TOP TEN FOREIGN THRILLERS RELEASING SOON PART 2

This part 2 of my Top Ten Foreign Thrillers post. Featuring another 3 movies to watch out for. The final post whil be published on Saturday and will feature another 4 great films to watch out for.

Check previous post for films 1-3

4: THE MULE
New Australian comedy/thriller starring Leigh Whanel, Hugo Weaving and Angus Sampson. The film was written by Angus Sampson, Leigh Whanel and Jamie Browne with Angus Sampson also directing.

The Mule has been really well received on the festival circuit and has got solid reviews from anyone who had seen it. It’s currently rocking a solid 7.3 on Imdb.

I think the film is based on true story about a first time drug mule who has swallowed a shit-load of cocaine. He is caught by a cop who is played by the brilliant Hugo Weaving.. The only way to get the evidence is by waiting with him until nature takes it’s course and he has no choice but to take that big cocaine crap! the mule is persistent though, if he can wait it out 7 days, then he’ll be released.

Sounds like a lot of fun. If you’re unfamiliar with who Leigh Whanell is, he was the original man who wrote the first Saw movie along with his good friend James Wan. Leigh also played Adam in the first Saw movie and has also co-written and featured in the Insidious franchise.,

2: THE REDEEMER
The only movie in my Top Ten Foreign Thrillers post that is guaranteed to be more action packed than all three Expendables movies put together. In saying that, that’s all that this movie seems to be and it ain’t afraid to show it.

The story of an ex-hitman who for some reason decides he has had enough of being a killing machine and wants to mend his evil ways. So in order for for him to pave his path to righteousness, he starts by kicking the absolute shite out of everyone he comes in contact with. Throw In a small village and a drug lord, sure what more could an action fan want??

Make no mistake this is a film for the action fan. If you’re looking for depth, meaning and character development then I’d give this one a miss. But if you’re looking for bone-crunching martial-arts, with some beautiful choreography and an extremely talented lead character played by Chilean martial-arts action-star Marko Zarornot hen why not give this one a shot.

3:GANGSTER PAYDAY
Seems to be more of a comedy/drama than a thriller but I thought it deserves a mention anyways. The film is a bout an ex-con who decodes to go straight. He buys a tea-shop and starts his own business. When local developers want to knock down his shop to make-way for some new complex, the shop owner resorts backs to his old ways and a turf war begins.

TOP TEN FOREIGN THRILLERS RELEASING SOON 1-3

Some great foreign thrillers movies releasing soon so I’ve decided to do another Top Ten Foreign Thrillers post. This is part one and will feature 3 movies. Part two will feature another three great films with the final post featuring another 4 gems. Enjoy

1: GOODNIGHT MOMMY
I was left feeling a little weird after Watching the trailer for this. Looks like more of a psychological thriller/drama than anything else. Seems like a simple premise and judging by the trailer, there seems to be very few cast involved.

The story follows two young twin brothers. They are in a large empty house waiting on their mother to return home. Time passes and the boys start to wonder what has happened to their mother. Just as they’re about to give up hope of her ever returning, a strange woman enters through the front door, her whole face is covered in bandages , she is claiming to be their lost mother, but the kids are unable to tell because of the bandages. She seems different, she doesn’t seem like the person that they once knew. So that premise sort of freaked the fuck out of me a little bit!! This sounds pretty damn creepy.

The trailer had a huge runtime of over three minutes which I thought to be way too long. I think the trailer gave away a little bit too much of the storyline, I’m pretty sure I’ve pieced together the entire film just by watching the trailer, I hope I am wrong though and it offers a lot more than expected.

One thing is for sure, this looks absolutely terrifying !

2:IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE

This just looks like a lot of bloody fun. The film follows a man called Nils who has just been awarded citizen of the year. His son is murdered for something that he did not do. Nils then takes it upon himself to go on a act of vengeance to get all responsible and to find out the truth behind his sons murder.

While we have the premise for quite a brutal and dark thriller, this films is very much a black comedy. I believe that if you can laugh at subtitled trailer then the comedy has to be really well written. When I think about it, I’d probably prefer it no to be a comedy, but this looks and sounds brilliant so I ain’t complaining.

