Science of Sleep & other foreign movies.

[GUTS]

Just watched this and it was AWESOME.  Does anybody know some more good foreign movies to check out?  I like stuff like this with a creative story and really good acting; Pan's Labyrinth was great too.

[termis]

Oldboy (Korean but original story is Japanese) is friggin amazing.  City of God (Brazillian) is another good one.

[GUTS]

I've heard of Oldboy, I'll see if I can find that one, it sounded interesting.  City of God is one that sounded really depressing so I'm not sure if I want to watch it, a good depressing movie will put me in a bad mood for days.

[merriman_bk]

Couple good korean movies:

TAEGUKGI

Guns & Talks


I saw Oldboy, didn't really get into it.

[Keranu]

I watched a little of that City of God movie, it was very violent.

[termis]

Yeah, City of God was violent - I wouldn't quite say it was a depressing movie, but my standard of the definition may be different than others.  But if any of you like depressing in a artsy-fartsy kinda way, try watching Daremo Shiranai (Nobody Knows).  A movie based on a true story about three kids in Japan who were abandoned by their mother and how they fend off for themselves.

Taegukgi (English title: Brotherhood of War) is one my favorite movies ever, but I may be biased, considering I'm Korean and all, and that's what this whole movie is about - I'm afraid that many of those who are unfamiliar with recent history of the Koreas may not "get" the movie beyond the blood, gore & melo-drama.  It's a good war flick in itself, but if any of you decide to watch it, just know that the two brothers in the story are actually supposed to represent the north and the south Koreas, or else some scenes will just seem too unbelievable to take it just as a war movie (aka Rambo).  I won't say too much to not spoil the movie, though.

[GUTS]

I've seen Brotherhood of War, it was pretty sweet but yeah some scenes were a little over the top.  It makes more sense now that I know they were representing north/south Korea.  Great movie though even without knowing that, it was cool to see a war movie from a perspective that wasn't American (if I remember right they never even showed the Americans).

I just watched Oldboy last night, holy f*ck!  What a trip, that was exactly the type of movie I was looking for, thanks for the recommendation Thumpin.  The story was insane, towards the end when there was that big revelation, I was like "no way... how did I not see this coming!", it was great because the main character was mirroring exactly what I was thinking.  Awesome, awesome movie. 

I got that Guns & Talks movie also, I'll give it a whirl something this week.

[termis]

Glad you enjoyed Oldboy. 

Yeah, my wife and I were like "AAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!11111!!!11"  at that scene.  Definitely a movie where it punches you in the gut.

[Bonknuts]

"Guns and Talks"....oh dear god that was a horrible movie. While not foreign - Brick was a cool movie. Also, stay far away from Swimming Pool

[GUTS]

Haha I tried to watch Guns & Talks last night, I made it about an hour in before I couldn't take anymore.  It seemed like it would have worked really well as an anime series, but as a live-action movie it was terrible.  The music was so bad!

[esteban]

Uhhhh, I haven't seen the films mentioned thus far and so I'll probably be totally off in my recommendations (but I still think they might fit your criteria ).

Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972) -- I had recommended this before, and you had slight interest in it, IIRC. See it for Kinski, if nothing else. I had to see all of Herzog's other films (and Kinski's) after I saw Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo (another epic, from 1982 or thereabouts). Both films can be appreciated on many levels (from the sheer intensity of the protagonists' desires... to the social and political aspects of colonization). I don't know, some(?) folks might think these films are tedious / drawn-out... they're missing the point, of course, but you've been warned.

Los Olvidados (1960) -- I wanted to list a lot films by Bunuel, my favorite? director, but I chose this one because it is probably the most accessible and it was the film that really got me interested in his stuff. If you dig this, I would recommend all of his Mexican films: they kick ass. Yes, his later French films are awesome, but they are far more artsy. Go for El Bruto, El, Ensayo de un crimen, Susana, Virdiana, Nazarin*, etc. for great stuff. Nazarin is a particular favorite of mine, if you're in the mood for Jesus. See Abismos de Pasión if you want to see Wuthering Heights .

I'll stop there.

[GUTS]

Oh yeah Steve I tried to watch the Wrath of God, but unfortunately I guess I just didn't get it because I thought it was pretty tedious, haha.  If a movie has tons of symobilism it usually goes over my head, I'm horrible at catching that stuff.  Have you seen Pan's Labyrinth yet?  That movie was amazing, I hear the same director has two other movies that are set in the same WWII Spanish civil war era so I need to hunt them down.  You should watch Oldboy, that movie will blow your mind and you'll probably pick up on a ton of stuff that I missed.

[esteban]

I just remembered something! I saw clips of Oldboy and some other "horror" films on some TV show that was promoting Saw III (or some other movie in the genre). It had folks (directors? actors? writers?) talking about their favorite films, or maybe it was their favorite scenes. This show RUINED the movies by giving away spoilers, including the ending of Oldboy. I'll still see it, but I'm pissed off that they spoiled things for me.

I purposefully avoid reading / researching movies because watching a movie completely "blind" is much more enjoyable to me. I have no expectations, and even "commonly known" elements of the film will be fresh to me. Of course, I watch more than my fair share of crap with this method, but ultimately, it's worth it.

Oh yeah Steve I tried to watch the Wrath of God, but unfortunately I guess I just didn't get it because I thought it was pretty tedious, haha.  If a movie has tons of symobilism it usually goes over my head, I'm horrible at catching that stuff.  Have you seen Pan's Labyrinth yet?  That movie was amazing, I hear the same director has two other movies that are set in the same WWII Spanish civil war era so I need to hunt them down.  You should watch Oldboy, that movie will blow your mind and you'll probably pick up on a ton of stuff that I missed.

Crap, I was worried about that. I'll definitely check out Pan's Labyrinth (adding it to NetFlix if it is available).

Don't give up on me! I still think you'd like Los Olvidados! It's raw and disturbing, especially for a film of this era. I'm not a film historian, but roles like this were usually reserved for adults, and even then most films would tone it down.

Here's another suggestion: The Devil's Backbone. I enjoyed it, though I saw it years ago and I can't remember enough to give a proper mini-review. Suffice it to say: it had a great atmosphere and some bizarre-ness to keep you intrigued.