slateef

Please recommend some good foreign films from the last 1-2 years. Preferrably suspense, action, horror, or mystery. NO dramas, please.

Thanks!

benedict

One of the reasons why I tend to resist requests for this or that thread becoming a "sticky" is that they sometimes seem to become invisible after a time. The eye just skips over them.

It may be that some recommendations are older than a year or two, and that there are dramas amongst them, but I think the OP could do worse than take a look through:

DVD International Board Must-See Films List

Also on page one there is the following:

International Horror Movies, Reviews, Recommendations, and Suggestion

I mention these existing threads simply with a view to avoiding unnecessary duplication. All remain free to post as they so wish within the criteria stipulated in the opening post although I for one am intrigued at the concept of limiting recommendations to films from 2005 and later.

slateef

I requested films from 2005 until present precisely because I've seen most of those films mentioned in those threads from before 2005. I've been so busy the last 2 years that I've been unable to catch up on Intl. Cinema. I finally will have some time in the next few months and wanted recommendations.

I'd rather not read through previous threads that have alot of drama recommendations. I was more interested in suspense, action, horror, or mystery.

flixtime

"The Memory of a Killer" came out in 2003, but I don't recall if there were any English-friendly releases before 2006. There certainly might have been but maybe not as readily obtainable to us in the U.S. as say something from Hong Kong. The U.S. DVD came out in 2006; Pro-B reviewed it for this site. Maybe if you like films such as Eastwood's "In the Line of Fire", then you'd be happy with "The Memory of a Killer". I seem to recall enjoying it very much, though the last quarter or so of the film dropped off from the excellence of the earlier seventy-five percent.

Also "Exiled" and "Sha Po Lang" from Hong Kong. "Election" and "Election 2" were solid as well but maybe a little too dry and low-key for some.

Maybe also "Naboer". Available in R1 under the title "Next Door".

stalin_roy

I'd recommend viewing everything from Todd's from Twitchfilm.com 's top 10 list for 2005+2006 as a starter. Most of the stuff from Todds list's are early festival reviews sometimes, so the 2005 list is sometimes that came out officially in 2006 etc...

then for Horror you're best off looking at bloodydisgusting's top 10 for both years, slasherpool as well have a good top 10. You'll have to find these yourself though, should be easy to locate.

Lastly I'd recommend checking out most films screened at Fantastia fest
http://www.fantasiafest.com/2006/

Russia have produced some excellent action/thriller genre films lately check out these:

Sword Bearer 2006
wolfhound 2007
Boy s tenyu ( shadow boxing ) 2005
Okhota na Piranyu ( Rambo meets hard target ) 2006
Bimmer 1 + 2 2003+2006
Impudent days ( 2007 parkour )

Have fun.

slateef

^ Stalin, I seached twitchfilm but didn't see any "Top 10" lists anywhere, can you point me to a link to the specific page you're referring to?

Thanks for your suggestions everyone!

stalin_roy

2006:
http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/008741.html

2005
http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/004711.html

also try the KFCcinema forum for Asian film lists, there was a lot of gangster films from korea last year, whether they were good or not peoples opinions varied.

logboy

theyre good as pointers : for example, 'taste of tea' is on the 2005 list because it came out in japan on DVD in 2004 / 2005, but it does actually make an american appearance this coming july. age is nothing in the end - no period of time or country of origin serves all potential requirements at any give time, so look for other aspects for more important pointers to good stuff.

as for any list, as for any recommendations, there's one thing that always needs to be remembered : there's no substitute for your own efforts in terms of seeking, identifying and maintaining your own views and tastes.

ShaunoftheDead

For horror: The Host

splattii2

I wish people would stop calling this a horror, and starting calling it the comedy it is. This is not my opinion either, I watched the film with the director, and he made it a point to tell us that it was not a horror, was never intended to be a horror, and will never be a horror. In hindsight the horror was in fact the script itself. lol

visitor Q

Heh .. nice tale!!! Must of been very fun (albeit, all my complaints with the film) to have seen it with Joon-ho himself!!! I'm jealous. His Memories of Murder is one of my favorite Korean films ..but he was taken down a couple notches with the Host. I'd even take your view a step further .. as there were comical elements to it .. but I'd call this film a drama, period. His approach to the comical side was so much more uneven compared with Memories.. . Yes, it centered around the creature .. but in reality, it's plot played out as more of a suspense/drama driven line. At least that's my take.

