flixtime

Well Round 1 was just so much fun and such a smashing success at team building, I couldn't wait to have a go at Round 2...so let's run with the assumption that me, toddly, Brian T, BuddhaWake, eXcentris, Tutut, and zombeaner all shared a great big e-hug ...let bygones be bygones...and kick off the second half:


What's HOT in European cinema right now? - new, improved, and without the high melodrama


I'll kick things off...since there's already a thread pertaining to Lars Von Trier's ANTI-CHRIST elsewhere in this forum, as well as one in Movie Talk, maybe we can skip over discussing that particular entry anymore.

BuddhaWake

So far, that I've seen in the past 12 months that I enjoyed.

The Country Teacher (Czech)
Il Divo (Italy)
King of Ping Pong (Sweden)
Marcello Marcello (is Italian but is not)
Revanche (Austria)
Zift (Bulgaria)
Flame & Citron (Denmark)
Landscape No. 2 (Slovania) (many didn't like it but I did, just as Revanche, neither one for toddly)
I would give a recommendation but with a warning to... Kisses (Ireland)
does Moon count as European? if so add that one too.

these are the ones I would give a hot to. I saw some that were Warm/luke warm like Baader Meinhof Complex among others and ones that I saw but didn't care too much about. I'll hold out to those for later.

toddly6666

MESRINE: PUBLIC ENEMY #1: (France) Vincent Cassell's gangster film is coming out on UK PAL DVD in January

A.R.O.G. : (Turkey) Turkey's biggest budget sequel to G.O.R.A. I got the dvd and it's a very fair film.

Valhalla Rising: (Denmark) Mads Mikkelsen's viking movie. I don't know when the dvd is coming out.

Micmacs A Tire-Larigot: (France) Jean-Pierre Jeunet's new film. It will probably play in the States early next year...

Black Lightning: (Russia) Timur Bekmambetov's superhero car movie. It will probably come out in the States next year. I doubt eventual Russian dvd will have English subtitles.

Agora: Spain's epic movie starring Rachel Weisz. When is this playing in the States?

Dane

Movies from the year 2009 I´m looking forward to or have seen:

Okuribito aka Departures (Japan) - Yôjirô Takita out on DVD
Etz Limon aka Lemon Tree (Israel/Germany) - Eran Riklis out on DVD
Man on Wire (UK/France) - James Marsh out on DVD
Un prophète aka A Prophet (France) - Jacques Audiard
Daniel & Ana (Mexico) - Michel Franco
Ordinary People (Serbian) - Vladimir Perišić
Das weisse Band aka The White Ribbon (Austria/Germany) - Michael Haneke

nitin77

I'll second Flame and Citron, very nice film.

I also though the turkish film Three Monkeys was very strong, but its very slow paced if that puts people off.

BuddhaWake

I really liked Lemon Tree as well. that was one of the best ones I've seen this past year. I think IFC is releasing it on dvd in region 1.
I don't consider Mexico Europe but I have to look up Daniel & Ana. is it a Spanish co-production?

Dane

Quite right. My mistake. Could be a Spanish co-production, but I´m not sure.

Stieg Larsson's acclaimed book trilogy was a HUGE hit in Scandinavia. All three books has been made into movies - albeit the first one the most successful.

Män som hatar kvinnor aka The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Flickan som lekte med elden aka The Girl Who Played with Fire
Luftslottet som sprängdes aka The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

eXcentris

I had started a thread in the Movie forum about the 1st film in the Millenium series. All I got were replies from people who were pissed it wasn't about some FOX tv series.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/...ium-movie.html

The DVD (Alliance Atlantis) just came out here on Nov 3rd. I'm still waiting for my review copy.

The 2nd film is currently out in Europe and the 3rd is scheduled for release in Sweden on Nov. 27th.

The books were HUGE in Europe and here in Quebec. But not many have heard of them in the rest of Canada and in the US. I think only the 1st book has been released in the US.

dereko1969

Just wondering why you have a warning regarding Kisses? I haven't seen it yet (for shame, it's Irish, I'm Irish and we don't produce too many films).

