What I Learned from Movies...

One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at one.

Once applied, lipstick will never rub off - even while scuba diving.

The ventilation system of any building is a perfect hiding place. No one will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building without difficulty.

A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.

When paying for a taxi, never look at your wallet as you take out a note - just grab one at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.

Cars and trucks that crash will almost always burst into flames.

It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts - your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessor

Dogs always know who's bad and will naturally bark at them.

All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.

It is always possible to park directly outside the building you are visiting.

A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.

If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.

Best Foreign Language Film Nominations for Academy Awards 2010

Biutiful (2010)

Country: Mexico

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Language: Spanish (some parts in English)

"misspelled beauty"

Dogtooth (2009)

Kynodontas  

Country: Greece

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Language: Greek

"Strange, disturbing, brilliant"

In a Better World (2010) "Hævnen"

Country: Denmark

Director: Susanne Bier

Language: Danish (some parts in Swedish and English)

"Fantastic! This is a must see!!"

Incendies (2010)

Country: Canada

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Language: French (some parts in Arabic)

"Wonderful and devastating"

Outside the Law (2010) "Hors-la-loi"
Country: Algeria
Director: Rachid Bouchareb
Language: Arabic (some parts in French)


"story about the Algerian independence movement"

No Borders

 Best Foreign Language Films 

Ladri di biciclette (1948) 'Bicycle Thieves' 

Director: Vittorio De Sica

Country: Italy

Language: Italian

"The true point of the film is the relationship of the father and son. Watch the film with your focus on the son, not the father. Watch what happens to the boy, what he sees, how he is influenced, his point of view. The father is so preoccupied with the bicycle he fails to see what is happening to his son. This is the strength of the film. Watch the boy."

No Man's Land (2001)

Director: Danis Tanovic

Country: France | Slovenia | Italy | UK | Belgium

Language: English | French | Bosnian | German

"This film doesn't take sides in the conflict, it's more a human story than a war story, if any side is made to look bad, it's the UN."

Das Boot (1981)

Director: Wolfgang Petersen

Country: West Germany

Language: German | English | French (song lyrics)

"a fantastic journey,giving us an insight into the fun, fears and general life aboard a German submarine during the second world war. The films ironic ending tops off the tragic reality of war,regardless of what side you were on."

Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand (2004) 'Turtles can Fly'

Director: Bahman Ghobadi

Country: Iran | France | Iraq

Language: Kurdish

"Life in Iraq, as seen through children's eyes"

Babel (2006)

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Country: France | USA | Mexico

Language: English | Arabic | Spanish | Japanese | Japanese Sign Language | Berber languages | French (only a few words)

"All the performances are incredible, and very touching."

Cidade de Deus (2002) 'City of God'

Directors: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund

Country: Brazil | France

Language: Portuguese

"true story - powerful, moving, raw, real - and even funny in parts."

Bacheha-Ye aseman (1997) 'Children of Heaven'

Director: Majid Majidi

Country: Iran

Language: Persian

" A Little Secret... Their Biggest Adventure!

Schindler's List (1993)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Country: USA

Language: English | Hebrew | German | Polish (only a few words)

"A terrible chapter in humanity's history but one told so well by Spielberg and co."

The Great Escape (1963)

Director: John Sturges

Country: USA

Language: English | German | French | Russian

" It graphically shows what enterprising men can accomplish under the most unusual circumstances... It has a great cast, and is beautifully made..."

Der Untergang (2004) 'Downfall'

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Country: Germany | Italy | Austria

Language: German | Russian

"Who better to make a WWII film than the Germans themselves? ." 

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Country: USA

Language: English | French | German | Czech

"Saving Private Ryan is a movie that makes you realize how life is precious and how honor and duty, though they are deep philosophical concepts that are praised in war, can put you in jeopardy of losing your life for something you may not believe in."

La battaglia di Algeri (1966) 'The Battle of Algiers'

Director: Gillo Pontecorvo

Country: Italy | Algeria

Language: Italian | French | English | Arabic

"'Battle of Algiers' combines brilliant photography, crisp direction, an intriguing plot and some very fine acting. Throw in a terrific music score, splendid editing, impressive special effects and the best example ever of docudrama style production and you have a masterpiece of film making."