Seymour Hoffman Scotty J.
- William H. Macy Little Bill
- Thomas Jane Todd Parker
- Melora Walters Jessie St. Vincent
- Ricky Jay Kurt Longjohn
- Robert Ridgely The Colonel James
- Alfred Molina Rahad Jackson
- Philip Baker Hall Floyd Gondolli
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| 17 |
The Chaser |
Hong-jin Na |
Yun-seok Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Yeong-hie Seo, In-gi Jung, Hyo-ju Park |
 |
2008 |
South Korea |
Action |
(Chugyeogja)
Comments: This film is so Korean. The way it is shot and the way the story is told doesn't conform to the way many Americans think genre clues should be presented and adhered to. At it's heart, The Chaser is a crime drama about a serial killer and the guy who's chasing him, but it evolves from many different angles. It's a comedy of errors in the way the police and politicians are portrayed; a melodrama with its inclusion of the precocious little girl who belongs to the woman serving as the film's primary "chase" and investigative point; a psychological thriller in the way the serial killer messes with the minds of the police; a mildly gory film in the way the bad guy uses a hammer and chisel; a bit of a tragedy in the way it ends. The only thing missing from this film is romance. Thank god they didn't make one of the missing girls a love interest of the pimp—he's only after the money they owe him. That's where the brilliance of the chase begins.
There's a fight scene early on where our protagonist, an ex-detective gone bad turned pimp, is beating the crap out of some guy he thinks has kidnapped and sold some of his girls. A long uphill foot chase precedes the brawl so both combatants are extremely winded when the fighting begins—punches don't land and there's a girly incompetence to the whole thing, which is to say, it's realistic. After finally landing a few punches that subdue his opponent momentarily, the pimp gets up and starts kicking him in disgust. He's very angry, still a bit winded and out of control. One of his kicks only grazes its target causing him to lose his balance and fall on his butt, and because of momentum he begins to roll and his feet fly up in the air. It seems funny, but it's not. You have to sneak in your chuckle as he gets up and continues kicking the guy. When he's finally pummeled his adversary into unconsciousness, he uses his foot to roll him onto his side so he can get to the wallet in his back pocket and ID him. He attempts to sit on him, not to keep him down, but because he's bone tired from all the fighting. He doesn't land squarely which causes the bad guy to shift a bit, and consequently he lands on his butt again. It seems funny but it's not.
After the fight scene both men are brought to the police station for questioning. Because the pimp is an ex-detective with a reputation, the cops initially sympathize with the other guy, thinking the pimp over-reacted—not to mention the causal fender-bender that brought the two men together in the first place. The pimp doesn't know that the other guy just took a hammer and chisel to the head of the girl he is trying to get back, he thinks she's just freshly been sold, making his sense of urgency misplaced, where it remains throughout most of the film. It's kind of awkward for the police to find much urgency in one pimp accusing another of stealing one of his girls. The bad guy insists he didn't sell the girl and then mumbles under his breathe "I killed her", and confesses in great detail how he killed her and several other girls. The pimp screams at the cops, "Can't you see he's just pretending to be crazy now?"
And so it goes. We know there's been killing going on and we know who's been doing it from very early on in the film but it manages to remain suspenseful throughout. The Chaser is a gripping thriller from the beginning until a few minutes from the end. The two main characters are portrayed with impeccable nuance. It's Yun-seok Kim's performance as the bewildered pimp that takes this film to great heights. There are so many things that don't go the way he wants them to, like people hanging up on him when he's talking to them on the phone, a little girl who startles him and asks too many smart questions, the cops can't do anything right; and every time, his subdued response of confused disbelief made me laugh. He brings a Kang-ho Song-ish melancholy humor to the film, (I can't think of an American actor to compare him to), while Jung-woo Ha as the impotent serial killer is so normal and unmoved it's creepy.
There are a handful of groan out loud plot moves in The Chaser, but so what. There are also more than a handful of plot moves this film doesn't do, moves that most people will be guessing it will do, that it more than makes up for it. This is a film I know I'll watch again just for the performance of it. The plot won't matter. It's that good.
•••
Summary: Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by a same client whom one of his girls is meeting with right now.
