The MoFo Top 100 Foreign Language Film Countdown

Vampyr is great. I have the Criterion blu ray. I’m not a fan of Roma. I found it very underwhelming.

I made this mistake. In my defense, the films I confused with each other were made the same year and I wasn’t aware of the others existence.
Thankfully, Thursday caught it.

I certainly hope there's at least a couple of 1920s films on the list.

Vampyr is great but not the Dreyer I chose. (Not much of a spoiler)

I gave Roma a solid 4/5 when it came out, which ultimately means that it didn't stand a chance in making my list.

Yeah, it happened with several films, but like half the ones we caught (maybe more) were just one instance, because of exactly that: same title and same year.

Others were way less defensible. But like I said, it's just a truism of development that you can't avoid this stuff. You can literally have giant flashing banners or huge red text and people still don't even look at it. People still ask me every year how to get into the Oscar chat even while all those links are plastered in the header.

Don't make websites, kids.

vampyr is very good, but didn’t make my list.

i really liked roma when it came out but i rewatched it last summer and it blew me away in a way i wasn’t expecting. still didn’t make my list but would certainly make a top 35.

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It's a great decade. I would say there are at least 6 or 7 with legitimate chances, but who knows.

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Really need to give Vampyr another go. Don't remember anything about it really and I think I gave it a 6/10 at the time. It's probably dope.

Roma is a solid enough film though I think the gimmick with its camerawork gets old pretty quick (it does redeem itself a good bit by having its best moments in the last act). Since it's been mentioned, ya y'all voted for the wrong Roma. One of Fellini's best from what I've seen.

Vampyr was on my ballot at #23. Here's what I wrote on it for the 24th Hall of Fame:

Initially, I struggled with Dreyer quite a lot, often being left cold by his films. This was the first film of his I saw which I really warmed up to though. By my second viewing, I found myself taken in by the shadow techniques which were utilized in all kinds of inventive ways, the consistently creepy set pieces and sequences which added to the film's atmospheric power, the overall surreal and often indescribable tone of the whole film, or how it felt like a silent film given how barely any dialogue and sound effects were in it. With my third viewing, I realized that this film does a better job at establishing a creepy mood than just about all horror films I've ever seen have. As for the story, I'm still not sure I understand everything which happened in it. Like, I get the general outline of the plot, but I don't know why everything in the film happens. Normally, I would be bothered by this, but I actually didn't mind that at all with this film. Since the stylistic elements of the film are so strong and diverse, I think that was all the film needed to be great. The sensory techniques this film utilized caused it to be a highly surreal and strange tale. Simply feeling the power of those elements came with their own set of rewards which moved me in ways which few films I've seen have, so I'm not sure I want the story to be more coherent. It was already impactful. As I watched one highly surreal, often indescribable set piece go by after another, I found myself becoming more involved with the mysterious beauty of the film, even if I didn't understand what was going on half the time. Overall, this is a fantastic horror film and I'm glad I was able to revisit it for this thread.

I enjoyed Roma and thought that most sequences in the film were beautifully shot and emotionally powerful, with the standouts being the balancing demonstration, the students riot long take, and the beach sequence. Not my favorite Cuaron though (Children of Men is my favorite of his films) and it didn't make my list.

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19. The Mirror (1975, Tarkovsky) #86
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23. Vampyr (1932, Dreyer) #84
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Also, I've seen 11/18 of these films (11/19 if you count the honorable mention).

I turned "Roma" off after 20-25 minutes. I found the b&w gimmicky, and the slow scenes to be even more gimmicky, as a way to tell the critics, "Look, nothing happens in the first act, it's art-house and if you don't rate it highly, you don't get it". I think its why my brother (barely knows movies) recommended it to me; the same way it was marketed to movie message board fans.

I tried to watch "Vampyr", but I turned it off within 20 minutes and did something else, like play Age of Empires II which is a great time killer. But I posted the link for others.

I did see Fellini's "Roma" only because it was on TCM, and it's a movie I hadn't seen.. 6/10, should have been better. Too much of a fashion/cooking show.

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Vampyr needed a little more story development (it was occasionally predictable), but it was still a lot of fun.

I'm surprised to see Roma but not because it's not good. I liked it quite a bit.

Seen Vampyr a couple of times and it doesn't do much for me.

If it makes you feel any better, I accidentally voted for a movie that doesn't even exist yet.

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Hope you were able to correct it!

If I'm holding in my arms all of civilizations cinematic output as the world crumbles to the ground, Vampyr is one of the few I'm going to try to hold onto the longest. I don't know where I rated it, but it was very high. Probably top 10. Possibly top 5. It doesn't need more of a story. It doesn't need more of anything. It's a perfect artifact of one of moviedoms true, indisputable geniuses. It almost puts the entirity of a whole centuries horror film output to shame.



I've owned Roma for two years now and have yet to watch it. I expect to think it was pretty good. But I also doubt it would be good enough to make my immaculate list, along with the incomparable Vampyr. I don't think I've ever really loved a Cuoron after all. SO much so, I didn't even look to see how you spell his name.

Although I rated Roma only 6/10 when reviewing it, I think it's very well done-- especially from the production values; so much so that it was my #10 for this countdown.
My commentary from the year it was released:

Roma (2018)

Roma is a technical tour de force in search of a compelling story. It’s impressive that one man, Alfonso Cuaron, could write, direct, and photograph a film that looks as good as this one. Notably of the three, he is certainly a gifted cinematographer. The selection, construction, and framing of the scenes, especially the outdoor panoramas, are award winning material, as good as any in recent memory.

Unfortunately once fixed on a scene, he tends to linger on it too long, which not only compromises the dramatic impact of the action, but bogs down the film with too much time. It’s as if he wants to make sure that we’ve appreciated the artistic significance of each setting. At 2 hours and 15 minutes, trimming the run time by 20-30 minutes would have made a leaner film with more impact.

There were so many panning scenes of the interior of the home, especially the upstairs bedroom area, that it felt like a reality show. And in fact the entire movie had a documentary feel to it. The time spent on the visual portrayals often seemed to imply impending payoffs, but more often merely segued into another similar section: visual crescendos followed by repeat crescendos.

The story was not without activity. It’s just that the events did not support the time that was taken to arrive there. This is one of those slice of life movies that neither asks nor answers any questions, make any statement, nor come to any conclusions. We’re simply presented with what in our modern times is a fairly banal story.

The acting was good. Of special note was Yalitza Martínez, who, although a novice actress, played the central figure: a maid named Cleo. The veteran actress Marina de Tavira had a strong performance as Sofia, the mother of the family.

However the proof of the pudding is this: if the exact same story and production were done by the same director, but instead in an American setting, it’s not likely that it would have gotten any notice.

So while Roma’s production values are first rate, one is left to wonder what all the excitement is about. Alfonso Cuaron has the talent to direct a great film, but if Roma is any indication, he’ll need a more interesting script.

Doc’s rating: 6/10

Fortunately Yoda knew what I meant and fixed it for me.

Paprika coming to Criterion Channel in July which is awesome. Bunch of animation coming I should watch actually.

I didn't expect Roma to show up. Mostly because I forgot it even existed.