C'est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog)

Year: 1996
Director: Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel
Country: Belguim
Language: French
Duration: 96 Minutes
Genre: Mockumentary, Dark Comedy
Plot: A camera crew follows a serial killer/thief around as he exercises his craft. He expounds on art, music, nature, society, and life as he offs mailmen, pensioners, and random people. Slowly he begins involving the camera crew in his activities, and they begin wondering if what they're doing is such a good idea, particularly when the killer kills a rival and the rival's brother sends a threatening letter.

This perhaps one of the most disturbing yet funniest films I have ever seen. If you have ever watched "The Blair Witch Project", you can definitely see that TBWP was inspired by this film. The beauty of this film is that *SPOILER WARNING* it was able to make me laugh while they are slaughtering children and raping people. This is also one of the films that you can watch repeatedly, because of its humour. If you want to be repulsed yet rofling at the same time, then this is the film for you.

NOTE: The killer's parents are his real parents, and they thought that the film crew was actually making a film about him. You'll understand why I posted this near the ending of the film.

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Сказка сказок (Tale of Tales)

Year: 1979
Director: Yuriy Norshteyn
Country: Russia
Language: Russian (Although a lullaby is the only dialogue in the film)
Duration: 29 Minutes
Genre: Artistic Film
Plot: I honestly have trouble for the plot. It seems to be about three different sequences which are not only out of order but also is interspersed between each other.

This is the first film which I have given 5 stars to on my first watch. This means that this film actually has a chance to be my new #1 favorite film in the near future. It is from the same director that made Hedgehog in the Fog (Which makes Yuriy the only director to have 2 films that have 5 stars) but is a lot more artistic than Hedgehog in the Fog. Unlike that film, Tale of Tales has very little to no dialogue. The only dialogue is a lullaby which is repeat multiple times throughout the film. After viewing this film, I still do not understand most of it, but it doesn't mean that this film is one of the greatest films I have ever seen. Also, two international juries considered this film to be the greatest animated film of all time.

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Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies)

Year: 1988
Director: Isao Takahata
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese (English Subs Hard Subbed)
Duration: 85 Minutes
Genre: Drama, Anti-War, Tear Jerker
Plot: Setsuko and Seita are brother and sister living in wartime Japan. After their mother is killed in an air raid they find a temporary home with relatives. Having quarreled with their aunt they leave the city and make their home in an abandoned shelter. While their father's destiny who was a soldier is unknown the two must depend on each other to somehow keep a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. When everything is in short supply, they gradually succumb to hunger and their only entertainment is the light of the fireflies.

This is, my favorite film of all time. However, this is also the movie that I will never watch again. I know that this kind of spoils it, but I must say it, you probably figure out what happens in the first scene of the movie. This is the saddest film of all time. The scenes in this film will touch you emotionally in a way that you have never been touched before. Unless you don't have a heart you will cry in this film. Whenever I tried to watch this film again, I kept crying so much that I just had to turn it off. And, to make matters worse, this film is based on a true story. :'(

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Werckmeister Harmóniák (Werckmeister Harmonies)

Year: 2000
Director: Béla Tarr
Country: Hungary
Language: Hungarian/Slovak (English Subs Separate File)
Duration: 145 Minutes
Genre: Drama
Plot: The story takes place in a small provincial town on the Hungarian Plain. The weather is bitterly cold (twenty degrees below zero) but no snow has fallen. Despite this, hundreds of bewildered people stand around a circus trailer (or corrugated iron box) in the main square, waiting to see the main attraction - the stuffed carcass of a whale. The people composing this faceless, ragged crowd have come from distant parts of the country as well as neighbouring settlements, and the strange state of affairs — the presence of strangers, the extreme cold — is disturbing the order of the small town. Relationships are changing, and some ambitious people feel they can take advantage of the situation; while others who are more passive fall into even deeper uncertainty. The unbearable tension is brought to a head by the figure of the Prince, who is hiding behind the whale; his mere appearance is enough to unleash destructive emotions. The ensuing apocalypse spares no one - not the scientifically-minded outsiders, the teenage enthusiasts, the philistines who care only about their own safety, nor the family — nothing historically privileged by European culture.

If drone was turned into a film, this would be the film. I was tempted to put walkcore as a genre because some scenes have walking scenes which last as long as 5 minutes. Be aware that this film contains a very slow pace. In fact, I would have given this movie a perfect 5 if the pacing wasn't that slow. But, enough about what's bad about the film, now it's the good stuff. This probably the most beautiful film I have ever seen. In fact, some scenes just contain a man walking in the dark with music, and I would keep crying because of the beauty of it. You can definitely tell that the director took his time to create these perfect shots. I went to imdb, and I found out that the director spent almost a year finding the right square for some scenes in the film! Another fact that you should know about the film is that the film is 145 minutes, and only contains 39 shots. If you do the math, then the average shot is almost 4 minutes long! If you want to experience beauty, and do not mind the slow pacing, then this film will become one of your favorite films of all time.

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Yozhik v tumane (Hedgehog in the Fog)

Year: 1975
Director: Yuriy Norshteyn
Country: Russia
Language: Russia (English Subs Hard Subbed)
Duration: 10 Minutes
Genre: Mystery/Drama
Plot: A little hedgehog, on the way to visit his friend the bear, gets lost in thick fog, where horses, dogs and even falling leaves take on a terrifying new aspect...

This short film was the first short film I have watched, and it remains as the best short film I have ever seen thus far. The animation style is captivating, and the music perfectly sets the mood for every minute of the film. This film has also became a landmark for animated films. Hayao Miyazaki, one of my all time favorite directors, stated that this film was a major influence for him. In fact, they have even created a statue for the main character in the film, which is located in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine.

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