The Salesman (Forushande in Farsi, in original) is an outstanding and mesmerizing Iranian movie released in 2016. I think I like the word mesmerizing. This movie won the Oscar for the Foreign Language Movie in 2017, a controversial year with weak movies. The Salesman came up like the oil in water. As a reminder, 2017 was the year I haven't published my Oscar winners because of movies like Moonlight, La La Land, 20th Century Women... On top of that, the circus at the ceremony, the … [Read more...]
A Prophet (Un prophète in French), a Beautiful Metaphor
A Prophet is what can be called a “prison movie”. In his genre, it’s one of the best I’ve ever watched. It was released in 2009 and has been nominated for Best Foreign Movie both for Oscars and Golden Globes. Unfortunately, it competed with The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos) which won the Oscar. The Globe has been received by a German movie, The White Ribbon. It won a BAFTA instead, for the best foreign movie category, many Césars (Best Film, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, … [Read more...]
Easy Money, a Praised Swedish Action Drama with Soul
Easy Money is a Swedish, German and Danish co-production from 2010, with a lot of soul. I have watched it with less surprise, knowing that in the Scandinavian Peninsula they prize the small budget and they use the money improving the act and everything just to make it real. It is violent, but mesmerizing, and very professionally acted by everyone. It has been extended to two more sequels, so it became a sort of a trilogy, like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, only that trilogy was made after … [Read more...]
English Vinglish – An Exceptionally Entertaining Indian Drama/Comedy
English Vinglish is an amazing Indian movie (the second presented here) released in 2012. It has now a 7.9 imdb rate out of ten with over 25k votes, which made the movie virtually accountable for the famous imdb Top 250. When I was still navigating in the nineties, I made some Indian friends who told me a lot about Bollywood and the stars of that moment. So, I learned about Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Darmeendra and others. I knew Raj Kapoor since I was a kid and I have … [Read more...]
Headhunters – An Insanely Entertaining Norwegian Thriller
What a pleasant surprise I had while watching the Norwegian crime/thriller/drama Headhunters, "Hodejegerne" in original! It is a 2011 Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany co-production with meaning. Some of the critics say it lacks logic. I don't think so. Every second is planned to mean what it has to mean, and the surprises are plenty. One doesn't need a lot of explaining while watching Headhunters. I have been first intrigued, then pleased. The message is also fine, because unbelievably, it's … [Read more...]
A Touch of Spices – Politiki Kouzina
The Greek title is Πολίτικη Κουζίνα (Politiki Kouzina) and means Cuisine of the City, Πολί being the word for city, "I Πολί", "The City" refers to Constantinople, or Istanbul to be politically correct. This is a film who depicts a multiple love story. "Gastronomos contain the word Astronomos", I have the feeling that the translation is obvious. It is about a boy who likes to cook with significant spices and "the most beautiful city in the world". Istanbul is also a character in this wonderful … [Read more...]