Non-Hollywood Cinema

CR0M

CR0M

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Hollywood no longer gives me the escapism fix that I need. Not since the 90's, anyway. Maybe I grew out of it, or maybe it has just become jaded, uninspired and repetetive - a bit like the games industry.

So I like films from other more cultured places that offer something fresher than paranoid meatheads with machine guns who can run faster than CG explosions.

My fave non-hollywood fliks are in no particular order:

France - Le Pacte des loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf), The Name of the Rose, Belleville Rendez-vous, Jean de Florette

Japan - Ju-On (The Grudge), Tampopo, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Zatoichi, Akira

Korea - Oldboy

China - 餃子 (Dumplings)

Russia - Nightwatch (still haven't seen Daywatch but the trailer looks great)

Canada - Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner), The Snow Walker, The Big Snit, Cube, Belleville Rendez-vous

Australia - Long Weekend, Mad Max, Gallipoli

New Zealand - Lord of the Rings, Bad Taste

UK - Children of Men, Trainspotting

Out of all that i've seen I would probably say I liked Oldboy and Brotherhood of the Wolf the most, but they are all great movies. Feel free to add more, or **** off and watch Last Action Hero.
 
There are some great movies on that list, but the amount of hostility towards movies that are vaguely defined as being from "Hollywood" seems somewhat out of proportion. I mean Last Action Hero came out in 1993...thats almost 15 years ago.
 
UK - Cashback, This is England, 24 Hour Party People


Also, it seems like you're just saying "American films are all shit" in which case, you would be 100% wrong
 
Yeah, since you don't include any of the good non-Hollywood american independant films.
 
hey welcome to the club, i've been burnt off of hollywood films for more than a decade now, in fact if there's been a huge blockbuster in the last 5 years or so I can almost guarentee I havent seen it ..no real intererst ..there's always a few gems here and there but for the most part the cinema experience is more about special effects than good filmmaking (independent film in the US is much better)

dont forget films from Spain and Italy amongst others

Spain:

Dia de la bestia (Day of the Beast, priest, tv star, heavy metal record store clerk search for anti-christ - hilarious black comedy)
Belle Epoque: 3 hot babes seduce wounded ex-soldier circa civil war era spain
Y Tu Mama Tambien, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Talk to Her Pedro Almod?var at his finest ..his films never fail to excite ..not for the sexually repressed as they always deal with sex/sexual dysfunction is a humourous way

Italian: along with the french pretty much invented "cinema" or the art film

Il Dolce Vita, La Strada, the bicycle thief - masters of classic cinema

but I'd recommend lighter fare:

Johnny Stecchino, Il Mostro, Life is Beautiful ..Roberto Benigni is just hilarious
Cinema Paradisio: must watch for anyone who likes film
il Postino: you simply must watch this film ..Massimo Troisi could do more with a raised eyebrow than any of the current crop of hollywood "actors", except he died during the making of the film ..oh and the female lead in this movie is ..how should I put this ...mama mia, now that's a spicy meatball!!!


then there's german films, dutch films (Lars Von Trier is brilliant) ..pretty much every european country (or anywhere in the world for that matter) has great films and are a nice change from the pap hollywood seems to churn out these days

you should watch the german film Run Lola Run ..I think you'd like it
 
Withnail & I - everyone has to see it at least once.
 
saw it years ago, remember nothing except a scene where one of the chracters is in a bathtub smoking a joint


the Acid house ..just to see what Irvine welsh brought to film looks like ..ok, trainspotting but ..you gotta watch the Acid house to truely understand what Welsh is capable of (a better idea would be to read his books, but this topic is on film)
 
Ireland:

Angelas Ashes, Alan Parker's film adaptaion of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize winning autobiography.

Michael Collins: most successful Irish-made film of all time, biopic of the revolutionary and patriot Michael Collins. Great film, historical inaccuracies ftl though. A young Jonathan Rhys Meyers as an assassin.

My Left Foot: tells the story of Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy. It won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Brenda Fricker). It was also nominated for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

Daniel Day Lewis is amazing in this.

Bloody Sunday: Paul Greengrass(Bourne sequels) directs, a 2002 television film about the 1972 "Bloody Sunday" shootings in Derry, Northern Ireland. It won the Audience Award at Sundance and the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival (tied with Spirited Away). James Nesbitt is the man!

