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Ok, so I am cheating a little bit this time as one of the movies is not American, but from New Zealand. However, it is one of my all time favourite movies and it has my favourite American actress in it so I guess it qualifies somehow to be mentioned. In this list, I will also mention the movie that made the most impression on me in the last year.

Same procedure as every time. Information from imdb.com, and no particular order...

11. Winter's bone (2010)

With an absent father and a withdrawn and depressed mother, 17 year-old Ree Dolly keeps her family together in a dirt poor rural area. She's taken aback however when the local Sheriff tells her that her father put up their house as collateral for his bail and unless he shows up for his trial in a week's time, they will lose it all. She knows her father is involved in the local drug trade and manufactures crystal meth, but everywhere she goes the message is the same: stay out of it and stop poking your nose in other people's business. She refuses to listen, even after her father's brother, Teardrop, tells her he's probably been killed. She pushes on, putting her own life in danger, for the sake of her family until the truth, or enough of it, is revealed.

10. Memento (2000)

Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line moves forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time.

9. There will be blood (2007)

The film follows the rise to power of Daniel Plainview - a charismatic and ruthless oil prospector, driven to succeed by his intense hatred of others and desperate need to see any and all competitors fail. When he learns of oil-rich land in California that can be bought cheaply, he moves his operation there and begins manipulating and exploiting the local landowners into selling him their property. Using his young adopted son H.W. to project the image of a caring family man, Plainview gains the cooperation of almost all the locals with lofty promises to build schools and cultivate the land to make their community flourish. Over time, Plainview's gradual accumulation of wealth and power causes his true self to surface, and he begins to slowly alienate himself from everyone in his life.

8. The Piano (1993)

It is the mid-nineteenth century. Ada is a mute who has a young daughter, Flora. In an arranged marriage she leaves her native Scotland accompanied by her daughter and her beloved piano. Life in the rugged forests of New Zealand's South Island is not all she may have imagined and nor is her relationship with her new husband Stewart. She suffers torment and loss when Stewart sells her piano to a neighbour, George. Ada learns from George that she may earn back her piano by giving him piano lessons, but only with certain other conditions attached. At first Ada despises George but slowly their relationship is transformed and this propels them into a dire situation.

7. Fight Club (1999)

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

6. Wendy and Lucy (2008)

A woman's life is derailed en route to a potentially lucrative summer job. When her car breaks down, and her dog is taken to the pound, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she is led through a series of increasingly dire economic decisions.

5. Magnolia (1999)

24 hours in L.A.; it's raining cats and dogs. Two parallel and intercut stories dramatize men about to die: both are estranged from a grown child, both want to make contact, and neither child wants anything to do with dad. Earl Partridge's son is a charismatic misogynist; Jimmy Gator's daughter is a cokehead and waif. A mild and caring nurse intercedes for Earl, reaching the son; a prayerful and upright beat cop meets the daughter, is attracted to her, and leads her toward a new calm. Meanwhile, guilt consumes Earl's young wife, while two whiz kids, one grown and a loser and the other young and pressured, face their situations. The weather, too, is quirky.

4. Requiem for a dream (2000)

Drugs. They consume mind, body and soul. Once you're hooked, you're hooked. Four lives. Four addicts. Four failures. Despite their aspirations of greatness, they succumb to their addictions. Watching the addicts spiral out of control, we bear witness to the dirtiest, ugliest portions of the underworld addicts reside in. It is shocking and eye-opening but demands to be seen by both addicts and non-addicts alike.

3. The Big Lebowski (1998)

When "The Dude" Lebowski is mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, two thugs urinate on his rug to coerce him into paying a debt he knows nothing about. While attempting to gain recompense for the ruined rug from his wealthy counterpart, he accepts a one-time job with high pay-off. He enlists the help of his bowling buddy, Walter, a gun-toting Jewish-convert with anger issues. Deception leads to more trouble, and it soon seems that everyone from porn empire tycoons to nihilists want something from The Dude.

2. 12 Monkeys (1995)

An unknown and lethal virus has wiped out five billion people in 1996. Only 1% of the population has survived by the year 2035, and is forced to live underground. A convict (James Cole) reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to 1996 to gather information about the origin of the epidemic (who he's told was spread by a mysterious "Army of the Twelve Monkeys") and locate the virus before it mutates so that scientists can study it. Unfortunately Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990, six years earlier than expected, and is arrested and locked up in a mental institution, where he meets Dr. Kathryn Railly, a psychiatrist, and Jeffrey Goines, the insane son of a famous scientist and virus expert.

1. Elephant (2003)

A day in the lives of a group of average teenage high school students. The film follows every character and shows their daily routines. However two of the students plan to do something that the student body won't forget.

Ok, this is a great list in my opinion. Go watch some movies, and then wait for the next list which will be Asian movies :)

So long...

Even though I am not a big fan of American movies I had to split up the list of American movies to three separate lists. Why, because I am not a big fan of recent American movies, but I still love the old movies :)

This list covers ten great movies from the 70's and the 80's, and it is the same procedure as every time... No particular order, and information from imdb.com

10. Deliverance (1972)

Canoeing down a river, four city men run into some unfriendly locals. Unable to escape from the gorge in which the river runs, the locals become more and more of a threat.

9. Badlands (1973)

Kit Carruthers, a young garbage collector and his girlfriend Holly Sargis from Fort Dupree, South Dakota, are on the run after killing Holly's father who disagreed with their relationship. On their way towards the Badlands of Montana they leave a trail of dispassionate and seemingly random murders. A very intriguing narrative without judgements, and lacking the usually sensational approach of this genre. Very good acting and directing, and beautiful photography. The script was based upon the true story of the Charles Starkweather and Caril-Ann Fugate murders in 1958.