3: THE WORLD OF KANAKO
New film from acclaimed Japanese director Tetsuya Nakashima. If you are unsure about who is he is-, he is the writer and director behind Japanese cult favourite CONFESSIONS. A movie about a teacher who targets the students who are responsible for her daughters death. If you ain’t seen it then that film is well worth checking out.

I’m unsure of any real premise for this film. There is a small description on imdb but I think I’m just gonna give this one a go purely based on the fact that I’ve loved this mans previous work. He always seems to offer something different.

Thanks for reading.

THE CRAZIEST SCI-FI YOU’RE EVER GONNA SEE GETS FULL TRAILER

It’s not very often a film comes along that sounds as insane as parasyte. On a a madness scale of 1 to 10, this definitely goes all the way up to 11.

Based on a popular manga series of the same name. The movie follows a teenage boy who unknowingly stopped a worm-like alien from taking over his body while he was sleeping…..well sort of.

The Parasyte enters your body through your eyes or ears, but because he was sleeping and listening to music with headphones on, the Parasyte said “fuck it,” and burrowed a hole in his hand instead. The next day the kid wakes to find that his hand has been inhabited by an alien life-force and the rest of the world are much more worse.

Having an alien hand obviously comes with it’s advantages when trying to fight off an alien invasion and save mankind. His hand can morph into just about anything (think Stretch Armstrong only some seriously cool weaponry). His hand is his friend, his companion, and his only hope for survival (and it looks extremely cute, and I want one).

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There seems to be a huge amount of CGI but from what I can see, it looks really well. With a film as mad as parasyteit would be impossible to do anything else. This film is insane, we’re going to be seeing some crazy stuff.

Finally a full trailer has been uploaded to YouTube so if you’re gonna check one trialer today, then let it be this one.

Film is in two parts with the first releasing 29th Nov (japan) and the other instalment will follow in 2015.

PARASYTE FULL TRAILER 😉

I love you sooooo much, even if you are a decomposing corpse.

When I actually think about these new type of zombie comedies it sort of repulses me a little bit. As if going round decomposing and devouring human flesh wasn’t enough, they have to throw in a wee bit of necrophilia now. Even that film WARM BODIES, wasn’t that for kids??, was it not about some girl who was in love with a corpse?.

I’ve seen some disturbing stuff in my time man, but the premise of that just doesn’t feel right. Yes, there might be some hidden bullshit meaning that we should all love each other. But NO….FUCK THAT!!…..you just don’t fall in love with a corpse, that’s just all kinds of wrong, man….DESTROY THE BRAIN AND GET OVER IT !!!

Call me old-fashioned, but I preferred when the infected just tore the flesh off his/her partner and then he/she became infected. They didn’t hold hands or go to the beach, or have a domestic argument, they just devoured and ate in everything in sight.

I haven’t seen Warm Bodiesnor do I want to, but I will give Life After Beth a shot when it gets released.
The reason I’d give that one a watch is because it’s from the awesome XYZFilms and I’ve been an avid follower of that production company from the start. I’m not expecting it to be groundbreaking cinema and it has a bag of mixed reviews, but the trailer made me chuckle a few times, and sure if it raises a few smiles then I can’t argue with that.

Now we have another film called Burying The Ex. Another “I’m in love with a fucking corpse movie,” but this time Gremlins director Joe Dante is the man in the directors chair. Usually I’d be excited at the thought of a new horror comedy from Dante but this just sounds like the others. It hasn’t been released, so I could be wrong but I highly doubt it.

There just seems to be an abundance of these movies. Films that primarily aimed at a younger, less mature audience which results in bigger bucks at the box-office. It sometimes feels like they’re trying to re-create some sort of Twilight franchise,. With beautiful chiseled zombies that still look damn fucking hot…. Even if they’ have been dead for weeks.

There has been so much zombie movies recently, but not enough good ones. When I see a zombie movie get announced, most are like “just another fucking zombie movie.” There seems to be no originality left in this great genre and as a result of that, all we get is the same regurgitated bullshit over and over.

