No that's interesting and I'll check them out, thanks.

I hadn't heard of any of the FL films l've listed above btw, until I was pointed towards them whilst doing this exercise, so I don't think it's a question of not remembering the films. Probably half the films I watched from the 70s I'd never heard of, so it's not like I was just going with ones because I remembered them.

comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by Dim Sim Flung (U22695)
posted 19 minutes ago
I've got 0 FL films in my top 25 of the 70s. So far in the 80s I have 1 (Cinema Paradiso, which I gave 9.5).

From this century I have:

2006 The Lives of Others 8.75
2008 Let the Right One In 8.75
2002 City of God 8.75

2018 Birds of Passage 9
2015 Embrace of the Serpent 9
2012 Once Upon a Time in Anatolia 9
2018 Roma 9.25
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If you're really interested in this, given time you could look go through some of the big international film festivals, I'm sure you'd find some major masterpieces that may well have been overlooked. Cannes, Berlin and Venice might be a good place to start.
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I've watched or part watched, probably around 300 movies so far, plus probably over 1000 trailers. I think it would be harsh to accuse me of being lazy or not showing an interest.

I'm confident that I've picked up most of the FL films I need to from the decades I've completed to date, although there may be a bit more scope on the 90s from the looks of it.

You watched any Kurosawa? It all depends on what you like, of course, but Dersu Uzala (The Hunter) or Ran might make your 70s or 80s list.

For the 90s, I don't remember watching Mikhalkov's Burnt By the Sun, but I do remember people raving about it back when it was on general release in Spain.

Just a few ideas, I don't know if you're just killing time with this but if you're interested in digging a bit deeper I'll give you a few more shouts.

I think it would be harsh to accuse me of being lazy or not showing an interest
-----

Sorry mate, that's not how I meant it at all. It's just as I said in the message just above this one, I'm not really sure what's moving you to do this - but I doubt you could even have considered it if you didn't love film, and it's equally clear you're putting a shedload of time into it!

comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 4 minutes ago
You watched any Kurosawa? It all depends on what you like, of course, but Dersu Uzala (The Hunter) or Ran might make your 70s or 80s list.

For the 90s, I don't remember watching Mikhalkov's Burnt By the Sun, but I do remember people raving about it back when it was on general release in Spain.

Just a few ideas, I don't know if you're just killing time with this but if you're interested in digging a bit deeper I'll give you a few more shouts.
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Have you ever dug as deep as watching 1000 trailers and 300 movies in a couple of months ?

Just out of interest ?

comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 57 seconds ago
I think it would be harsh to accuse me of being lazy or not showing an interest
-----

Sorry mate, that's not how I meant it at all. It's just as I said in the message just above this one, I'm not really sure what's moving you to do this - but I doubt you could even have considered it if you didn't love film, and it's equally clear you're putting a shedload of time into it!


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OK, cool. Apologies.

Yes, any suggestions would be welcomed. I'm looking for movies that score 8.5 plus.

Anyway, I'll check the ones you've mentioned out some time, thanks

Ok, sorry about that, didn't mean to rub you up the wrong way.

there's loads of great FL films out there, always have been, even if the countries involved didn't really have the skills/industry/money to compete with hollywood.

a good story is a good story, whatever the language, a few faults with dialogue/direction/cgi can be overlooked.

britain's always put out good content, competing well with hollywood, at least in terms of quality, if not quantity, but being in english helped.

european films have generally had there own distinct stylings. then from the 80's hong kong really started churning out kung fu and cat iii films. japan had the entertaining (but bad effects) godzilla / kaiju films and going increasingly weird (zombie ass) (and tentacle p0/n), bollywood has cornered it's own distinct style as well.

but now they're starting to really match or exceed hollywood. korea's oldboy is much better than the hollywood remake. japan surprised me with 2010's space battleship yamato, a live action anime/manga that really matched hollywood for cgi, china the same with 2019's the wandering earth.

hollywood might be in trouble, at a time when they appear to be struggling for fresh ideas, becoming increasingly reliant on sequels and remakes, the rest of the world is not only passing them on storytelling, they're also starting to match them on the big cgi blockbusters.

I thought Old Boy was pretty rubbish. I think generally South Korean cinema is massively over rated. I've not seen a good one yet.

Your comment about fresh ideas in Hollywood is interesting though. I have noticed that there are A LOT of remakes coming out in the last 3 or 4 years. So many films I've looked up have had a very recent remake.

There were 2 foreign language films from the 70s I was keen to watch but unable to find a copy. Those were Celine and Julie go Boating, and Lady Snowblood.

