Movie Avalanche! – Part Two
My previous avalanche post was such a hit so I’m bringing it back but this time, I chose the low-key, not so mainstream movies that I had watched with a few top-notch foreign flicks (non-US) in it.
Again, brace yourselves.
- Carriers – Great movie. Focuses on how humanity tightens their grip on lives for survival.
- Dancer in the Dark – Been curious about this movie for quite some time now and I am so glad I got this. I was blown away by Bjorn’s performance. Be warned though, it is really depressing. Had to stop and recuperate after watching this.
- Entre Les Mur (The Class) – An interesting glimpse on the lives of the teacher and his students inside the classroom. It feels low-key but I got hooked and enjoyed it. Got a few French vocabulary words from it also; win-win.
- Food, Inc. – A documentary about the harsh truth on the United States’ massive food production. If I were living there, I’d never eat nor touch all the things I saw on this film. It’s like a horror “An Inconvenient Truth” but about food.
- Grace – Not the scream-out-loud type of horror about a mother’s strong bond of love for her child.
- Humpday – Funny film on how far male bonding can go.
- Hunger – One of the most powerful political/prison film I’ve ever seen. I had the urge to read more about the history that fueled the movie after watching it. Best scenes were the lengthy conversation with the priest and the lead’s slow journey to death from hunger.
- Il y a Longtemps Que Je T’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long) – Incredible performance from Kristin Scott Thomas. You can definitely feel her pain as she struggles to have a life after prison. Her eyes alone said the most powerful lines on the film. Yep, “eyes” and “lines”?! Crazy talk, I know. It is that good.
- Ink – Great sci-fi indie film. This is the first sci-fi indie I’ve seen and it is always the story and not the flashy CGI that makes a great movie. Nice phase also.
- Oldboy – A Korean film that shows the measures of how far some people would do just to have revenge. Amazing! Highly recommended film. Found out that this is part of a trilogy, still looking of the other two.
- Paper Heart – Quirky and funny film that blurs the borders if it is a real documentary or just a plain script based movie (well, I was confused). This had a life on its own and its nice to see it grow into something. I think this movie belongs to the “alternative” sort of stuff.
- Phobia (4bia) – Horror movie from Thailand with 4 different stories from 4 of the best directors of the genre. A lot of cheap scares but it is pretty good.
- Pontypool – An interesting new take on the thriller/horror genre. It was really suspenseful, inventive and funny at times.
- Sunshine Cleaning – Watch this for the two ladies, Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. They’re quite a tandem here.
- The Devil’s Rejects – A sequel to the most horrifying movie I’ve seen my entire life, House of 1000 Corpses, though may not be as gruesome as the first, it is still enough to make you cringe.
- The Echo – Hollywood remake of the movie “Sigaw” with the same director. I thought this would be better but it wasn’t. Directing the same movie twice would mean that he could correct some of the misses from the first. But that was not the case, he even manages to create more holes (and it’s not the one seen on the movie).
- The Young Victoria – Period drama about the life of the longest ruling queen on history, Queen Victoria. It was lush and beautiful. Most noticeable performance for me was not of Emily Blunt’s but of Rupert Friend as Prince Albert; he was really good. And maybe this is where Kensington lock got its name. Watch if you’re curious on what I’m talking about.
- Thirst – The Koreans also jumped on the vampire bandwagon, but unlike the pioneer, this movie is far better. FYI: This is the second Chan-wook Park movie on this list, first was Oldboy. He’s one of my favorites now.
- Tokyo Sonata – Pitch perfect slice-of-life domestic drama from our friends from the land of the rising sun. I freaking love this movie. Highly recommended.
- World’s Greatest Dad – Smart dark comedy that fits Robin Williams like a glove. He should only make these kinds of movie, it’s very tiring seeing him on laugh-out-loud flicks.
Oh the tags. The horror! LOL 