Foreign Filmssss

As people who read this blog know, I don't only watch films produced in America, but also watch films from around the world, mostly older highly regarded films from abroad. While I do not review too many of these as I don't feel I have the cinematic knowledge or writing ability to properly explain/critique these complicated masterpieces, yet, I do however make a concerted effort to watch them as often as I can. Admittedly I go through phases where I watch a bunch or don't watch them at all for a while. Sometimes it is just hard to motivate yourself to read subtitles for 2 hours, especially since most foreign films are not mindless action like Hollywood films and actually require you to use your brain. Anyways, I came across this list from Empire of the 100 Best Films of World Cinema (non-english, sorry David Lean) and I thought I would share with you guys the films on the list I had seen and the ones I plan to see. I also included a few films from the list that I believe are overrated, and a couple reviews I had previously written of films on the list. I have highlighted ones that are my absolute favorites. Looking at the dates of the films which are highlighted I can tell that my list of the top 10 films of the 60s will have a strong foreign contingent.

Empire: The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema

Films I have Seen:
1. Seven Samurai  2. Amelie  3. Battleship Potemkin  4. Bicycle Thieves  6. Battle of Algiers  7. City of God  8. Seventh Seal  11. La Dolce Vita  12. Metropolis  13. The Rules of the Game  14. 3 Colors  15. Let the Right One In  16. Tokyo Story  18. Oldboy  19. Aguirre: the Wrath of God  22. Rashomon  29. The 400 Blows  33. M  35. The Grand Illusion  40. L'Avventura  44. Ikiru  45. Suspiria  62. 8 1/2  67. The Vanishing  68. Solaris  71. Persona  75. Breathless  82. Battle Royale  86. Run Lola Run  98. Ran  100. Nightwatch

Stats: 7 of top 10, 15 of top 20 and 31 overall

Overrated:
Battleship Potemkin: I know that the famous Odessa steps scene is supposed to be gutwrenchingly emotional, but honestly I could care less that a bunch of commies and communist sympathizers are being gunned down. I don't know enough about cinema to know if Eisenstein used any super innovative techniques at the time he made this film. To me it was just pure communist propaganda.
Bicycle Thieves: I honestly have no idea why this film is so famous. Guy has bike, guy has bike stolen, guy tries to get bike back, guy fails to get bike back and he and his son are heartbroken, Italy is still in shambles after WWII. Simple premise and very boringly executed.
8 1/2: While definitely not a bad film, I found it incredibly imaginative and original, I would mostly say it is overrated because I think it is crazy that people claim this to be Fellini's masterpiece and not La Dolce Vita; no one puts The Sweet Life in the corner.

Plan to See: 5. Pans Labyrinth  17. Apu Trilogy (If only to amuse my Indian colleagues)  20. Y Tu Mama Tambien  21. Nosferatu  25. Das Boot  36. *Dekalogue (Note: I've started this 10 part, 10 hour Polish film/miniseries but have not made my way through it all yet)  38. Ashes and Diamonds (Polish)  39. Le Samourai  61. Knife in the Water (Roman Polanski - Polish)  67. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon  70. Hard Boiled  76. The Idiots (As I alluded to in a blog post, I purchased this movie with the inention to watch it, but apparently I bought a version that only has Spanish subtitles, apparently I'm one of the Idiots in the title?)

Three Colors- (Blue, White, Red)
-Decided to check out this trilogy by director Krzysztof Kieślowski because he is Polish, and boy am I glad I did. Great intelligent script, wonderful cinematography, they simply don't make films like this in the US.
Strongest- Blue- I LOVE Juliette Binoche, the score is almost as beautiful as the star 9.4/10
Weakest- White- This entry is more comical and less serious than the other entries in the trilogy, but is still a great story of revenge 8.6/10
10. Three Colors: Blue: Sure I might be biased towards this film because I'm Polish, nevertheless, Kieslowski's story of Liberty is one of the most original films of the 90's. Bonus: Juliette Binoche is Beautiful

• The Vanishing: Not just one of the best foreign horror films of all time, The Vanishing is without a doubt one of the best and most original horror films ever. The main character is simply one of the most purely evil villains ever put on film 

Breathless: While I'm embarrassed to admit this is only the second French New Wave film I have seen, the exceptional The 400 Blows being the first. This 1960 film by Jean-Luc Godard is very highly acclaimed, and with good reason, it is a very well made film. The plot is not as important as the style; with jump cuts being revolutionary at the time. Breathless is worthy of its reputation as a classic, couldn't agree more with this quote, “a pop artifact and a daring work of art and even at 50, still cool, still new, still – after all this time! – a bulletin from the future of movies."
Verdict: 8/10

*Note: A review of Run Lola Run should be included in my next blog post, so stay tuned!!!!

Going along with the theme of Foreign Films, I made the below list of films for myself to check out. As you can see many of the films below are included in the Empire list.  While they are not all foreign, and I am not completely finished, I thought I would share with the hope that you had some suggestions for what I should check out next. Right now I plan to check out more films by Jean Luc Godard, Robert Bresson and Andrei Tarkovsky, but I would like your input. Please post any suggestions in the comments section!

Bonus Review: Blood Diner
So I've had a few conversations with one of my managers at work about movies, mostly horror movies that we like. Well she decides that she knows just the movie I would like and brings me this film to watch. Here is the description from the back of the DVD:

"Two cannibals are on a wacky quest to restore life to the 5 million year old goddess Shitar. 
Aided by their dead uncle Anwar's brain and penis - the 2 set out to get the require parts - 
virgins - assorted body parts - whore- and ingredients for a blood buffet"

Yea I'd say she pretty much nailed the recommendation. This was a great 80's style horror comedy full of  over the top gore/nudity and lots of cheesy lines/characters. I would sorta liken it to a lower budget Re-Animater. Blood Diner is the type of movie you watch when you want to turn your brain off and have a good time. Full of inventive deaths and ridiculous characters it can be quite enjoyable if you are in the right mood. However, I did find the brother George to be more creepy than funny and it sort of drags a bit in the middle. Nevertheless it was fun low budget eighties fare. I believe I summarized this film perfectly when I told my manager it was the type of film I think I would make if I had enough time/money/drive. 7/10

Below are some actual quotes from this movie

-"Hey Babe, before I stick my big sausage in you, what do they call you?"

-"I can't wait to Wrestle Johnny Hitler" 'Shut up, I'm thinking about the Master Plan!'

-"Mommy is going to the store, I'm out of Damn Tampons!"

Double Bonus: 
They just released the Trailer for the new series Ash v Evil Dead, a sequel to the Evil Dead trilogy with Bruce Campbell. Debuts on Halloween this year on Starz. Check it out.