8. Harold and Maude (1971)

The self-destructive and needy wealthy teenager Harold is obsessed by death and spends his leisure time attending funerals, watching the demolishing of buildings, visiting junkyards, simulating suicides trying to get attention from his indifferent, snobbish and egocentric mother, and having sessions with his psychologist. When Harold meets the anarchist seventy-nine-year-old Maude at a funeral, they become friends and the old lady discloses other perspectives of the cycle of life for him. Meanwhile, his mother enlists him in a dating service and tries to force Harold to join the army. On the day of Maude's eightieth birthday, Harold proposes to her but he finds the truth about life at the end of hers.

7. Blade Runner (1982)

In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology to create replicants, human clones used to serve in the colonies outside Earth but with fixed lifespans. In Los Angeles, 2019, Deckard is a Blade Runner, a cop who specialises in terminating replicants. Originally in retirement, he is forced to re-enter the force when six replicants escape from an offworld colony to Earth.

6. Taxi Driver (1976)

Travis Bickle is an ex-Marine and Vietnam War veteran living in New York City. As he suffers from insomnia, he spends his time working as a taxi driver at night, watching porn movies at seedy cinemas during the day, or thinking about how the world, New York in particular, has deteriorated into a cesspool. He's a loner who has strong opinions about what is right and wrong with mankind. For him, the one bright spot in New York humanity is Betsy, a worker on the presidential nomination campaign of Senator Charles Palatine. He becomes obsessed with her. After an incident with her, he believes he has to do whatever he needs to to make the world a better place in his opinion. One of his priorities is to be the savior for Iris, a twelve-year-old runaway and prostitute who he believes wants out of the profession and under the thumb of her pimp and lover Matthew.

5. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Based upon a real-life story that happened in the early seventies in which the Chase Manhattan Bank in Flatbush, Brooklyn, was held siege by a gay bank robber determined to steal enough money for his male lover to undergo a sex change operation. On a hot summer afternoon, the First Savings Bank of Brooklyn is held up by Sonny and Sal, two down-and-out characters. Although the bank manager and female tellers agree not to interfere with the robbery, Sonny finds that there's actually nothing much to steal, as most of the cash has been picked up for the day. Sonny then gets an unexpected phone call from Police Captain Moretti, who tells him the place is surrounded by the city's entire police force. Having few options under the circumstances, Sonny nervously bargains with Moretti, demanding safe escort to the airport and a plane out of the country in return for the bank employees' safety.

4. Stand by me (1986)

4 young friends set out on an adventure. Geordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern go looking for the missing body of a local teenager - found by a gang of older boys. A story of boys hangin' out and growin' up.

3. The Godfather part 2 (1974)

The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

2. One Flew over the Cuckoo's nest (1975)

McMurphy thinks he can get out of doing work while in prison by pretending to be mad. His plan backfires when he is sent to a mental asylum. He tries to liven the place up a bit by playing card games and basketball with his fellow inmates, but the head nurse is after him at every turn.

1. The Deer Hunter (1978)

Michael, Steven and Nick are young factory workers from Pennsylvania who enlist into the Army to fight in Vietnam. Before they go, Steven marries the pregnant Angela and their wedding-party is also the men's farewell party. After some time and many horrors the three friends fall in the hands of the Vietcong and are brought to a prison camp in which they are forced to play Russian roulette against each other. Michael makes it possible for them to escape, but they soon get separated again.

So, guess what the next list will be dealing with!

Until then, bye! :)

The coming list is just amazing. I promise you! Everybody, and I mean everybody should watch these movies during their Christmas holiday just because you can't miss these movies. And if you have already watched them, you can watch them one more time and enjoy it! 4 of these movies were made around 1940 in what I think are the best years of American cinema despite this being such a sad time for Europe...

Same procedure as every time. No particular order, and information from imdb.com :)

10. To kill a mockingbird (1962)

Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning book of 1960. Atticus Finch is a lawyer in a racially divided Alabama town in the 1930s. He agrees to defend a young black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Many of the townspeople try to get Atticus to pull out of the trial, but he decides to go ahead. How will the trial turn out - and will it change any of the racial tension in the town?

9. Easy Rider (1969)

Wyatt and Billy are two motorcycle riders (bikers) on their way to Mardis Gras, and encounter hitchhikers, a drunken lawyer, a jail cell, a whorehouse and the death of a friend.

8. Casablanca (1942)

In World War II Casablanca, Rick Blaine, exiled American and former freedom fighter, runs the most popular nightspot in town. The cynical lone wolf Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit. When Nazi Major Strasser arrives in Casablanca, the sycophantic police Captain Renault does what he can to please him, including detaining Czech underground leader Victor Laszlo. Much to Rick's surprise, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa, Rick's one time love. Rick is very bitter towards Ilsa, who ran out on him in Paris, but when he learns she had good reason to, they plan to run off together again using the letters of transit. Well, that was their original plan....

7. Red River (1948)

Tom Dunson builds a cattle empire with his adopted son Matthew Garth. Together they begin a massive cattle drive north from Texas to the Missouri railhead. But on the way, new information and Dunson's tyrannical ways cause Matthew to take the herd away from Dunson and head to a new railhead in Kansas. Dunson, swearing vengeance, pursues.

