They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood ) - #25

This film makes me very excited to be moving to San Diego. I really hope I get the chance to perform a meaningful song and get no applause at all, like what the lead character is looking for. Just to be allowed to finish something in public would be such a blessing.

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #24

24 is my favorite number.

The Island (2006) - Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives an unusual man whose bizarre conduct confuses his fellow monks, while others who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future.

Thank you and God Bless you, Pinar Çoral, for the recommendation. I love you.

Watch it on Tubi for free.

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #23

The Act of Killing (2012)


Nominated for Best Documentary? It's sure to win, but that's it? Is that all? Why was this masterpiece not nominated for Best Picture? Why doesn't someone create a new category: Best Film of All Time?

If ever a film could literally save the world, this is it. That's not hyperbole. I mean what I say.

I really wish my best friend, the great filmmaker Venkatesh Veeraraghavan, were still alive to watch this with me.

It is the epitome of what all documentary film, all psychodrama, all humanity should aspire to be.

So Sayeth The King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #22

The Invisibe War (2012)


I watched this documentary the other day. It inspired me to post this in hopes that I may be less invisible.

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #21

I have been waiting a long time for this Danish masterpiece. The Hunt has finally been released on DVD.


 The wait is over. Rent or buy this film ASAP.

Mads, who has made more than one appearance in my They Make Good Films These Days list, won best actor at Cannes for this performance.

Please read this commentary: The insidiousness of false allegations.

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #20

The Big Picture (2010) - Directed by Eric Lartigu

Excellent! It has been ages since I have seen such a good neo-noir. I am really glad I watched this without knowing anything about it. I highly recommend watching it without even reading the rest of my review. I wouldn't say the synopsis below is a spoiler exactly - watching the two minute trailer definitely is, that is why this is the first time I have not included one in this series - but, as I said, this is a film best seen with as little knowledge about it as possible. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Something bad happens. It is not exactly the protagonist's fault, at first. Under the right circumstances - with the right defense lawyer - it could easily be portrayed as just an accident, but that wouldn't be much of a noir, would it? It wouldn't be much of a story at all.

The darkest shadow of suspicion imaginable soon descends on the protagonist and he seals his own fate doing what appears to him as his only choice. However, in classic Chandleresque fashion, every step he takes with purpose to protect himself and his loved ones backfires, making things worse and worse.

At the end, there was a touching and very appropriate moment of redemption, but the atmosphere, score and acting still make this one of most deliciously dark noir films that I have seen in a long time.

Niels Arestrup, the mob boss from A Prophet, plays a non-criminal, yet equally menacing authoritative figure in this film. Fans of this film will also like "The Square," directed by Nash Edgerton.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #19

We do not live in a "litigious society." We live in a world that is afraid to be litigious because of the relentless jokes and talking points paid for by the US Chamber of Commerce and other lobbyist vampire squid groups like them. We need to be more litigious. There is no other way to settle legitimate disputes and redress real grievances. watch this film. it's amazing.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood) - #18

Unfinished Sky



I can't get enough of these Australian crime dramas.

This trailer seems to have a couple of spoilers. I feel bad posting it, but as a caveat I will recommend just jumping right in to the film without doing too much research. You will not regret it.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #17

Harakiri is a timeless parable of poverty, charity, family, class, honor, cruelty, ritual disembowelment and, last but most important of all, dimples.

If Dickens himself had been born in Japan, he could not have written a more compelling, anguished story than is told by this film.

I first saw the Takashi Miike remake of this 1962 classic when I randomly chose “Hara-Kiri: Death of aSamurai” on Netflix Streaming the other night. I was instantly captivated. The dread and foreboding in the first few scenes captured so well, it is no wonder that Miike is best known for modern horror classics like “Audition” and “Ichi the Killer.”  But this is no mere horror movie. The horror of it all is the key to a door leading to an infinite number of larger themes, the most elemental of which are listed above. As Alfred Hitchcock knew so well, suspense is much more horrifying than the splatter violence so many of us are desensitized to by now.

