THE Independent and Foreign Film Thread

[Mango]

I have seen Breaker Morant a loooong time ago while I was in puberty.;-)
I recall it was an excellent film which warrants watching again.

You probably could pick that one up at your local library? They lend them out at ours and it is a small one.

 

[Rudyjohn]

I've seen The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Beautiful music & haunting theme song.

Saw Breaker Morant and Thank You for Smoking.

Another good documentory: Mad Hot Ballroom, about 5th graders learning ballroom dancing in NYC. Interesting study of the different social classes between Bronx/Brooklyn/Manhattan kids and their competition.

One of my all time favs is My Life as a Dog (Swedish) Keep a box of tissue nearby.

Saw Bertolucci's The Dreamers a few years ago. Filmed in Paris. Three very attractive actors, decent movie but too much gratuitous sex for me. I had to quit watching it.

 

[drunkkenartist]

I have all these movies in my Netflix queue. Has anyone seen any of them? Comments?

- Buena Vista Social Club (documentary)
- Merry Christmas (FR)
- The Girl from Paris (FR)
- Wordplay (documentary)
- Ridicule (FR)
- The Blind Swordman: Zatoichi (JAP)
- Thank You for Smoking (satire)
- The Night of the Shooting Stars (ITAL)
- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (FR)
- Breaker Morant (AUS)

I've seen The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Beautiful music & haunting theme song.

Saw Breaker Morant and Thank You for Smoking.

Another good documentory: Mad Hot Ballroom, about 5th graders learning ballroom dancing in NYC. Interesting study of the different social classes between Bronx/Brooklyn/Manhattan kids and their competition.

One of my all time favs is My Life as a Dog (Swedish) Keep a box of tissue nearby.

Saw Bertolucci's The Dreamers a few years ago. Filmed in Paris. Three very attractive actors, decent movie but too much gratuitous sex for me. I had to quit watching it.

I'm so excited for several reasons.
1) I just figured out how to multi-quote. Considering I just learned how to quote the other day, this is a big improvement.
2)Mermaid, I've only seen two of those on your list. Beuna Vista Social Club, of which I own the video AND cd. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. The main character just passed away a few months ago or so. As for Thank you for Smoking, I must confess something else. As for movies in English, I still use closed captioning, simply because I want to read everyword, and that film is simply brilliant. I watched it twice back to back and have ordered it recently.
3)JohnRudy; the only one on your last list I've heard of is My Life as a Dog, and I can't remember if I've watched it or it has been on my list of things to watch, so I guess I have to watch it again.
4)As for my love for Audrey Tautou; Sorry wenches, but tis true. I would go straight for her. She could easily convert me, completely. Ask BB, we've had this late night martini discussion. About floored her too!
5)as for BB, guess I need to quit calling BeachBummett "BB" because I checked the membership list and there is actually someone called "BB" whom I suspect is a lurker.
6)Y'all realize that with me working 8-5, Monday thru Friday, I can finally come back to the beach for Tues and Thurs Martini Nights at Cafe' ThirtyA! I will post the nights that I will be coming, and anyone who wants to or can join me is more than welcome. That includes Audrey T if you're reading!

OK, I'm going to bed now.
OH wait, I need to mention some films! Has anyone seen City of Lost Children? I'm obsessed with that movie. I think it is the same director of Amelie, lots of the same actors.
OK, now I'm going to bed.

dka

 

[Cil]

I have all these movies in my Netflix queue. Has anyone seen any of them? Comments?

- Buena Vista Social Club (documentary)
- Merry Christmas (FR)
- The Girl from Paris (FR)
- Wordplay (documentary)
- Ridicule (FR)
- The Blind Swordman: Zatoichi (JAP)
- Thank You for Smoking (satire)
- The Night of the Shooting Stars (ITAL)
- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (FR)
- Breaker Morant (AUS)

I've seen all of them except for Wordplay and Merry Christmas. (I heard both were good.) I liked all I saw but was just so-so for Cherbourg.
Thank You For Smoking was pretty funny, kept my interest.
Like Mango, it was a lo-ong time ago when I saw Breaker Morant.
Ridicule is one of my very *favorite* movies. I've rented it so much that I really should just buy it. My son told me that Ridicule was hugely popular in France because its themes, for better or for worse, were an excellent illustration of French sensibilities. Basically: look good, be witty, or be gone.
I'll stick another French costume drama in here: Queen Margot. This movie, which takes place during the Protestant persecution in the 16th century, when King Henry said "Paris is worth a mass," really gives the viewer a You Are There feeling, this is not a staid historical drama, you get plenty of action: blood, sweat and tears.
I liked Buena Vista Social Club a lot and ended up buying the excellent CD.

I saw The Dreamers in the theater and the gratuitous sex didn't bother me that much but I just did not care for the characters.
Loved My Life As A Dog and Mad Hot Ballroom.

If y'all are into eccentrics, wild parrots and San Francisco, you might be interested in The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. Maybe some of you have seen the wild parrots in South Beach? I've been to San Francisco several times, but until I saw this documentary I was unaware of the flock in SFO.

