November (2017)

February 12, 2020

A poor village in Estonia tries to survive the winter by using magic, and a young girl among the villagers attempts to woo a young man.

MV5BMjExMDM0OTItY2E1YS00N2Y4LWFlNGMtOTgyNmFlMjIyOTgxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA0MjU0Ng@@._V1_.jpg — Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)

**Directed by: Pedro Almodovar**
**Starring: Victoria Abril, Antonio Banderas, Loles Leon**
**Rated: NC-17 for a Scene of Strong Adult Sensuality and Nudity**
**Running Time: 1 h 41 m**
**TMM Score: 4 stars out of 5**
**STRENGTHS: Story, Characters, Humor, Mis-En-Scene**
**WEAKNESSES: Almodovar-lite**

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)

February 10, 2020

A former mental patient takes a former porn star prisoner in an attempt to convince her to marry him.

tmwktm 1.jpg — The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

**Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock**
**Starring: Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre**
**Rated: NR**
**Run Time: 1h 15m**
**TMM Score: 3 Stars**
**Strengths: Clever Plot, Brevity**
**Weakness: Slight**

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

January 31, 2020

When an American Family, vacationing abroad, gets mixed up in an assassination plot, the couple must choose between stopping an international coup or saving their kidnapped daughter.

mf 1.jpg — Midnight Family (2019)

**Directed By: Luke Lorentzen**
**Starring: Fer Ochoa, Josue Ochoa, Juan Ochoa**
**Rated: NR**
**Run Time: 1h 20m**
**TMM Score: 3 Stars**
**Strengths: Immersion, Cinematography**
**Weakness: Lack of Subtextual Themes**

Midnight Family (2019)

January 23, 2020

The Ochoa family operates a private ambulance in corrupt, poor, and under-serviced Mexico City districts.

MV5BYTM0Yzk3ZDctMmQxMS00MTI3LThiNTgtYTFiNzg1ZjA3ZDllXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjI3NDAyNg@@._V1_SY1000_SX675_AL_.jpg — Let the Corpses Tan (2017)

**Directed by: Helene Cattet, Bruno Forzani**
**Starring: Elina Lowensohn, Stephane Ferrara, Bernie Bonvoisin, Michelangelo Marchese, Marc Barbe, Pierre Nisse**
**Rated: Unrated (Suggested R for Graphic Nudity and Strong Violence)**
**Running Time: 1 h 32 m**
**TMM Score: 4 stars out of 5**
**STRENGTHS: Style, Cinematography, Pacing, Editing, Ennio Morricone, Sound Design**
**WEAKNESSES: Style Over Substance, Sometimes Difficult to Tell What’s Going On, Also Editing**

Let the Corpses Tan (2017)

January 22, 2020

Thieves with a trunkful of gold bullion hide out at an old mission where they encounter a bohemian artist and his muse. As cops arrive at the mission, bullets begin to fly.

MV5BMWVhYmFkOWMtZWQ1OC00MjQxLWE4MzEtMjk0NjQwMGE2MWJhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjQ2MjQ5NzM@._V1_.jpg — The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)

**Directed by: Takashi Miike**
**Starring: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shinji Takeda, Naomi Nishida, Tesuro Tanba, Tamaki Miyazaki**
**Rated: R for Violent Images and Some Sexual Content**
**Running Time: 1 h 53 m**
**TMM Score: 4.5 stars out of 5**
**STRENGTHS: Absurdity, Themes, Story, Fun, Innovation**
**WEAKNESSES: Also Absurdity**

The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)

January 15, 2020

A dark comedy concerning a family that opens an inn in a remote mountain region, only to have the arriving customers die in mysterious ways.

Hero (2002)

January 8, 2020

One “Nameless” Hero Assassin is called before the great conqueror King to relay his account of defeating the three greatest assassins and threats to his Imperial Rule.

The Forest of Love (2019)

January 6, 2020

Japanese cult director Sion Sono’s take on the Kitakysushu serial murder incident.

Che: Part Two (2008)

January 3, 2020

In 1967, Che leads a small army against the Bolivian government.

5c3d240942cd15273059929d_Che - Part One (The Argentine) (2008).jpg — Che: Part One (2008)

**Directed by: Steven Soderbergh**
**Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Demian Bichir, Julia Ormond, Oscar Isaac, Edgar Ramirez**
**Rated: NR (Suggested R for Violence and Language)**
**Running Time: 2 h 14 m**
**TMM Score: 4 stars out of 5**
**STRENGTHS: Story, Directing, Acting, Perspective**
**WEAKNESSES: Depiction of a Controversial Figure**

Che: Part One (2008)

January 2, 2020

Ernesto Che Guevara and a band of Fidel Castro-led Cubans mobilize to topple the regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.

