• Marie Kreutzer – Die Vaterlosen AKA The Fatherless (2011)

    2011-2020AustriaDramaMarie Kreutzer

    A large, somewhat dilapidated house in the country. Although Niki, a doctor living and working in Munich, manages to arrive at his father’s deathbed just in time, the man who spawned him fails to give him the belated acknowledgement and love for which he so longs. Shortly after the father dies, his other grownup children arrive. These include Vito, an extrovert, and idealistic drifter; Mizzi, who is much younger and suffers from a neurophysical disorder and – although nobody expected it, even Kyra, who is the product of the father’s heady days of alternative living and free love. Niki and Vito haven’t seen this sister since their parents’ acrimonious separation twenty-three years ago.Read More »

  • George Archainbaud – Penguin Pool Murder (1932)

    1931-1940ClassicsGeorge ArchainbaudMysteryUSA

    RKO Pictures launched what could have been one of the great detective series in 1932, when Edna May Oliver starred in “The Penguin Pool Murder”. As Stuart Palmer’s elderly schoolteacher turned sleuth Hildegarde Withers, Oliver was one of the screen’s most liberated women, defying Police Inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason) to track down killers with little regard for his pride or her own safety. Although Oliver left the series after only two more installments, leading to a serious decline in quality for the films, her first two outings in particular were years ahead of their time, thanks to director George Archainbaud’s uniquely visual narrative skills and for the films’ depiction of an older, independent woman.
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  • Michel Gondry – L’écume des jours AKA Mood Indigo (2013)

    Drama2011-2020FranceMichel Gondry

    Quote:
    Colin has a very pleasant life: he is rich, he loves the food his cook makes (Nicolas), he loves his pianocktail (contraction of piano and cocktail, a word invented by Vian) and his friend Chick. One day while having lunch with Chick, Chick tells him that he met a girl named Alise with whom he has a common passion: the writer Jean-Sol Partre (an spoonerism of Jean-Paul Sartre who was Boris Vian´s friend). Colin meets Chloe at a party Chick invited him to. They fall in love, marry, but Chloe becomes ill during their honeymoon. As time passes, Chloe’s condition deteriorates while the relationship between Chick and Alise turns sour …Read More »

  • Tevfik Baser – 40 Quadratmeter Deutschland (1986)

    1981-1990ArthouseDramaTevfik BaserTurkey

    The title Forty Square Meters of Germany refers to the shabby apartment where 90% of the film takes place. Ozay Fecht stars in this emotionally-charged drama as an impressionable Turkish girl named Turna, who is taken in by the tall tales spun by migrant worker Dursun (played by Yaman Okay), whom she marries and follows to Germany. But the young bride’s hopes for a better life in Germany are abruptly dashed.Read More »

  • Gavin Millar – King of Fridges (2004)

    2001-2010ComedyDramaGavin MillarUnited Kingdom

    Alan, the assistant manager of the Rocket electrical store, is finally given a chance to prove
    himself when he is left in charge on a busy bank holiday. What he wasn’t counting on,
    however, was Frank, a sixty year old trainee who knows nothing about the retail, or
    electrical, businesses…Read More »

  • Pete Tombs & Andrew Starke – Mondo Macabro: Turkish Pop Cinema (2005)

    2001-2010CultDocumentaryPete Tombs and Andrew StarkeUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    An informative 23-minute Mondo Macabro documentary on Turkish Pop Cinema, featuring interviews with living legend Cuneyt Arkin and director Yilmaz Atadeniz among others, along with plenty of footage to whet your appetite for more Turkish films.Read More »

  • Hsiao-Hsien Hou – Lian lian feng chen aka Dust in the wind (1986)

    1981-1990DramaHsiao-hsien HouRomanceTaiwan

    Quote:
    Dust in the Wind is a remarkable film, and one which will, no doubt, reward multiple viewings. Like most of the films of Hou Hsiao Hsien, viewers will be divided into two, sharply opposed camps.

    The main characters in the film are two high-school students. The first is Wan, who – seeing his village as a dead-end career-wise, decides to leave their home town to go to Taipei to find work, intending to complete his education via night-school. His girlfriend Huen also leaves for Taipei after graduation. The other personages are family members, employers, friends and co-workers.Read More »

  • Henri Verneuil – La vingt-cinquième heure AKA The 25th Hour (1967)

    Drama1961-1970FranceHenri VerneuilWar

    In WW2, a Romanian Gentile peasant is denounced by the village gendarme and sent to a concentration camp for Jews where, due to an error, he’s drafted into the SS.Read More »

  • Ken Loach – Ladybird Ladybird (1994)

    1991-2000DramaKen LoachUnited Kingdom

    Ladybird, Ladybird
    BY ROGER EBERT / January 20, 1995
    Ladybug, ladybug, Fly away home.
    Your house is on fire, And your children will burn.

    Nursery rhyme This is the story of a troublesome woman. A woman with a big heart and a big temper, who has had four children by four different fathers, and lost custody of all of them because she cannot function responsibly. Or, looking at it differently, it is the story of a woman persecuted by British social workers who slap her down every time she almost has her life together. The strength of the film is that there is truth to both interpretations: Yes, she is treated cruelly by social workers – and, yes, she is her own worst enemy.Read More »

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