Top30 Favorite Film Discoveries of 2014

First post of 2015!

Let’s begin the year with a list of my favorite film discoveries of 2014- the only rule is that it can’t be a current film (2014) or of the last three years… meaning that films released in 2013, 2012 and 2011 were out.

There’s some cheating involved. xD

Some observations~ there’s still a heavy Indian bias in the list, and noticed that I had many film finds from 2004, 2006 and 2009. However, I’m glad that I was able to include titles from the 30s, 50s, 70s and 80s. And as always, I hope you find something that you like.

30. No More Cry (なくもんか, Nakumonka)

I’m a very big fan of the type of humor/drama that Kankuro Kuro often displays in his writing. And I do love anything that can make me cry and laugh myself silly [1] all at the same time.

nakumonka-no-more-cry

29. The Message (风声)

28. Dancing Lady

I knew Joan Crawford was damn charming when she wanted to be- and what editing! And damn that gym scene where the chemistry with Clark Gable explodes.

GIF credit to Nitrate Diva.

joan-crawford-dancing-lady-1933

27. El Secreto de sus Ojos

I usually run away from iberoamerican or latino film-making, it’s always Hit or MISS-MISS (mostly misses than hits) with me. That year at the Academy Awards, we had TWO. TWO! TWO movies nominated for Foreign Film! My home-country’s The Milk of Sorrow, and Campanella’s The Secret in their Eyes. High praise and a hint of skepticism isn’t the best way to approach a film, but expectations were met… and maybe even surpassed a bit.

There weren’t any feelings shown, but very solid piece of film.

el-secreto-de-sus-ojos-secret-in-their-eyes

26. Beyond our Ken (公主復仇記)

For some reason, this 2014 was the year of nude selfies (or just regular nude photos) scandals. The Cloud remains a mystery to people. However, before J.Law’s nakedness became accidentally part of the public domain, there was the scandalous 2008 Edison Chen incident [1], when the dumbass sent his personal computer (where he kept whoever knows how many naked photos of his women conquests, many of whom were famous personalities in East Asia) for repairs or something. The results were, of course, pictures leaked online all plastered on rag magazines and tabloids for public consumption.

One of them women whose photos were leaked was actress and half of Twins duo, Gilliang Chung, who in 2004 had made a movie with Pang Ho-Cheung dealing with a similar subject matter when her character’s ex-boyfriend leaks nude photos of her. And contrary to the subject matter, Pang manages to make it entertaining and not sleazy at all. You’ve never experience Hong Kong the same way he presents it to us.

amy

YAM Magazine editor, photographer, blogger, translator and part-time web designer. Film junkie, music junkie… and lately series (a.k.a. TV) junkie.

5 Responses

  1. Eat Drink Man Woman is one of my favorite movies of all time. Delighted you discovered it and that it made your list. Also a huge fan of Rose Tattoo, Auntie Mame, Caramel and El Secreto de sus Ojos.

    Great discoveries

    • amy says:

      Eat Drink Man Woman made it to the top of my list of Food on Film. With the trilogy, I finished Ang Lee’s filmography and was amazed at the variety of his films.

      Do you happen to have other suggestions of Anna Magnani’s filmography?

  2. Millenium Actress! One of my faves. Haven’t seen Chakde! India yet, but I remember when the posters were plastered all over the Indian cinema in the town where I used to live (Fremont, California). As for WTF movie recommendations…Have you seen “Hausu?” “Killers on Parade (My Face Red in the Sunset”?” Or maybe the numerous occult flashbacks-within-flashbacks of “The Saragossa Manuscript” Not great great but interesting is “The 10th Victim.”

  1. August 19, 2015

    […] ten-episode series directed by Nobuo Mizuta (No More Cry!!! [1], Mother) and written by Miho Nakazono (Hanako and Anne) has Kumbaya to spare, as day by day […]

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