Two Lottery Tickets (2016) - 86 min

Country: Romania
Director: Paul Negoescu
Cast: Dragoș Bucur, Dorian Boguță & Alexandru Papadopol.
The story revolves around a trio of unsuccessful friends who meets regularly at a place where they talk and drink beers. Things take a turn for the better when one of them wins six million Euros and the bag containing lottery ticket was robbed by two thugs.
The characters were entertaining, and they create some laugh-out-loud scenes that literally makes you laugh. The best scene of the movie will be the scene where they talk to a Bucharest policeman. The amazing chemistry of the trio, Alexandru Papadopol, Dorian Boguță, and Dragoș Bucur really works out in the movie and it is a pleasure to watch them bounce off each other. The comic timing of the trio and the expressions they give away were very funny to watch. This is the first Romanian feature film since the 1990s to be shot by a woman cinematographer. With limited resources to show in a story like this, director Paul Negoescu has created a good road movie. Overall, It's a feel-good movie that managed to sustain audience interest and you need to try this one if you like innocent stories.
Verdict: Good

Ilo Ilo (2013) - 99 min

Country: Singapore
Director: Anthony Chen
Cast: Chen Tianwen, Yeo Yann Yann, Angeli Bayani & Koh Jia Ler.
Set in the year 1997 during the time of the Asian Financial Crisis, It tells the story of the Lim family who hires a live-in maid for some domestic help in the form of Filipino, Teresa. 
Anthony Chen, the director of the movie grew up in 1990s Singapore with a Filipino maid and going through the same kind of situations at that time helps him to write in detail about all sort of family issues. If you look closely, you can easily sense the unsaid words or emotions of both parties and that's the beauty of it. Winning the best debut award at the 2013 London Film Festival and the Camera d’Or for best debut feature at Cannes, it was selected as the Singaporean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards. Overall, It's an unsentimental yet emotionally involving film that provides a sense of hope to everyone and In the end, you can come out with the feeling of watching a good family drama film.
Verdict: Good

No Date, No Signature (2017) - 99 min

Country: Iran
Director: Vahid Jalilvand
Cast: Amir Aghaei, Navid Mohammadzadeh & Hedye Tehrani.
While driving his car at night, Dr. Kaveh Nariman accidentally hits Moosa's motorcycle. He stopped his car and offers to take Moosa's family, to the nearest hospital. They ignore his advice and A few days later, a body is brought into the autopsy room.
Obsession of a forensic doctor makes the movie a mystery one and the suspense of whether he is guilty or not is held towards the last shot. The emotional scenes put forward by Mohammadzadeh is one of the brightest moments of the film. Writer/director Vahid Jalilvand manages to show sympathy for all his characters and he gave space for the actors to deliver powerful performances. The morality and integrity may change according to the situations and each character is trying to do the right thing. It was selected as the Iranian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards and Iranian cinema continues to impress in every aspect of drama genre. Overall, it's a sensitive piece of work, which slowly unfolds the mystery content and the visuals actually resemble black-and-white color.
Verdict: Good

Ixcanul (2015) - 93 min

Country: Guatemala
Director: Jayro Bustamante
Cast: Maria Mercedes Coroy, Justo Lorenzo, Marvin Coroy & Maria Telon.
María lives in the Guatemalan highlands, with her parents who work in a nearby coffee plantation and her marriage is already fixed with the plantation's widower, Ignacio. Maria is attracted to Pepe, a fellow worker who plans to migrate to the United States.
Ixcanul means 'volcano' in the Kaqchikel language, and It's a coming-of-age story that deals with the teenager's issues. Awakening sexuality plays an important role in the movie when Maria, uses a giant tree as a sort of quick pleasure proves the point of her sexual desire. The tribal culture is fascinating in every manner, the traditional way to find out it's a boy or girl is one of the key thing used by the director of the film, Jayro Bustamante. Jayro Bustamante himself grew up in the Kaqchikel-speaking region of Guatemala’s highlands, and that's the main reason why every tiny little thing about the culture counts in the movie. Overall, It's an internationally acclaimed film that won many awards all over the world and was selected as the Guatemalan entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards.
Verdict: Good