- Yun-seok Kim Joong-ho Eom
- Jung-woo Ha Young-min Jee
- Yeong-hie Seo Mi-jin Kim
- In-gi Jung Detective Lee
- Hyo-ju Park Detective Oh
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| 18 |
Chasing Big Cats |
|
Big Cats |
 |
2004 |
USA |
Nature & Wildlife |
Director:
Writer: Owen Newman and Amanda Barrett
IMDb
Netflix
Amazon
Wikipedia
Rotten Tomatoes
sitenoise
Comments: This is the PBS version of the BBC's Five Big Cats and a Camera. It's one of the best and most entertaining Big Cat documentaries I've seen. It does have moments of the filmmakers discussing their 14 years long project, but they don't pretend to add drama to the proceedings. They seem humble and genuinely amazed at the footage they are getting.
Along with Dereck and Beverly Joubert, I think Owen Newman and Amanda Barrett are two of the best and most creative Big Cat filmmakers working today.
Summary: This 14-year retrospective of the work of Owen Newman and Amanda Barrett features the two filmmakers talking about how they managed to capture never-before-seen footage of big cats, including some that had been written off as impossible to film. To these two filmmakers, "impossible" was just a challenge to overcome. Driving into the night, armed with night goggles, infrared lights and cameras, they were the first to film leopards at night, uncovering a whole array of behavior that was new to science and filmmakers alike.
Two other cats, servals and caracals, only glimpsed in passing by other filmmakers, became newly discovered stars of their own films. With captivating stories and characters, Newman and Barrett were able to transform lions from big cats everyone thought they knew into individuals with personalities, griefs, and grudges.
- Owen Newman Filmmaker
- Amanda Barrett Filmmaker
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| 19 |
City of God |
Kátia Lund
Fernando Meirelles |
Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen |
 |
2002 |
Brazil |
Crime |
(Cidade de Deus) Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 49 wins & 25 nominations
Comments: If you run you're dead...if you stay, you're dead again. Period.
Summary: Like cinematic dynamite, City of God lights a fuse under its squalid Brazilian ghetto, and we're a captive audience to its violent explosion. The titular favela is home to a seething army of impoverished children who grow, over the film's ambitious 20-year timeframe, into cutthroat killers, drug lords, and feral survivors. In the vortex of this maelstrom is L'il Z (Leandro Firmino da Hora--like most of the cast, a nonprofessional actor), self-appointed king of the dealers, determined to eliminate all competition at the expense of his corrupted soul. With enough visual vitality and provocative substance to spark heated debate (and box-office gold) in Brazil, codirectors Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund tackle their subject head on, creating a portrait of youthful anarchy so appalling--and so authentically immediate--that City of God prompted reforms in socioeconomic policy. It's a bracing feat of stylistic audacity, borrowing from a dozen other films to form its own unique identity. You'll flinch, but you can't look away. --Jeff Shannon
- Alexandre Rodrigues Buscapé - Rocket
- Leandro Firmino Zé Pequeno - Li'l Zé
- Phellipe Haagensen Bené - Benny
- Douglas Silva Dadinho - Li'l Dice
- Jonathan Haagensen Cabeleira - Shaggy
- Matheus Nachtergaele Sandro Cenoura - Carrot
- Seu Jorge Mané Galinha - Knockout Ned
- Jefechander Suplino Alicate - Clipper
- Alice Braga Angélica
- Emerson Gomes Barbantinho - Stringy
- Edson Oliveira Barbantinho Adulto - Older Stringy
- Michel de Souza Bené Criança - Young Benny (as Michel De Souza Gomes)
- Roberta Rodrigues Berenice - Bernice
- Luis Otávio Buscapé Criança - Young Rocket
- Maurício Marques Cabeção - Melonhead
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| 20 |
The Conversation |
Francis Ford Coppola |
Phoebe Alexander, Timothy Carey, John Cazale, Harrison Ford, Frederic Forrest |
 |
1974 |
USA |
Crime |
Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 11 nominations
Comments: Harry Caul will go anywhere to bug a private conversation.
Summary: After the success of the first Godfather picture, Francis Ford Coppola could do anything he wanted. He chose a very loose adaptation from the leading character and basic scenario of Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-up, to create this both exciting and provocative thriller about a surveillance specialist who finds himself involved in a murder plot.
In Blow-up, a fashion photographer takes a picture in the park and comes to believe that he may have evidence of a murder. The difficulty is that the visual evidence is not conclusive -- it demands interpretation and no amount of manipulation can overcome the ambiguity of the image. Here, Harry Caul uses elaborate techniques to record and collect fragments from what seems to be an innocuous conversation, but that he begins to suspect will be used in a murder plot.
