Top30 Favorite Film Discoveries of 2015

15. Swimming Pool

Double Francois Ozon + Ludivine Sagnier~

14. Love on a Diet (瘦身男女) / Needing You… (孤男寡女)

I need more Andy + Sammi together.

love-on-a-diet-needing-you-andy-lau-sammi

13. Doña Diabla

dona-diabla-maria-felix

12. About Elly

11. The Station Agent

Double Tom McCarthy in the list~

10. Princess Raccoon (オペレッタ狸御殿) [1]

Film made o-matsuri.

I caught up with a lot of non-American non-Indian musicals this year because of this post. The film is a challenge to sit through for a number of reasons— first, it’s set up more as a play or opera (the film’s original title translates to “the operetta of Princess Raccoon“) than a film. Then, the music -by Michiru Oshima and Ryomei Shirai- has little to no pop hooks, solely focusing on the “folk” aspect of the tale itself, the aesthetics, and the “Japanese-ness” of it all.

In short, that’s what sets it apart.

princess-raccoon-movie

9. Alamar [Trailer]

8. Muriel’s Wedding

Since I’ve met you and moved to Sydney… I haven’t listened to one ABBA song. It’s because now my life’s as good as an ABBA song. It’s as good as Dancing Queen.

muriels-wedding

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG~

7. The Iron Giant

6. Léolo

Can’t really stop watching a movie that starts with “impregnation by Italian tomato.

amy

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

4 Responses

  1. aw man, after I ~finally~ finish my 2015 music post, I might do something like this. might. I totally need to watch So Close, as well as The Heroic Trio…
    also this might be nice after Muriel’s Wedding: ” http://the-toast.net/2014/11/07/ozten-pride-and-prejudice-for-australians/
    So glad I got Attack the Block on DVD, especially since, when I shared it with friends and family, they needed subs for the accents.
    Swanson managed to do better in talkies than some of her contemporaries, but yeah, her celebrity dimmed until Sunset Boulevard. Also nice for the Buster Keaton cameo during the “waxworks” card game…now that’s an even sadder story somewhat centered around the talkie transition. At least he got to see his best work rediscovered and re-appreciated, though.
    Have you seen “Hipsters (Stilyagi)” yet? It’s a Russian musical that’s quite long, but some sequences are really brilliant.

    • Amy says:

      I’ll look Stilyagi up :D thanks!

      And yeah, it’s kinda sad about Buster Keaton, but as I understand, his problems had more to do with his drinking, no? I read Swanson had a steady career on the radio (!!) which in itself is a lot more ironic considering people though she disappeared because of the talkies. Why have a face, when you have a voice! xD

      • re: Buster Keaton: he didn’t have as much trouble with alcohol until the combination of a messy divorce and moving from independent studio control to MGM constraints (pushing him through more sound films than he could actually take care with- along with his voice being odd for previous fans), and possibly seeing fellow silent film friends not do well (especially Fatty Arbuckle) led him to fall more on drink, and then all these factors together fed on each other for years. At least things got better for him towards the end of his life, though.

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