I am expanding my movie library and would like suggestions

[The Second]

My collection is extensive and includes a bit of every genre. I'm wanting to expand my collection and would like suggestions on some truly great movies I may have missed over the years.

I'm looking for any genre, any format; black and white, silent, or modern; animated or cgi. Juat so long as the movie is absolutely awesome or absolute garbage but still awesome. Foreign language(e.I. non English) especially.

Imdb links would be appreciated, but are by no means required.

[Aedilred]

It's difficult to give you too many pointers without knowing what you've already seen. If you've seen enough canonical "great films" there'd likely be a lot of redundancy in any list of suggestions.

A good place to start is the Empire 500 list. The list itself isn't exactly perfect: it's overly populist, in my opinion, gives too much weight to more recent films, and especially towards the lower end has a tendency to become "films we can remember" rather than films that are actually any good (how else to explain the presence of both Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean 2 on the list?). It was also conducted in, I think, 2008, so films from after that date are excluded - and given the number of high-quality films produced since there are some obvious omissions. But it does provide a reasonably comprehensive list of the truly great movies throughout the 20th century and unless you have an impeccable filmwatching background it's likely you'll find a few gems on there you've missed.

[Foeofthelance]

Personal suggestion is Wizards by Ralph Bakshi. It's a somewhat screwy animated science fiction/fantasy about two wizards battling over their mother's throne, via Elves with rayguns and Orcs with Nazi Propaganda films.

One of the more memorable bits of crazy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujQ-nMc0WGE

[The Second]

It's difficult to give you too many pointers without knowing what you've already seen. If you've seen enough canonical "great films" there'd likely be a lot of redundancy in any list of suggestions.

A good place to start is the Empire 500 list. The list itself isn't exactly perfect: it's overly populist, in my opinion, gives too much weight to more recent films, and especially towards the lower end has a tendency to become "films we can remember" rather than films that are actually any good (how else to explain the presence of both Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean 2 on the list?). It was also conducted in, I think, 2008, so films from after that date are excluded - and given the number of high-quality films produced since there are some obvious omissions. But it does provide a reasonably comprehensive list of the truly great movies throughout the 20th century and unless you have an impeccable filmwatching background it's likely you'll find a few gems on there you've missed.

I'm not a fan of popular lists for the reasons you've touched on.

I did browse the list and I do own a great many titles there. Although there are many I have never heard of, it does not provide a synopsis of any sort, or even provide a genre.

I also don't agree that Pirates of the Caribbean or any batman movie is better or more memorable than Doctor Zhivago. Neither Little Shop of Horror is on the list (though to be fair, both have flaws), nor is The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I'd rate far higher than Superbad, Scream, and The Phantom Menace. Just my opinion of course.

Also no Flash Gordon, not a single Hammer flick, no Terror From The Year 9000, or Plan 9 From Outer Space. And while not a single one of those films are 'good' they are still noteworthy, and watchable. Well maybe not Plan 9 but still, even cenima trash should be remembered.

[The Second]

Personal suggestion is Wizards by Ralph Bakshi. It's a somewhat screwy animated science fiction/fantasy about two wizards battling over their mother's throne, via Elves with rayguns and Orcs with Nazi Propaganda films.

One of the more memorable bits of crazy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujQ-nMc0WGE

One I already have, but thanks for mentioning it 'cause its been a while (years) since I last watched it. Nows a good time to rewatch it I think.

[JoshL]

I think I can help with this! Here are some of my favorites, focusing on non-English language:
M (Fritz Lang) - German
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0022100/

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (Akira Kurosawa) - Japanese
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0100998/

Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders) - Lots of, mostly German
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0093191/

La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz) - French
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0113247/

Fantastic Planet (Rene Laloux) - French
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0070544/

Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman) - Sweedish
(note: most people would recommend Hour of The Wolf or The Seventh Seal, both of which are also amazing. This one is just my favorite)
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0050986/

City of Lost Children (Caro/Jeunet) - French
(anything Jeunet, really)
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0112682/

Stroszek (Werner Herzog) - German/Turkish/English
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0075276/

Woman in the Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara) - Japanese
This one might be a little tough to find
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0058625/

The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer) - French
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0019254/

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene) - Silent
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0010323/

Angels of the Universe (Friðrik Þór Friðriksson) - Icelandic
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0233651/

Pathfinder (Nils Gaup) - Saami
(note: NOT the remake, though that might fall under your entertaining bad movies. It's pretty wonderful)
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0093668/

Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro) - Spanish
(you've probably seen this one, but it's amazing if you haven't)
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/

And if you like some good terrible movies, my favorites (all English)
Troll 2 (of course)
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0105643/

Sinbad of the Seven Seas (with Lou Ferrigno)
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0098333/

Virtual Combat (with Don "The Dragon" Wilson)
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0113220/

Hopefully there are a couple in there you haven't seen and might enjoy!

