Lemming (2005) - French thriller that has a strong influence by Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch. I loved it.

Lunacy (2006) - Horror/Mystery/Drama that takes place in an insane asylum. I loved this too.

Ils (2006) - Horror/thriller that had my heart racing for a good half an hour straight. Very effective...

Some recent ones I have enjoyed:
Magdalena's Brain
District B13
Fat Girl
Zero Day(my friend is in this and his son is the lead...
The Matador
Dig! (a great movie for any music fan)
Stevie
Northfork
The Claim
Better Luck Tomorrow (another vote for this one)

Some "not so recent" films that when I mention, I get a blank stare:
Apartment Zero
The Swimmer
The Duellists
Suture
Random Harvest

If you liked "Hotel Rwanda", I would recommend this French Canadian film, based on the award winning novel "Un Dimanche à la Piscine à Kigali" ("A Sunday by the Pool in Kigali") by Gilles Courtemanche. It's in french but english subs are included:

Yep, great flick and even more relevant with the recent VTech events.

Went through this thread today because of the DD sale. Takes some time to go through, of course. Thanks for posting your recs, everyone.

I wouldn't mind if the suggestions where put into genres. Also, which "The Return" is the recommended one. I noticed there was more then one with the same name.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376968/

I liked it a lot, too.

A couple very good ones I saw recently:

Gilles' Wife (La Femme de Gilles)
Before the Fall (NaPolA)

Liz:

If you get a chance track this Italian production, I think you will truly appreciate its message:

Amatemi a.k.a Love Me



Pro-B

Yeolhyeol-nama (Cruel Winter Blues)

Korean crime Drama/thriller about a lone wolf JoPok (Sol Kyung-gu from Public Enemy and Another Public Enemy fame - also recommended viewing) who travels from Seoul to a rural town to settle a personal score. This time, he travels with an underling (Jo Han-seon - known for his dramatic roles) who has a thing to two to learn about gangster code. Once into the village, Kyunggu and Hanseon begin plotting their assassination. Upon getting settled, in comes the rival's mother (veteran actress, Na Mun-hee). This is where things start to change ...

The story takes a more thoughtful approach by exploring the impacts of the pending conflict on the major players, mostly Kyunggu - is he really a cold monster or is there a shimmer of hope for his soul. Most of this is channeled through the interactions of Kyunggu and Munhee as well as differences between elder and underling.

If not for the acting style of Kyunggu, this film could have been lost. He has a naturally lackadaisical approach and quirky demeanor. This adds a great touch to the dark humor presented throughout as well as his general interactivity. Munhee is excellent; highly effective in her role of attempting to convert Kyunggu over from the dark side. Hanseon is more or less throw away, but does a good job in any case. Though he is casted well as his clean cut characteristics help along the conflict between the two gangsters.

It's an excellent exploratory dramatic film. But there's enough humor, realistic violence and tension/suspense to draw the more casual film-goer in. Or at least it should ...

****/*****

I own a movie that hardly anyone has seen called Eye of God. It's from 1997, so it's not exactly recent, but this movie is absolutely devastating. I've never been as moved by a film as I was by this one, and I count it among the greatest films I've ever seen. I caught a little of it on cable and was out looking to buy it the next day.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116261/

It's not an overly religious movie or anything (it involves religion, but is not one of those annyoing movies that preaches at you), it's basically about a murdered girl and how her death affects several people in a small town. But the movie is not a "whodunit" about finding the killer like most movies of this type (it's evident fairly early who the killer is), the real story is about how a senseless act of violence can destroy many more lives than simply that of the person who was murdered. By the end of it, I was nearly speechless, and my girlfriend was crying. The directing, the writing, the acting... it's all seamless. The actors seem so much like real people that that's where most of the power comes from.

If you don't like depressing movies, I wouldn't recommend it, but if so, this is powerful stuff.

That sounds interesting. I added it to my Blockbuster queue.

Thanks for the recommendation, Pro-B!
. . . . . . .

I've been making good use of my free Blockbuster trial, which I may extend into paying month(s). Finally got to see Little Otik-- wow, what a bizarre but interesting film! The use of occasional stop-motion photography was very creepy.

And I liked Off Screen -- I was surprised that the actual company in question would allow their name to be used, unless it's something they cannot stop in this context. In any case, the main character's issues with the company is something a lot of A/V enthusiasts can identify with!