Heidi (2015) - 111 min

Country: Switzerland
Director: Alain Gsponer
Cast: Bruno Ganz, Anuk Steffen, Katharina Schüttler, Quirin Agrippi & Isabelle Ottmann.
Aunt Dete drops her 8-year-old niece, Heidi with her grandfather who is not very fond of people around him. Heidi loves to live in the mountains and she starts to do kinds of stuff to win the heart of her grandfather.
It is based on the novel of the same name by Johanna Spyri published in 1881. Anuk Steffen's performance as Heidi is flawless and the innocent smile of her will keep you in touch with her strong emotions. Bruno Ganz, the man who played Adolf Hitler in Downfall (2004) plays the role of reluctant grandfather. The core of the film will be the bond between Heidi and her grandfather. The mountain scenes were filmed in the eastern canton of Graubünden, which was also where the 1952 Heidi film was filmed. The material may look old, but each generation needs its own Heidi. Overall, the movie is filled with gorgeous shots of the mountains and loved it more than Hunt for the wilderpeople (2016).
Verdict: Good

Rosie (2018) - 86 min

Country: Ireland
Director: Paddy Breathnach
Cast: Sarah Greene, Moe Dunford & Natalia Kostrzewa.
Rosie is a mother of four kids and her partner John Paul works in a restaurant kitchen. They live in a rented house and things were working fine for them Until their landlord decided to sell it.
What happens when there’s no space for you to stay?. Sarah Greene portraits the title character 'Rosie' and she is the medium that connects the viewer to the story for 36-odd hours. The way she manages to hide her emotions from the kids were the strongest moments of the movie. Doyle's script doesn't waste any time in demonstrating the gravity of the situation Rosie and his family going through. Desperate their situations, they still manage to find space for that little happiness of life. Apart from Rosie's character, the one character that actually holds one side of the story is John Paul's character, towards the end you will understand that point. Overall, It's a well-crafted movie with some sentimental touches here and there to realize the pain and discomfort they face throughout the movie.
Verdict: Good

Smuggling Hendrix (2018) - 92 min

Country: Cyprus
Director: Marios Piperides
Cast: Adam Bousdoukos, Fatih Al, Vicky Papadopoulou & Özgür Karadeniz.
Yiannis is broke and to escape from his problems, he decides to move to the Netherlands. He is still taking care of his ex-girlfriend's dog, Jimi. While taking Jimi for a walk, the dog runs away from the Greek Cypriot side of Nicosia to the Turkish-occupied side of the divided city.
This is the second movie from Cyprus that I am watching, the previous one was Committed (2014). Both Free-Greek zone and Occupied-Turkish zone follows some rules for their own safety. Like the title refers, Yiannis is trying to smuggle his dog from one side to another. Marios Piperides uses a man who loses his dog as a center of attraction to talk about the history of Nicosia and the political side of it. He tenderly captures both sides emotions and how they react to the divide situation of their own country. It's not about saving a dog, but it's really about a guy who finally takes a stand to do something instead of running away from it. Yiannis was played by Adam Bousdoukos who does justice to his character. Overall, It's a simple movie and If you are looking for a breezy comedy movie, Just watch Smuggling Hendrix.
Verdict: Good

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017) - 93 min

Country: Indonesia
Director: Mouly Surya
Cast: Marsha Timothy, Yoga Pratama, Egy Fedly & Dea Panendra.
Marlina is a widow who lives on the island of Sumba in the Eastern side of Indonesia. Her grieving life changes when a band of criminals arrives at her house intent on stealing her goods and raping her.
The movie is divided into four chapters, “Robbery,” “The Journey,” “The Confession” and “The Birth”. It deals with misogyny in Indonesian culture and wide lens shots show the desolate landscape of Eastern Indonesia. Zeke Khaseli and Yudhi Arfani deserve special mention for their exceptional score that brought the feeling of a western movie atmosphere. The two genres that pop up to my mind while talking about Indonesian cinemas is Action (Traditional Indonesian martial art movies) and Horror. It's a good sign for the Indonesian film industry to try their luck on different genres and explore new things. It was selected as the Indonesian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. Overall, It's a stylish female-oriented movie to watch and The director of the movie, Mouly Surya calls this film as a ‘Satay Western’.
Verdict: Good

Cake (2018)

