Posts filed under 'Foreign'
TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “John Le Carré’s classic thriller of Cold War espionage follows an English spy as he returns to MI-6 under a cloud of suspicion. In the years since he was sacked by the agency, some suspect he’s become an operative for the Soviet Union.”
12/9/11- Great review in today’s NY Times and from others as well. None of my friends liked it. TRDB.
4/23/12- I agree with my friends. I did not like it and decided not to stick with it to try to put together all of the scenes that bored me in the first place. TRDB.
Tags: drama, thriller
December 9th, 2011
IN DARKNESS- 2011. Synopsis by RottenTomatoes. “From acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland, In Darkness is based on a true story. Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland, one day encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above. What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected, the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha’s conscience. The film is also an extraordinary story of survival as these men, women and children all try to outwit certain death during 14 months of ever increasing and intense danger.”
12/4/11- An article (not a review) about this movie in the NY Times today. TRDB.
12/9/11- Fair review in today’s NY Times but excellent ones from others. TRDB.
6/10/12- I saw this today on a flight coming home from California and I thought it was an OK movie that took a true story and managed to Hollywood-ize it to some degree. TRDB.
Tags: drama, Foreign
December 4th, 2011
ADRIFT- 2009. Synopsis by Netflix. “When a teenaged girl finds out that her debonair father, Matias (Vincent Cassel), is a philanderer, she enters into a voyeuristic world while trying to figure out her own burgeoning sexuality. Camilla Belle co-stars as Matias’s gorgeous mistress, Ângela, in this sensitive, coming-of-age drama set in the 1980s. Brazilian Heitor Dhalia writes and directs this film, which was an official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.”
11/27/11- A good coming-of-age movie with a family in transition. TRDB. Netflix Streaming.
Tags: drama, Foreign
November 27th, 2011
DAUGHTERS OF THE SUN- 2004. Synopsis by Netflix. “This Iranian drama was recognized at the Montreal festival of World Cinema as the Best First Feature by filmmaker Mariam Shahriar. Following in the trend of recent movies celebrating the strength of Iranian women, the film tells the story of a young woman who pretends she’s a man in order to get a job at a local carpet factory. Her secret is safe until a female colleague develops feelings for her. Stars Altinay Ghelich Taghani and Soghra Karimi.” No reviews. TRDB.
4/2/12- About as slow as molasses in the frig. but still an interesting view of a sub-culture in Iran. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: drama, Foreign
November 26th, 2011
A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY- 1991. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Set in Taiwan during the year 1960, a talented but self-centered student refuses to compromise his moral standards with anyone — teachers, friends, parents or girlfriend.”
11/26/11- Great reviews for this 4 hour long movie. TRDB.
Tags: drama, Foreign
November 26th, 2011
THE ARTIST- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “This modern-day silent film artfully recounts the poignant end of the silent-movie era in the late 1920s. The story contrasts the declining fortunes of a silent-screen superstar with his lover’s rise to popularity as a darling of the “talkies.”
11/26/11- Great reviews including one in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
12/24/11- I liked this movie very much. Very creative, well acted and an interesting story as well. TRDB. At the theater.
Tags: drama, Foreign
November 26th, 2011
TOMBOY- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “Uncomfortable living as a girl, 10-year-old Laure decides to spend her childhood as Michael. When Michael’s family moves to rural France, the child wins friends and comes to understand the complexities of gender.”
1/16/11- Very good review in today’s NY Times and great reviews in general. TRDB.
7/19/12- I concur– very interesting, well acted and I liked this movie very much. TRDB. Netflix Streaming.
Tags: drama
November 16th, 2011
DOG SWEAT- 2010. Synopsis by Netflix. “Filmed in Farsi in a clandestine, cinéma vérité style, this Iranian drama from director Hossein Keshavarz sheds light on the lives of six young Iranians whose inner desires are at odds with Islam’s conservative social mores. Among them are a feminist immersed in an affair with a married man, a pair of lovers in search of a place to carry out their furtive passions, and a gay man forced to confront the opposite sex in an arranged marriage.”
11/11/11- Good reviews in general and a good review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Tags: drama, Foreign
November 12th, 2011
STOLEN LIFE- 2005. Synopsis by Netflix. “A young girl’s lonely life seems to be looking up when she’s accepted by a university, but her joy is short-lived. Having been raised by indifferent relatives in Beijing, naive freshman Yan’ni (Xun Zhou) finds it hard to resist when a charming deliveryman starts to pay attention to her. But she’s soon on a downward spiral, as she becomes pregnant, drops out of school and ends up living in her lover’s drab room.”
11/11/11- A great story with great acting and I highly recommend it. TRDB. Netflix Streaming.
Tags: drama, Foreign
November 11th, 2011
TYRANNOSAUR- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “Joseph (Peter Mullan), a doomed, damaged petty thief finds love in the most unlikely place when he literally runs into pious Hannah (Olivia Colman). He thinks her religious nature makes her better off than him, which is far from the truth. As Hannah opens up to him, Joseph discovers a woman as damaged and hungry for human contact as he. Eddie Marsan co-stars in the writing and directing debut of actor Paddy Considine.” Good early reviews. TRDB.
11/18/11- A barely OK review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
12/23/11- I liked the movie but would have liked it more if I could understand the English. Great acting! TRDB. At the theater.
Tags: drama, foreing
November 4th, 2011
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