• Robert Aldrich – What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

    1961-1970DramaRobert AldrichUSA

    Quote:
    In a tale that almost redefines sibling rivalry, faded actresses Blanche and ‘Baby’ Jane Hudson live together. Jane was by far the most famous when she performed with their father in vaudeville but as they got older, it was Blanche who became the finer actress, which Jane still resents. Blanche is now confined to a wheelchair – Jane ran her over with the car while drunk, even though she has no memory of it – and Jane is firmly in control. As time goes by, Jane exercises greater and greater control over her sister, intercepting her letters and ensuring that few if anyone from the outside has any contact with her. As Jane slowly loses her mind, she torments her sister going to ever greater extremes.Read More »

  • Roger Spottiswoode – The Children of Huang Shi (2008)

    2001-2010AustraliaDramaRoger SpottiswoodeWar

    Quote:
    Like an eager frequent flyer, Western paternalism changes destinations but not its baggage. The Children of Huang Shi takes the good intentions and terrible methods of The Constant Gardener and Blood Diamond and takes them to China, where another traumatizing upheaval is whittled down to window-dressing for the personal romance and redemption of a couple of chalky-white stars. Business as usual for Roger Spottiswoode, who in the 1983 thriller Under Fire envisioned the Nicaraguan revolution as mere scrim on which a hotshot American reporter could get his shit together. The adventure-seeking outsider this time around is real-life British journalist George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), who arrives in late-1930s China as invading Japanese forces plow the land, slaughtering everyone in their way.Read More »

  • Henrikas Sablevicius – Musu vasara (1963)

    1961-1970DramaHenrikas SableviciusShort FilmUSSR

    Synopsis:
    A children’s short film about the summer adventures of a schoolboy and his dog. The protagonist of the film seeks to get on TV to demonstrate the “extraordinary talent” of his four-legged friend … The game story is illustrated with the documentary shots of the summer holiday of the Lithuanian pioneers of the early 60’s. The information: “Our summer” is the first Lithuanian children’s television film, as well as the first work of the Lithuanian SSR television, specially shot for the “Intervision” system – an international television network, which included some socialist countries and republics of the USSR, and Finland. Read More »

  • Stefan Ruzowitzky – Die Fälscher AKA The Counterfeiters [+commentary] (2007)

    2001-2010AustriaDramaStefan RuzowitzkyWar

    Quote:
    The moral conundrum at the heart of Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky’s “The Counterfeiters” is worthy of Kafka or Dostoevsky: What is the value of a single human life in the face of unspeakable evil? During World War II, one of Europe’s greatest counterfeiters decides, for a while, that his own survival is more important, until inevitably he learns that surrendering one’s soul and humanity may be worse than losing your life altogether.Read More »

  • Herrmann Zschoche – Insel der Schwäne AKA Swan Island (1983)

    1981-1990DramaGermanyHerrmann Zschoche

    Synopsis:
    Fourteen-year-old Stefan Kolbe, along with his mother and sister, moves from an idyllic small town to the developing area of Berlin-Marzahn, where his father works as a construction worker. Stefan must find his way in a completely new environment and surrounded by strange people. Stefan gets to know two girls, who attempt to seduce him, and gets himself into trouble with the landlord, who kisses up to societal authority figures. He becomes friends with the anxious Hubert, defends him against the constant humiliation of the older student Windjacke, and encourages him to stand up for himself. It ends tragically in a bitter fight between Stefan and Windjacke.Read More »

  • Juan José Campanella – El secreto de sus ojos aka Secret in Their Eyes (2009)

    2001-2010ArgentinaCrimeDramaJuan José Campanella

    Quote:
    El secreto de sus ojos (English: The Secret In Their Eyes) is a 2009 Argentine dramatic crime film, directed by Juan José Campanella, co-produced by Argentina and Spain, and based on Eduardo Sacheri’s novel La pregunta de sus ojos (The Question In Their Eyes). The film stars Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Javier Godino, Guillermo Francella and Pablo Rago. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards, just two weeks after being awarded the Goya Award for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film of 2009 (the Goya Awards are the Spanish equivalent to the American Academy Awards). As of 2010 it has become the second most succesful film in Argentina’s history, only surpassed by Leonardo Favio’s 1975 classic Nazareno Cruz y el lobo (Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf). (Wikipedia)Read More »

  • Enrique Colina – El rey de la selva AKA King of the Jungle (1990)

    1981-1990CubaDocumentaryEnrique ColinaShort Film

    Made as Cuba was entering the economic crisis of the early 90s, King of the Jungle demonstrates Colina’s talent at capturing the sentiments of a particular moment. We observe life along Havana’s Prado street through the eyes of the lion sculpture located there.Read More »

  • Eiji Okuda – Kyôko to Shûichi no baai AKA Case of Kyoko, Case of Shuichi (2013)

    2011-2020AsianDramaEiji OkudaJapan

    Quote:
    The fifth directorial effort and the first in around six years from film director and actor Okuda Eiji. This drama, set before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake, offers a delicate depiction of a man and woman forced to leave their hometown in Miyagi Prefecture due to the ‘sins’ they have committed.Read More »

  • Ai Weiwei – Lao ma ti hua AKA Disturbing the Peace (2009)

    2001-2010Ai WeiweiAsianChinaDocumentary

    Ai Weiwei studio production “LAO MA TI HUA” is a documentary of an incident during Tan Zuoren’s trial on August 12, 2009. Tan Zuoren was charged with “inciting subversion of state power”. Chengdu police detained witnessed during the trial of the civil rights advocate, which is an obstruction of justice and violence.Read More »

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