Saw The first day of the rest of your life (France) at the weekend, really enjoyed it, nothing spectacular about it just a well acted story of a family living through the usual family stuff in 70s-present day France.

Loved Il Divo earlier in the year. Wasn't so keen on Baader-Meinhof. Can't wait for White Ribbon.

toddly6666

It looks like this is the first good movie adaptation of Lucky Luke per a review at twitchfilm.com.

BuddhaWake

I saw Baader-Meinhof as well but it let me a bit cold. too detached, that's why I didn't mention it. My warning for Kisses is solely based on predictability. execution wise is good, but if you've seen kids in perril type films this bring nothing new to the table although the modern urban fairy/cautionary tale angle worked for this particular film, not so much for others. hence my warning.

flixtime

As a follow-up to the earlier comments regarding some books-to-movies recommendations, I just placed an Amazon UK order for:

1 - THE DAMNED UNITED (2009, UK)

2 - THE RED RIDING TRILOGY (2009, UK) which consists of:
RED RIDING: 1974 (2009)
RED RIDING: 1980 (2009)
RED RIDING: 1983 (2009)

Both films are based on books by English author David Peace. THE RED RIDING TRILOGY is based on four books author Peace published from 1999 - 2002. The quartet of novels - looking at crime and corruption in 1970's-1980's Yorkshire - were made into a trilogy of made-for-TV films as listed above. Actor Paddy Considine has a major role in the second film, while actor Sean Bean also has a role in both the first and third films.

And last I heard, it seems director Ridley Scott is in line to handle the Hollywood adaptation/remake of the RED RIDING books/movies.

A couple of other UK efforts which I plan to pick up sometime in the near future (UK DVDs are currently available) are HUNGER (2008) and BRONSON (2008).

BuddhaWake

anyone know anything about the Van Veeteren or the Varg Verum films? I've seen parts of bitter flowers and for what I saw it looked pretty good but didn't get to see most of the middle of the film.

Dane

I´ve seen the three Van Veeteren episodes (made for television) that ran here in Scandinavia.

I haven´t seen the three theatrical movies. However, they are out on DVD with English subtitles... if anyone is interested.

http://www.laserdisken.dk/html/visva...34370804807067

BECK, however, is still my favorite Swedish crime fiction, which I consider some of the best ever written.

dereko1969

The Red Riding trilogy was excellent, you're in for a treat. It's very bleak, in complete contrast to the Damned United, which is very funny in parts though it does help to know about the English soccer situation at the time, the film is very different to the book as it had to be - the book took place entirely in the mind of the main character.

flixtime

dereko1969, well that's good to hear more positive feedback in regard to what I ordered. Any chance you (or anyone else) has seen THE LONG FIRM (2004)? As was the case with RED RIDING, THE LONG FIRM is another made-for-UK-TV, crime genre effort, and is again based on a novel...with the action this time set in the 1960's. It seems promising, so I'm considering picking up the UK DVD sometime down the road.

flixtime

For those with access to Sundance Channel, a French thriller playing tonight (Nov. 19th at 10pm) that might be of interest:

ROOM OF DEATH aka MELODY'S SMILE aka LA CHAMBRE DES MORTS (France, 2007)

Here is a description from the Sundance website:
Favorably tagged by critics as Europe's SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, writer-director Alfred Lot's unsettling crime thriller adapts a Franck Thilliez novel to tell the story of an intrepid single mother/detective (Melanie Laurent) investigating the grisly murder/kidnapping of a blind child. Compounding matters is a hit-and-run accident, a two million euro cache and a second kidnapping of a diabetic girl. Lot's striking feature directorial debut is a taut and creepy exercise in forensic horror that's not for the faint of heart or politically correct.

And a link to the official site with trailer:
http://www.bacfilms.com/site/lachambredesmorts/

Why all this might be of interest, you ask? If the name of the lead actress - Melanie Laurent (from the description above) - seems familiar, she is the same actress who played the character of Shosanna Dreyfus in Tarantino's INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.