Country:  Pakistan
Director:  Asim Abbasi
Cast:  Aamina Sheikh, Sanam Saeed, Adnan Malik & Syed Mohammad Ahmed.
Zareen, the middle daughter lives with her parents in Pakistan, while older brother Zain and younger sister Zara pursue their lives in New York and London, respectively. After a long time, the family reunites when their father suffers from congestive heart failure.
The story may look different, but the basic theme reminds me of the Bollywood movie 'Kapoor & Sons'. Like Bol (2011), You can see plenty of female-centric Pakistani films where women make more sense than men. Cake can be also added to the list of movies that move away from the image of an alpha male and Still Bol (2011) holds the number one position of that category. The mystery content or the Jamali family secrets can be easily predictable unless you are Zara. Overall, It was selected as the Pakistani entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards and this cake is delicious to have if you consider family as your first priority.
Verdict: Good

Force Majeure (2014) - 117 min

Country: Sweden
Director: Ruben Östlund
Cast: Johannes Bah Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren, Vincent Wettergren, Kristofer Hivju & Fanni Metelius.
Tomas and Ebba, a middle-class couple vacationing at a fancy ski resort in the French Alps with their two children. On the second day, they face a controlled avalanche that slowly spoils the mood of their whole trip.
Force Majeure deals with a situation that can change any relationship status, Instead of protecting his family, a man runs for his own life. Ruben Östlund presents a simple truth of patriarchal society. Never know how we might react in a survival scenario like this and In the end, your action towards that situation defines who you are a hero or a coward. The third acts seem to be a forced one from the director to make the circle complete itself. It was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards. Overall, It's a truly beautiful piece of cinema and the way drama unfolds were nicely captured by cinematographer Fredrik Wenzel.
Verdict: Good

Mukti Bhawan (2016) - 102 min

Country: India
Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani
Cast: Adil Hussain, Lalit Behl, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Palomi Ghosh & Navnindra Behl.
77-year-old patriarch Dayanand Kumar believes his time has home and wants to spend his last days at Mukti Bhawan in Varanasi as his father did. His son Rajiv decides to take his father on his last journey.
Mukti Bhawan is a real hotel situated in Varanasi where people check-in to attain moksha. They can stay there for two weeks and if they don't die within two weeks they need to vacate from the hotel. Shubhashish Bhutiani is a gifted filmmaker for sure and does a script like this at the age of 25 is truly amazing. The main theme of the film is the awareness of one’s mortality. Turns out it's a father-son story filled with some beautiful conversations. Bhutiani chooses to tell the story through the eyes of Rajiv, played by Adil Hussain. Talking about Hussain's performance, he leaves an unforgettable mark as a beloved son and his combination scenes with Lalit Behl were the best you could ever get from this kind of films. Overall, Mukti Bhawan falls into the category of films that stick to you for a long period of time with good memories and a must-watch.
Verdict: Great

Little Gandhi (2016) - 93 min

Country: Syria
Director: Sam Kadi
Cast: Robert Ford, Najlaa Alsheikh, Motaz Morad & Ghiath Shurbaji.
It focuses on the life of Syrian peace activist Ghiyath Matar, who became a famous figure in Syria’s freedom movement for giving flowers and water to army soldiers. All he wanted is to free Syria from Bashar al-Assad.
Little Gandhi is a documentary film about an activist who became a symbol of peaceful revolution during the Syrian Civil War. Matar's notion was inspirational and motivational to all activists and they nicknamed him as “Little Gandhi”. Sam Kadi faces many obstacles to shot the movie and traveling to a war zone is like a suicide. So he chooses to direct the whole film through Skype and some activists in Daraya helps them to complete the impossible task. The way they smuggle the footage out the city is nothing less than a thriller movie. The best part of the whole process is Kadi manages to show the final output to the people who acted in the movie with a password protected link. Overall, This is the first time, Syria had an entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category and it deserves more recognition.
Verdict: Good