[kraftcheese]

Solaris (m.imdb.com/title/tt0069293/) maybe? The 1972 Soviet one; it's good!

[Rogar Demonblud]

Pretty much anything Kurosawa, although my personal favorite is Sanjuro.

[Kid Jake]

Turkish Star Wars is the greatest movie ever made. If it's not on your shelf you should rectify that immediately.

[Flickerdart]

If you can find How I Unleashed World War II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_I_Unleashed_World_War_II), especially in a language you understand, you can consider yourself a lucky man.

[Aedilred]

I'm not a fan of popular lists for the reasons you've touched on.

I did browse the list and I do own a great many titles there. Although there are many I have never heard of, it does not provide a synopsis of any sort, or even provide a genre.

I also don't agree that Pirates of the Caribbean or any batman movie is better or more memorable than Doctor Zhivago. Neither Little Shop of Horror is on the list (though to be fair, both have flaws), nor is The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I'd rate far higher than Superbad, Scream, and The Phantom Menace. Just my opinion of course.

Also no Flash Gordon, not a single Hammer flick, no Terror From The Year 9000, or Plan 9 From Outer Space. And while not a single one of those films are 'good' they are still noteworthy, and watchable. Well maybe not Plan 9 but still, even cenima trash should be remembered.

There is a version of it which includes commentary, but it's long and tedious to click through, given that there are 500 entries. Certainly the ordering is way off, and is probably due to giving undue weighting to the popular votes, so I'd ignore that for the most part. To be completely fair to the list, it is, I think, a compiled popular-critical list, presumably with the idea that the critics will ensure the presence of important but obscure films, while the public will ensure the presence of popular classics that more cerebral critics might sneer at, which might be the best way to compile such a list for a non-academic audience. This leads to some odd juxtapositions, where you'll find things like The 400 Blows alongside Indiana Jones. The version with the synopsis is somewhat unapologetic at times, all but admitting, for instance, that Pirates 2 is terrible, but that it made the list because it was popular.

And it is at least supposed to be a list of films that are good, rather than films that are rubbish but which made a big impact (and Hollywood being what it is, flops can make a bigger impression than hits).

The one film I seem to recall as a glaring omission from the list, though I'm not 100% sure it is missing, is Birth of a Nation. For obvious reasons it's the sort of film a modern viewer is going to recoil from, not only in subject matter and ideology but also simply because it's a massively long silent film, but it is a great piece of cinematic art and one of the most important films in the history of the medium. Intolerance is missing too, for that matter.

If you want some films that are interesting or important from an industry perspective but aren't going to make a list of "best ever", then you've got stuff like Cleopatra, The Last House on the Left, Deep Throat, Caligula, Heaven's Gate, Cannibal Holocaust, Cutthroat Island, Baise-Moi and the like. But none of those are films I'd recommend anyone actually add to their collection.

As far as films go that I think are actually any good, I second the above recommendation of the work of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who I think has rarely put a foot wrong when directing in French. The reason for the caveats is that he's also responsible for Alien: Resurrection. Bad Jean-Pierre! Continuing with contemporary French films, I'd draw attention to the Mesrine two-parter and The Beat That My Heart Skipped. Going back a bit, there's La Haine, of course. I remember enjoying Jean de Florette, though it's a long time since I watched it. And if you want something barking mad, but pretty cool (if, I suspect, a little dated by now in some of its visual sensibilities), there's always Brotherhood of the Wolf.

Another director, along with Jeunet, whose work I would unhesitatingly recommend and fight anyone who disagrees is Sergio Leone, although if you haven't encountered him already you're probably doing it wrong.

[Morph Bark]

Since you've given no impression what your current library is like, but you specifically asked for non-English films, I'll focus on that.

People have already suggested Akira Kurosawa's films, but there are a number of other Japanese films that are great and highly recommended. Harakiri, Sansho the Bailiff, the Samurai trilogy, the famous horror films Ringu and Ju-On: The Grudge that saw American remakes (there are also film adaptations of Junji Ito's works Uzumaki and Tomie, but the manga conveys the horror better--the films are still plenty surreal though), and the joy that is Battle Royale. If you're into Tokusatsu (like Power Rangers, essentially) or Kaiju (giant monster) films, there's a lot more to cover, though much of it is schlocky. For Tokusatsu, stuff like Gokaiger Goseiger Super Sentai 199 Hero Great Battle is great fun, though for that particular one I'd recommend watching earlier Super Sentai films as well (especially Gokaiger) to get some context (which you don't really need for the others, really). There's also the Chinese recut glory that is Infra-Man, from the 70s. As for Kaiju, the original Godzilla is a true drama/horror kind of film, rather than the well-known, kind of goofy, monster-vs-monster setups.

