Your Countries Best

[The Time Ranger]

What are the standout movies and shows from your country. Some gems which people outside your nation may not have heard of. For this thread i'l ask that the Americans refrain from posting suggestions as they are the home of the vast majority of tv and movies, as the expression goes, "you haven't made it until you've made in in America."

 

I'm from Ireland so here are some of mine.

Love/Hate

A modern gritty crime drama set in Dublin, highly regarded at home but is relatively unknown outside of Ireland. It's a realistic, hard nosed tale of a drug gang trying to make it big in the Irish crime world. A great cast and compelling story make this a quality watch, it's one of the few original shows on RTÉ (Irish state tv) that is actually not sh*t. 

 

The Commitments

The hardest working band in Dublin, this flick follows a soul band trying to make it big, some great lines and plenty of head nodding tunes make this an enjoyable watch for music and film lovers alike.

 

The Guard

Brendan Gleeson and War Machine team up to take down drug traffickers on the Irish coast, it's a darkly humorous drama with great chemistry between Cheadle, playing a serious straight FBI agent, and Gleeson playing a Garda (Irish Police Officer) who Cheadle's character describes as, "I can't tell if your really motherf*cking smart or really motherf*cking dumb." One of my favourite Gleeson roles playing the droll, smart-arsed character to perfection.

Edited January 26, 2020 by The Time Ranger

[darthYENIK]

Don’t tell me what to do.

 

The best movie America has produced is Collision Course starring Jay Leno and Pat Morita.

 

SPOILER:

 

 

[LordStarship]

Best from my country is The Raid.

 

Also try the sequel, The Raid 2. Both of these movies really makes me amazed that it can match some of Hollywood action movies.

 

[ilovebender.com]

 

Edited February 5, 2020 by ilovebender.com

[Mr. Scratch]

 

[Badman_]

- Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad)

 

 

- Cidade de Deus (City of God)

 

[Naughtius Maximus]

For anyone who cares, I'm just gonna leave some of Turkey's top-notch theatrical products right here...

 

- Pardon (Pardon): Blending comedy with socio-political satire, Pardon follows three friends who end up at jail for a crime they didn't even commit. 

- Gemide (On Board): The movie focuses on the crew of a dredging ship. These guys often get high and drunk at night, basically whenever they're not working. The captain sends one of the sailors to get food supplies for the ship, but he gets jumped by a couple of pimps. Under the influence of pot and alcohol, the crew finds and severely beats up the pimps and takes a virgin prostitute along with them to the ship.

- Laleli'de Bir Azize (A Madonna in Laleli): With a plot goes head-to-head with Gemide, the movie follows the bruised-up three pimps from Gemide. These three pimps try to screw over their boss by working off a "virgin" prostitute to make a secret side profit.

- Vizontele: The movie basically tells a half-fictional story about TV's arrival to the underdeveloped city of Hakkari in the early 70s.

- Organize İşler (Magic Carpet Ride): Asım Noyan, a charismatic con-artist and small-time gang leader, meets with a failed stand-up comedian who goes by the stage name "Superman". Asım takes Superman under his wings and schools Superman about crime and life.

- Her Şey Çok Güzel Olacak (Everything's Gonna Be Great): The movie's protagonist is Altan - basically a washed-up deadbeat who has pursued several failed business ventures. Altan reunites with his elder brother Nuri who works at a pharmacy, and drags him along to a misadventure full of bad luck.

- Kolpaçino: A crime comedy we have closest to Snatch. Tayfun is a sneaky mafia henchman who rips off his boss. Having learned of his scheme, Tayfun's boss demands that he pays him back or else he will be killed. Tayfun recruits Sabri, a notorious gambling racketeer and the two organizes a high-profit craps game at the house of Özgür, a drug-headed spoiled rich kid who buys drugs from Tayfun. However, sh*t hits the fan and they find themselves trying to get rid of the corpse of a notorious mob boss by the end of the night.

- Arkadaşım Şeytan (Devil, My Friend): Fatih is a struggling musician who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange of fame and success. However, he eventually finds out that humans are far worse than the Devil when it comes to being evil. 

- Eşkiya (The Bandit): Baran is a bandit who has finished his 35 years of jail sentence. Baran then travels to İstanbul in order find his long-lost lover Keje. On his way to İstanbul, he meets Cumali - a young bum who runs errands for a small-time gangster. Baran helps Cumali through his troubles as he tries to get back with Keje.

 

I'd also suggest taking a look at our Yeşilçam movies. Sure, they're poor in technical quality but most of them underlies themes of social satire. Kibar Feyzo, Kapıcılar Kralı (King of the Doormen), Banker Bilo, Zübük, Arabesk (while not technical Yeşilçam, it makes fun of cheesy Yeşilçam movies) are some of the fine examples.

