I'm new to this ordering movies from overseas. I have a region free dvd player, but its still in box waiting to be set up. I want to start buying movies from different regions, however they are pretty much all going to be blind buys because I know nothing about most (if not all) of these movies. I was scanning through the "what have you ordered recently" thread and people are buying all kind of movies. How are you guys so plugged in to movies that are overseas? How do you know what's good and what's not so good?

pro-bassoonist is very helpful

...erm... if you mean: is this or that movie any good, your best bet is to check movie reviews - for instance MRQE ("Web's largest online directory of movie reviews" (and DVD reviews, as well))... or try specialized sites, like (again: for instance) NIXFLIX for Japanese, Korean, and Chinese movies...

...now, if you mean: is the DVD any good, like the guy says: pro-bassoonist is a trustworthy guide indeed... there is also DVD BASEN, a Danish site (in English) that features reviews of DVDs from all 'regions'...

. . . . . .

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

...for DVDs of movies from India, try NEHAFLIX...

...for DVDs of movies from Thailand, try ACME MOVIE...

...Australia? Try Australiana...

...New Zealand? Try SUITE 101...

...and so on, and so forth...

...India (again)? Try GADNET...

...and so on, and so forth...

. . . . . .

Lol....

Pro-B

...(almost, but) not forgetting DVD BEAVER...!...

. . . . . .

dvdtherapyjapan.com
dvdcompare.net

The international supplier list on this forum is one hell of an asset when you wanna find a certain disc from overseas.

Kung Fu Cult Cinema, Kung Fu Cinema, and Korean Film are a few of the sites I read to find out what movies to look for from Asia.

Another good Asian review site that will allow you to make the decision whether the film is worthy or not: Midnight Eye

cityonfire.com is also a good source for asian movies

The obvious answer is that we're all geniuses.

hah, i'm more geniuser than you !! =P

anyway, what do you like ??? like me being filipino I'm a bit partial to asian cinema. I'm pretty open minded and will get around to other foreign films but focusing on just asian films is enough for me. In the last few months I've bought about 5+ dvds that I'm fairly happy with. You just got to read read read read read and THEN determine if it sounds like a movie you'll also like. Now I've been lucky enough to find some films available on Netflix so I can rent some and then see if I want to buy it or not. I'll tell you right now, there are some movies that get tons of praise but when I watched them, I absolutely hated it or didn't think it was as great as they made it out to be. And don't go crazy over box sets or limited editions, etc. etc. I have all these editions with extra discs that don't even have english subs !!! so until I learn the language I don't understand a damn thing =\ but the box is pretty hehe

if you're not ready to blindly buy, get nicheflix. its something I'm considering but dont' know if I could keep up with both that and netflix, as is I lag with netflix despite my best efforts to make the most of it.

some must sees IN MY OPINION from my very limited collectoin:

Japanese: Battle Royale (the first one not the second, no perfect edition out there unfortunately, go for the Starmax 2DSE)

Korean:
Old Boy (destined to be a classic but a bit of taboo so be wary, go for the Final Edition)
My Sassy Girl (romantic comedy, I personally liked the single disc Edko tho it does suffer from only having Dolby 2.0, Director's Cut is same length w/DD5.1 but has these annoying subtitles that really is closed captioning for deaf people)
Friend (aka Chingu) (Drama, 2DSE has better picture/sound)

Chinese:
Shaolin Soccer (just plain fun movie, this does have a good cheap R1 release)

lol wow, I just checked out your collection, now thats an addiction. you even have a ton of movies i would never touch haha. and i was gonna point out a few classics that you don't have but i see its in your wish list.

there are 2 glaring omissions from both lists, however, Schindler's List and SuperTroopers !!! =D

I just started a little asian film site too. Check my sig.

It's a little bare at the moment, but theres daily news in the forum section.

If it has cool dvd art then it must be good.

www.thegline.com

Great reviews as well.

Mostly I read this forum.

here's a small list of some flicks that i like a lot:

1. battle royale - killer movie but avoid the sequal @ all costs unless
you just have to see it because it's the sequal to a
good movie.
2. infernal affairs trilogy - like all film series the 1st is the best.
3. musa: the warrior
4. house of flying daggers - i thought this movie rocked. i'd watch
anything w/ ziyi zang in it.
5. full time killer
6. taegukgi
7. ju-on & ju-on II aka the grudge
8. ringu
9. once upon a time in china series is pretty good w/ jet li

i'm a chow yun fat fan so i like just about all of his movies.
10. a better tomorrow I & II and once a thief are cool flicks of
his.
11. haute tension

hope that helps out a little.

Thanks again for the help guys. I have just made a couple purchases. I picked up

Kung Fu Hustle (Signature Clear Frosted Cover Limited Edition) --- 1003953361
--- 1 --- 32.99 --- 32.99 --- Feb/20/2005
New Police Story (DTS Version) (Special Version) --- 1003921227 --- 1 --- 31.99
--- 31.99 --- Feb/20/2005

bet_8809113253042 $59.95 1 A Better Tomorrow DVD Collection [Korean LE 3-Disc
Deluxe Box] DVD

So I'll see how that goes. Thanks again guys.

The problem with Asian movies (which most of my dvd collection is comprised of) is that because these movies are quite diverse, it is also akin to different opinions of whether it is good or not.

I personally have seen some HK, Japanese & Korean films that were high up in some people's "must-see" list and ended up being really disappointed. Some movies were also not so highly regarded but I ended loving them as well.

I find that Hollywood movies are, most of the time, quite good if the majority loves them. But not asian movies...they really cater to individual tastes. Which is probably why I really prefer Asian films over Hollywood ones.

This site is where I get most of my info, and the others mentioned above from time to time...Sometimes I just make a leap of faith and go ahead and pick it up as a blind buy as well many times.