From Korea, there's the amazing Oldboy, as well as war films like Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War and The Admiral. There's also some horror films, but I've only seen The Host out of these, which is apparently the most expensive Korean film ever made. It's pretty good, though I personally found it not that scary (partly because the CG doesn't work in place) and the ending may not be satisfying to Western audiences.

If you're into kong fu flicks, let's move to Hong Kong and the rest of China, where you get stuff made like the amazing Hero with Jet Li, his Fearless and Once Upon a Time in China series, or Jackie Chan's Drunken Master and the even better sequel. It often crosses into comedy with things like Kung Fu Hustle (a bit out there, but an enjoyable watch) or God of Cookery (haven't seen it personally, but heard great things). For non-kong fu, there's Red Cliff and Red Cliff II, the most expensive and highest-grossing films ever made in China, and often called their "Lord of the Rings"--it's about a major battle and the lead-up to it during the War of the Three Kingdoms. There's also Chow Yun-Fat's The Killer and Hard Boiled. These are nearly all "fighty films" as you surely noticed, because I haven't yet watched any drama or pure comedy films from China. Going just by hearsay though, In the Mood for Love and Raise the Red Lantern appear to be great.

Going south, there's the Indonesian The Raid: Redemption and its sequel if you want non-Hong Kong martial arts, or the Thai Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (awesome choreography, decent enough story, the sequels sell it only on choreography but are otherwise not recommendable).

From India there are so many films that I should just advise you to dig through that pile yourself. Many of them receive releases with English subtitles, are partly in English, or have fully English versions even. A good start would be Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, or trying to watch some of the song and dance sequences on YouTube. If that doesn't catch you, just move along.

Someone already mentioned the Russian Solaris. Great! Andrey Tarkovski has got a lot of other amazing works, but Solaris is the best.

I haven't really seen a lot of non-English European films (save a few children's films from Norway and Sweden that got dubbed), but the Dutch Character is a truly great film. It really captures the spirit of the original book well, and will have you guessing about some of the characters' true motives.

From Latin America, there's the internationally produced Embrace of the Serpent. I've yet to see it myself.

From South Africa, there's the 80s comedy The Gods Must Be Crazy and its sequel.

I can probably round up a bunch of other ones, but it'll be ones I haven't seen or are English. About half of the above ones I haven't seen myself (at least not in their entirety), but are on my to-watch list instead (it is extensive, to the point I've organized a lot of lists on IMDb).

[Fri]

For pulpy action movie, the Korean "western" The Good, The Bad, The Weird, is basically my favourite action movie of all time.

[Morph Bark]

For pulpy action movie, the Korean "western" The Good, The Bad, The Weird, is basically my favourite action movie of all time.

While I'm very curious about that one myself as well, this reminded me of a great Japanese western: Sukiyaki Western Django. It contains a lot of references to the Genpei War and to the Wars of the Roses, and for a Japanese western--with westerns always having had similar themes to samurai films--it is really low on katanas. The story is very stylized, as in many more modern westerns (like The Quick and the Dead), and some scenes are stylishly over the top with great choreography.

[Gastronomie]

As for Kaiju, the original Godzilla is a true drama/horror kind of film, rather than the well-known, kind of goofy, monster-vs-monster setups.Seconded. It's a true masterpiece, and especially gets you thinking if you understand the time at which it was created (the 50's - Hiroshima and Nagasaki are quite vivid in the memories of the people, nuclear expansion doesn't seem to end, and all the people are afraid of an atomic WWIII). It's not really a movie about a monster - it's a movie that describes the fear of nuclear bombs.

The new movie, Shin Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence), is also an interesting piece. It is a bit difficult to understand unless you know well about Japan after 3/11/2011 though. This time, Godzilla is pictured not as an avatar of the nuclear bomb, but rather as an avatar of the nuclear power plants in Fukushima.

[Leewei]

Some ideas:

Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Run Lola Run
Mallrats
Blazing Saddles
Better Off Dead
Ghost in the Shell
Blade Runner

Mini-series
Neverwhere
Any of the BBC nature documentaries (The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life, etc.) narrated by David Attenborough
Connections

[Thrudd]

How extensive is your kung-fu flick collection?

Awesome key films from the heyday of Hong Kong kung-fu action (70's and early 80's)

Shaw Bros.: "Kid with the Golden Arm",
"Heroes of the East" aka "Shaolin Challenges Ninja"
"36 Chambers of Shaolin" aka "Master Killer"
"Five Deadly Venoms"
"Crippled Masters"
"Five Element Ninjas" aka "Chinese Super Ninjas"

Early Yuen Wo Ping stuff (the guy the Wachowskis sought out to do the choreography in the Matrix, and Tarrantino for Kill Bill):
"Snake in Eagle's Shadow", star Jackie Chan
"Drunken Master", star Jackie Chan (I actually like the first one better than the sequel from the 90's)
"Magnificent Butcher" star Sammo Hung, featuring Yuen Biao
"Dreadnaught" starring Yuen Biao

"Prodigal Son" starring Yuen Biao, directed by Sammo Hung who also acts in it

Early 90's era required viewing:
"Fist of Legend", directed Yuen Wo Ping starring Jet Li
"Tai Chi Master" directed Yuen Wo Ping starring Jet Li
"Iron Monkey" directed Yuen Wo Ping starring Donnie Yen

someone already mentioned "Once Upon a Time in China", I would also add "Once Upon a Time in China 2" for the fight between Jet Li and Donnie Yen. The rest in the series can be skipped.