Rant over.

FINEST FOREIGN COMEDIES PART 1- THE INTOUCHABLES

1: THE INTOUCHABLES
The story follows Driss, he’s applied for a job as a carer helping a quadriplegic man called Phillipe. He has no intention of taking the job. All he wants is a signature so he can prove to the welfare office that he’s actively been seeking employment so he can get benefits. Phillipe is automatically drawn to him, he’s way more different from the rest of the applicants who all just see a disability rather than a human being. So without a hesitation Phillipe gives Driss a months trial and so begins one of the most memorable experiences you’ll ever witness on-screen.

It’s not very often I’d watch a trailer and be in hysterics laughing. I can safely say this film isn’t just a fine comedy but it’s one of the finest films you’ll ever see. I was shocked at how much I laughed all the way through. I had forgotten what good comedy was, as we’ve just been polluted with Adam sandler and Wayan brother movies for what seems like a thousand existences

After watching it I done some reading on it. The film has made movie history is so many countries and is the second biggest film in French history. I can’t fault this film and if anyone did then they would need to go and have their heads examined. A film that’s suitable for all ages and a film that will never leave you after viewing.

Available on american Netflix

SECRECTLY GREATLY REVIEW

 

SECRETLY GREATLY
when I was looking at the korean box office a few months ago I noticed that there was this film titled “secretly greatly” that was number one and was beating big blockbusters such as “man of steel” etc.
So I have been constantly on the hunt for it since I had found out about it and I had watched the trailer and finally had the pleasure of viewing it last week.

The story of three spies who are trained from birth in North Korea to become ruthless killing machines. They are deployed into South Korea and have to live completely different lives until they receive instructions from the North on a mission they’ll have to carry out. One is the village idiot who lives in an apartment above a shop. He goes about his day pretending to have the mind of a child. The other is a wannabe rock star who can’t even play an instrument and the other is a school boy who looks about 10.

I wasn’t really expecting it but it’s more of a comedy than anything else. The acting is very good from the main character but the others play their roles just as well. I think playing a mentally challenged character who is secretly a ruthless killing machine was quite a task but he nailed it.

There is also a nice blend of action in it although it does take some time to kick off but when it does it does not disappoint. Also there is a constant stream of tension flowing through the whole film, as they don’t even know what the order is going to be. You grow quite fond of the characters they are playing and it’s brilliantly written and directed seeing them transform from their everyday and boring identities into the ruthless killing machines they have been trained to be.

 

TOP 5 FOREIGN VAMPIRE MOVIES

1: FROSTBITE
Before the huge success of “let the right one in”, came “frostbite” (frostbitten). Another astonishing Swedish vampire film that is just as dark as “let the right one in” but would remind you of the american horror “30 days of night”(but released before). Simply because the vampires target a town where is no sunlight, but apart from that there is no similarities.
The film is also a black comedy and its very cleverly done. The gore is really good and vampires are Brilliant, and its not very often that you get a decent horror comedy.

2: THIRST
The story of a well loved catholic priest who agrees to try a new drug to help find a vaccine for a virus. The priest immediately responds with unbelievable results. The town think that he is the saviour and he has been blessed. Well I thinks it’s safe to say that the drug didn’t actually work, and it ain’t long before we see our servant of god showing the effects of vampirism.
Guaranteed to be unlike any vampire film you’ll ever see. A very unusual and different film but wonderfully written, acted, shot, and directed.
From the director of “oldboy”, “I am cyborg”, and “stoker”.

