Yi Yi (2000)
Directed by: Edward Yang
Starring: Nien-Jen Wu, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang
Rated: NR (Suggested PG-13 for Thematic Elements and Brief Nudity)
Running Time: 2 h 53 m
TMM Score: 5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Writing, Directing, Cinematography, Acting, Aesthetic
WEAKNESSES: -
The members of the Taipei family experience life in all its various stages, reconciling old relationship, starting new romances, and shaping their view or the world.
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Dragon Inn (1967)
Directed by: King Hu
Starring: Lingfeng Shangguan, Chun Shih, Ying Bai
Rated: NR (Suggested: PG-13 for Martial Arts Action Violence)
Running Time: 1 h 51 m
TMM Score: 4 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Action, Cinematography, Story, Acting, Pacing
WEAKNESSES: Melodramatic Moments
Traveling swordsmen discover a plot to assassinate the two remaining members of a defeated general’s family and decide to intervene.
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Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
Directed by: Paul Schrader
Starring: Ken Ogata, Masayuki Shionoya, Hiroshi Mikami
Rated: R
Running Time: 2h
TMM Score: 5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Directorial Vision, Cinematography, Production Design, Acting, Score
WEAKNESSES: Are you kidding? Who could find a weakness in this film.
The great Japanese author and social leader, Yukio Mishima, prepares for his greatest work; of art and of action.
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Good Morning (1959)
Directed by: Yasujiro Ozu
Starring: Keji Sada, Yoshiko Kuga, Chishu Ryu
Rated: NR (Suggested PG for Some Rude Humor)
Running Time: 1 h 34 m
TMM Score: 3.5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Aesthetic, Charm, Writing, Directing
WEAKNESSES: Pacing
In a small village in Japan, two boys start a silence strike to convince their parents to buy them a television.
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Amarcord (1973)
Directed by: Federico Fellini
Starring: Magali Noel, Bruno Zanin, Pupella Maggio
Rated: R
Running Time: 2 h 3 m
TMM Score: 4 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Directing, Writing, Nostalgia
WEAKNESSES: Pacing Towards the End
A series of vignettes about the people living in a small town in Italy during the 1930s.
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La Dolce Vita (1960)
Directed by: Federico Fellini
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Annita Ekberg, Anouk Aimee, Yvonne Furneaux
Rated: NR (Suggested: PG-13 for Some Sexual and Disturbing Material)
Running Time: 2 h 54 m
TMM Score: 5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Pacing, Cinematography, Writing, Directing
WEAKNESSES: -
La Dolce Vita follows Marcello Rubini, a journalist living in Rome, through a week of his life.
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The Great Beauty (2013)
Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino
Starring: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli
Rated: NR (Suggested R for Some Sexual Material Including Nudity, Mild Language, and Drug References)
Running Time: 2 h 21 m
TMM Score: 4.5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Writing, Directing, Cinematography, Acting
WEAKNESSES: Pacing, Pretentiousness(?)
Sixty-five-year-old Jep Gambardella takes stock of his party lifestyle after his recent birthday.
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Wild Strawberries (1957)
Directed by: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: Victor Sjostrom, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin
Rated: NR (Suggested: PG-13 for Thematic Material)
Running Time: 1 h 31 m
TMM Score: 5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Writing, Directing, Dream Sequences
WEAKNESSES: -
An elderly professor takes a road trip from Stockholm to Lund to receive an honorary degree.
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The Tale of Zatoichi (1962)
Directed by: Kenji Misumi
Starring: Shintaro Katsu, Masayo Banri, Shigeru Amachi
Rated: NR (Suggested PG-13 for Samurai Violence)
Running Time: 1 h 36 m
TMM Score: 3.5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Characters, Charm, Story
WEAKNESSES: Pacing
Zatoichi, a blind, gambling, masseuse who is also a swordsman, gets wrapped up in a squabble with the yakuza and has to find a way to make peace.
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Ivan's Childhood (1962)
Directed by: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Nikolay Burlyaev, Irina Tarkoskaya, Evgeniy Zharikov
Rated: Running Time: 1 h 24 m
TMM Score: 5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Acting, Directing, Cinematography
WEAKNESSES: -
A twelve-year-old boy works for the Soviet army as a spy behind German lines during WWII.
