Transamerica
MA15+
USA, 2005
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, LGBTQI
Language: English
Director: Duncan Tucker
Starring: Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers, Danny Burstein
What's it about?
Desperate Housewives Felicity Huffman was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars for her impressive performance as Bree, who is about to undergo a sex-change operation, when she receives an expected call from a 17-year-old identifying himself as her son from a college liaison. Bree's psychiatrist won't approve the surgery until she deals with this relationship, so she flies to New York City, bails the youth out of juvenile detention, and offers him a ride back to LA without disclosing that she is his father.
[link title="Why You Should Watch: Transamerica" url="node/33543"]
[link title="Watch The Movie Show original review" url="node/2613"]
Somersault
M
Australia, 2004
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: English
Director: Cate Shortland
Starring: Lynette Curran, Sam Worthington, Abbie Cornish
What's it about?
This visually stunning directorial debut by Cate Shortland () won a whopping 13 Australian Film Institute Awards in 2004, including Best Film, Actor, Actress and Original Score by Sydney band . Abbie Cornish is impressive in her breakout performance as Heidi, a confused 16-year-old who is feeling her way in the world through brief sexual encounters. When Heidi is caught by her mother kissing the latter's boyfriend, she flees to the snow resort town of Jindabyne. Desperately attempting any connection possible, she meets Joe, the son of a local farmer who is caught up in his own world of confused sexuality.
[link title="Watch The Movie Show original ★★★★ review" url="node/2901"]
3-Iron
M
South Korea, Japan, 2004
Genre: Romance, Drama
Language: Korean
Director: Ki-duk Kim
Starring: Hyuk-Ho Kwon, Hee Jae, Seung-yeon Lee
What's it about?
Young, silent Tae-suk enters strangers' homes while the occupants are away, gently insinuating himself into their empty spaces, tidying up, mending things, never disrespectful. In one home, where he uses the practice golf kit in the tiny backyard, he is discovered by the locked up and beaten up wife, Sun-hwa. But instead of raising the alarm, the ex-model leaves her abusive husband and joins Tae-suk on his home visits. A beautiful, unique film, which won four Venice Film Festival Awards in 2004.
[link title="Read ★★★★ review" url="node/4499"]
Bombón: El Perro
M
Argentina, Spain, 2004
Genre: Drama
Language: Spanish
Director: Carlos Sorin
Starring: Juan Villegas, Walter Donado, Rosa Valsecchi
What's it about?
Coco is a broke craftsman living in a cramped apartment with his daughter and her children, but his life is turned around when he comes to the aid of a stranded woman, and her family repays his kindness with a pure bred Argentinian dog. An enthusiastic dog trainer encourages him to look to dog shows and breeding programs as a path to good fortune. A simple, touching road movie with attaching characters (played by non-professional actors), which should also delight dog lovers.
Nowhere in Africa
MA15+
Germany, 2001
Genre: Biography, Drama
Language: English, Swahili, German
Director: Caroline Link
Starring: Juliane Köhler, Merab Ninidze, Matthias Habich
What's it about?
This family saga, winner of Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2003 Oscars and beautifully shot on location, tells the story of a Jewish family in pre-WWII Germany. As Walter and Jettel witness the ascension of Nazis in Europe, they decide to flee their home with daughter Regina and find refuge in Kenya (the movie was beautifully shot on location). While the little girl takes straight away to her new surroundings and forms a strong friendship with the farm's cook, Owuor, her parents struggle – particularly Jettel, who had been used to a life of luxury.
The Barbarian Invasions
MA15+
Canada, 2003
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Language: French, English
Director: Denys Arcand
Starring: Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau, Marie-Josée Croze
What's it about?
This witty and moving masterpiece about life, death and the importance of family and friends, deservedly won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2004. Main character Rémy, a skirt-chasing history professor (who already appeared in Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire in 1986), is battling terminal cancer. Rémy and his son, Sébastien, are estranged, but ultimately it's Sébastien who gives his father the grand send-off – by setting him up in a cottage and preparing him for several invasions, including his ex-wife and two mistresses.
[link title="Why You Should Watch: The Barbarian Invasions" url="node/24541"]
[link title="Watch The Movie Show original ★★★★★ review" url="node/2977"]
Spellbound
G
USA, 2002
Genre: Documentary
Language: English
Director: Jeffrey Blitz
What's it about?
Jeffrey Blitz's Oscar-nominated documentary about kids competing in a spelling bee "borrows its title from a Hitchcock thriller, and it's as suspenseful as anything Hitchcock ever did," said David Stratton at the time of its release in 2002. It follows 8 teens and pre-teens as they work their way toward the finals of the Scripps Howard national spelling bee championship in Washington D.C. The competitors not only work hard to get to the finals but face tremendous pressure as the original group of over 250 competitors is whittled down and the words they must spell get ever more difficult. A must-see.