3: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
This film has not only earned its place as One of the best foreign vampire movies, but it has earned it’s place as one of the greatest horror films of our times. This film received such good reviews form every single part of the world. If you haven’t already seen this one , then you are probably one of the only people on the planet.
The story a young teenage boy called “Oskar” in the early 1980’s, who befriends his new next door neighbour, who also happens to be a 200yr old vampire stuck in a kids body.This is how a vampire film should be.
An American remake was released in 2010 called “let me in” and it was the first title to released under the “hammer horror” name in years.
I think the only reason that this remake was so good, is that they stayed really close to the original. They never changed anything apart form the names of the characters, and I think that the eerie feeling of the first movie was just transferred for an audience who can’t be fucking bothered to read subtitles. It was the best American horror remake I can think of, with yet again, two more brilliant performances from the two lead roles.
Also written was a book called “let the old dreams die”. Written by the same man who wrote the novel . This book is a continuation of “Oskar” and his new found vampire friend “Eli” which takes place immediately after the first book ends.
A lot of people don’t know this fact about the film, and I can’t remember completely, but they seemed to have left it out of the American remake “let me in”.
The scene where “Oskar” is looking at “Eli” getting changed and he notices a huge scar on “Eli”.
Well here it is folks. “Eli” isn’t actually a girl at all. Not only has poor little “Oskar” fell for a blood sucking hound from hell. He has also fell for a 200 yr old castrated boy.
This proves the fact that “Eli” never seen anything in “Oskar” and all she wants is for him to be his/her servant until he gets old and can’t serve anymore. Then it’s time to start all over again.
That fact completely changed my view of the film. I left the film feeing it was sort of a romantic vampire love story (and they can be done well), then when I found out that “Eli” was actually castrated and it automatically gave the film a more darker premise.

4: CRONOS
Helmed as one of the finest horror films to have come out of the 1990’s. “cronos” is the first feature from director “Guillermo del Toro” and everyone knows that this man has went on to make, and continues to make some of the finest and most visually striking films of our time.
The story of an elderly antique dealer who discovers a device called “the cronos”. This device has the power to grant him eternal life, but at the same same time gives him a craving for blood.
A really different vampire movie that took everybody by surprise. Replacing fangs and the usual stereotype that comes with vampires, with a very unusual and unique type of vampire film that is truly original and is still way above the rest to this very day.

5: STRIGOI
When “vlad” returns home from Italy and finds out that one of the resident of his village has been murdered,and the rest of the villagers are acting very strange. Vald takes it upon himself to find the killer, and find out what is wrong with the rest of the village.
Not your typical vampire film, and that’s the reason I loved it so much.
A low budget horror comedy from Romania, written and directed by “Faye Jackson”.
“strigoi” never seemed to get the praise that it deserved, and its a pity as well as its such a good film.

FINEST FOREIGN COMEDIES PART 2 – CASTAWAY ON THE MOON

A friend recommended this film to me last year.  He said it’s a romantic comedy but he told me to forget what sort of film it was and just enjoy it. So I did and it was hilarious and a damn fine film. I  have written about this film before but it would be a shame to leave it out of the finest foreign comedies post.Since watching this film I’ve kept the touch burning by recommending this film to as many people as possible. I am on a mission to spread the good word of this film.

The film starts off with the main character on a bridge he is on the phone to his credit card company and they’re telling him that he’s in serious debt. He says “thank you, you’ve just made my mind up for me” and without hesitation he jumps off the bridge. A few moments later he is washed up on a small tiny island that sits just underneath the bridge. He can hear traffic and the city is visible to him (about a mile away) but it’s just that little bit too far he can’t reach it, or reach anyone for help. after what seemed like  endless and tiresome efforts of trying to be rescued he starts to accept the fact that no help is coming and starts to make the most of his time on the island using everything and anything he can.

A very unusual but a  nice feel good comedy with a great message and some hilarious and memorable moments .
A comedy suitable for all.

MY TOP 5 AMERICAN INDIE COMEDIES

1: THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
This film is up there with my all time favourite comedies. This is a very clever comedy full of top performances from a really great cast featuring, Aaron eckhart, rob Lowe, Sam Elliot, Robert Duvall, Maria bello, William H Macy
The film follows “Nick Naylar” a spokesman for a large tobacco company, as he travels around promoting tobacco by telling lies and twisting arguments, and at the same time he still has to try and remain a role model for his 12 year old son. This film just shows us how easily we are led from truth and the lies we will believe if we they are spun right.
Extremely funny and really intelligently written “thankyou for smoking” has become a classic since its release in 2005.

