July 7, 2008

Miao Miao (2008) ***

Bathory (2008) ***


Red Cliff (2008) *

Boring Chinese epic film directed by John Woo.

Cloud 9 (2008) ***

Departures (2008) ***

Sroda Czwartek rano (2008) ***

Three Monkeys (2008) ***

Two-Legged Horse (2008) ***

The Blind Side (2008) ***

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008) ***

Ogrod Luizy (2008) ***

Portrait Of A Beauty (2008) ***

La Rabia (2008) ***

Revanche (2008) ***

Rezerwat (2008) ***

Runaway Horse (2008) ***

Rusalka (2008) ***

La Maison jaune (2008) **

Algerian drama about the loss of a son.

Délice Paloma (2008) *

Algerian film about a resourceful woman whose activities involve blackmail, prostitution and corruption.

33 sceny z zycia (2008) *

Sad film about a young woman whose mother is dying of cancer.

Mala Moskwa (2008) *

Set in Legnica in 1968, it's a melodrama about an adulterous love affair between a Polish officer and a wife of a Soviet air force pilot.

Shadows In The Palace (2008) *

Very confusing Korean film about intrigues among servants in a royal palace. A cross between "Dangerous Liaisons" and Agatha Christie.

Los (2008) **

Belgian film about a young newspaper reporter from Antwerp and his love affair with a beautiful Pakistani immigrant.

May 18 (2008) **

A disturbing drama from South Korea, about the infamous Gwangju Massacre of May 18, 1980, in which soldiers opened fire on civilian protesters trying to prevent a military coup d'état. Similar to UK's "Bloody Sunday" (2002) by Paul Greengrass, and France's "Nuit noire, 17 octobre 1961" (2005) by Alain Tasma.

Empress And The Warriors (2008) *

Very boring Chinese historical epic set in Ancient China before its unification, during which countless kingdoms battle for supremacy.

Peaceful Times (2008) **

Drama about fucked-up family of East German refugees trying to adjust to their new life in West Germany in the late 60's. Warm and nostalgic.

Special Escort (2008) *

A German "Full Monty", about a bunch of unemployed men trying to become male escorts. No nudity.

The Magic Hour (2008) *

Weird Japanese pastiche about old movies.

Cobardes (2008) *

Spanish film about a young boy being bullied at school.

My Magic (2008) *

Depressing film about an alcoholic magician and his son.

Let The Right One In (2008) ***

Le Silence de Lorna (2008) ***

Perro come perro (2008) **

Incredibly violent, very "tarantinesque" gangster film from Colombia.

Everybody Dies But Me (2008) ***

Don't Think About White Monkeys (2008) ***

Wildly surrealistic Russian allegory about materialism and spirituality, starring Katarina Ksenyeva. It's a story of an ambitious young man who befriends three crazy bohemian artists who completely change his life. 

Cumbia callera (2008) ***

Autumn (2008) *

Turkish film about a man released from prison.

The Investigator (2008) **

Hungarian drama about a mortician hired to kill a man.

Leo (2008) *

Violent Swedish film about revenge.

Il Divo (2008) *

The life of an Italian Prime Minister.

Gigantes de Valdès (2008) *

Ridiculous film from Argentina, full of clichéd, one-dimensional caricatures. What at first looks like a South American remake of "Local Hero" (1983), with a very similar premise, soon degenerates into a contrived and inept melodrama full of cartoonish villains. Embarassingly bad.

The Vanished Empire (2008) *

Russian film set in the 1970's.

Tulpan (2008) **

Memorable film set in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Tokyo Sonata (2008) **

Japanese film that begins like Laurent Cantet's "L'Emploi du temps" and ends like a movie by Quentin Tarantino.

The Fourth Man (2008) **

A Serbian drama clearly inspired by "Memento".

Blind Loves (2008) *

Slovakian film about blind people.

The Chicken The Fish And The King Crab (2008) *

Boring documentary about a Spanish chef competing in a culinary competition in France.

Die Welle (2008) **

Interesting German drama about an leftist teacher who tries to warn his student about the dangers of fascism by conducting a dangerous experiment.

The Shadow Spirit (2008) *

Lame Japanese horror movie. It begins on a Pacific island during WWII, but most of the action is set in 1952. Confusing and boring.