Foreign films to watch...

I have found that American movies are often aimed at teenagers and predictable in plot. So, if you are part of Netflix and looking for something different, you might think about some foreign films. Here is a list of 10 recent foreign movies that I have enjoyed and would recommend:

1. DEAR FRANKIE -- (Scotland, 2004) -- After years of sending her deaf son fake letters from his "father" who was away in the Navy, a mother must find a man to act as the boy's father for a few days when a ship arrives in the port community and the boy expects to see his father. Great twists and turns in this nice story. Cast: Emily Mortimer.
2. MRS. PALTRY AT THE CLAREMONT -- (Britain, 2005) -- After a fall on a London sidewalk, an elderly widow meets a young writer who agrees to be her "grandson" at dinners at her boarding house. Cast: Joan Plowright, Rupert Friend.
3. EVIL -- (Sweden, 2003) -- A teenager who has been subjected to violence all his life attempts to not lash out violently at a gang of bullies. It is a story about the confrontation of evil. In Swedish, the movie was called "Ondskan."
4. CHILDREN OF HEAVEN -- (Iran, 1999) -- A boy loses his sister's shoes and so they must share his sneakers at different times of day at their gender-segregated schools. When he sees that the third prize in a foot race is a pair of new sneakers, he enters to win the shoes for his sister. He doesn't want to come in first place. He wants to come in third for the prize of the shoes. In this movie, I also really liked how the extended community, for the most part, was depicted in its concern and treatment of children.
5. BLACK SHEEP -- (New Zealand, 2006) -- All that the movie “Black Sheep” had to provide was a scene of a rabid sheep driving a pickup over a cliff. I laughed and was hooked, and the humor overshadowed the moments of gore, making them tolerable. Saved by witty lines and funny moments, the pseudo-horror movie plot sends three memorable characters fleeing for their lives from flocks of sheep. And I rooted for their survival. Parodying scenes from “The Birds” from Alfred Hitchcock and the dinosaur danger in “Jurassic Park,” the New Zealand movie turns sheep, the planet’s most passive animal, into vicious monsters. That’s funny, actually. Only attacking butterflies would be a greater reach. In this case, the New Zealand filmmakers use what they have to scare and also to amuse. It is a wild, contrary notion, for a country with pastoral postcards of sheep grazing on green hills, and maybe that's why the dark humor works.
6. ANGEL-A -- (France, 2007) -- Every guy should have a beautiful, sexy angel to help him feel good about himself. I want one, too. In the French movie “Angel-A,” Andre, with the help of Angela the angel, looks into the mirror and his eyes tear up because he sees that he does have a place in the world. Don’t be intimidated by its subtitles or that it’s a black-and-white film. It’s stunning in black and white, like Ansel Adams photos. The angel’s blond hair and eventual wings stand out, as she stands tall above the disheveled Andre, who needs her comforting arms. Great acting. Memorable characters. Just the right amount of special effects. A mysterious storyline. What will happen?
7. ONCE -- (Ireland, 2006) -- A street musician and a migrant woman find they can make great music together. This independent film was done simply. No car crashes or explosions in this movie, which is refreshing as well. Its featured song won an Academy Award.
8. THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES -- (Spain, 2004) -- Based on a true story about a road trip, from south to north, in South America, by Che Guevara and a friend. The scene I liked the most was when Che swims across the Amazon River, which really is about trying to "bridge" the regular fearful community with a leper colony on the other side.
9. BEN-X -- (Belgium, 2007) -- This movie probably provides the best portrayal that I have yet seen of what it might like to have autism. A teenager, harassed by bullies, finds escape with an online computer game. This movie is also an example of what's different about American movies and their often predictability. Every time I thought I knew where the plot of "BenX" was going, it changed course.
10. HAPPY-GO-LUCKY -- (Britain, 2008) -- A London teacher, who is cheerfully optimistic, is paired with a driving instructor who is exactly the opposite, gloom and pessimistic.

Other movies: Eagle vs. Shark (a 2007 New Zealand comedy), Shiver (scary scenes in a 2008 Spanish film also called "Eskalofrio"), Wondrous Oblivion (2006 French film), and Paris, Je T'aime (a 2006 film from France--The best segment about people in Paris, France, is the last one where an American woman is speaking in broken French and what she says is pretty much the same feelings I had for Paris when I was there).