6. High Noon (1952)

On the day he gets married and hangs up his badge, lawman Will Kane is told that a man he sent to prison years before, Frank Miller, is returning on the noon train to exact his revenge. Having initially decided to leave with his new spouse, Will decides he must go back and face Miller. However, when he seeks the help of the townspeople he has protected for so long, they turn their backs on him. It seems Kane may have to face Miller alone, as well as the rest of Miller's gang, who are waiting for him at the station...

5. Citizen Kane (1941)

A group of reporters who are trying to decipher the last word ever spoke by Charles Foster Kane, the millionaire newspaper tycoon: "Rosebud." The film begins with a news reel detailing Kane's life for the masses, and then from there, we are shown flashbacks from Kane's life. As the reporters investigate further, the viewers see a display of a fascinating man's rise to fame, and how he eventually fell off the "top of the world."

4. How Green was my valley (1941)

Life is hard in a Welsh mining town and no less so for the Morgan family. Seen through the eyes of the family's youngest, Huw, we learn of the family's trials and tribulations. Family patriarch Gwyllim and his older sons work in the mines, dangerous and unhealthy as it is. Gwyllim has greater hopes for younger son how to honor his hard working parents. Huw who has his own ideas on how to honor his father. Daughter Angharad is the most beautiful girl in the valley and is very much in love with Mr. Gruffydd who isn't sure he can provide her the life she deserves. Times are hard and good men find themselves out of work and exploited by unseen mine owners.

3. The Grapes of wrath (1940)

Oklahoma in the Thirties is a dustbowl and dispossessed farmers migrate westward to California. After terrible trials en route they become little more than slave labor. Among the throng are the Joads who refuse to knuckle under.

2. Rear Window (1954)

Professional photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries breaks his leg while getting an action shot at an auto race. Confined to his New York apartment, he spends his time looking out of the rear window observing the neighbors. He begins to suspect that a man across the courtyard may have murdered his wife. Jeff enlists the help of his high society fashion-consultant girlfriend Lisa Freemont and his visiting nurse Stella to investigate.

1. 12 angry men (1957)

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case of murder soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other. Based on the play, all of the action takes place on the stage of the jury room.

Now this is a fantastic list, with my all-time favourite being one of the few of these movies with a ranking below 8,0 on imdb. Anyway, enjoy this list until I make the next one which will be of "modern american classics (up to 1990).

Goodbye!

As promised I continue my list with Latin American movies. They are all of the modern kind.

Same procedure as last time, with information from imdb.com

10. Amores Perros (Mexico, 2000)

Three interconnected stories about the different strata of life in Mexico City all resolve with a fatal car accident. Octavio is trying to raise enough money to run away with his sister-in-law, and decides to enter his dog Cofi into the world of dogfighting. After a dogfight goes bad, Octavio flees in his car, running a red light and causing the accident. Daniel and Valeria's new-found bliss is prematurely ended when she loses her leg in the accident. El Chivo is a homeless man who cares for stray dogs and is there to witness the collision.

9. Y tu mamá también (Mexico, 2001)

In Mexico City, late teen friends Tenoch Iturbide and Julio Zapata are feeling restless as their respective girlfriends are traveling together through Europe before they all begin the next phase of their lives at college. At a lavish family wedding, Tenoch and Julio meet Luisa Cortés, the twenty-something wife of Tenoch's cousin Jano, the two who have just moved to Mexico from Spain. Tenoch and Julio try to impress the beautiful Luisa by telling her that they will be taking a trip to the most beautiful secluded beach in Mexico called la Boca del Cielo (translated to Heaven's Mouth), the trip and the beach which in reality don't exist. When Luisa learns of Jano's latest marital indiscretion straight from the horse's mouth, she takes Tenoch and Julio's offer to go along on this road trip, meaning that Tenoch and Julio have to pull together quickly a road trip to a non-existent beach...

8. El Secreto de sus ojos (Argentina, 2009)

In 1999, retired Argentinian federal justice agent Benjamín Espósito is writing a novel, using an old closed case as the source material. That case is the brutal rape and murder of Liliana Coloto. In addition to seeing the extreme grief of the victim's husband Ricardo Morales, Benjamín, his assistant Pablo Sandoval, and newly hired department chief Irene Menéndez-Hastings were personally affected by the case as Benjamín and Pablo tracked the killer, hence the reason why the unsatisfactory ending to the case has always bothered him. Despite the department already having two other suspects, Benjamín and Pablo ultimately were certain that a man named Isidoro Gómez is the real killer. Although he is aware that historical accuracy is not paramount for the novel, the process of revisiting the case is more an issue of closure for him. He tries to speak to the key players in the case...

7. Machuca (Chile, 2004)

Santiago, capital of Chile during the Marxist government of elected, highly controversial president Salvador Allende. Father McEnroe supports his leftist views by introducing a program at the prestigious "collegio" (Catholic prep school) St. Patrick to allow free admission of some proletarian kids. One of them is Pedro Machuca, slum-raised son of the cleaning lady in Gonzalo Infante's liberal-bourgeois home. Yet the new classmates become buddies, paradoxically protesting together as Gonzalo gets adopted by Pedro's slum family and gang. But the adults spoil that too, not in the least when general Pinochet's coup ousts Allende, and supporters such as McEnroe.

