Archive for tag 'Not Hollywood'
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This is a very funny comedy, attuned to the Thunbergian times we live in (despite being done before that). Quirky, but full of heart.
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Simple but powerful treatise into Church sexual abuses in Lyon. Sometimes, just reading the allegations suffices.
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A seemingly faithful diorama of the 5 months in which Varoufakis lead the Greek finance ministry, until being ostracised by the European institutions that turned Tsipras into his own anathema. ευχαριστώ.
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Bait and switch. Starts off as a nihilist critique of Brazilian society before going off the rails into full blow fascism. Remarkable in every other way though, a true Triumph of the Will.
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A satirical look at the transition from late-stage decadent DDR into unified Germany, by way of complete exhaustion. Should always be accompanied by Das Leben der Anderen for a more complete picture.
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A surprisingly deep medieval Bildungsroman, comprising a lot of gruesome deaths but also mental thrashings: disappointment, grief, betrayal. Moving from defeat to defeat, until the final “victory”.
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A crazy premise leads to a massive tear jerker. Nuts! No cockups here, I was unable to maintain a stiff upper lip.
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The fictional biography of Ricardo Salgado, by way of Os Maias. Direct political answer to Raiva. Visually, it’s almost 3 hours of people chain smoking and gobbling litters of whisky.
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Alaaaarm! One of the greatest epic films, stands besides Seven Samurai and Saving Private Ryan as a eerie depiction of war.
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A batshit insane old-school Jackie Chan film, but with a larger budget. The freaking hovercraft…
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Shaolin Soccer meets Bourne, featuring Mediterranean refugees. Never thought that last sentence could ever make sense.
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Dreams are more addicting than any drugs. They can make a fat child-like slob believe he has a chance with Dr. Chiba, a hyper competent professional woman. And in the end, mind over matter. Suck it, police detective!
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An adult version of Ice Age. Three hobos who make for a strange family find an abandoned baby in the trash and go on a self-imposed quest to deliver them into her family. They eventually deliver themselves into their old estranged families…
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Better than I remembered. A classic noir tale of Egyptian gods meddling with human (and mutant, and alien) affairs, with the protagonists being jerked around, railing against the gods for free will.
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An actress tells her life story to a fanboy interviewer (and his cameraman), and the recollections are so life-like they are transported into diorama-like versions of it. In a stroke of genius, her story and her films are one and the same, and their plots span a millennium (hence the title).
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The bog standard story of a high-class prostitute who hoodwinks her clients and the cop to run away with a suitcase full of cash to Brazil. Her real name is Mary, surname had to be Sue.
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The distillation of all fame-related works mixed with a psycho-thriller, and there’s even time for a story within a story.
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A failed attempt to make a sort of remake of Braindead, without the budget or the script. It has heart, but no guts.
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A crappy no-budget The Hangover years before that. Just like that popular “film” devoid of content, it spawned a franchise. Yet another proof that there is no God.
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Really puts a human face into the so called “economic migrants” we hear so much about. If this can’t shift policy, nothing can.
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Oily western that doesn’t let its amateurish CGI brighten its dark soul. Nearly everybody dies, and the living are left broken beyond words.
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A faithful adaptation of the seminal XIX century story, but poor in production values and plot. The important plot beats are presented in a matter-of-fact way, for such emotionally powerful moments.
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Cinema veritè, in 1930’s Alentejo. Structured like a revenge plot, mostly against metaphoric leeches represented by literal landowners.
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The accidental Bonnie and Clyde, except complete cretins. Reaches Nathan Barley levels of idiocy.
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Flash Gordon meets Braindead, but not as developed as any of those.
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In this “fake” single-shot film, the fascist is never seen up close, only the victims matter. Fuck fascists, you will not replace us.
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Standard “drugs are bad” flick. Despite being about heroin addiction, everybody is happy, and after a brief “Kum ba yah” all is good.
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An ultra depressing film about lowlife Blockbuster Clerks / drug dealers that bite more than they can chew and get their lives kicked down a notch.
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A demo reel for Hot Jesus. A box ticking enterprise. Not even worth it to finish the
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The good remake of The Toxic Avenger, with added anime referenced for good measure.
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Ensemble parody of action films in general. Low budget doesn’t mean low quality, but in this case that is not completely off the mark.
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RealDolls are people too (Incredibly NSFW, you have been warned!).
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Simple investigation into a murder that might have political connotations. Turns out it was a crime of passion and the political police are clutching at straws trying to extract meaning where it doesn’t exist.
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Hipster bullcrap. A low rent Spring Breakers.
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Even man-child Fritz Haber deserves love.
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Some films show all their ideas on the title. This one does it on the synopsis.
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A great film for our times. Paranoia leads to witch hunts which lead to wrecked communities. A great companion piece to Doubt.
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Dadaist CGI cow roams an urban setting, like the subway, restaurants, offices. Cow-a-bunda!
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A scathing satire of Portuguese society. The script writer was a classy troll, and the fact that this was greenlit by the biggest broadcast network only makes it even funnier.
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The anime with an unpronounceable name in most Romance languages. That joke is inherited from Gulliver’s Travels.
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PTSD-ridden ex-soldier goes insane after a partner kills himself.
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Engaging for a very long time. War never changes.
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A road movie set in the Age of Discoveries. The main character travels through Asia in search of wealth and prestige and ends up shunned by the royalty.
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Made for TV simplistic take on the colonial war.
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That’s Pinocchio, all right.
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Steampunk Wizard of Oz, set during the Great War.
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One of the representatives of golden age of Portuguese cinema, it’s still hilarious. There’s an overarching plot of silliness and hilarious smaller bits which betrays its origin as vaudeville-esque popular theatre (known as revista).
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High concept horror film without a budget. Focuses on the dynamics between characters. Blows Saw off the water.
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Light drama meets tourism postcard with murders.
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Yimou Zhang goes minimal and makes a film with only three characters, a nuclear family.
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Came for the lesbian sex, stayed for the Bildungsroman.
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After 3 or 4 views, you can see the speed up scenes, but it’s still very suspenseful to see the last chase scene (and the rest of the film too).
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Puts the ‘fun’ in ‘paedophilia’
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This is a remake of Open Water 2: Adrift. It’s better than it sounds, but I haven’t seen the original.
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This is a story about a group of fisherman from the outskirts of Lisbon that sink their boat in the mud in viewing distance from the shore, but since some are weak, old and/or injured, can’t get to safety before tragedy happens.
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Boxing is life, and so is debt collection.
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Yesterday was Halloween, so I watched Braindead. Peter Jackson’s love letter to his favourite films: King Kong, Raiders of the Lost Ark and schlocky gory stuff.
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This is just amazing. Should really be called Secret Service Story.
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Weirdly great.