I've never really had an open mind when it comes to movies. I like romantic comedies. I really love romantic comedies that were based on books. While I have been known to see a few action and kid's flicks to keep the rest of my family happy, I prefer romantic comedies. That all changed when I got Netflix.
Now? I have a seriously weird Netflix addiction.
I recently discovered documentaries and foreign films. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever expect that one night I would be captivated by a four year old French girl or get caught up in the story of a Mexican circus family? Just the mere thought of subtitles a few years ago would have had me running for the hills but now I can't get enough.
Beware the list that follows are either:
Slice of life films
Foreign films with subtitles
Films without a single spoken word
or
Films that will leave you breathless, tearful and inspired.
Food Beware Organic - The French Revolution:
Jean-Paul Jaud's documentary visits the Barjac village in France, where the mayor has mandated an all-organic menu for the lunch program in the local school. Farmers, parents, kids and health care advocates discuss the impact of the decision. School and government officials also weigh in on why people are dying of cancer in ever-increasing numbers, the food industry's role, the use of pesticides, nutrition and local sustainability.
To Be and To Have:
The once-acclaimed French school system is under siege, with overcrowding making it impossible for children to receive the education they deserve. But there's one place that's trying to buck the tide. This documentary by Nicolas Philibert visits a one-room schoolhouse in rural Saint-Étienne-sur-Usson, where Georges Lopez teaches his 13 students, ranging in age between 3 and 10, the old-fashioned way ... with effort, attention and encouragement.
The Wave:
To give his students a real-world example of how dictatorships can grow powerful, a high school teacher starts a social experiment that gives some of his students a strong advantage while leaving others subservient and powerless.
The Garden:
Filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy's politically charged, Oscar-nominated documentary follows a group of low-income families struggling to protect a 14-acre urban farm in the middle of South Central Los Angeles from bureaucratic real estate developers.
After raising themselves in the desert along with thousands of other "lost boys," Sudanese refugees John, Daniel and Panther have found their way to America, where they experience electricity, running water and supermarkets for the first time. Capturing their wonder at things Westerners take for granted, this documentary, an award winner at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, paints an intimate portrait of strangers in a strange land.
Lior Liebling, a Jewish boy with Down syndrome, spends his days praying endlessly to God, much to the delight -- and occasional befuddlement -- of those around him. Follow Lior, nicknamed "the little rebbe," as he approaches his bar mitzvah. Ilana Trachtman's coming-of-age documentary paints a touching portrait of a family, while raising tough questions about notions of faith and disability.
Daniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar for his emotionally and physically complex portrayal of Irish writer Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy and misdiagnosed as mentally disabled for the first 10 years of his life. The story unfolds in a series of flashbacks with Hugh O'Conor starring as the young Christy, who eventually learned to write using the only body part he could control: his left foot.
In this poignant and humorous film set in France in the summer of 1976, director François Truffaut chronicles the journey of childhood through the eyes of children ages two weeks to 14 years old. Among the joys and pains the kids experience are a double date at the movies, brothers who give a friend a haircut, first love, teenage rebellion and a toddler who falls from a window. One of the highlights is a soliloquy delivered by a schoolteacher.
Mexican ringmaster Tino struggles to operate his family's long-running traveling circus in the midst of an economic downturn, while coping with the demands of his fed-up wife and four talented young children in this fascinating documentary.
Documentary filmmaker Thomas Balmes charts the simultaneous early development of four babies from different parts of the world, illustrating what makes human life unique, similar and precious wherever it occurs. Training his camera on newborns Hattie from San Francisco, Ponijao from Namibia, Bayarjargal from Mongolia and Mari from Tokyo, Balmes captures everything from first screaming breaths to first steps.
After thousands of people around the world joined together to record banal and remarkable everyday events on July 24, 2010, director Kevin MacDonald led a team of editors to condense more than 4,500 hours of video into this picture of life on Earth.
When her mother dies in a car accident, 4-year-old Ponette (Victoire Thivisol) is left physically and emotionally scarred and in the care of her grief-stricken father. Sent to live with family for a while, Ponette slowly comes to terms with her loss. Thivisol earned a Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival for her powerful, haunting performance as her character sullenly navigates a world comprised mostly of children's faces.
What's the last great movie you watched?
I will have to see the first two movies on your list. We've opted for private education in France for our first son who attends a private daycare and will soon attend a private "maternelle" pre-school, so I suppose the first two are near and dear subjects to my heart.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of a few of them. I'm with you on romantic comedies, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to be adding these to my list!
ReplyDeleteMy own list includes:
"TiMER" - a quirky romantic comedy
"Saint Ralph " - My favorite feel-good movie "Mary and Max" - A quirky Australian claymation
"Creature Comforts America" - silly dubbed-over claymation
And, of course, the whole collection of food documentaries:
"Food, Inc."
"Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead"
"Forks Over Knives"
My son is really good with finding independent and foreign films on Netflix too. He sends me all kinds of goodies! Also, he told me that the original versions of the Girl in the Dragon Tattoo trilogy are so good that he won't even see them in the American versions.
ReplyDeleteGreat list! I'm usually stuck on TCM for movies because I can never find anything good. The last great movie I saw was an oldie - Tenth Avenue Angel. The message was great: Don't lie to your kids about fantasy things. Eventually they'll find out and won't trust a word you say!
ReplyDelete