6. Oriana (Venezuela, 1985)

Maria learns that her aunt Oriana has died and willed her a crumbling and remote Venezuelan hacienda where Maria spent a short time as a girl just entering puberty. Maria goes to the hacienda to prepare the place for sale; while going through her aunt's papers, she recalls her visit years' before. In flashbacks, we see the young Maria trying to sort out why Oriana never leaves the hacienda, what secret may be in Oriana's past, and who the mysterious Sergio was. The young Maria, as she learns things, imagines her aunt's youth, cruel father, and first love. After these reveries within reveries, Maria, now a grown woman, makes one more discovery.

5. Sin nombre (Mexico, 2009)

Honduran teenager Sayra reunites with her father, an opportunity for her to potentially realize her dream of a life in the U.S. Moving to Mexico is the first step in a fateful journey of unexpected events.

4. La Teta asustada (Peru, 2009)

Fausta is suffering from a rare disease called the Milk of Sorrow, which is transmitted through the breast milk of pregnant women who were abused or raped during or soon after pregnancy. While living in constant fear and confusion due to this disease, she must face the sudden death of her mother. She chooses to take drastic measures to not follow in her mother's footsteps.

3. Historia Minimas (Argentina, 2002)

Near the provincial town of San Julian, three vibrant characters undertake seemingly mundane journeys that turn out to be subtly life changing. A lonely, fastidious traveling salesman quests for the perfect cream cake to win the widow of his dreams. A grizzly grandfather hitchhikes to town to find his forgotten lost dog and seek forgiveness. A poor young mother hopes to win the grand prize--a microprocessor--as a contestant on a TV game show. In the end, the three will get more or less what they set out for, but it will come to them in ways that they never expected.

2. Temporada de Patos (Mexico, 2004)

Flama and Moko are fourteen years old; they have been best friends since they were kids. They have everything they need to survive yet another boring Sunday: an apartment without parents, videogames, porn magazines, soft drinks and pizza delivery. The electricity company, Rita, the neighbor, Ulises, a pizza deliveryman, eleven seconds, the Real Madrid-Manchester game, some chocolate brownies and a horrible painting of ducks, all combine to break the harmony of what promised to be a placid Sunday, and reveal issues such as the parents' divorce, loneliness, the confusion between adolescent love and friendship, as well as frustration in adult life. "Temporada de Patos" is a movie that shows that, when the lights go off, we can see the stars.

1. Central do Brasil (Brasil, 1998)

Dora, a dour old woman, works at a Rio de Janeiro central station, writing letters for customers and mailing them. She hates customers and calls them 'trash'. Josue is a 9-year-old boy who never met his father. His mother is sending letters to his father through Dora. When she dies in a car accident, Dora takes Josue and takes a trip with him to find his father.

As last time, no particular order.

Next list will be of American classics (meaning older than me) :)

As we continue the obsession with movies I will today turn towards French movies. Actually, I have a solid collection of French movies, and many would justify a place on any list of good movies you should watch. Actually, for the first time since I started this lists thing here on my blog, the classic movies being older than myself gets the deserved attention. Half of the movies in the list of French movies are from the 50's and 60's.

Same procedure. No particular order, and information comes from imdb.com :)

10. Le Grand Bleu (1988)

Enzo and Jacques have known each other for a long time. Their friendship started in their childhood days in the Mediterranean. They were not real friends in these days, but there was something they both loved and used to do the whole day long: diving. One day Jacques' father, who was a diver too, died in the Mediterranean sea. After that incident Enzo and Jacques lost contact. After several years, Enzo and Jacques had grown up, Johanna, a young clerk in a security office, has to go to Peru. There she meets Jacques who works for a group of scientists. He dives for some minutes into ice-cold water and the scientists monitor his physical state that is more like a dolphin's than a human's. Johanna can not believe what she sees and gets very interested in Jacques but she's unable to get acquainted with him. Some weeks later, back in her office, she notices a championship for divers that is supposed to take place in Taormina...

9. Belle de Jour (1967)

Severine is a beautiful young woman married to a doctor. She loves her husband dearly, but cannot bring herself to be physically intimate with him. She indulges instead in vivid, kinky, erotic fantasies to entertain her sexual desires. Eventually she becomes a prostitute, working in a brothel in the afternoons while remaining chaste in her marriage.

8. Entre les murs (2008)

Teacher François Marin and his colleagues are preparing for another school year teaching at a racially mixed inner city high school in Paris. The teachers talk to each other about their prospective students, both the good and the bad. The teachers collectively want to inspire their students, but each teacher is an individual who will do things in his or her own way to achieve the results they desire. They also have differing viewpoints on the students themselves, and how best to praise and discipline them. The administration of the school tries to be as fair as possible, which includes having student representatives sit on the student evaluation committee. Marin's class this year of fourteen and fifteen year olds is no different than previous years, although the names and faces have changed. Marin tries to get through to his students, sometimes with success and sometimes resulting in utter failure...

7. Les Quatre cents coups (1959)

A young Parisian boy, Antoine Doinel, neglected by his derelict parents, skips school, sneaks into movies, runs away from home, steals things, and tries (disastrously) to return them. Like most kids, he gets into more trouble for things he thinks are right than for his actual trespasses. Unlike most kids, he gets whacked with the big stick. He inhabits a Paris of dingy flats, seedy arcades, abandoned factories, and workaday streets, a city that seems big and full of possibilities only to a child's eye.

6. Le Salaire de la peur (1953)

In the South American jungle supplies of nitroglycerene are needed at a remote oil field. The oil company pays four men to deliver the supplies in two trucks. A tense rivallry develops between the two sets of drivers and on the rough remote roads the slightest jolt can result in death.

