Lost in Beijing

Yes, I have been watching a lot of foreign films lately. I like most of them. They don't have the big Hollywood budgets or famous movie stars, so the directors tend to be more creative. Lost in Beijing has been out for awhile, but it just became available on the immediate play in the netflix streaming movies.
Honestly, the previews did not look that interesting, but it does take place in Beijing and sometimes for me being able to see movies in these different locations is a plus. Kind of being able to travel on film without going to the tourist traps.
From Netflix:

From one of China's most celebrated female directors, Yu Li's provocative drama, set against the hustle and bustle of the country's booming capital, explores the complicated relationship between three women and two men, all entangled in a web of sex, desire, jealousy and revenge. Distinguished by stellar performances, the darkly comic film stars Tony Leung Ka Fai, Bingbing Fan, Elaine Jin and Dawei Tong.

I am not sure, but I think this movie was banned in China. This is definitely an "adult" oriented film that has profanity and nudity. As for the storyline, it involves adultery, revenge, promiscuity, and other things that happen in real life.




This movie was a bit on the long side for me, but overall I would recommend seeing it. I think it captures the differences and similarities that exist in both our cultures.

Man, Woman and the Wall

Yes, another foreign movie that I watched on netflix streaming. Quite honestly, the availability of foreign movies is getting better on netflix for its on demand feature. This next movie Man, Woman and the Wall was a surprise. Be forewarned that this movie does contain adult material involving sex and nudity, but if you are beyond being a prude, you might enjoy it for what it is.

The plot is strange but it does come together. It is about a neighbor (Ryu) who becomes a sound voyeur of a girl who lives next door. The girl has a boyfriend who seems nice but is actually a pervert and makes harrassing phone calls to her using modern technology. For some reason, his threats to her turns him on. The girl winds up calling the boyfriend on his other cell phone, where she requests for him to come over and he comes over as the hero and they sleep together.

The neighbor imagines what is going on based on what he hears and the movie shows images of what he thinks they (neighbor and boyfriend) look like as well as what her apartment looks like. Eventually, Ryu becomes more of just a voyeur but a full blown stalker. He becomes very obsessed with this girl and his whole life starts to revolve learning everything about her.



The story takes a twist when he learns that the harassing phone caller is one and the same as the boyfriend. This is not your normal story, but does have a Hollywood happy ending.

Netflix describes the movie:

After moving into a new apartment, geeky reporter Ryo (Keita Ohno) quickly develops an obsession with his sexy next-door neighbor Satsuki (Aoi Sola). Ryo's eavesdropping and explicit fantasies surprisingly lead to a potential relationship with his dream girl. Meanwhile, throughout the course of this highly provocative Japanese movie, Satsuki becomes increasingly panic-stricken over obscene phone calls she's receiving from an unknown pervert.

Lila Says "Lila dit ca" good foreign movie to watch

This was a French movie that I really enjoyed. The subject matter is more of a young love or first love story set in a lower class part of the city. There is also the subject of racism and shows how a person deals with it among his friends and peers.

From Netflix:

Based on a controversial French novel, Lila Says tells the story of a quiet young poet named Chimo (Mohammed Khouas) who develops a crush on the pretty, blond Lila (Vahina Giocante), a girl who recently moved into his Arab ghetto with her aunt. When the leader of a rival gang also falls for Lila, the ensuing love triangle initiates a journey of sexual discovery -- and sets off a chain of devastating events.

Lila Says

stardotstar™ | MySpace Music Videos


I used this particular video because it has the subtitles in English below. All the other ones on youtube seemed to lack them. Of course this doesn't matter if you speak French, but unfortunately I don't. I really wish I could have used a different clip, but beggars can't be choosey.

Bottom line, I enjoyed the film and would recommend it if you enjoy a good French romantic movie that doesn't have a typical Hollywood ending.