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Rebel Yell

[GTA-Biker]

Here in Croatia,people generally think that most of our movies tend to go from bad to mediocre.There are some exceptions that most people consider good,and a few of the most praised ones would be these:

Vlak U Snijegu-kids movie about a train taking a class of kids home from a field trip and getting stuck in the snow https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0076893/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_in_the_Snow

Tko Pjeva Zlo Ne Misli-comedy about a family living in Zagreb in the 1930s https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0066461/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Song_a_Day_Takes_Mischief_Away

Metastaze-drama about a group of thugs and lowlives in modern Zagreb,the scenes with a character Krpa inspired several local memes https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1433816/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metastases_(film)

[Algonquin Assassin]

I'll refrain from Mad Max and Crocodile Dundee as I'm sure most people probably would've heard of those..

 

So these are my favourite Aussie flicks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mister Pink]

Good films from Oz but would have put Animal Kingdom and Snowtown on that list^

 

The General, Dir. John Boorman (1998)

 

Irelands answer to Chopper is Martin Cahill AKA The General. The film looks a little dated now, even for a film in the 90s. The was one of those funny criminals that taunted the police, would famously go to court wearing a ski-mask and Mickey Mouse T-Shirt and underwear and would go to collect his social welfare regularly. Some interviews from investigative journalists of him on the way to collect his dole exist online. He was eventually whacked by the IRA because he allegedly sold some stolen art to loyalist paramilitaries. He's a strange character, portrayed as some sort of Robin Hood type. He had a strange relationship with two sisters, apparently with the approval of the other and had children with each. 

 

There's actually three films based on this criminal. The other two are Ordinary Decent Criminal with Kevin Spacey playing the 'The General.' The other is Vicious Circle (1999) which is a British production, Irish cast which might actually be more grittier and realistic than the other two..  But the better known film is "The General" starring Brendan Gleeson. Gleeson actually naturally looks like Cahill. 

 

Trailer is awful but the film is decent enough, particularly if you like films based on true crime. 

 

 

In The Name of The Father , Dir. Jim Sheridan (1993)

 

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, it's a film about the Guildford Four, men (wrongly) accused of bombing a pub in England in an IRA attack. 

 

 

 

It would be a stretch to claim In Bruges as an Irish film. Writer/director Martin McDonagh's (Seven Psychopaths, Thee Billboards..') parents are Irish and he made his first film (Oscar-winning) short in Ireland (6-Shooter). But he's a London guy and I think a lot the production on In Bruges was probably British and American. 

 

Calvary, Dir. John Michael McDonagh, (2014)

 

John Michael McDonagh (The Guard, Ned Kelly) is the brother of Martin McDonagh (In Bruges). He made Calvary with a great cast again, Brendan Gleeson stars but we get comedians Chris O'Dowd, Dylan Moran and Deirdre O'Kane and other legend Aiden Gillen. It's a very dark comedy. As is McDonagh's other works like The Guard and his brother's films like In Bruges.

 

 

 

Adam & Paul, Dir. Lenny Abrahamson (2004)

 

One of the best films of these is Adam & Paul, written by Mark O'Halloran (The Guard, Garage) and directed by the acclaimed and oscar-nominated Lenny Abrahamson (Frank, Room). It's another tragic-comedy about two Dublin junkies and their daily grind to get money to get gear. It' really humanizes heroin junkies and makes to feel really bad for them. It's an awful existence they live in addiction. This is one of two films where the writer and director have collaborated. The other is Garage 2007, which is also great. 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by Mister Pink

[Algonquin Assassin]

Oh sh*t.

 

Something I forgot to add is Wolf Creek 1 and 2. We're not exactly known for horror movies, but I love those two. It's like Crocodile Dundee meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

[Mister Pink]

Just now, SonOfLiberty said:

Oh sh*t.

 

Something I forgot to add is Wolf Creek 1 and 2. We're not exactly known for horror movies, but I love those two. It's like Crocodile Dundee meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Yeah dude, I rented the first Wolf Creek on DVD back in the day haha! Was some good sh*t. Another good film you could put on the list of Aussie films is Hounds of Love. That's a good film too. 

 

Some great films from Australia, especially if you like dark crime films. 

 

 

[Lonely-Martin]

51 minutes ago, SonOfLiberty said:

Oh sh*t.

 

Something I forgot to add is Wolf Creek 1 and 2. We're not exactly known for horror movies, but I love those two. It's like Crocodile Dundee meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Fun films indeed. I enjoyed season one of the TV series too. Need to catch the 2nd season (And beyond if it has more), but I did like seeing John Jarrett return as the baddie as it's often a new cast once films become series, and I think IIRC, it was the same director/producer, but I forget his name, lol. (McLean, or something similar).

 

There's a documentary that's all about 'Ozploitation' movies I must remember to watch as well. Can't remember the title but as it never got a UK release, I keep forgetting about it, lol. Mad Max of course is a highlight from Australia, and Chopper was pretty funny from what I remember, must rewatch that one, though not seen Romper Stomped yet.