70's era Japanese Karate action: "The Street Fighter" starring Sonny Chiba. Also "Return of the Streetfighter" and "Street Fighter's Last Revenge", not great films, just because Sonny Chiba is a badass.

Oh, almost forgot! Early 80's wuxia: "Duel to the Death" - Flying Ninjas! katana sword energy projection! dismemberment! Sword saints! tragic heroes!

Obviously, look for the original language versions with subtitles. Some of the 90's movies were released for American audiences with embedded English dubbing, re-edited and re-scored terribly. Watch out for those.

[Ruslan]

Stumbled upon a wonderful movie a few days ago, completely by accident. It's called Zero Motivation, it's an Israeli dark comedy about a unit of female soldiers stuck on administrative duties. Available on the interwebs for a small fee. Hebrew, with English subtitles.

[cobaltstarfire]

My two suggestions are

Moon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/) (there is also an unrelated short on the dvd which is...interesting)

and

The Gods Must Be Crazy (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080801/)

[Peelee]

Blues Brothers.
Three Kings.
Life is Beautiful.

Some of my favorites that, for some reason, tend to be mentioned less frequently than other, lesser movies.

Also, seconding Moon. That was awesome.

[Ruslan]

Also recommend The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.

It's like a Swedish Forrest Gump.

[Peelee]

Also, whether I visited Korea with my then-fiancée, a movie came on TV one night. No English subtitles, all in Korean, yet we were able to understand what was happening perfectly (and honestly, it made some scenes with an American even funnier). Wonderful movie.

Welcome to Dongmakgol.

[Velaryon]

A few that I was going to suggest have already been named (speaking of which, I'll second The Good The Bad The Weird, but here are some more that I've enjoyed. Sticking to foreign films, at least for this post.

Therapy for a Vampire (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3400980/?ref_=nv_sr_1) (Austria): Not-Dracula is unhappy in his centuries-old marriage and his seeing Sigmund Freud for therapy. While on the couch, he spots a painting on Freud's wall that looks like his long lost true love (the painting was a gift to Freud from his assistant, whom he employs to paint the vivid dreams and fantasies he has, and is of the artist's girlfriend). Not-Dracula wants to get his wife a portrait because she cannot see herself in the mirror and always badgers him to describe how beautiful she is, so he visits the artist while also looking for the girl in the painting. Comedy ensues.

Sars Wars (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470402/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (Thailand): A new mutation of the SARS virus turns people into zombies. Soon the virus makes its way from Africa to Thailand. Meanwhile, a young woman is kidnapped and held for ransom, and her father hires a vigilante to rescue her, though the vigilante sends his apprentice to do the job at first. A man infected with the virus comes into the same apartment complex where the kidnapped woman is being held, so both the heroes and the gang have to contend with the zombie outbreak. Described on the box as "Star Wars meets Dawn of the Dead," this is obviously a comedy.

Goodnight Mommy (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3086442/?ref_=nv_sr_1) (Germany): Twin boys move to a new home with their mother, who has recently come home from the hospital where she had cosmetic surgery, and her face is all wrapped up. After awhile though, the boys start to suspect that the woman under the mask may not actually be their mother, since she barely resembles the kind, loving mother they remember. Eventually they become so convinced of this that they decide to do whatever they must to get answers from her. This is probably best classified as a horror film, though it has elements of mystery and suspense as well.

I'll post more as I think of them.

[JoshL]

Going just by hearsay though, In the Mood for Love and Raise the Red Lantern appear to be great.