I haven't fully researched the DVD status yet, but it looks like there was a U.S. release under the title ROOM OF DEATH, however it seems to have been a Blockbuster exclusive. Also, there is a Canadian DVD releasing next week from Mongrel Media under the title LA CHAMBRE DES MORTS (I'm not yet sure if this is the initial DVD release or a re-release to capitalize on Melanie Laurent's recent turn in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.

And lastly, for those who might miss tonight's Sundance airing, you'll get another shot at things as it re-airs on December 1st.

dick_grayson

Hansel (he's so hot right now)

dleedlee

I watched the first Varg Veum film, it's okay but I haven't felt motivated to watch the others that I DVR'd yet. I like the Montalbano and and Tatort (Cologne) films better. And, I agree, the Beck series were good.

flixtime

Following up on the discussion regarding THE DAMNED UNITED...other than the time a few years back when CD-WOW had that voucher giveaway tied in to the World Cup, soccer isn't really an area of interest for me, that being said - and having just finished watching THE DAMNED UNITED - it really is a very good little movie. I truly am rather enthusiastic about the experience; it was a mightily entertaining film. Michael Sheen was terrific in the lead role, and was finely supported by Timothy Spall and Colm Meaney, chief among others. Having recently watched CHE, one of the first thoughts that entered my mind after finished THE DAMNED UNITED, was that the makers of CHE really could have learned a thing or two (or three) from the folks behind THE DAMNED UNITED. In just a 93-minute runtime, THE DAMNED UNITED gave me such a rich and vivacious portrayal with regard to what type of man Brian Clough might have been...not only facts but something even deeper than just that, a sense of what truly made the man tick. Despite 4+ hours of time spent with CHE, I never really got a feel for much beyond what I could have read in something like a basic Wikipedia entry.

flixtime

To follow-up, I did finish watching THE RED RIDING TRILOGY maybe a week or so ago. It rates as recommended in my book, and I found it more satisfying than something like GOMORRAH. I'd say if you found something like MYSTIC RIVER to be your cup of tea, then THE RED RIDING TRILOGY might work well for you too. Considering too that the films were made-for-TV, I was even more impressed...if I hadn't known I wouldn't have guessed that the trilogy was made-for-TV. From reviews I've read, the second movie seems to have been the best received but I actually thought they got better as they progressed...meaning the third movie was my favorite. The performances were splendid all around; I was especially impressed by actor Robert Sheehan in one of the smaller roles.

One point I will mention is that the North English accents were rather difficult to follow, most notably in the first movie where I never quite grasped a fair amount of what was said. And the UK DVD does not have any option for English subtitles. Thankfully, the second film was much easier, and the third even moreso...so the accents weren't an issue at least for the last two parts.

Bujila

Thanks for this forum and especially this thread! I've discovered a few new titles which were unfamiliar to me. But where on earth can I find any DVDs of Tatort (Cologne or Munster or wherever) with English subtitles. My German simply isn't up to movies that aren't subtitled.

toddly6666

Here are some recent European movies that have been released on inexpensive Hong Kong DVD with English subtitles if anyone's interested:

SAGAN (France)
RICKY (France)
KATYN (Poland)
BELOVED CLARA (aka Geliebte Clara) (Germany)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
DELICATESSEN (France) - it's got DD 5.1 EX French audio
The Elementary Particles (aka Atomised) (Germany)
The Stroll (Russia) - only English-subtitled version that's anamorphic.

dleedlee

If you have an MHz affiliate in your town they might air them. I DVR them when they air. MHz's online shop doesn't carry them yet but they have some of their Italian shows on DVD. The Octopus/La Piovra is another good one, and some of the early seasons are now on DVD.

http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/affiliates/
http://www.mhznetworks.org/shop/

flixtime

I recall you started a thread about the French DVD/Blu-ray release of LARGO WINCH. It also came out on HK DVD/Blu-ray back in August. I know the film is mainly in English but I wasn't sure if English subs would be required for the non-English portions (I don't recall the French release offering English subs). In that way, it seems the HK DVD might be a good option...I'm planning on picking it up sometime this month.



Also, a little late in doing so, but I just wanted to wish all you folks the very best in 2010!