MV5BMzY0Zjc4Y2YtNDM4Mi00NmRmLTg4Y2UtYmEyMTU0MmY3ZmM1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjQ2MjQ5NzM@._V1_.jpg — Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)

**Directed by: Nasiga Oshima**
**Starring: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano**
**Rated: R**
**Running Time: 2 h 3 m**
**TMM Score: 4 stars out of 5**
**STRENGTHS: Themes, Characters, Acting, Soundtrack**
**WEAKNESSES: Pacing**

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)

December 25, 2019

A British officer tries to bridge a cultural divide in a Japanese POW camp.

91PQwBtV43L._SL1500_.jpg — The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971)

**Directed by: Duccio Tessari**
**Starring: Helmut Berger, Giancarlo Sbragia, Evelyn Steart, Silvano Tranquilli, Wendy D’Olive**
**Rated: NR (Suggested R for A Scene of Sexuality, Some Violence and Thematic Elements)**
**Running Time: 1 h 39 m**
**TMM Score: 3.5 stars out of 5**
**STRENGTHS: Story, Perspective, Twist, Cinematography**
**WEAKNESSES: Some Pacing, Some Melodrama**

The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971)

November 25, 2019

After a young girl is murdered in a park, a television anchor is arrested for her murder, but murders of a similar style soon follow.

pain and glory.jpg — Pain & Glory (2019)

**Directed By: Pedro Almodovar**
**Starring: Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Penelope Cruz**
**Rated: R**
**Run Time: 1h 53m**
**TMM Score: 5 Stars**
**Strengths: Performances, Color, Subtlety**
**Weakness: Perhaps Length, perhaps...**

Pain & Glory (2019)

November 21, 2019

An aging filmmaker, who has taken a years long hiatus from directing, re-examines his life as he reconnects with the people and memories that are dredged up from his past when his old breakout film is given a 30 year remastering and special screening.

Parasite (2019)

November 13, 2019

A family of unemployed con-artists and thieves find the perfect mark in a trusting and unsuspecting wealthy woman and her family whose casual indifference create unexpected and violent problems.

f 9.jpg — The Farewell (2019)

**Directed By: Lulu Wang**
**Starring: Shuzhen Zhao, Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Aoi Mizuhara**
**Rated: PG**
**Run Time: 98 min**
**TMM Score: 5 Stars**
**Strengths: Peformances, Thematic Exploration**
**Weakness: NA**

The Farewell (2019)

November 12, 2019

Billi, a Chinese immigrant raised in New York, returns home with her family to visit Nai Nai, her grandmother who has terminal cancer but, for cultural reasons, hasn’t been told about her diagnosis by their extended Chinese family.

MV5BMmY2NWYwOGUtNDliMi00MzViLTg4ZjYtNDdiZWIxOTNhZjgxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjM2NjU3MDc@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,768,1000_AL_.jpg — The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978)

**Directed by: Rainer Werner Fassbinder**
**Starring: Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Lowitsch, Ivan Desny, Gisela Uhlen, Elisabeth Trissenaar, Gottried John, George Eagles**
**Rated: R**
**Running Time: 2 h**
**TMM Score: 4.5 stars out of 5**
**STRENGTHS: Characters, Themes, Writing, Directing, Cinematography**
**WEAKNESSES: Some Pacing**

The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978)

November 8, 2019

Shortly after the end of World War II, a newly married woman in post-war Germany struggles to survive without her husband.

taof 1.jpg — Tel Aviv on Fire (2019)

**Directed By: Sameh Zoabi**
**Starring: Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton**
**Rated: NR**
**Run Time: 1h 40m**
**TMM Score: 4 Stars**
**Strengths: Humor, Performances**
**Weakness: Cultural Jokes May Elude Americans**

Tel Aviv on Fire (2019)

November 6, 2019

Summary

A PA on Israel’s most popular soap opera, “Tel Aviv on Fire,” gets his big break when he starts using material from his real life to impress the show’s producers.

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)

November 4, 2019

A German woman in her mid-sixties and a Moroccan migrant worker in his twenties fall in love.

Ju-On The Grudge (2002)

October 28, 2019

A social assistant discovers a vengeful spirit waiting at the house where she is assigned.

wm 1.jpg — The Wicker Man (1973)

**Directed By: Robin Hardy**
**Starring: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento**
**Rated: R**
**Run Time: 1h 28m**
**TMM Score: 4 Stars**
**Strengths: Theme, Story, Protagonist**
**Weakness: None**

The Wicker Man (1973)

October 23, 2019

When a police officer from the mainland is dispatched to an island to investigate a girl’s disappearance he runs into trouble as no one on the island seems to even remember her existing.

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