I can vouch for Raise the Red Lantern. It's a great film! I'd also recommend Temptress Moon
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0116295/

If you want a more arthouse approach to Chinese cinema, I loved Frozen. No, not that one. Or that other one. Or that...shesh, I mean this one:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0125279/

[Red Fel]

As long as we're mentioning the genre of wuxia and modern kung fu, I found a few I very much enjoyed on Netflix that you should be able to locate. A bit of a preface; while I love wuxia with comedy themes, my sensibilities don't let me fully enjoy the ones with tragic elements (so, for example, loved Kung Fu Hustle, was upset by Journey to the West: Shephen Chow Reuses Music). A few of my likes:
Wing Chun (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111800/): This film has everything. Over-the-top action sequences, including a hand-to-hand duel whilst balancing on a spear embedded in a stone wall; romance, multiple pairings to varying degrees of humor; comedy, including slapstick and mistaken identity; a strong female protagonist. Great performances, although in some ways the supporting cast outshines the star, Michelle Yeoh.
Kung Fu Hustle (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373074/): I mentioned it above, and it has already been mentioned, but this is one of Chow's good ones. Some of Chow's stuff has been a bit all over the map (e.g. God of Cookery, Journey to the West: Mutilating a Classic) but this one is extremely stable. Funny, great characters, cartoonish action, and some truly amazing fight scenes.
Woochi (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1274293/): It's Korean wuxia. A fish-out-of-water story about a slacker Taoist Wizard in training in the modern era. Light, fun, fluffy.
Badges of Fury (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2644714/): A buddy cop comedy with wuxia elements... At least until you realize it's actually a surprisingly satisfying deconstruction of both genres. (Such as a cop fantasizing about leaping up to an apartment balcony like in the movies. It does not work as advertised.) Features Jet Li in a supporting role, which is kind of surprising. (Also, features Jet Li making gags about Jet Li's career. And his age.)
Tai Chi Zero (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1981080/) / Tai Chi Hero (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2296404/): A two-part pair of movies. The action gets appropriately silly, the characters appropriately absurd, and the framing is enjoyable. (For instance, when a well-known actor appears, a quick splash screen tells you how excited you should be, a la "Holy crap it's David Bowie!")
For more serious fare, I'd suggest Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1123373/) and its later prequel, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2992146/). Detective Dee (or rather, Judge Di) is a great character, and the mysteries are very engaging; the protagonist uses cunning, knowledge, and keen observational skills to unravel mysteries of great political import.

Lastly, departing that region of the world entirely, the one film I always recommend is The Princess Bride (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/). It has everything. To quote Peter Falk, "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..." It's a comedy, it's a romance, it has great duels and revolting villains, Mandy Patinkin faking a Spanish accent, Andre the Giant being truly delightful, Wally Shawn giving his greatest performance... It's just a perfect film.

[Ruslan]

More foreign recommendations: Goodbye, Lenin!

A German film taking place during the collapse of Berlin Wall and unification of Germany.

[2D8HP]

Goodbye, Lenin!.I second this one. I really liked it.
Word of warning, I've heard that the German the lead speaks has the wrong accent for a Berliner.

[Flickerdart]

Word of warning, I've heard that the German the lead speaks has the wrong accent for a Berliner.
I generally expect doughnuts not to speak at all!

[Aedilred]

Worth noting too that although the premise of Goodbye, Lenin! makes it sound pretty heavy, it is ultimately a heartwarming and slightly silly story about a young man who loves his mother, so it's actually quite good fun.

[The Second]

Thanks all, this is exactly what I was hoping for. Very excited to have some new movies to enjoy.

As for my collection, if its English language, made before 2012, and even mildly popular, I probably own it. I'm the type of person who browses the one dollar video bin at the discount store, then the used DVDs, then everything else. I buy anythingvive never seen and add it to my collection. I especially like the compilation disks that have been rleased in the last decade or so, especially horror and romance anthologies.

I have a mountain of BBC nature documentaries, every MST3k episode and the films featured. I own every Chaplin movie, every Sherly Temple movie, every Patrick Swayze movie, everything starring Michael Douglas, Kathy Ireland, Lucile Ball, Bogart, Flynn, Arnie, Sigourney Weaver, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, all the Disney animated features up to The Little Mermaid, all of Miyazaki's movies, several Kurosawa movies, a couple Korean movies, a few Chinese movies (all featuring the journey to the west), a lot of anime trash, a landfill of horror trash (all the Hammer and Troma flicks particularly), several plays and operas (The Pirates of Penzance, the Nutcracker, and A Midsummer Nights Dream being my favorites).

In short, I own a ****ton of movies.

[Red Fel]

In short, I own a ****ton of movies.

Is that a metric ****ton or an imperial ****ton?

[The Second]

Is that a metric ****ton or an imperial ****ton?

It's a 'Murican ****ton.

[Thrudd]

As long as we're mentioning the genre of wuxia and modern kung fu, I found a few I very much enjoyed on Netflix that you should be able to locate. A bit of a preface; while I love wuxia with comedy themes, my sensibilities don't let me fully enjoy the ones with tragic elements (so, for example, loved Kung Fu Hustle, was upset by Journey to the West: Shephen Chow Reuses Music). A few of my likes:[list]
Wing Chun (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111800/): This film has everything. Over-the-top action sequences, including a hand-to-hand duel whilst balancing on a spear embedded in a stone wall; romance, multiple pairings to varying degrees of humor; comedy, including slapstick and mistaken identity; a strong female protagonist. Great performances, although in some ways the supporting cast outshines the star, Michelle Yeoh.
Kung Fu Hustle (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373074/): I mentioned it above, and it has already been mentioned, but this is one of Chow's good ones. Some of Chow's stuff has been a bit all over the map (e.g. God of Cookery, Journey to the West: Mutilating a Classic) but this one is extremely stable. Funny, great characters, cartoonish action, and some truly amazing fight scenes.