Parasite (2019) - 132 min

Country: South Korea
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik & Park So-dam.
Ki-taek lives in a semi-basement dump with his wife Chung-sook, son Ki-woo and daughter Ki-jung. Ki-woo got an offer from his friend as a private tutor for Da-hye, daughter of a wealthy family.
The title means an organism that takes its nourishment from another organism for survival and usually harming it. It's a class-war between upper and lower class family. Bong keeps the drama unpredictable until the final acts and coming away from this film will leave you many questions. All the performances were spot on. Lee Sun-kyun easily fits into the upper-class family with his natural appearance and composure. On the other hand, Song Kang-ho is a regular face for a Bong movie and he knows how to utilize him. Parasite is the first Korean movie to won Palme d'Or. Still, Memories of Murder holds the first position of the best movie ever made by Bong. Overall, It's a dazzling and gripping experience that demands repeat viewings.
Verdict: Great

The Fool (2014) - 120 min

Country: Russia
Director: Yuri Bykov
Cast: Artyom Bystrov, Boris Nevzorov, Natalia Surkova & Kirill Polukhin.
A Russian plumber, Dima Nikitin is called out for help after a pipe burst in an apartment building. While checking the pipe, he notices the exterior wall behind the pipe has cracked and his gut says it will collapse in less than a few hours.
It tells the story of a nincompoop who tries to save 800 peoples before a building collapse. Bystrov brings a stupendous amount of sympathy to his Nikitin character and the iniquitous role was handled by Surkova. The film takes place entirely at night, apart from the final shot. The building's 10 degrees lean was nicely explained by the director, Yuri Bykov who also handles the screenplay department. The inspiration for the movie came to him during a stay in his home country and the way he uses his character to fight against Russian corruption needs appreciation. Overall, It shows the strength and courage of an individual to fight against a corrupted society where people call compassionate as 'The Fool'.
Verdict: Good

Days of Glory (2006) - 128 min

Country: Algeria
Director: Rachid Bouchareb
Cast: Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem & Bernard Blancan.
A group of Algerian Arab soldiers enlisted into the French army during World War II. The story focuses on four individuals and their journey to survive the war when the French army treat them like trash.
“Days of Glory” takes its time to study the four individuals and their nature seems like traveling four different directions. Out of the four characters, The standout performance was delivered by Sami Bouajila who plays the character Abdelkader. There are a lot of confrontational scenes in the film when Arab soldiers start to fight for their equality. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. One particular scene looks exactly like a scene from the movie 'Saving Private Ryan'. Overall, Days of Glory changes the course of history like the title ad claims and don't expect a full-on war kind of stuff.
Verdict: Good

Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait (2016) - 96 min

Country: Bhutan
Director: Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
Cast: Tshering Dorji, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung & Xun Zhou.
Every twelve years, a group of men and women gather in a secret forest of Eastern Bhutan in order to find out who they really are. They need to hide their identity for 15 days and enjoy the freedom of being unknown.
While searching for a Bhutanese film in any media, you will end up in a list containing at least two films of Rinpoche like Vara: A Blessing (2013), Travellers and Magicians(2003) and The Cup (1999). His films achieved quite a success at international festivals. The traditional Bhutan masks were used for each character in the movie and the only way to judge their performance is to keep an eye on their body language. The surprise entry of a Hong Kong superstar to do a tiny role shows the uniqueness of the movie. The idea of masked community works perfectly fine for me and the eager to find others hidden identity makes it even more interesting to see. Overall, the film is visually appealing and If you like to try something new, 'Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait' will be a good choice for you.
Verdict: Good

Mad World (2016) - 101 min

Country:  Hong Kong
Director:  Wong Chun
Cast:  Shawn Yue, Eric Tsang, Elaine Jin & Charmaine Fong.
Tung suffers from bipolar disorder and is forced to stay with his estranged father after being dismissed from the hospital. He tries to reintegrate into society by helping his neighbors, But nobody understand him fully.
Mad World’s script looks very strong, clean and simple. The combination scenes between Shawn Yue and Eric Tsang were nicely presented by the director. The society plays an important role in molding a person whether it's a good or bad influence. There are some shocking moments if you truly immersed in Tung's character and placed yourself in his state of mind. You can call this movie a character study of a troubled young man who wants to survive in this mad world. The director also discusses contemporary Hong Kong. It was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. Anyway, it won many Asian awards which are not a surprise at all. Overall, It's a sincere film by Wong Chun and a realistic look at the bipolar disorder.
Verdict: Good