Too bad it resulted in a cliched mess of a film that at times was very predictable. I hope Joon's next film, Tokyo (which appears interesting to me already) corrects some of this.

visitor Q

As to the OP ...

2005

A Bittersweet Life - Korean
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance - Korean
Welcome to Dongmakgol - Korean

2006

Pan's Labyrinth - Spanish
Time - Korean

These are some films from the last couple of years that I own and have enjoyed for various reasons.

stalin_roy

also from Korea 2006 for Gangster driven films, I'd add

Bloody Ties
Sunflower
Cruel Winter Blues
Righteous Ties

visitor Q

ahhhh, that's nice to see!!! Sunflower and Cruel Winter Blues are intransit to me as I type. Bloody Ties I would have picked up today if it weren't out of stock locally.

I've heard very good things about all of these Jopok films ........

***** Edit ******

Picked up Bloody Ties today and all I have to say after initial impressions .. is WOW!!! Not in the least of what I was expecting. Very good gritty, but comical drug/cop thriller!! Well acted and played ...

Highly recommend a viewing of this....

The director Choi Ho coming in from a dot.com comedy romance to this ... not too bad at all!!

flixtime

Secuestro Express (2005 - Venezuela) - R1 US DVD available, Pro-B handled the DVDTalk review

Beyza'nin Kadinlari (2006 - Turkey)
Valley of the Wolves - Iraq (2006 - Turkey)

stalin_roy

If we're talking Turkey I'd recommend

Hokkabaz 2006 - a road move about a magician
Organize Isler 2005 - crime comedy

Flixtime - is Beyza'nin Kadinlari really worth seeing? I've been stung by Turkish horror with 'Gen' after a great looking trailer, and good premise ( horror in a mental hospital ), but is a total stinker of a movie!

visitor q - Sunflower is the best of that lot I reckon, let us know what you think to it , its seems to have gone under the radar with most people though....

flixtime

Is it really worth seeing....tough question to answer. First off, I personally wouldn't classify it as a horror film. Approach it more as a Turkish CSI maybe, although far more of the screentime is devoted to the villain. The CSI comparisons are very basic and rather limited....just more the feel of what the filmmaker might have been inspired by when writing that investigation aspect of the story. The highlight of the film though is most certainly the villain as I thought the actress who played the role was terrific and she carried the film. I certainly enjoyed the film quite a bit, but is it great cinema and something new under the sun...likely no. Also, besides my few mentions of the film in this forum, I certainly haven't seen a landslide of recommendations for the film around other forums...though that undoubtedly could be traced to it being from the niche that is Turkish cinema (meaning less easy to access than let's say HK films). Back to the question of it is worth seeing, from my point of view "yes", but is it essential viewing or would you be missing out on something if you skip it, then maybe not...except like I said I really enjoyed the performance by the lead actress. Also, part of my reasoning for mentioning the film is because it might be harder for the original poster to stumble across it than something like HK or Korean cinema. Recently I lost all access to news on cinema, and what I was concerned about most was missing out on some more obscure title as opposed to a Korean or HK crime film which I knew I could easily uncover by kicking about a few different forums. I'd better quit before my actual lack of helpfulness in clearing this up becomes any more glaring.

I should go into politics as I seem to have developed quite the talent for saying a whole lot and saying nothing at the same time.

And another recommendation for slateef, a 2003 film, but the R1 U.S. DVD came out in mid-2005....Palabras Encadenadas aka "Killing Words" (there is also a R2 Spain release but I don't recall how they compare).

slateef

Thank you all for your recommendations!

stalin_roy

Let us know which ones you see and enjoy/dont enjoy slateef!