Yeah, "Wing Chun" is another good Yuen Wo Ping classic.

For Stephen Chow, I agree. I'd say the Chow movies people ought to see are "Shaolin Soccer", "Kung Fu Hustle" and "God of Cookery". The last isn't as amazing as the other two, but I include it because it is just so absurd, and the last sequence with the cooking contest is so good. It's worth waiting through the rest of the movie just to get to that part. I love the contest judge character, it is too bad he didn't have her dispersed throughout the movie.

There are a couple good modern Jet Li movies, as well. I quite liked his take on Fok Yuen Gap/Huo Yuan Jia in "Fearless": the last great wire-fu period piece.


There are also a series of supremely weird Jet Li movies from the early 90's directed by Wong Jing.

"Kung Fu Cult Master" aka "The Evil Cult" also has Sammo Hung.

"Last Hero in China" aka "Deadly China Hero", actually had action choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping - Jet Li reprises his role as Wong Fei Hung in a much more comedic and weirder film, though with some good fights and an example of him performing drunken style (which I don't think we see in any other movie). Also, Gordon Liu as an evil monk that flies around in a giant lotus flower. Also, Jet Li in a chicken costume fighting guys in a centipede costume.

"The New Legend of Shaolin" -yet another retelling of the aftermath of the destruction of Shaolin at the hands of the Qing, this time with crazy over-the-top weirdness. Jet Li in the role of Hung Hei Gwun, accompanied by a kick-ass kid playing his son Hung Man Ting, Lone Wolf and Cub-style.

[Red Fel]

Ooh, got another one - "Justice, My Foot (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105385/)!" Another Stephen Chow, one of the good ones. He's in front of the camera, not behind it. It's a comedy about a lawyer and his wife. Good cast, great slapstick, an entertaining story. Not as big an action/adventure tale, although there are some entertaining acrobatics, but overall still a fun romp. Anita Mui in particular nails the humor.

[Fri]

"Kung Fu Cult Master" aka "The Evil Cult" also has Sammo Hung.


IIRC, this is the one with "Heaven Sword and Dragon Blade" as its original title or whatever the english translation of the actual title, right?

It's actually one of my favourite "fantastic" kungfu movie of all time. It's based on one part of a trilogy of legendary Wuxia novel, which are adapted all the time. Also, the original novel had what might be one of the earlier example of shipping war :smallbiggrin:

Edit:

Yep, that's the movie I'm thinking about, and explanation on the part about shipping war from wikipedia.



Throughout his adventures, Zhang Wuji finds himself entangled in a complex web of love relationships with four maidens. The first, Yin Li, is a horribly disfigured girl who is actually his maternal cousin. The second, Xiaozhao, is a Chinese-Persian servant girl who understands him very well. The third, Zhou Zhiruo, is a childhood friend whom he develops a strong bond with. The fourth, Zhao Min, is a Mongol princess and his former arch-rival. Yin Li is apparently killed in the middle of the story while Xiaozhao returns to Persia after it is revealed that she is destined to lead the Persian Ming Cult.



At the end of the novel, Zhang Wuji decides to retire from the jianghu after he mistakenly believes that the Ming Cult's members are plotting to betray him. He decides that Zhao Min is his true love and they leave to lead a reclusive life far away from society. (The second edition of the novel has an ambiguous ending about Zhang Wuji's relationship with Zhou Zhiruo.) Zhang Wuji gave up an opportunity to become a ruler because the Ming Cult eventually overthrew the Yuan dynasty. Ideally, Zhang would have become the new emperor, but instead, Zhu Yuanzhang takes the throne and founds the Ming dynasty.

In 2005, Jin Yong published a third edition of the novel, which has a slightly different ending from the earlier versions. In this edition, Zhang Wuji feels disillusioned after failing to save a general's life and addressing Han Lin'er's death. He relinquishes his leadership of the Ming Cult to Yang Xiao and Fan Yao, and then leaves the Central Plains with Zhao Min.[3]

[Southern Cross]

Is nobody else a fan of Mr. Vampire and Big Trouble In Little China?