Jeffrey Blitz's Oscar-nominated documentary about kids competing in a spelling bee "borrows its title from a Hitchcock thriller, and it's as suspenseful as anything Hitchcock ever did," said David Stratton at the time of its release in 2002. It follows 8 teens and pre-teens as they work their way toward the finals of the Scripps Howard national spelling bee championship in Washington D.C. The competitors not only work hard to get to the finals but face tremendous pressure as the original group of over 250 competitors is whittled down and the words they must spell get ever more difficult. A must-see.
[link title="Word nerds rejoice: We've got 'Spellbound' available to watch online" url="node/39587"]
[link title="Watch The Movie Show original ★★★★ review" url="node/3051"]
The Concert
M
France, Italy, Romania, Belgium, 2009
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Music
Language: French, Russian
Director: Radu Mihaileanu
Starring: Aleksei Guskov, Mélanie Laurent, Dmitri Nazarov
What's it about?
This sentimental crowd-pleaser follows Andrei Filipov, a former acclaimed Russian conductor, demoted to cleaner during the Soviet era, who comically schemes to book himself and his former musicians into a prestigious Parisian booking after he intercepts an offer of a show. Making ends meet by unexpected means, they arrive in Paris only to fall into disarray, even as the young French violin soloist who has agreed to play with them begins to realise her connection to their collective past.
[link title="Read ★★★ review" url="node/5011"]
The Horde
MA15+
France, 2009
Genre: Horror, Action, Thriller
Language: French
Director: Benjamin Rocher, Yannick Dahan
Starring: Claude Perron, Jean-Pierre Martins, Eriq Ebouaney
What's it about?
Four hard-boiled cops out to avenge the murder of a colleague raid an abandoned complex which serves as a hide-out for the gang of suspected killers. But the operation quickly spirals out of control as zombies storm the complex threatening both cops and criminals alike and forcing them to band together to survive. A gory, most efficient French horror film that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Election
MA15+
Hong Kong, 2005
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
Director: Johnnie To
Starring: Simon Yam, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Louis Koo, Nick Cheung
What's it about?
Beautifully directed by Johnnie To (), this grim and efficient gangster movie, nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, follows the largest and oldest Triad in Hong Kong, The Wo Shing Society, as its new director is about to be appointed from an elite assembly of candidates by its 'uncles’. Amongst the forerunners is Big D, who tries to buy his way to the top by bribing influential senators and Lok, who keeps his cool with the support of respected elder, Uncle Teng.
Molière
PG
France, 2007
Genre: Comedy
Language: French
Director: Laurent Tirard
Starring: Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Ludivine Sagnier
What's it about?
Romain Duris stars in this elegant, witty comedy, as 22-year-old Molière who, in 1645, is not yet the writer that history will recognise as the father of comic satire. Far from it. He is a failed actor and bankrupt who is languishing in debtor's prison. His release from prison is funded by the wealthy bourgeois, Monsieur Jourdain, on the understanding that Molière will help him woo the affections of a French countess with a series of love letters.
[link title="Watch The Movie Show original ★★★★ review" url="node/4477"]
Beginners
M
USA, 2011
Genre: Drama, LGBTQI, Romance
Language: English
Director: Mike Mills
Starring: Mélanie Laurent, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer
What's it about?
In this insightful and touching dramedy, Oliver meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna only months after his father Hal (Oscar winner Christopher Plummer) has passed away. This new love floods Oliver with memories of his father who came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energised, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life. The upheavals of Hal’s new honesty brought father and son closer than they’d ever been able to be. Now Oliver endeavours to love Anna with all the bravery, humour, and hope that his father taught him.
[link title="Beginners: It's never too late" url="node/2530"]
[link title="Read ★★★ ½ review" url="node/5552"]
Source: SBS Movies
Yossi & Jagger
M
Israel, 2002
Genre: Drama, Romance, War, LGBTQI
Language: Hebrew
Director: Eytan Fox
Starring: Ohad Knoller, Yehuda Levi, Hani Furstenberg
What's it about?
This critical and commercial hit in Israel, directed by Eytan Fox (), tells the beautiful and heartbreaking story of two Israeli officers who fall in love in a remote Israeli outpost on the dangerous Lebanese border. Yossi, the company commander, prefers discretion and insists on maintaining a macho exterior, while playful Jagger, his second-in-command, is soon to complete his military service and can’t wait to come out of the closet. Surrounding them is a group of young soldiers who endure a humdrum tour of duty punctuated only by nightly ambushes and sudden violence.