Some 70s FL films I did watch which didn't make my final leaderboard were:

Suspria
A Touch of Zen
Aguirre, the wrath of God
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

Other FL films I watched from the 21st century that I can think of are:

Pan's Labyrinth (decent)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
In the Mood for Love (decent)
Incendies
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Handmaiden
Toni Erdmann
Melancholia
Midsommar
Parasite
Holy Motors

plus the ones I mentioned above that did make my list. There are several others I can think of as well that I can't remember the names of. There are far more foreign language movies around now than there were in the 20th century.

Dersu Uzala


looks decent

I rarely find Hollywood remakes to be better than the foreign language film they're based on. Very often they're low budget films that unexpectedly become box office hits precisely because the offer something different which is completely lost in Hollywood's comparatively enormous budgets and lavish productions. Sometimes they'll tweak the story trying to target audiences and lose the essence of the original.

Abre los Ojos (1997) is one such case - a thriller that was remade and disfigured a few years later as Vanilla Sky. The original was much better, imo.


Also from the 90s, I don't know if Kikujiro has been mentioned. It's 1999, so you can check it out if you like. It's a Takeshi Kitano (aka Beat Takeshi) film that's quite unlike most of his production.

comment by Dim Sim Flung (U22695)
posted 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
There were 2 foreign language films from the 70s I was keen to watch but unable to find a copy. Those were Celine and Julie go Boating, and Lady Snowblood.

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celine and julie is on the bfi film channel, if you have amazon prime video you can get a 2 week free trial through them (though my 2 week free trial turned into a 6 month paid subscription)

i found celine and julie unwatchable twaddle, and lasted half an hour, but bfi have tons of foreign language films, including herzog, fassbinder, kurosawa, pasolini, bunuel, and plenty of english language stuff (greenaway, nic roeg, cassavetes etc)

OK thanks. Yes I've watched a few on amazon prime, but not gone for that free trial.

You can find ALMOST anything for free online, but with some FL films,(such as lady snowblood) the subtitles are out of synch.


The Chinese film long day's journey into night was another one I watched. Some of it was excellent but the first hour let it down for me.

Also, you don't have to watch every movie ever made to find the best films. Or every movie made by a director who's got a name or every movie that's made in a language. The best films generally have a reputation for being outstanding films, so you just have to.identify those ones and watch them. I'll get through our lost some time this year to hopefully identify the best films from the 90s. Got to finish the 80s first though.

One film from the 90's I always liked was Breakdown. A neat thriller with Kurt Russell. It loses its way a bit by the end but the first hour is very captivating and it's one of Russell's best performances.

comment by Dim Sim Flung (U22695)
posted 7 hours, 50 minutes ago
I thought Old Boy was pretty rubbish. I think generally South Korean cinema is massively over rated. I've not seen a good one yet.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You’re wrong on Oldboy but here are a few really good South Korean ones to win you back

The Host
A Bittersweet Life
Train to Busan
JSA
A Tale of Two Sisters

comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 44 minutes ago
One film from the 90's I always liked was Breakdown. A neat thriller with Kurt Russell. It loses its way a bit by the end but the first hour is very captivating and it's one of Russell's best performances.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah good film.

comment by Robbb (U22716)
posted 3 hours, 12 minutes ago
comment by Dim Sim Flung (U22695)
posted 7 hours, 50 minutes ago
I thought Old Boy was pretty rubbish. I think generally South Korean cinema is massively over rated. I've not seen a good one yet.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You’re wrong on Oldboy but here are a few really good South Korean ones to win you back

The Host
A Bittersweet Life
Train to Busan
JSA
A Tale of Two Sisters
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Train to Busan's rubbish

I think Parasite is hugely over rated too.

The Handmaiden was...OKKKKKK, but nowhere near as good as it seemed to think it was.


There was another one I started to watch as well about some guy who had been fitted up for murder. Someone was saying it was amazing, and it was rubbish.

Actually I don't think I watched Old Boy thinking about it now (or maybe I stopped it very early). Can't remember. Maybe I should give it a watch

comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 3 hours, 20 minutes ago
One film from the 90's I always liked was Breakdown. A neat thriller with Kurt Russell. It loses its way a bit by the end but the first hour is very captivating and it's one of Russell's best performances.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Looks good

Will add it to the viewing list if I can edit the OP.

How the fkcu has train to busan got 94% on Rotten Tomatoes ?

comment by Robbb (U22716)
posted 3 hours, 25 minutes ago

The Host
A Bittersweet Life
Train to Busan
JSA
A Tale of Two Sisters
----------------------------------------------------------------------

those all seem to be very highly rated by critics.