2: LOVE LIZA
This film is just remarkable . Phillip Seymour Hoffman and the legendary Kathy bates star in what can only be described as a comedy about suicide. Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays a young web designer who’s wife suddenly commits suicide . He finds a suicide note under his pillow and can’t bring himself to read it . Although it doesn’t sound that funny and maybe I’m describing it wrong but what happens in this film is so believable and the events that happen are often hilarious . This film is a classic in my book and was the first leading role for Phillip Seymour Hoffman , who I believe to be the finest actor alive today.

the trailer

3: LARS & THE REAL GIRL
Ryan gosling stars in this strange and unusual American comedy about “LARS” a pleasant but strange office worker who lives in a modified garage that’s next to his brothers house in a small quiet American town. when surfing the web one night he stumbles across a sex doll and has it delivered to his house. When the dolls arrives “Lars” immediately starts up a relationship with the doll, and what happens is a very unusual but pleasant chain of events.
A really good, heartfelt comedy suitable for all ages (I think) the acting is fantastic and the story has a really good meaning behind it. Will have you feeling sad about a sex doll in the same way we all nearly cried when “Tom hanks” lost “Wilson” his only friend in “cast away” willllllllllllllsssssssssssssooooooon.

4: SIDEWAYS
A ordinary comedy about ordinary guys who go on a wine tasting trip across California. This film is genius and laugh out loud funny and very believable, which makes it all the more enjoyable. Fantastic performances from “Paul Giamatti” and “Thomas Hayden Church” sideways is one of the finest comedies to be realeased in the last 20 years.

5: JACK GOES BOATING
Anybody who knows me personally, knows that I am a huge “Phillip Seymour Hoffman” fan. I think of him to be the finest actor alive today, he always delivers us some very unusual but absolutely stunning cinema, and in my opinion he was the only fucking good thing about the entire “mission impossible” franchise. Ever since I watched “love Liza” I have been so intrigued by his sorrowful, yet loveable and colourful characters he plays onscreen.
So, “jack goes boating” puts “Phillip Seymour Hoffman” in the directors chair for the very first time, and it seems very clear from the start that the man has learnt some amazing techniques over the years.
It’s the very simple story of “jack” a limo driver in NYC who agrees to go on a date with a woman he has never met called “Connie”. They immediately hit it off and “jack” agrees at the end of the night to take her boating when summer arrives. “Jack” can’t swim and Is terrified of water so he turns to his best friend to teach him how to swim and overcome his fear. That’s all you really need to know about the story. Anybody who is a fan of any of “hoffman’s” previous work will be nothing less than blown away by another unique performance, only this time we get to see the film as he imagines it and the result is near perfection.
A very simple story acted out by the finest actors, and an astonishing soundtrack that features some of the greatest artists around today.

JACK GOES BOATING

Anybody who knows me personally, knows that I am a huge “Phillip Seymour Hoffman” fan. I think of him to be the finest actor alive today, he always delivers us some very unusual but absolutely stunning cinema, and in my opinion he was the only fucking good thing about the entire “mission impossible” franchise. Ever since I watched “love Liza” I have been so intrigued by his sorrowful, yet loveable and colourful characters he plays onscreen.
So, “jack goes boating” puts “Phillip Seymour Hoffman” in the directors chair for the very first time, and it seems very clear from the start that the man has learnt some amazing techniques over the years.
It’s the very simple story of “jack” a limo driver in NYC who agrees to go on a date with a woman he has never met called “Connie”. They immediately hit it off and “jack” agrees at the end of the night to take her boating when summer arrives. “Jack” can’t swim and Is terrified of water so he turns to his best friend to teach him how to swim and overcome his fear. That’s all you really need to know about the story. Anybody who is a fan of any of “hoffman’s” previous work will be nothing less than blown away by another unique performance, only this time we get to see the film as he imagines it and the result is near perfection.
A very simple story acted out by the finest actors, and an astonishing soundtrack that features some of the greatest artists around today.