5. Bande á part (1964)

A triangle: Franz, Arthur, and Odile. Franz, a young man with Alain Delon good looks, has met Odile in an English class. She lives in Joinville with wealthy benefactors and has mentioned to Franz that Mr. Stolz keeps a pile of 10,000 franc notes unlocked in his room. Franz tells his friend Arthur, a swarthy guy whose shady uncle is pressing him for money. Arthur and Franz, who mimic American movie tough guys, case Odile's house, pressure her to assist them with a burglary, and make passes at her as well. She's alternately compliant and distressed. Will they pull off the heist?

4. Du rififi chez les hommes (1955)

After five years in prison, Tony le Stéphanois meets his dearest friends Jo and the Italian Mario Ferrati and they invite Tony to steal a couple of jewels from the show-window of the famous jewelry Mappin & Webb Ltd, but he declines. Tony finds his former girlfriend Mado, who became the lover of the gangster owner of the night-club L' Âge d' Or Louis Grutter, and he humiliates her, beating on her back and taking her jewels. Then he calls Jo and Mario and proposes a burglary of the safe of the jewelry. They invite the Italian specialist in safes and elegant wolf Cesar to join their team and they plot a perfect heist. They are successful in their plan, but the D. Juan Cesar makes things go wrong when he gives a valuable ring to his mistress.

3. Un Propéthe (2009)

Nineteen year-old Franco-Arab Malik El Djebena is just starting his six year prison sentence in Brécourt. Although he has spent the better part of his life in juvenile detention, this stint is his first in an adult prison. Beyond the division of Corsicans and Muslims in the prison (the Corsicans who with their guard connections rule what happens in the prison), he has no known friends or enemies inside. He is just hoping to serve his time in peace and without incident, despite having no prospects once he's out of jail since he's illiterate and has no support outside of the prison. Due to logistics, the head of Corsican inmates, a sadistic mafioso named César Luciani, co-opts Malik as part of the Corsicans' activities, not only regarding what happens inside the prison, but also continued criminal activities outside. The innocent Malik has no idea what to do but cooperate...

2. La Haine (1995)

The film follows three young men and their time spent in the French suburban "ghetto," over a span of twenty-four hours. Vinz, a Jew, Saïd, an Arab, and Hubert, a black boxer, have grown up in these French suburbs where high levels of diversity coupled with the racist and oppressive police force have raised tensions to a critical breaking point. During the riots that took place a night before, a police officer lost his handgun in the ensuing madness, only to leave it for Vinz to find. Now, with a newfound means to gain the respect he deserves, Vinz vows to kill a cop if his friend Abdel dies in the hospital, due the beating he received while in police custody.

1. Lila dit ca (2004)

In a poor Arab neighborhood, the nineteen years old Chimo lives alone with his mother and is a talented natural writer. His school teacher offers him the chance to study in Paris, inclusive with a letter of recommendation, but his mother can not afford and Chimo stays. His three best friends are completely losers and scoundrels. When the shy Chimo meets the gorgeous and sexy new-arrival in the ghetto Lila, who lives with a deranged aunt, his gross friend Mouloud falls for her. However, Chimo becomes close to Lila, who seduces him with her sexual games, telling him about her perverted sexual experience. The inexperienced Chimo falls in love for her, but he does not know how to declare his love for the girl. When Mouloud sneaks and listens to a private conversation between Lila and Chimo, he concludes that the girl is a whore, with tragic consequences.

This list is different to the other lists due to the high percentage of movies from the 50's and 60's. The next list will have none of these older classic movies. Tomorrow's list will be 10 Latin American movies for you.

Until then... Au Revoir :)

So, I am going to continue my film obsession for some time since I have nothing else of interest to write about. Next up is my list of ten Italian movies you can't miss. As you saw from the last list it was quite modern and only one old classic movie, just showing that I don't really know older German movies. The same is actually true when it comes to Italian movies, though I have two classic movies (meaning movies older than myself) in today's list. You should however prepare yourself for a shock tomorrow when my list of French movies is coming :P

So same procedure as yesterday. No particular order, and storylines from imdb.com.

10. Umberto D. (1952)

Umberto Ferrari, aged government-pensioner, attends a street demonstration held by his fellow pensioners. The police dispense the crowd and Unberto returns to his cheap furnished room which he shares with his dog Flick. Umberto's lone friend is Maria, servant of the boarding house. She is a simple girl who is pregnant by one of two soldiers and neither will admit to being the father. When Umberto's landlady, Antonia, demands the rent owed her and threatens eviction if she is not paid, Umberto tries desperately to raise the money by selling his books and watch. He is too proud to beg in the streets and can not get a loan from any of his acquaintances. He contracts a sore throat, is admitted to a hospital and this puts a delay on his financial difficulty. Discharged, he finds that his dog is gone and, following a frantic search, locates him in the city dog pound. His room has been taken over by the landlady and the now-homeless Unberto determines to find a place for his beloved dog, and then kill himself. Unsuccessful, he resolves that his dog must die with him and he stands in the path of a train, with his dog in his arms.

9. La Stanza del Figlio (2001)

Giovanni is a successful psychoanalyst who has to put up with the seemingly endless string of trivial details his patients ramble on about. Yet his family provides a loving and steadfast foundation for his life that can even survive a problem like their son, Andrea, being accused of stealing a rare fossil in school. That foundation is profoundly rocked when Andrea dies in a scuba diving accident. Although the usual arrangements run smoothly, the emotional harm is profound. Giovanni begins to obsessively dwell on the missed chances he had with his son that might have saved his life, even blaming his patients. In addition , his wife is inconsulable and his daughter is becoming anti social in their loss. In the midst of this turmoil, a secret of their son's life is revealed that provides healing in a way they never anticipated.

