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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Dust in the Wind (1986) is another movie that wasn't recommended to me by anyone here, but I watched this movie because it was nominated in a recent HoF, and it sounded interesting, but sadly, it didn't live up to my expectations. It wasn't a bad movie. It was just kind of boring.

There wasn't much chemistry between Wan and Huen, so I never really cared much about them. Even in the scenes with them together, it didn't feel like they were much more than friends.

WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING to "Dust in the Wind"!!!" spoilers below
It just felt like this movie had potential, but it was lacking heart. I felt like I was supposed to like these people and want to see them end up together, but even though they seemed to be good people who deserved to be happy together, it just felt like a sad and empty romance. I wasn't surprised that she didn't wait for him.


I really wanted to like this movie, but in the end, it was only okay.
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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Beauty and the Beast and Orpheus - both by Jean Cocteau, beautifully imaginative films from a visual artist.
Orpheus will blow your mind. As great as Beauty and the Beast is I think it's Cocteau's masterpiece.

@rbrayer,
I watched Orpheus (1950). This was a strange movie, but it had me hooked from the beginning, and I enjoyed every minute of it, even though I was a bit confused about a few things.

WARNING: "SPOILERS about "Orpheus"!!!" spoilers below
I'm not sure when Orpheus fell in love with the Princess (Death). He seemed to be obsessed with finding her, but I thought that was just because he didn't understand what happened with Cégeste. I never got the feeling that he loved her until he declared his love in the Underworld.

I also didn't understand why Orpheus wasn't allowed to look at his wife when they returned from the Underworld. I know that it seemed to be punishment for something, but I don't know what he did wrong. As far as I could tell, he was only a witness to what other people did wrong. So why was he punished?

At the end of the movie, why was the crowd of people mad at Orpheus? They mentioned an article in the newspaper that was written about him, but the subtitles never told what the article said. What did he do that got everyone so mad at him that they attacked him?


Somehow, as confused as I was about these things, it didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the movie.

Thanks for the great recommendation.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
As you've now clearly run out of recommendations to watch @gbgoodies (I know you haven't really but it has been three days since your last post ) may I respectfully suggest The Twilight Samurai as another you might enjoy if you can (a) find it available to you and (b) manage to squeeze it in before the approaching deadline. There is a little swordplay but not that much, it's primarily a drama/romance.

@Chypmunk,
I watched The Twilight Samurai (2002). I liked this movie, but I think I would have preferred
WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING of "The Twilight Samurai"!!!" spoilers below
that it end right after the scene when he comes back home after the sword fight.

I wasn't sure if he was going to win the fight and survive, but once he did, I wanted to see him and Tomoe get their happy ending. I didn't need to know that it only lasted three years.


This was a very good movie. Thanks for the recommendation.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
GBG, last night I seen a movie from the 25th HoF that blew me away. My wife liked it too. It's a challenging film in that it doesn't spoon feed the audience. Instead it shows you the story and let's the viewer form their own opinions. The film will be making my countdown ballot.
Sundays and Cybèle (1962)

@Citizen Rules,
I watched Sundays and Cybèle (1962). I loved this movie, and then
WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING of "Sundays and Cybèle"!!!" spoilers below
it took a dark turn at the end that I never saw coming.

This was such a beautiful movie, and once Madeleine found out about Pierre and Cybèle, it looked like she understood the relationship between them was an unusual friendship of two people who needed each other.

I was hoping to see a happy ending where Pierre told Madeleine about Cybèle, and the three of them would live happily ever after as a family.


Even though it wasn't the ending that I was hoping for, this was still a great movie. Thanks for the recommendation.



@Chypmunk,
I watched The Twilight Samurai (2002). I liked this movie, but I think I would have preferred
WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING of "The Twilight Samurai"!!!" spoilers below
that it end right after the scene when he comes back home after the sword fight.

I wasn't sure if he was going to win the fight and survive, but once he did, I wanted to see him and Tomoe get their happy ending. I didn't need to know that it only lasted three years.


This was a very good movie. Thanks for the recommendation.
Glad you enjoyed it, can understand your thoughts regarding the ending.



@Citizen Rules,
I watched Sundays and Cybèle (1962). I loved this movie, and then
WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING of "Sundays and Cybèle"!!!" spoilers below
it took a dark turn at the end that I never saw coming.

This was such a beautiful movie, and once Madeleine found out about Pierre and Cybèle, it looked like she understood the relationship between them was an unusual friendship of two people who needed each other.

I was hoping to see a happy ending where Pierre told Madeleine about Cybèle, and the three of them would live happily ever after as a family.