[DoctorFaust]

Well, if you're interested in other anime trash, I'd point you towards stuff like Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0193253/?ref_=nv_sr_1), Perfect Blue (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156887/?ref_=nv_sr_1), Miss Hokusai (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3689910/?ref_=nv_sr_1), Sword of the Stranger (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1121794/?ref_=nv_sr_2), A Silent Voice (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5323662/?ref_=nv_sr_1), Your Name (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5311514/?ref_=nv_sr_1) (I don't know if those last two are available to purchase in English yet), The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808506/), and Redline (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483797/?ref_=nv_sr_2). I haven't personally seen all of these, but they've all been highly recommended to me by people that I generally trust. Though, honestly, just about anything by Satoshi Kon or Makoto Shinkai is going to be at least worth watching.

For English films, just about anything by the Marx Brothers, but especially Duck Soup (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023969/?ref_=nv_sr_1) and Animal Crackers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020640/).

[Morph Bark]

Well, if you're interested in other anime trash, I'd point you towards stuff like Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0193253/?ref_=nv_sr_1), Perfect Blue (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156887/?ref_=nv_sr_1), Miss Hokusai (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3689910/?ref_=nv_sr_1), Sword of the Stranger (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1121794/?ref_=nv_sr_2), A Silent Voice (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5323662/?ref_=nv_sr_1), Your Name (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5311514/?ref_=nv_sr_1) (I don't know if those last two are available to purchase in English yet), The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808506/), and Redline (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483797/?ref_=nv_sr_2). I haven't personally seen all of these, but they've all been highly recommended to me by people that I generally trust. Though, honestly, just about anything by Satoshi Kon or Makoto Shinkai is going to be at least worth watching.

Perfect Blue and Sword of the Stranger are both top notch films. Perfect Blue even gets a lot of references in mainstream Hollywood films twenty years on, and Sword of the Stranger is just all-round beautifully animated.

[Velaryon]

Somewhere out there is a collection of some of Akira Kurosawa's earliest films. I'm sure you have Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, etc., but do you have Sanshiro Sugata (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036400/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), Sanshiro Sugata Part II (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038268/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2), The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038182/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), or The Most Beautiful (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036947/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)? That last one is interesting because it's actually a WW2 propaganda film about the women who worked in factories in Japan, and their heroic struggle to meet the demanding quotas placed on them to aid the war effort. Even though it's from that era, it focuses entirely inward and doesn't portray Japan's enemies at the time in any particularly negative light (in fact, it barely mentions them at all). It isn't anywhere close to Kurosawa's best work, but I found it fascinating as a piece of history.

This one's French-Israeli, but is filmed in English. The Congress (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821641/?ref_=nv_sr_1) stars Robin Wright (best known as Buttercup from The Princess Bride) as a fictionalized version of herself. She's out of work and basically un-hireable in the industry, until a studio makes her an offer: to sell her digitized likeness to the studio. Technology has progressed to the point where they can use a computerized version of an actor to make any film they want, without using the actual person at all. If she signs the contract, they get full use of her image and likeness, and she's prohibited from ever acting again. After that... it gets weird. The movie becomes a head trip that occasionally strains credulity but is (at least IMO) a fun ride the whole time. It's a partially animated sci-fi drama film that's at least worth seeing once if you haven't already.

Another French film, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179025/?ref_=nv_sr_1) is one I recommend to everyone on the forum, not just you. It's based on a French comic, and the shortest and most spoiler-free description I can give is that it's a pulp sci-fi adventure in the vein of Indiana Jones, but with a female journalist. There are both mummies and pterodactyls in this movie, and if that's not enough to sell you right there, then I just don't know you anymore. :smallsmile:

[JoshL]

Another I just thought of, under the "required reading" category: Hell In The Pacific
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063056/
Lee Marvin, Toshirô Mifune, WWII enemies meet on an island and must cooporate for survival; fairly standard story these days (Enemy Mine was a favorite as a kid). But what makes this one kind of special is that it was originally released in Japan and the US without subtitles. Neither character speaks the other's language. Watch this (and be sure to shut off subtitles, which they put on the dvd). It's a great experience and really complex film.

Definitely need to check out Adele Blanc-Sec, I see that's done by Luc Besson, who is usually pretty awesome (looking forward to his Valerian!) I'd also recommend, written but not directed by him, District B13 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414852/ starring David Belle showing you what parkour is all about. Seriously, that opening chase scene... Avoid the american remake, Brick Mansions, which does make some improvements, but replaces half the parkour with stunt driving. Neat, if you like that, but this film is best summed up by a really on the nose scene near the end: where Belle and co-star Paul Walker need to get to the top of an apartment building to confront the Final Boss. Belle looks to the stairway, about to hop up the rails the way he always does. Walker, who cannot do that, stops him, and they take the elevator. Shot of them in the elevator, riding up. Belle looking very impatient.

[Fawkes]

Pretty much anything Kurosawa, although my personal favorite is Sanjuro.

Seconding this, except my favorite is Yojimbo.

Really, though, this topic is way too broad for suggestions, unless we're just building a comprehensive list of every movie anyone's ever liked.... which actually would be hell of an endeavor.

