Top30 Favorite Film Discoveries of 2017

15. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Let’s be honest, the best thing about this sharp political dreamer drama is Jean Arthur as the secretary that knows everything that’s going on and should’ve taken office Clarissa Saunders.

14. Charade

I’m not a really big Audrey Hepburn fan, but Stanley Donen’s Charade is indeed the perfect blend of mystery rom-com.

13. Pushpak

Ever one of my favorite actors, Kamal Haasan made a -sorta- silent movie in the 80s, about an everyday man trying to find a job to make ends meet that ends up falling for a girl, who happens to come from a wealthy magician family [LOL, how?]. To impress her, he pretends to be a rich man.

12. Gomen (ごめん)

It’s so hard growing up, going through adolescence, getting your first wet dreams and hard-ons [lol], and finding the first person you’ll fall for. Shin Togashi perfectly captures this time off pre-teen turbulence.

11. Days of Being Wild (阿飛正傳)

Wong Kar-Wai, Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Carina Lau, Maggie Cheung catch up. xD

10. Hawaii, Oslo

I tend to really enjoy multi-character stories that end up being connected. In this Norwegian drama, Vidar (Trond Espen Seim) has a dream that one of his patients, at the psychiatric hospital he works at, is hit by an ambulance. Believing it to be a premonition, he goes on a run and finds the ambulance that’s supposed to hit him, only to find that nothing has happened yet.

9. A West Lake Moment (鸳鸯蝴蝶)

O sea, how to resist? Double-duty Zhou Xun. And I’ve also started liking Chen Kun.

8. Turtles Can Fly (کیسەڵەکانیش دەفڕن)

Filmed with refugees in the Iraqi camps after the US invasion, the film follows a group a children during the days leading up to the invasion.

7. Strawberry Shortcakes (ストロベリーショートケイクス)

Based on the manga of the same name, Strawberry Shortcakes follows the lives of four women— Satoko (Chizuru Ikewaki), who works as a receptionist at an escort service; Akiyo (Yuko Nakamura), an escort at the same company; Chihiro (Noriko Nakagoshi), a low level assistant whose ideal path is to find a boyfriend; and Toku (Kiriko Nananan) Chihiro’s workaholic roommate who works as an illustrator and suffers from bulimia.

The film is super depressing, but at least there’s that strawberry shortcake scene.

Double-duty Ryo Kase~

6. Like Asura (阿修羅のごとく)

Eri Fukatsu is my spirit animal. xD

I also kinda got into Fukada Kyoko after watching Hello Harinezumi (ハロー張りネズミ), despite the fact that Kamikaze Girls is one of my favorite films.