In The Name Of The Father: a 1993 film directed by Jim Sheridan based on the true life story of the Guildford Four, four people falsely convicted of the IRA's Guildford pub bombing which killed 4 off duty British Soldiers and a civilian. Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Daniel Day-Lewis), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Pete Postlethwaite), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Emma Thompson), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

The Wind That Shakes The Barley: Ken Loach. Great film, very sad. Won the Palme D'Or at Cannes last year.

Also:
The Crying Game.
Breakfast On Pluto.
In America(Really uplifting).
The Field(Richard Harris ftw).
Intermission(fast paced, modern day setting, Colin Farrell is such a scumbag(chav) in it, he's hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0dapcs784k&feature=related
 
Yeah, thats where calling something "Hollywood" gets sticky. If its Hollywood funded films that get the label, then a ton of the stuff in this thread gets disqualified, and unjustly because they're great films. If it has to be shot in Hollywood, then its just bizarre since most backlot shooting has gone the way of the Dodo. And if it just has to be directed or written by people from Hollywood, then it seems really arbitrary.
 
CR0M said:
Japan - ...Yojimbo
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Don't forget the sequel, Sanjuro. I actually liked that one better.

Also, anyone who hasn't seen Seven Samurai, do so at your soonest convenience lest ye continue to suck.
 
Delicatessen is cool, Nightwatch as well. A swedish movie (that isn't a Bergman) which is awesome is Picassos ?ventyr.
 
CptStern said:
dutch films (Lars Von Trier is brilliant)
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:|

Lars von Trier is Danish.

I've come to love German film recently. I recommend "The Downfall", "Goodbye, Lenin", "The Lives of the Others" and many more.

I've also come to enjoy many of Ingmar Bergman's movies the last year or so.
 
By Hollywood I am referring to the genre, not the geographical location:

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This kinda thing. Over budget, over hyped Pap.*

Yeah, there have been some good ones from time to time, some of my all time faves are all American box office hits like Alien and Blade and Matrix, but the mainstream blockbusters just don't do it anymore for me, which is why I have shifted to alternatives. To assume I'm trashing American filmaking is unfounded and just short sighted.

Jimbo - some good films there which i've seen most of, I agree Richard Harris was one of the great actors - rip.
edit - Intermission looks fantastic :)

Warbie - How could I forget W&I? classic :D "you have eels in your coat."

Cap'n - not seen those Italian / Spanish ones, will keep an eye out for them. Saw Run Lola Run a while back but wasn't too interested, not sure why - apparently it's a cult film. Maybe I was having a bad day.

Monkey - when you say Downfall, you mean the end of Hitler story? great film.


* Having to state that 'it's just my opinion' on a forum full of opinions when it's pretty damn obvious it's just an opinion is a waste of calories that could be better used forcing farts into my chair.
 
Indian version of the american "Hitch" called
"Partner" starring Salman khan. There's a lot of stuff they've clearly taken directly from Hitch but watch it. The ending had me ROFLMAO so much.
 
Hong Kong/Chinese (although both insanely different) cinema is pretty kickass too. Check out Wong Kar-Wai's stuff, like Chung King Express. Hero, while blatant communist dogma, was pretty damn well made.

I also have a mancrush on Tony Leung. D:
 
Where hollywood fails, bollywood succeeds in greatness!
 
Raziaar said:
Where hollywood fails, bollywood succeeds in greatness!
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Not technically bollywood, Kama Sutra was a real good film - love, jealousy, lesbians, and one elephant.


edit - Another one I forgot to mention earlier is The Machinist, I know it's American and full of American actors and set in an American city, but it doesn't exactly fit into the Hollywood genre. And something else I wasn't aware of until recently, it was filmed entirely in Spain. The story and direction is first rate and the amount of work Bale put into his role was incredible and deserved an award, if you haven't seen it, you're missing out...
 
Viperidae said:
Hong Kong/Chinese (although both insanely different) cinema is pretty kickass too. Check out Wong Kar-Wai's stuff, like Chung King Express. Hero, while blatant communist dogma, was pretty damn well made.
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You can't talk about chinese cinema without mentioning Infernal Affairs. :p
 
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