OP, do you have a catalog of your library?

[Ruslan]

Three more Israeli drama films:

A Borrowed Idenity, also known under an alternative title Dancing Arabs - a complex drama on Israeli/Arab relations.

Gett - The Trial of Vivian Amsalem - the struggles of a woman in a traditional Jewish society to get a divorce from her husband.

The Band's Visit - an Egyptian police band take the wrong turn, and instead of appearing at the Israeli-Arab Cultural Center, as planned, are forced to spend the weekend at a small desert town. Much drama - and also hijinx - ensue. (this film is actually mostly in English, as Egyptians and Israelis use this language to communicate. Whatever isn't in English is subtitled)

[Mister Tom]

You could do worse than pick you favourite movies and head to IMDb or Netflix for recommendations, but try:

-delicatessen http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101700/ and micmacs http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149361 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149361/) by Jeunet
Das boot (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082096/), a very different WW2 film

Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095675/?ref_=tt_rec_tt)- or various others by Almodovar

If you like your comedy reaaaalllly black, Man bites Dog (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103905/?ref_=nv_sr_1).

Plus The aforementioned Jean de Florette and manon des sources, many of the films of Hayao Miyazaki, and Pan's Labyrinth. Should keep you going a while!

[JoshL]

since we've been talking a lot of artfilm, https://www.criterion.com has a flash sale right now, 50% SRP until noon 10/18 EDT (promo code: DOLLS). Criteron editions are wonderful and beautiful, and if anyone wants to buy me that 50 years of Janus films box set.... :smallwink:

Went to my local theater yesterday to see Belladonna of Sadness, and animated Japanese film from the 70s and dear god was it amazing. Tough to take; very heavy subject matter, but beautiful nightmare of a film. They had a trailer for the new print of Delicatessan as well as an upcoming Jim Jarmusch week! So I'll be more or less living there for November.

[Aedilred]

If you like your comedy reaaaalllly black, Man bites Dog (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103905/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

One of the darkest and most disturbing films I can recall watching. The Christmas scene in particular still makes my flesh crawl just thinking about it. It is good, though.

[Deatch]

Looking at the suggestions and seeing many films I enjoyed, I feel I can provide few recommendations which will be appreciated.

'Dinner for Adele' and 'The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians' are old Czech movies which are best described as steampunk with hints of old-school detective stories (Adele) and Jules Verne (Castle).

Sorry for not providing links but apparently my post count is too low for that :smallconfused:

[Fri]

Suddenly I remember a movie I haven't thought about for a very long time.

It was almost two decades ago, when me and my younger brother was a kid, and it was summer vacation. We stayed up late and there's a foreign movie festival week on tv. Since we had nothing better to do, we decided to watch the movie played that night, thinking to switch to play on our sega genesis after a while. But it turned out the movie was so enthralling that we didn't thought to play the game at all.

It's Sumo Do Sumo Don't. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105388/) It's about a ragtag bunch of misfits gathered by their professors in a college to join their ailing sumo club. None of them are interested in sumo at all, but they have to join the club for one reason and another, and enter a tournament to save the sumo club from being disbanded. A typical sport comedy about ragtag bunch of misfits joining tournament and such (you know the type), but funny and really endearing in my memory.

Another movie I just remember that's relatively newer is Summer Time Machine Blues. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498567/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) It's a silly comedy movie about a sci-fi club in highschool where none of the members are actually interested in sci-fi, who randomly stumbled into a time machine. It's the type of time-travel movie where seemingly all unimportant background event early on turned out to be part of a web of events that you only piece together at the end.

[Morph Bark]

since we've been talking a lot of artfilm, https://www.criterion.com has a flash sale right now, 50% SRP until noon 10/18 EDT (promo code: DOLLS). Criteron editions are wonderful and beautiful, and if anyone wants to buy me that 50 years of Janus films box set.... :smallwink:

Aw man. So tempting to get a lot of Blu-rays. My wallet would cry clinky tears.

EDIT: Aaaand it's US/Canada only. :smallfrown:


One of the darkest and most disturbing films I can recall watching. The Christmas scene in particular still makes my flesh crawl just thinking about it. It is good, though.

Is Man Bites Dog really that dark? Kind of curious that we have a family show over here named after it.

[JoshL]

Oh, yeah, Man Bites Dog is dark. Film crew doing a documentary about a murderer. It is very funny (the standard documentary montage scene cracks me up every time), but it is about as black as humor gets, and pretty graphic. I'd definitely recommend it for those with a strong stomach.

[Kislath]

Two Days in the Valley. Quirky and fun.

[Morph Bark]

Hey, The Second, with the amount of films you got, I bet you have a bunch of suggestions for others to watch too. Any suggestions on Asian horror, or modern horror (1990-present)? Any anime trash that's so bad it's good, or good plays/operas?