I think Let the Right One In got both good and bad reviews has a lot to do with the subtitling on the North American DVD release–I’ve talked to people who’d seen it in the theatre with subtitles, and then purchased the DVD only to find that the subtitling had been redone and apparently written by a lousy translator.

Cosi – Toni Collette and Rachael Griffiths are featured together again in this movie about an aspiring director who decides to put on Mozart’s opera Cosi Fan Tutte in an Australian mental institution. This is one of those total catharsis movies — you will laugh and cry, occasionally at the same time.

Bread and Tulips – Fans of Shirley Valentine or Enchanted April might enjoy this movie about an Italian housewife who is accidentally left behind at a rest stop while she and her family are on a vacation tour. Things get exciting when she decides not to go back to her passionless former life.

Wasabi – This is a really fun Luc Besson action adventure that stars Jean Reno as a renegade French cop who discovers he has some personal issues with the Yakuza that need sorting out. Make sure you get the subtitled version — the dubbing on the English language version is unbearable.

Thanks for the great tips, everyone!

I can definitely second the calls for Shirley Valentine, Getting Married in Buffalo Jump, Harold and Maude, the originals of Shall We Dance and Hairspray. I’ve also found a couple titles on this list that are going to go on my personal ‘to see’ list.

Oh, BTW, thanks so much, Emily, for that bit of trivia! As it happened, I was attending the wedding of two very dear friends of mine that day who are both huge fans of bad/tacky horror films. They were greatly amused to learn that they had – by pure happenstance – chosen such an auspicious day for their vows.

It’s a Roger Corman film, so there’s a lot of violence in it. The movie was made in 1975, but it somehow manages to be a commentary on “How far is too far” in reality TV.

Two of my favorites:

“Italian for Beginners” — a Danish movie by a woman who is/was part of the Dogme 95 movement (using natural light, handheld cameras). Most Dogme 95 movies are dark and depressing (Lars von Trier). This is a sweet movie about a bunch of lonely people who all meet at an Italian language night school class. Has subtitles.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243862/

“Dear Frankie” — a really great movie with Gerard Butler (rrraoarrr) before he was superfamous. It’s about a woman who has been lying to her son about his father, and due to circumstances she needs to find a fake father fast. It’s just a sweet, lovely movie. Also stars Emily Mortimer and Sharon Small who plays Havers in the Inspector Lynley Mysteries. It’s set in Scotland so you may wish for subtitles. (heh) Everyone I’ve recommended it to has gone out and bought the dvd.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377752/