8. Private (2004)

A Palestinian family with five children lives outside town, near Israeli settlements. Samia, the wife, wants to leave; so does one teen son. Mohammad, the patriarch, is adamant that he is staying. Two of his adolescent children want to fight. His is the passive aggression of non-violent witness. Israeli soldiers burst into the home, taking over the second floor. At night, the family is locked in the living room. We see the effects of the occupation on the children and on the marriage. Through the eyes of Miriam, the older daughter, we watch the soldiers from her hiding place. Jamal, the eldest son, sets a trap with a grenade. Characters call upon Allah. Chaos and death are close.

7. Io non ho paura (2003)

While playing outside one day, nine-year-old Michele discovers Filippo, who is chained to the ground at the bottom of a hole. Michele witnesses town baddie Felice nearby and suspects something bad is happening. Michele is unsure whom he should tell about his discovery, eventually spilling the beans to his closest friend.

6. Il Ladro di bambini (1992)

Antonio, a policeman (carabiniere), has an order to take two children (Rosetta and her brother Luciano) from Milan to Sicily to an orphanage. Their mother has been arrested for forcing Rosetta (11 years old) to work as a prostitute. First the relation between Antonio and the children is tough, but it relaxes so they become temporary friends.

5. Gomorra (2008)

"Gomorra" is a contemporary Neapolitan mob drama that exposes Italy's criminal underbelly by telling five stories of individuals who think they can make their own compact with Camorra, the area's Mafia.

4. La Vita é bella (1997)

In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish book keeper named Guido starts a fairy tale life by courting and marrying a lovely woman from a nearby city. Guido and his wife have a son and live happily together until the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank.

3. Le Conseguenze dell'amore (2004)

Titta di Girolamo apparently has a regular and tedious life with nothing strange a part from his own name (as he uses to say). He lives in a Hotel in Lugano (Switzerland) since almost ten years, spending his days waiting for something we don't know. His life is too rigid, too detached following a flat routine. Titta ignore everyone and probably he has no emotions at all. Basically there is no story. But one day he decided, breaking all his personal rules, to exchange some words with Sofia, the hotel's barmaid. Incredibly all the situation change, emotions, love, mafia, death come back violently into Titta's life.

2. Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988)

A famous film director remembers his childhood at the Cinema Paradiso where Alfredo, the projectionist, first brought about his love of films. He returns home to his Sicilian village for the first time after almost 30 years and is reminded of his first love, Elena, who disappeared from his life before he left for Rome.

1. La Battaglia di Algeri (1966)

A film commissioned by the Algerian government that shows the Algerian revolution from both sides. The French foreign legion has left Vietnam in defeat and has something to prove. The Algerians are seeking independence. The two clash. The torture used by the French is contrasted with the Algerian's use of bombs in soda shops. A look at war as a nasty thing that harms and sullies everyone who participates in it.

Oh, everybody should at least watch the last movie in this list as it is the best political movie ever made according to some!

Tomorrow's list will be dealing with French movies :)

By the way, if you didn't understand why two of the movies mentioned above is having a different language than Italian, I still consider these movies Italian due to the nationality of the director (Private & La Battaglia di Algeri).

Arrivederci :)

As the Christmas holiday is approaching really fast I figured out that I need to bring some movies home to the Lofoten Islands so that I at least have some options for good quality movie watching during the holidays. To give you, the two or three readers, some clues and some good recommendations I will make some lists over the next days giving you some options of movies from various parts of the world that really everybody should watch at some point. Most people here in Norway really don't care about movies coming from other countries than the US or Scandinavia, so I will include a couple of lists for those people too, but I will start off with ten German language movies :) The information about the storylines is copied from imdb.com.

By the way, there is no particular order, in these lists the movies are considered equal :P

10. Gegen die Wand (2003)

In 'Gegen die Wand' Cahit, a 40-something male from Mersin in Turkey has removed everything Turkish from his life. He has become an alcoholic drug addict and at the start of the movie wants to end it all. Sibel a 20-something female from Hamburg wishes to please her Turkish parents yet yearns for freedom. She has had her nose broken by her brother for being seen holding hands with a boy and yet she can not break her mother's heart and run away. She too attempts suicide and she first approaches Cahit there at the Hospital. Sibel asks Cahit to marry her, as she believes this to be the way out of her parent's house. She promises Cahit that their relationship will be like roommates, not like a married couple. The film follows Sibel and Cahit as they get married, become closer and eventually fall in love.

9. Nirgendwo in Afrika (2001)

A Jewish family in Germany emigrate short before the Second World War. They move to Kenya to start running a farm, but not all members of the family come to an arrangement with their new life. Shortly after their departure, things are changing in Germany very quickly, and a turning back seems impossible. So everyone has to arrange himself with the new life in a new continent.

8. Der Himmel über Berlin (1987)

This Wim Wenders film centers around the story of two angels wandering in a mixture of post-war and modern Berlin. Invisible to humans, they nevertheless give their help and comfort to all the lonely and depressed souls they meet. Finally, after many centuries, one of the angels becomes unhappy with his immortal state and wishes to become human in order to experience the joys of everyday life. He meets a circus acrobat and finds in her the fufillment of all his mortal desires. He also discovers that he is not alone in making this cross over, and that a purely spiritual experience is not enough to satisfy anyone.