Would we need a separate thread for anime? ;-)
My favorite is Princess Mononoke, but there is also Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and the very, very sad and semi-autobiographical Grave of the Fireflies. That last film is a very powerful anti-war movie.

 

[drunkkenartist]

Would we need a separate thread for anime? ;-)
My favorite is Princess Mononoke, but there is also Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and the very, very sad and semi-autobiographical Grave of the Fireflies. That last film is a very powerful anti-war movie.

I don't think so. Go ahead and include them here. It would give the rest of us who may not be so familiar with Anime a chance to expose ourselves (Kinda like Danielle Radcliffe in Equus:funn: Sorry, couldn't resist:roll: )

to something different. I have been wanting to explore Anime. I know there is a huge demand for it; the artwork and style are incredible. What defines Anime? I'm not sure if my "Final Fantasy" and "Spawn" fit that category.


dka

 

[Mermaid]

I don't think so. Go ahead and include them here. It would give the rest of us who may not be so familiar with Anime a chance to expose ourselves (Kinda like Danielle Radcliffe in Equus:funn: Sorry, couldn't resist:roll: )

to something different. I have been wanting to explore Anime. I know there is a huge demand for it; the artwork and style are incredible. What defines Anime? I'm not sure if my "Final Fantasy" and "Spawn" fit that category.


dka

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime
This explains it a little better than I could. Sprited Away is a great little film to watch if you've never seen an anime movie (having two kids, I've seen tons of it ;-) ).

Cil, I've jiggled my queue around; thanks for the recs.

 

[Jennifer Steele]

It looks like the Rep's Independent Film Series already has a built-in audience (for those of you in town). I DO hope that you will attend one or all of the showings listed below. Bring a dish to share with everyone at 6pm and watch the film at 7pm. Admission is $5 without a reservation. 215 Quincy Circle in Seaside, 231-0733.


Wednesday, February 7: Black Gold
http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/story.php
The Story:
Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world's coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.

Wednesday, February 14: Four-Eyed Monsters
http://www.foureyedmonsters.com/feature_film/
"They have four eyes, two mouths, eight limbs that wrap around themselves. It?s disgusting!" Arin says, as we see images of couples throughout New York City. "But I can?t help but envy them."

Arin is a wannabe filmmaker and highly inexperienced with love, despite the fact that he spends most of his time editing wedding videos. In one of the most populous cities in the world, he is alone and tormented by the beautiful women he sees everywhere. He turns to the Internet.

Susan is an art school graduate working as a waitress and suffering from a lack of inspiration. She receives a message from Arin, but since she?s tired of dating, especially online, she suggests that he should just stop by her work.

Arin is too shy to introduce himself. So instead, he follows her home without her knowing and emails her pictures of her mundane daily trudge. She is intrigued.

They decide to meet up, but in an attempt to keep their interaction interesting, they make a pact to not speak to one another. As their romance develops, they only write, draw, email, text, have sex, instant message, and make videos for each other. No talking.

Susan?s creative clouds begin to lift, and Arin?s dry spell has ended. Unfortunately, a new world of more complicated problems is discovered, and they are forced to deal with intimacy as they meld together and create a monster.

Wednesday, February 21: An Inconvenient Truth
http://www.climatecrisis.net/
Oh boy - here we go again!


Wednesday, February 28: Bachelor Man
http://www.bachelorman.com/index.html

 

[drunkkenartist]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime
This explains it a little better than I could. Sprited Away is a great little film to watch if you've never seen an anime movie (having two kids, I've seen tons of it ;-) ).

Cil, I've jiggled my queue around; thanks for the recs.

Thanks for the website Mermy; I'll go there next!

It looks like the Rep's Independent Film Series already has a built-in audience (for those of you in town). I DO hope that you will attend one or all of the showings listed below. Bring a dish to share with everyone at 6pm and watch the film at 7pm. Admission is $5 without a reservation. 215 Quincy Circle in Seaside, 231-0733.


Wednesday, February 7: Black Gold
http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/story.php


Wednesday, February 14: Four-Eyed Monsters
http://www.foureyedmonsters.com/feature_film/


Wednesday, February 21: An Inconvenient Truth
http://www.climatecrisis.net/


Wednesday, February 28: Bachelor Man
http://www.bachelorman.com/index.html

Now that I'll be in classes during the day for the next five weeks, perhaps I can make it down to the beach for the movies. Sounds like funn. Thanks JS for posting! Always willing if able to support the Rep! I miss you guys bunches!

Kenny

 

[Jennifer Steele]

Now that I'll be in classes during the day for the next five weeks, perhaps I can make it down to the beach for the movies. Sounds like funn. Thanks JS for posting! Always willing if able to support the Rep! I miss you guys bunches!

Kenny

I miss you too, Kenny!

 

[Rudyjohn]

Just remembered Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

I suppose it would be considered a musical. It's campy, & some may think it's strange but it has great, funn music! I'm sure many of you have seen this movie.