Julie & Julia gets an A+

I had low expectations of this movie based on the preview. I know it had some big talent such as Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, and Stanley Tucci. They are all great actors. However, there are many movies with great talent that end up disappointing. This movie did not only deliver but surprised me.

This is the netflix summary:

Amy Adams stars in this truth-inspired tale as Julie Powell, a disenchanted government secretary who decides to enliven her uneventful life by cooking all 524 recipes outlined in Julia Child's culinary classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Based on Powell's book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, director Nora Ephron's heartwarming dramedy also stars Meryl Streep as legendary chef Child.

It is very accurate in its description, but the execution of the movie was great. The characters are well developed and likable. The storyline has the time frames switching back and forth from the 1940s to the 2000s (after the 9/11 tragedy) which kept the pace of the movie at a good rate and engaging.

The images of France are beautiful and learning about Julia Child was actually quite interesting. I have never seen her cooking shows and knew very little about her. I do like the historic reference to the McCarthyism days in America where everyone was being accused of being a communist.

The images of New York are more closer to reality of present day America. I think it even provides a glimpse of the daily struggles most Americans are experiencing today. This is based on a true story of a new blogger becoming successful at writing.

Overall, I recommend watching this movie. I hope you like it as much as I did.

Both trailers are the same below, but the first one loads up slow. The second one loads up faster but doesn't play outside of America for some reason.

Cheers!

More about this movie

"The Class" gets a D minus

The Class (Entre les murs) is a foreign French movie that had many great raving reviews on Netflix. I watched this movie with high expectations and when I finished I have to be honest and say it was stupid. I know those are harsh words but really it was very annoying.



The school is suppose to be one of those poor ghetto areas where everyone lives a hard life. They used real students and the real teacher this was based on. Well, you don't like the students and the teacher is even worse. No one is likable in this movie. That's a problem.

Then there is the storyline. The teacher character as a teacher sucks. From what they show in the movie, he kind of just rambles on most of the time. He has no structure in the class, and the students are all portrayed as idiots. The teacher offers no motivation to learn, no structure to follow, and constantly belittles the kids as well as call some of them as "skanks" in the movie.

Seriously, for the people who liked this movie, you must have seen something I didn't see. The premise sounded good, but execution and storyline were miserable. I would not recommend this movie even to fall asleep to. That is how bad it is. Yes, I have seen worse movies, but this had potential.

If you want to see a similar movie that is better made, then I recommend you watch the old "Stand and Deliver" with Edward James Olmos and Lou Diamond Phillips. It is based on a true story and very inspiring.

Dracula 2000

I love vampire movies even if most of them are bad. I am glad they are more popular now than ever before. This oldie but goodie had many stars that have become big names now. Dracula was played by Gerard Butler of 300 fame. I must say he looked extremely young and at first I don't think I would recognize him right away.

The rest of the cast included Christopher Plummer, Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Jennifer Esposito, and Omar Epps. I have seen many of these actors in other movies.





Now, I can't say there are a lot of good old vampire movies. I am a fan of True Blood, Interview with a Vampire, and Twilight, but I don't expect the older stuff to be as entertaining. This movie was a bit more original in its explanation of silver, crosses, holy water, etc and why Dracula dislikes them. You learn about that at the end of the movie. If you are Christian, you might be offended by the movie and bible tie ins, but I thought it was original and well done.

Anyways, I don't summarize the plot of the movie and give it away. I just want you to know it was enjoyable to watch and would recommend you seeing it. This is definitely worth renting and eating a bucket of popcorn with it.

Run Fatboy Run

I wasn't actually looking for this movie and it wasn't in my netflix queue. I actually had seen the commercials a long time ago, and just thought it would be corny. In fact it was corny, but surprisingly enjoyable.

This is a predictable comedy with some actors I recognized like Simon Pegg of Hot Fuzz fame, Thandie Newton, and Hank Azaria who play the voices of many Simpsons characters.









Like I said, it is corny but funny. I caught it on cable and liked it. Hope you like it too. Cheers!