7. Revanche (2008)

Ex-con Alex dreams about starting a new life with the Ukrainian prostitute Tamara. To do so, he wants to rob a bank erasing debts and making the flight towards the South possible. But Tamara is unintentionally shot on the escape by the coincidentally present policeman, Robert. Alex flees to the farm of his grandfather and learns that Robert lives close by...thoughts of revenge start to arise.

6. Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)

Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the yet fragile German democracy. The radicalised children of the Nazi generation lead by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold. And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he's only dealing with the tip of the iceberg.

5. Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage (2005)

The Final Days is the true story of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroine brought to life. Sophie Scholl is the fearless activist of the underground student resistance group, The White Rose. Using historical records of her incarceration, the film re-creates the last six days of Sophie Scholl's life: a journey from arrest to interrogation, trial and sentence in 1943 Munich. Unwavering in her convictions and loyalty to her comrades, her cross-examination by the Gestapo quickly escalates into a searing test of wills as Scholl delivers a passionate call to freedom and personal responsibility that is both haunting and timeless.

4. Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (1981)

This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 70s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14 years old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-storey apartment building in Berlin. She's fascinated by the 'Sound', a new disco with most modern equipment. Although she's legally too young, she asks a friend to take her. There she meets Detlef, who's in a clique where everybody's on drugs. Step by step she gets drawn deeper into the scene.

3. Die Brücke (1959)

A group of German boys is ordered to protect a small bridge in their home village during the waning months of the second world war. Truckloads of defeated, cynical Wehrmacht soldiers flee the approaching American troops, but the boys, full of enthusiasm for the "blood and honor" Nazi ideology, stay to defend the useless bridge.

2. Das Weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)

From July, 1913 to the outbreak of World War I, a series of incidents take place in a German village. A horse trips on a wire and throws the rider; a woman falls to her death through rotted planks; the local baron's son is hung upside down in a mill; parents slap and bully their children; a man is cruel to his long-suffering lover; another sexually abuses his daughter. People disappear. A callow teacher, who courts a nanny in the baron's household, narrates the story and tries to investigate the connections among these accidents and crimes. What is foreshadowed? Are the children holy innocents? God may be in His heaven, but all is not right with the world; the center cannot hold.

1. Das Leben der Anderen (2006)

In the early 1980s, Georg Dreyman (a successful dramatist) and his longtime companion Christa-Maria Sieland (a popular actress), were huge intellectual stars in (former) East Germany, although they secretly don't always toe the party line. One day, the Minister of Culture becomes interested in Christa, so the secret service agent Wiesler is instructed to observe and sound out the couple, but their life fascinates him more and more.

I can guarantee that the quality of these movies are super fantastic!!! Now go watch some German movies!!!

The next list will be the ten Italian movies you can't miss... ;)

Auf Wiedersehen :)

Just out of boredom and because I am so tired I would fall asleep if I didn't do something like this now, I made a list of 35 songs that YOU should listen to now! This is a list of 35 songs I find fantastic, and some of them even more so every time I listen to them. Of course you all know that my taste in music is changing from day to day, but some of these have stayed with me so long that they mean something special to me. It's difficult to explain why some of them are still with me but you just have to deal with it :P

Why 35? It's a strange number right? Well it was just to difficult to decide, and I couldn't reduce it to 30 as was my initial plan. By the way, there are no hardcore music as I do not listen to hardcore unless I am in the mood for it. These songs chosen are songs I could listen to almost anytime... So here we go:

35. PJ Harvey- "The Words that maketh murder". (The newest record in my collection and I am finally understanding the genius of PJ Harvey).

34. Son, Ambulance- "Sex in C minor". (This song from the "Key" album from 2004 is just wonderful and relaxing to listen to. Maybe the least famous band on this list).

33. Isobel Campbell- "Reynardine". (From the "Milk White Sheets" album. The song I am most likely to want to hear just before going to sleep).

32. Faith no More- "Midlife Crisis". (This is old school. From "Angel Dust" in the early 90's. There is something about Faith no More even though I can't listen to them for a long time they still come back every now and then. Strange).

31. Morphine- "Super Sex". (Another band that I can't listen to for long times, except this song. The sound of Morphine is quite interesting at times and I love the saxophone).

30. Beck- "Loser". (It would be wrong to say that Beck is not growing on me. I never really listened to him in the 90's when he was big. Now I find his music very cool. Ok, so this is a big hit, but it is great!).

29. Motorpsycho- "Leave it like that". (I had a dream come true when I saw Motorpsycho live in Bodø this summer. This is by far the best ever Norwegian rock band, and this is the song that made me realise that).

28. Dinosaur Jr.- "Grab it". (No list would ever be complete without a song by Dionsaur Jr. The only problem was to chose a song as I love more or less everything by this band. "Grab it" is an up tempo song that I enjoy, but probably far from their best song. Anyway, I love the chorus).

27. Iris Dement- "Sweet is the melody". (Prepare for a surprise. This is a country song that is just to beautiful to not add to the list).

26. Pale Saints- "Throwing back the apple". (As you will realise, I am a child of the early ninetees. This song is the biggest hit by Pale Saints. One of many good bands in the early british indie scene).

25. Sigur Ros- "Flugufrelsarinn". (So, Iceland has good music. No need to say more really, but I will. I never was a big fan of Sigur Ros, but this song is hypnothising).

24. Linda Ronstadt- "You can close your eyes". (This is Linda Ronstadts version of a beautiful song by James Taylor. James Taylor probably deserves a place here by himself but I chose to only include this one because of the amazing voice of the most beautiful singer to ever walk this earth).