Just as Blow-up became not only a film about a photographer and a murderer but also a meditation on vision and on the cinema -- so The Conversation is a rich and sophisticated film about the nature of sound and the interpretation of sound and in particular about the way in which sound is captured for film. Apart from having an excellent jazz soundtrack, the film is very subtle in its sound editing.
It opens on a crowded park, and we immediately become aware that the sound of the crowds and the music and the individual people and the cars is recorded sound. We hear the subtle distortions that come from blowing up sound recorded from a distance, and that in a finished soundtrack would be removed. It turns out we are both watching the crowd and watching and listening in as a couple in the crowd is being recorded through a number of highly specialized surveillance techniques. Later in the film, we are reminded at several points and in several ways that the sound in a film is an artificial construction and that it is independent of the visuals. Some scenes that initially seem like they are part of the normal exegesis of the film, turn out to be reconstructions based on how certain characters heard and interpreted recorded sound; in other scenes the aural artifacts we have become familiar with show up to indicate that we can never be sure whether the sound is just part of the film or whether it is being recorded by a third party.
This is an excellent film on a number of levels, as a political thriller, as a portrait of a paranoid individual, but also as a meditation on the nature of sound in film. Definitely one to watch ... and listen to.
- Phoebe Alexander Lurleen
- Timothy Carey
- John Cazale Stan
- Harrison Ford Martin Stett
- Frederic Forrest Mark
- Gene Hackman Harry Caul
- Allen Garfield William P. 'Bernie' Moran
- Cindy Williams Ann
- Michael Higgins Paul
- Elizabeth MacRae Meredith
- Teri Garr Amy Fredericks
- Mark Wheeler Receptionist
- Robert Shields The Mime
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| 21 |
Cuttlefish: Kings of Camouflage |
Gisela Kaufmann |
Lance Lewman, Narrator |
 |
2007 |
USA |
Nature & Wildlife |
Comments: THe HD TV version
Summary: Call it a case of mistaken identity. When it comes to camouflage, chameleons get all the attention. But the often-overlooked cuttlefish is the real master of disguise. Cousins of the squid and octopus, cuttlefish are among the most unusual animals on our planet. With stunning underwater footage and in-depth expert interviews, NOVA gets up close and personal with this astonishing brainy bunch.
|
| 22 |
Cuttlefish: The Brainy Bunch |
Gisela Kaufmann |
Cuttlefish |
 |
2006 |
USA |
Nature & Wildlife |
Comments: The Standard TV Version of Kings of Camouflage
Summary: Imagine an alien with three hearts and ten arms growing out of its head. This intriguing special reveals the spectacular pyrotechnics of cuttlefish, discovering what goes on between their eyes and what can they teach us about our own brainpower.
This alien actually exists. Cuttlefish are the one of the strangest animals on our planet. Leading expert Dr. Mark Norman reveals how these shape-shifting champions can hypnotize their prey, impersonate the other sex and even turn out to be deadly. And they share something with us: brainpower. Cuttlefish have the largest brain to body ratio of all invertebrates. But does this mean they are intelligent? Can they learn and remember complex new tricks? Cuttlefish – the Brainy Bunch brings to the surface the spectacular pyrotechnics of these clever creatures, discovering just what goes on between their eyes and what they can teach us about our own wits.
Cuttlefish might seem a better subject for Jamie's Kitchen - brushed with five-spice and served with a mango and coconut salad - than for a wildlife documentary, but the first few minutes of Cuttlefish: The Brainy Bunch quickly establish how fascinating the beasts can be, even if they haven't been brushed with five spice and served up with a mango and coconut salad.
Cuttlefish, we're told, are masters of disguise and, just like that, we see them underwater, changing colours and shape to blend in with surrounding coral and rocks. They are also relatively intelligent: their doughnut-shaped brains are proportionately the largest of the invertebrates and they are able to learn and remember tasks.
|
| 23 |
Definitely, Maybe |
Adam Brooks |
Ryan Reynolds, An Nguyen, Sakina Jaffrey, Bob Wiltfong, Ryder Chasin |
 |
2008 |
UK, USA, France |
Comedy |
Awards: 1 nomination
Comments: Three relationships. Three disasters. One last chance.
