FOREIGN MOVIES. “Lone Samurai.” / “Waiting for Dalí.” / “Midnight Diner.” / “The Silence of the Marsh.” / “Exit Plan.” / “Down by Love.” / “Neither Heaven Nor Earth.” / “Madrid, 1987.”

“Lone Samurai” (2025, Plex) Japanese-language survival action. A shipwrecked 13th-century samurai overcomes his desire for ritual suicide after being captured by a violent cannibal tribe on a remote island. 

       The movie opened in slow-paced but visually stunning sequences. Ruminative. The real drama commences when Riku's seppuku (or suicide) attempt was halted when a violent, cannibalistic tribe captured him. The real show is the final act's choreographed combat.

        It takes patience to watch this but it's okay, in the end. 🎥💻📽

“Waiting for Dalí” (2023, Tubi) Spanish comedy-drama. Two brothers fleeing political trouble in 1974 Franco-era Spain find refuge and culinary purpose at an eccentric coastal restaurant obsessed with the famous artist Salvador Dalí.

       Alluring cinematography, Spanish small-town cultural atmosphere, awesome food preparation, and a non-cliche storyline. Plus an entertaining performance by Jose Garcia as Jules, the restaurant owner who is obsessed with Salvador Dali.

       Director David Pujol was able to turn a supposedly atmosphere of political turmoil (first scenes) into an engaging comedic jaunt. Bravo! 🎥💻📽

“Midnight Diner” (2019, Tubi) Chinese human interest drama. An enigmatic "Master" runs a small Shanghai restaurant open from midnight until dawn. It is based on the famous manga “Shin'ya Shokudō” by Yarō Abe. 

       Director Tony Leung Ka-fai is also the main star of the show. The narrative is told in episodic snippets that could be charming in most instances and mawkish in some. Yet what it lacks in dramatic tension, it compensates in what the Master was cooking, although he didn't really cook much. 🎥💻📽

“The Silence of the Marsh” (2019, Netflix) Spanish mystery thriller. A journalist-turned-crime-novelist commits a crime. 

       The overall dark, downcast vibe, woven around the sinister charm of Pedro Alonso (as central character Q) is this movie's allure. But the storyline is a bit of a mess, a convoluted jumble (sic) of political corruption and serial murder cliche. Sure, Pedro's juju keeps the joint cool but 1-hour and 32-minute of the sweet drag eventually killed the excitement. 🎥💻📽

“Exit Plan” (2019, Plex) Danish-Norwegian-German mystery drama. Insurance detective Max Isaksen investigates the cold case of a disappearance. 

       A word to describe this movie is “morose.” From start to finish, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's Max Isaksen painstakingly walks us into an existential crisis that we just want him to get over it, kill himself. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention but I didn't really know what's the story behind his suicidal fix. 🎥💻📽

“Down by Love” (2016, Tubi) French drama. A woman who is sentenced to nine years in prison begins an illegal relationship with the prison director.

       All that I can say is Adele Exarchopoulos as Anna is stunningly beautiful. That's all there is to this bland, derivative, and bereft of creative imagination. Director Pierre Godeau didn't bother to infuse a bit of dramatic tension or game-changing twist to this by-the-motions genre cliche. 

        This movie is supposedly based on real life. Yet wasted in a lumbering stereotypical yarn. 🎥💻📽

“Neither Heaven Nor Earth” (2015, Plex) French-Belgian supernatural war drama. The film blends the grim realities of modern military operations with surreal psychological horror and metaphysical mystery. Setting: The remote Wakhan Valley on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, 2014. 

       I like the way director Clement Cogitore handled this feature (which he also wrote). The documentary-styled camera work and raw storytelling gives it a realism that transcends the “supernatural” premise. The slow burn chill serves the grim military reality in an isolated, largely adversarial environment. Hell but without the sight of twisted limbs, or cries of the wounded, or stench of rotten corpses. The horror is within. 🎥💻📽

“Madrid, 1987” (2011, Tubi) Spanish drama. An old, bitter journalist attempts to seduce a young journalism student. 

       Written and directed by David Trueba, this (intellectually) naughty generational sort of confrontation all took place in a locked bathroom. Old man, young woman: Naked. The “art house” appeal is unfailing but it is still too long or talky, regardless of the committed performance of Jose Sacristan as the writer/mentor Miguel, and Maria Valverde as the student Angela. 

       But of course the bathroom/nakedness is this movie's allure, salacious as it is. Yet the entire exercise is still incredibly implausible. 🎥💻📽