23. Alice in Chains- "Down in a hole". (It may be a little bit depressing, but the harmonies and the fact that this was the first grunge song to mean something to me makes it deserve a place in this list. And by the way, I cried when Layne Staley was found dead...).

22. Fairport Convention- "Ballad of easy rider". (It may be a little bit unfair to Fairport Convention to put this song here as it is a cover song, but they were so good at doing cover songs and in my opinion this is the most beautiful of them all. Sandy Denny has a great voice).

21. The Breeders- "Roi". (Maybe a little bit unfair to The Breeders too to put this song on the list, but I like it being so "acid". Probably totally wrong way of describing this song, but listen and you will see what I mean).

20. The Who- "My Wife". (I am doing this all the time right. Chosing the "wrong" songs. This is probably the only song Mr. Entwistle sings in the Who, but in my opinion the best song too. Such a great bass player. But in this song what impresses me is the drumming. And yes, I guess everybody knows who was the drummer of the Who?).

19. Primal Scream- "Miss Lucifer". (Electronica? What has happened to you Øyvind? This has been the ringtone on my phone for two years now... Ok, Primal Scream is not an electronica band, but some songs are...).

18. Belly- "Red". (One of the bands that will always be close to my heart. Also difficult to chose ONE song, but this was the one I listened most to in the mid nineties).

17. Gillian Welch- "I dream a highway". (Ok, this song is more than 14 minutes, but it will be the most relaxing 14 minutes of your life).

16. Jimi Hendrix experience- "Little Miss Strange". (I did it again. The only Jimi Hendrix song that he doesn't sing on himself. Why, because the bass player wrote the song and wanted to sing his own song... But listen to the guitar playing on this one... OMG).

15. Pearl Jam- "Nothingman". (I listened to this song over and over again, thinking it was so beautiful. My sister gave me this record as a Christmas gift in 1994 and this is probably one of the most important gifts I ever got).

14. Tortoise & Bonnie Prince William- "Love is Love". (Electronica again? Well this song has nice lyrics and the bass makes my whole body shake).

13. The Charlatans- "The Only one I know". (I find this song a little bit funky even 20 years after it was supposed to be funky. One of the few songs that could make me dance).

12. U2- "In God's Country". (Don't misunderstand. I don't like U2, but I like this song and "Where the streets have no name". The chorus is beautiful).

11. Uncle Tupelo- "Black Eye". (I don't hold a grudge to Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar breaking up this band as it just meant that two great bands would come out of it instead of just one. I love all my Uncle Tupelo records and in my opinion probably the best alternative country bands the world ever saw).

10. Massive Attack- "Teardrop". (Ok, I love Massive Attack. Could have chosen another song, but this one is to beautiful to not include here).

9. Sonic Youth- "Teenage Riot". (Daydream Nation from 1988 may be the coolest record ever. This band has my two favourite guitar players. Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore).

8. 16 horsepower- "Nobody 'cept you". (Has ayone ever covered Bob Dylan as beautiful as this? Don't need to say anything. Just make sure you listen to this song).

7. The Stone Roses- "I wanna be adored". (Yes, I do, and I love the Stone Roses and hope to be able to see them live now that they are having a reunion. The most inluential band of the british indie scene in the 80's and 90's together with The Smiths).

6. Neil Young- "Cortez the killer". (No list would be complete without Neil. I love how he is starting this song with a long guitar solo. His best work, but too much to choose from).

5. Cracker- "Big Dipper". (I can listen to this song over and over and over and over again. Oh, and I have seen the big dipper in Santa Cruz. The song is more beautiful...).

4. Led Zeppelin- "No Quarter". (Jimmy Page is in this song playing what in my opinion is the greatest guitar riff of all times. I just love it more and more. The Cd-player in my car is on maximum volume during this song).

3. The Grateful Dead- "Box of Rain". (I don't know why I don't know anyone that ever promoted this band to me. I had to find out everything on my own, and it took at least ten years too many to find out. The "American Beauty" record that also includes "Brokedown Palace" is among my ten favourite records of all times.

2. Throwing Muses- "Shark". (I love the funky bass on this song. Throwing Muses and Kristin Hersh was a band I struggled more to understand that Belly, but the last ten years I understood why this band could survive 20 years or more, while Belly just survived 3 years. My favourite bass song even though it is not that complicated).

1. Pavement- "Cream of Gold". (The angriest song that has ever been written? I am just asking... It is painful but my favourite song at the moment...).

Probably no one will ever read this, but if you do, please let me know if you liked any of these songs :)

Big Bear :)

Check my photostream :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lofasthc/

The other day when I was updating this blog, a friend of mine asked whether I was going to write about this kind of "sickness" that you get when you really really want to travel... Well, I just had to answer that I actually don't want to travel at the moment. I don't know what is wrong with me, but this is extremely unusual. I don't want to travel and I don't even have an idea about where to spend my next summer holidays. At the moment I am thinking that staying in Norway and going for a small trip to Germany is enough. I guess there are two explanations: 1. The last three trips have been quite exhausting and I feel that it is time for a break. 2. I feel quite happy about my life as it is at the moment, and I don't need to leave the life I have here to go explore the world (like I usually do).

This does of course not mean that there will be no travelling. I am going with my class to Iceland in February/March, making Iceland the 50th country that I visit. I think this could be a very interesting trip..

By the way, I really want a new tattoo again... Who wants to help me make some art???