Even though it wasn't the ending that I was hoping for, this was still a great movie. Thanks for the recommendation.
Great movie, wasn't sure whether or not you'd like this one tbh but very glad you did and saw the relationship for what it was and not some sordid thing like some on here seem to imagine.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
@Citizen Rules,
I watched Sundays and Cybèle (1962). I loved this movie, and then
WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING of "Sundays and Cybèle"!!!" spoilers below
it took a dark turn at the end that I never saw coming.

This was such a beautiful movie, and once Madeleine found out about Pierre and Cybèle, it looked like she understood the relationship between them was an unusual friendship of two people who needed each other.

I was hoping to see a happy ending where Pierre told Madeleine about Cybèle, and the three of them would live happily ever after as a family.


Even though it wasn't the ending that I was hoping for, this was still a great movie. Thanks for the recommendation.
Great movie, wasn't sure whether or not you'd like this one tbh but very glad you did and saw the relationship for what it was and not some sordid thing like some on here seem to imagine.

I can understand why some people might read more into their relationship than it was, but I never thought it was anything more than two lonely people who needed each other.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I would probably try breathless because it has an english speaking actress in it but the rest of godard might be difficult to begin with.
Based on the above and lists:

Breathless (French New Wave/Noir, very accessible)

@Olivier Parent and @rbrayer,
I watched Breathless (1960). This was a rewatch, but it's been several years since the last time I saw it. If I remember correctly, I didn't really like this movie the first time I saw it. It was a little bit better this time, but sadly, not by much.

WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING of "Breathless"!!!" spoilers below
I felt like I should have felt bad for Patricia because she deserved someone much better than Michel, but for some reason, I just didn't seem to care much for her, and I didn't like Michel at all. I was glad that she eventually turned him in.

I wouldn't say that Michel got what he deserved at the end, but for some reason, it didn't feel "wrong" either. I think by the time the movie ended, I just didn't care if he lived or died.


This movie just didn't work for me, but thanks for the recommendation.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Of Kurosawa's more sentimental works that I think you may enjoy, (although his entire oeuvre is spectacular):


Dreams

*Note: Most of his works display some degree of humanism and sentimentality. Although these are the ones that stand out to me.
Anything by Kurosawa is going to be good

@Dog Star Man and @Hey Fredrick,
I watched Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990). The movie was kind of surreal with the segments being strange dreams, but most of the visuals in this movie were beautiful. I especially loved the final shot of the rainbow in "Sunshine Through the Rain".

I didn't care for "The Weeping Demon". It felt like lower quality than the rest of the segments, and it was a big step down visually too. (It reminded me of the old Saturday morning Kroft TV show "Land of the Lost".)

"Village of the Watermills" was a bit strange with them celebrating a funeral with a parade, but it was interesting idea. However the old man's voice was so monotone that he was putting me to sleep.

One question: Why was the "Crows" segment, (with Vincent Van Gogh), the only one that was English (with English subtitles)? I liked it, but it confused me for a minute when it started.

Thanks for the recommendation.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

@HashtagBrownies,
I watched Icarus XB 1 (1963). This movie reminded me of the old 60s sci-fi movies, but it's better than most of them. Most of the 60s sci-fi movies have a goofiness feel to them, but this movie felt realistic.

I liked that most of the first part of the movie was about the crew, so we got to know them and see how they lived.

But I liked the second half of the movie better because that's when most of the interesting stuff happened. I could feel the tension when they had to figure out how to stop one of the crewmen from damaging the ship and/or hurting anyone.

I would have liked the movie to go on a little bit longer, so we could see more of the White Planet.

Thanks for the recommendation.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I watched a few more movies since my last posts, but I haven't had time to write about them.

If I counted correctly, I watched 82 movies to prepare for this countdown. I've been trying to keep a ranked list as I watched them, so hopefully I won't have to make a lot of changes before submitting my list.

Thank you to everyone for all of your recommendations. I watched a lot of great movies for this countdown. It was a very pleasant surprise.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Wow, you watched 82 foreign language films in prep for the big countdown...that's some serious MoFo team spirit

I still have a pretty big watchlist left, but at least I watched a nice variety of movies, and only a few of the movies that made my list were movies that I had already seen previously in HoFs or movie tournaments here. Most of my list came from the recommendations in this thread.

So it looks like everyone did a great job of picking recommendations for me based on my preferences.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Now that's some top MOFOing and what this site is all about. Great work.

Thanks.

I always try to watch a bunch of movies that I haven't seen for these countdowns, but I think this may have been the most movies that I watched for one of them.