Unlike Hitchcock, neither Harakiri (1962) nor Hara-Kire (2011) takes enjoyment in the cruelty which it depicts. It is there, bold and beautiful, but with purpose. No jouissance, as Zizek would say.

I am glad that I saw the remake first. The first act of the remake is superior to the original. The actors in the 1962 film sound almost like they are simply reading lines. The cinematography and the editing – especially Miike’s use of silence – is exquisite. However, it is the second act when the remake begins to veer off course into a muddled, sentimental version of this timeless story. I would not call it bad, but the original was smoothly paced and never left me waiting for a scene to be over.

Ultimately, it is difficult to recommend to anyone else which one to view first. I am glad I saw the remake first and then the original. Although it was not a perfect viewing experience, I got to see the best first scene first and the best last scene last: so yeah, there’s that. But I have not had, and cannot physically have, any other experience to recommend to others: so yeah, there’s that too.

As an American, I do not recall ever seeing a foreign remake of a foreign film from the same country. It is quite interesting. I have been supremely disappointed in the past, enraged even, watching classic films – The Omen comes to mind – being remade into downright trash for purely commercial purposes. If you have seen the original film  and love it, I do not recommend watching the remake without this caveat.

Most remakes, in my experience, are done for commercial exploitation, however I feel like there was more than just commercial exploitation intended here. There was definitely some of that. There is no other way to explain why any film is made in 3D after 2009.

But at the end of the day, I have had one of those film experiences that I cannot stop thinking about long after the credits have rolled. I look forward to repeat viewings of both films.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

Dear God, Please Let Me See This Film

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #16

Just saw the German film Antibodies.





Norman Reedus is the very first character in the very first scene. Apparently he understands German, but he has no lines at all. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would think it was some kind of plot to get the attention of Boondock Saints and Walking Dead fans. He is only in that one scene. Anyone looking for more of him will be disappointed, if that's all they are looking for.


The film itself is absolutely incredible. It will not disappoint anyone with any sensible interest in psychological thrillers. Some will compare this film to Silence of the Lambs. A cop questions the most prolific serial killer in "the united Fatherland" for help with an unsolved case.

I will go so far as to say it is an improvement on Anthony Hopkins' masterpiece.

So sayeth the King of Funny Faces.

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #15

Norway's a good place they make films. Submarino, for example.



I love finding new directors.

This film has a Jim Jarmusch/Quentin Tarantino influence to it, in that the stories unfold in overlapping flashbacks similar to Mystery Train and Pulp Fiction.

There really isn't any comedy in this film, though. It's all tragedy. Some may call it slow, but I call it just beautiful.

I can't wait to see Mads Mikkelsen in Vinterberg's latest "The Hunt."

So sayeth the King of Funny Faces.

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #14

Awful Normal

This was very therapeutic for me to watch.



So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #13

I just posted this review on Netflix. Hopefully, it will be posted soon.

Move over Mongol. Red Hill is officially now my favorite movie of ALL TIME! Jimmy Conway is one of the most iconic characters in all of film. He's scary as hell like Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, but without the quirky haircut and the one liners. The plot is pretty much the exact opposite of High Noon. It's every bit as iconic. The whole thing is bloody perfect. It's glorious. I'm definitely going to buy the DVD and I want to buy a copy for all my friends. I just might do that for somebody I know who's having a birthday next month. Never mind the bollocks in some of the other reviews. Watch this movie. You won't regret it.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - 13

Example #13: Flame and Citron

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - 12

Example #12: The Square



So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - 11

Example #11: Animal Kingdom



So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #10

My name is Khan.
I am not a terrorist.
I am the Post-9/11 Forrest Gump.



He's also an Aspie.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #9

Example #9: Mother



Outsanding Film! Awesome! Bravo!

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - 8

Example #8: The Secret In Their Eyes



A Great Combination of Several Genres, this film has it all: Mystery, Romance, Political Intrigue
It doesn't get much better than this.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!