Summary: Romantic comedy: Will Hayes, a 30-something Manhattan dad is in the midst of a divorce when his 10 year old daughter, Maya, starts to question him about his life before marriage. Maya wants to know absolutely everything about how her parents met and fell in love. Will's story begins in 1992, as a young, starry-eyed aspiring politician who moves to New York from Wisconsin in order to work on the Clinton campaign. For Maya, Will relives his past as a idealistic young man learning the ins and outs of big city politics, and recounts the history of his romantic relationships with three very different women. On the campaign, Will's best buddy is Russell McCormack. They not only have similar political aspirations, they share the same type of girl problems, too. Will hopelessly attempts a "PG" version of his story for his daughter ad changes the names so Maya has to guess who he finally married. Is her mother Will's college sweetheart, the dependable girl next-door Emily? Is she his longtime best friend and confidante, he apolitical April? Or is she the free-spirited but ambitious journalist? As Maya puts together the pieces of her dad's romantic puzzle, she begins to understand that love is not so simple or easy. And as Will tells her his tale, Maya helps him to understand that it's definitely never too late to go back...and maybe even possible to find a happy ending.
- Ryan Reynolds Will Hayes
- An Nguyen Ad Exec
- Sakina Jaffrey School Mom
- Bob Wiltfong School Dad
- Ryder Chasin Boy with Book
- Fiona Lane Angry Girl
- Dana Eskelson Angry Girl's Mom
- Blake Benitez School Kid #1
- Paulina Gerzon School Kid #2
- Victoria Goldsmith School Kid #3
- Ashtyn Greenstein School Kid #4
- Ashley Greiner School Kid #5
- Dylan Hartigan School Kid #6
- Paul Mott School Kid #7
- Alexander Pickett School Kid #8
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| 24 |
The Departed |
Martin Scorsese |
Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen |
 |
2006 |
USA |
Crime, Drama |
Awards: Won 4 Oscars. Another 47 wins & 49 nominations
Comments: Better than Infernal Affairs if you ask me. Jack
Summary: Two just-graduated officers from Massachusetts State Police Academy follow opposite sides of the law: William Costigan is assigned to work undercover with the Irish mobster Frank Costello to get evidences to arrest him. His true identity is only known by his superiors Dignam and Oliver Queenan. The protégée of Costello, Colin Sullivan, is promoted in the Massachusetts State Police and is the informer of Costello. Each police officer gives his best effort trying to disclose the identity of the other "rat".
- Leonardo DiCaprio William M. 'Billy' Costigan
- Matt Damon Det. SSgt. Colin Sullivan
- Jack Nicholson Francis 'Frank' Costello
- Mark Wahlberg Det. SSgt. Dignam
- Martin Sheen Det. Capt. Oliver Queenan
- Ray Winstone Mr. French
- Vera Farmiga Dr. Madolyn Madden
- Anthony Anderson Officer Brown
- Alec Baldwin Det. Capt. George Ellerby
- Kevin Corrigan Cousin Sean
- James Badge Dale Officer Barrigan
- David O'Hara Fitzy
- Mark Rolston Timothy Delahunt
- Robert Wahlberg Agent Frank Lazio - FBI
- Kristen Dalton Gwen
|
| 25 |
Diary |
Oxide Pang |
Charlene Choi, Isabella Leong, Shawn Yue |
 |
2006 |
Hong Kong |
Horror, Drama |
(Mon seung) Awards: 1 nomination
Comments: Criticisms of the writing and screenplay aside, this is a thoroughly engaging film on the surface. I loved it even though I didn't get it. The creative camera angles, the mostly gray/green color palette accentuating a sense of disease or decay, the original music and sound design, and the beauty of the actors add up to a sensuous ninety minute delight. At times the film seemed adrift on a sea of music carried along by the score instead of leading it, while at other times the conspicuous absence of any sound almost embarrasses the viewer in moments of voyeuristic character study. Having said that, there isn't much depth or background to the characters in Diary, but the focus on their moments of here and now is sharp and clear.
Charlene Choi is magnificent as the schizophrenic, sad and lonely Winnie. Her face has a beauty suited to smoldering evil or desperate sadness inside, and she presents this facade so convincingly that in her very few, very brief moments of happiness, the shy and hopeful smile that accompanies the change evokes the poetic innocence of a rescued child. It's captivating and magnetic. It draws the viewer into a collaborative dream of promise that when quickly and sadly broken the feeling of empathy is profound. That's good acting and directing.
The ending very clearly presents a major twist. However, as someone writes in th |