El Secreto de Sus Ojos (The Secret in their Eyes)
El Secreto de Sus Ojos was the very deserving winner of the 2010 Academy Award for best Foreign Film. (I have to admit it is the only one of those…
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Män som hatar kvinnor)
In 1994, Swedish journalist Stieg Larsson died, leaving behind three unpublished novels. They became international bestsellers. And all three have been adapted to the screen in Swedish. The first in…
Mother (Madeo)
Let me start by saying, I really liked this film. In this wonderful Korean thriller, the central character is a single Mother (never named) played with infinite layers by the…
The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
This first feature won Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck the Oscar in 2007 for Best Foreign Film and I can see why. What a wonderful film! It takes place in East…
Coco avant Chanel (a.k.a. Coco Before Chanel)
It’s good to see Hollywood paying homage to a bevy of strong, independent, talented and spirited women (Fanny Brawne in Bright Star, Amelia Earhart in Amelia, Coco Chanel in Coco…
After the Wedding (Efter bryllupet)
I heard about this film when it came out and was somewhat intrigued, but the reviews I read were cryptic about the story and I took that to mean it…
When Ruo Ma was Seventeen
This sweet coming of age story is almost worth seeing just for the scenery alone. Shot in southern China’s Yunnan province, When Ruo Ma was Seventeen uses the beautiful landscape…
Priceless
The French make breezy little romantic comedies as easily as they do a good cup of coffee. Perhaps it is because it is a more romantic sensibility. Maybe it is…
Apres Vous
If you're looking for a tasty little French romantic comedy, Apres Vous is just the ticket. Nothing deep here, nor laugh out loud funny, but the French have a way…
Perhaps Love 如果·愛
If you're looking for a good musical romance in Chinese, Perhaps Love is your movie. It stars Asian heart throb Takeshi Kaneshiro and Superstar singer Jacky Cheung in a love…
The Road Home 我的父亲母亲 (1989)
"The Road Home" is a fantastic chick flick, a 3 hankie love story set in a small village in north China sometime during the Cultural Revolution though you'd never know…
Ikiru 生きる & Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles 千里走单骑
I rented two films this week that coincidentally both center on older men and fractured relationships with their grown sons. Why do so many men and their fathers have such…