Top 10 Foreign Language Films

[Neko Bazu]

luckyc said:

where are audition, ichi the killer, spirited away, princess monokoke, goodbye lenin and battleship potemkin in your list? absent! absent i say! bunk!

also the magician (it's australian. that counts)

I mentioned Spirited Away and Hime Mononoke (Princess Mononoke); I haven't seen Ichi the Killer, but apparently it depends which version you get as to whether it's any good (and quite heavily on personal tastes!). From what I gather, one of them is brutal, gory, sickening, tasteless and bloody (that's the sex as well as the violence), and the other's a pile of utter wank. Can't remember which is which though...

[travisfickle]

Think you've found a soulmate here Neko.....

[Neko Bazu]

Lol!

I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or lucky should take that as an insult

[travisfickle]

Bought the original Grudge for £4 the other week. Enjoyed it, and it seemed a lot more difficult to follow than the remake.

Also seems that Sarah Michelle Gellar's role was a lot more substantial than that of the original care worker - guess that's the price you pay if you want a big name for you movie??

Would you say that Princess Monokoke is up to Spirited Away standards? Recorded off Film 4 months ago, still haven't watched it.

The version of Ichi I saw was certainly dull, live action comic book violence doesn't really work for me......well, unless you count Kill Bill

[Neko Bazu]

travisfickle said:

Bought the original Grudge for £4 the other week. Enjoyed it, and it seemed a lot more difficult to follow than the remake.

Also seems that Sarah Michelle Gellar's role was a lot more substantial than that of the original care worker - guess that's the price you pay if you want a big name for you movie??

Would you say that Princess Monokoke is up to Spirited Away standards? Recorded off Film 4 months ago, still haven't watched it.

The version of Ichi I saw was certainly dull, live action comic book violence doesn't really work for me......well, unless you count Kill Bill

The thing about Ju-On is it's really unlike films as we're used to them - it's not really got a plot at all, it's more about expanding on an idea than a big, deep, involved action sequence (like Ringu, really) which a lot of western audiences don't get, hence the difficulty following it. Everyone I've spoken to said it was scarier despite that, so you can imagine what it's like for those of us who do appreciate that style!

[Insert rant about subtle things the remake ruined that detracted from the original's fright value here]

Hime Mononoke is another one that depends in part on your appreciation of the culture - there's a lot of subtle references to Japan's past in there that many western audiences won't appreciate, which does detract some of the film's impact, but despite that it's certainly worth watching (the fact that it's one of very few independent* anime films to be released in cinema over here says a lot). The animation is fantastic, and the dubbed version is actually very good - the voices fit the characters perfectly and are as in sync with the lips as you could ask, so you can avoid watching in Japanese with subs if that's not your thing.

I shan't say much about the plot, for risk of leaving spoilers, but it's at the very least watchable and at best highly entertaining. Its reputation as one of Studio Ghibli's better productions is well-earned!

*Read: Doesn't have a series pre-empting it á la Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! etc

And as goes Ichi; I believe the anime version is supposed to be the better of the two - and to be honest, most live-action versions of anime fall flat on their faces anyway (I saw the intro credits for the LA version of the Sailor Moon film, and it was physically painful. Think Saved By The Bell, but by sadists [admittedly, it was produced by an American company, but same applies]).

[The Lucky C]

neko said:

travisfickle said:

Bought the original Grudge for £4 the other week. Enjoyed it, and it seemed a lot more difficult to follow than the remake.

Also seems that Sarah Michelle Gellar's role was a lot more substantial than that of the original care worker - guess that's the price you pay if you want a big name for you movie??

Would you say that Princess Monokoke is up to Spirited Away standards? Recorded off Film 4 months ago, still haven't watched it.

The version of Ichi I saw was certainly dull, live action comic book violence doesn't really work for me......well, unless you count Kill Bill

The thing about Ju-On is it's really unlike films as we're used to them - it's not really got a plot at all, it's more about expanding on an idea than a big, deep, involved action sequence (like Ringu, really) which a lot of western audiences don't get, hence the difficulty following it. Everyone I've spoken to said it was scarier despite that, so you can imagine what it's like for those of us who do appreciate that style!

[Insert rant about subtle things the remake ruined that detracted from the original's fright value here]

Hime Mononoke is another one that depends in part on your appreciation of the culture - there's a lot of subtle references to Japan's past in there that many western audiences won't appreciate, which does detract some of the film's impact, but despite that it's certainly worth watching (the fact that it's one of very few independent* anime films to be released in cinema over here says a lot). The animation is fantastic, and the dubbed version is actually very good - the voices fit the characters perfectly and are as in sync with the lips as you could ask, so you can avoid watching in Japanese with subs if that's not your thing.

I shan't say much about the plot, for risk of leaving spoilers, but it's at the very least watchable and at best highly entertaining. Its reputation as one of Studio Ghibli's better productions is well-earned!

*Read: Doesn't have a series pre-empting it á la Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! etc

And as goes Ichi; I believe the anime version is supposed to be the better of the two - and to be honest, most live-action versions of anime fall flat on their faces anyway (I saw the intro credits for the LA version of the Sailor Moon film, and it was physically painful. Think Saved By The Bell, but by sadists [admittedly, it was produced by an American company, but same applies]).

I ejoyed the live action Ichi, as it was essentially a gratuitously violent chess game. But then I often read too much into things...

And it's not a film, but if you can get your hands on Noir, that's quite intriguing

[Neko Bazu]

luckyc said:

neko said:

The thing about Ju-On is it's really unlike films as we're used to them - it's not really got a plot at all, it's more about expanding on an idea than a big, deep, involved action sequence (like Ringu, really) which a lot of western audiences don't get, hence the difficulty following it. Everyone I've spoken to said it was scarier despite that, so you can imagine what it's like for those of us who do appreciate that style!

[Insert rant about subtle things the remake ruined that detracted from the original's fright value here]

Hime Mononoke is another one that depends in part on your appreciation of the culture - there's a lot of subtle references to Japan's past in there that many western audiences won't appreciate, which does detract some of the film's impact, but despite that it's certainly worth watching (the fact that it's one of very few independent* anime films to be released in cinema over here says a lot). The animation is fantastic, and the dubbed version is actually very good - the voices fit the characters perfectly and are as in sync with the lips as you could ask, so you can avoid watching in Japanese with subs if that's not your thing.

I shan't say much about the plot, for risk of leaving spoilers, but it's at the very least watchable and at best highly entertaining. Its reputation as one of Studio Ghibli's better productions is well-earned!

*Read: Doesn't have a series pre-empting it á la Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! etc

And as goes Ichi; I believe the anime version is supposed to be the better of the two - and to be honest, most live-action versions of anime fall flat on their faces anyway (I saw the intro credits for the LA version of the Sailor Moon film, and it was physically painful. Think Saved By The Bell, but by sadists [admittedly, it was produced by an American company, but same applies]).

I ejoyed the live action Ichi, as it was essentially a gratuitously violent chess game. But then I often read too much into things...

And it's not a film, but if you can get your hands on Noir, that's quite intriguing

Several people have recced Noir, but I've not actually heard anything about it. Got anything you can offer as bait without leaving spoilers? (Because Neko hates spoilers, oh yes~)