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The Lure (2015)
Directed by: Agnieszka Smoczynska
Starring: Marta Mazurek, Michalina Olszanska, Jakub Gierszal
Rated: NR (Suggested R for Sexual Content Including Nudity and Dialogue, and Some Violence)
Running Time: 1 h 32 m
TMM Score: 4 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Originality, Music, Production Design, Directing
WEAKNESSES: Some Acting, Some Objectionable Material
A musical about two mermaid sisters who are hired to work at a nightclub; when one of them falls in love with a bassist in the band, threatening their very way of life.
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The Virgin Spring (1960)
Directed by: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: Max Von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitta Pettersson
Rated: Running Time: 1 h 29 m
TMM Score: 5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Directing, Acting, Cinematography, Symbolism, Pacing
WEAKNESSES: -
A young virgin and a jealous servant make their way to a church to deliver candles, but along the way they encounter trouble.
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My Life As a Zucchini (2016)
Directed by: Claude Barras
Starring: Eric Abbate, Nick Offerman, Will Forte
Rated: PG13
Running Time: 1h 10m
TMM Score: 3 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Animation, Unique Voice
WEAKNESSES: Unexpectedly Serious
When young Zucchini accidentally kills his single alcoholic mother he is placed in a foster group home where he meets other children who are all in a similar plight and don’t know what to think of the new kid.
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Pom Poko (1994)
Directed by:Isao Takahata
Starring:Shincho Kokontei, Makoto Nonomura, Yuriko Ishida
Rated: PG for Violence, Scary Images and Thematic Elements
Running Time: 1 h 59 m
TMM Score: 3.5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Originality, Humor, Animation Style
WEAKNESSES: Length, Finding Target Audience
A group of shape-shifting “raccoon dogs” fight against the humans who plan on turning their forest into a development.
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Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011)
Directed by: Makoto Shinkai
Starring: Hilary Haag, Corey Hartzog, Leraldo Anzaldua
Rated: TV-14
Running Time: 1 h 56 m
TMM Score: 3 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Animation Style, Originality, Design, Soundtrack
WEAKNESSES: Pacing, Legnth
A lonely young girl meets a mysterious boy on a mountain. When he disappears into a world beyond, the girl follows him and eventually discovers things about both her past and the boy’s.
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As The Gods Will (2014)
Directed by: Takashi Miike
Starring: Sota Fukushi, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Shota Sometani
Rated: NR (Best Guess: R)
Running Time: 1h 57m
TMM Score: 3 stars out of 5 (I liked it)
STRENGTHS: Ingenuity
WEAKNESSES: Length, Shallow
Shun Takahata is a typical bored teenager, but when his high school is forced to play supernatural deadly playground games, he must come to grips with the the value of his and his friends’ lives.
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Porco Rosso (1992)
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Shuichiro Moriyama, Tokiko Kato, Bunshi Katsura Vi
Rated: PG for Violence and Some Mild Language
Running Time: 1 h 34 m
TMM Score: 4 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Whimsy, Artwork, Unique Story, Music
WEAKNESSES: Meandering Plot, Low Stakes
Set in 1930’s Italy, a veteran World War I pilot cursed to look like a pig fights off air pirates and goes on other whimsical adventures.
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The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara
Rated: NR (Suggested PG-13)
Running Time: 2 h 19 m
TMM Score: 4 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Writing, Characters, Blocking, Cinematography, Directing
WEAKNESSES: Pacing
Two peasants help a general and a princess sneak across enemy lines while carrying two hundred pieces of gold.
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The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Kyoko Kagawa
Running Time: 2h 31m
Rated: NR (best guess, PG)
TMM Score: 3 stars out of 5 (I liked it)
STRENGTHS: Character Development, Theme
WEAKNESSES: Pacing
Everyone knows that something corrupt is going on at Public Land Corporation, all they need is a whistle blower. As mysterious disappearances, ghostly apparitions, and bold accusations are levied at the heads of the company, will any of them submit to disgrace and turn the rest in, or will they continue to honorably kill themselves to hide their shame and save face for their superiors?
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Seven Samurai (1954)
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima
Running Time: 3h 27m
Rated: NR (best guess, R)
TMM Score: 5 stars out of 5
STRENGTHS: Character Development, Cinematography
WEAKNESSES: Pacing. Maybe.
Bandit raids have brought a dirt poor village of farmers to the point of starvation. Are there any Samurai of honor who will help because of principle rather than pay?
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