Our non-Christmas Christmas movies to watch during the festivities enjoy the selection of jingle-bell-free productions.
A Ghost Story, David Lowery (2017)
A love story, a ghost story, a mixture of loneliness and denial. This is a tale of a young couple who lost one another due to an incident. Throughout the movie, the deceased man has to live through a parallel world and witness his partner moving forward with her life without him. Her happiness and sadness moved by his deparature symbolizes our perception of love and death.
Genre(s) : Romance, Fantasy
The Taste of Tea, Katsushito Ishii (2005)
Set in a town Toguchi, this film documents the life of a middle class family of hidden talents in the rural town. A portrayal of young love, family feud and bizarre visions. The sight of gigantic version of a young girl hovers over the family, the only solution to disperse this figure can only be achieved if the young girl could successfully perform a backflip on a horizontal bar. Emotions and confusion disperse throughout.
Genre(s) : Comedy, Drama, Japanese
Le Redoutable, Michel Hazanavicius (2017)
Le Redoutable captures the biographical affair of Jean-Luc Goddard, an acclaimed French filmmaker with the captivating French actress, Anne Wiazemsky. Exposing Goddard’s follies and political actions during the peak of cinema in the late 60s, dismissing love and focusing on the revolution. What may appeal as a romantic plot, will leave you pondering with the thought on the significance of emotions.
Genre(s) : Romance, Drama, French
Cry Baby, John Waters (1990)
Teen rebel peaks its moment during the blooming of a student’s adolescent. The devil attracts the innocent and pries on their conservative morals, trying to pull them to the freedom of life. Will the seduction of a juvenile delinquent enter the heart of an virtuous school girl? What is right and wrong when you are blinded by young love?
Genre(s) : Musical, Comedy
Lunes de Fiel, Roman Polański (1992)
Also known by Bitter Moon, this passionate forbidden and intoxicating story of a beguiling young woman and a disabled American writer was introduced to a classy Brit- ish couple traveling on a cruise across the Mediterranean sea. The writer narrates to the husband about his sexual adventures that led his lover to manipulate and abuse him. The exploration on bondage and voyeurism intrigued the British man and led him to search for more answers as he gradually crave for the touch of this fascinating minx.
Genre(s) : Erotica, Romance, Drama, Dark Comedy
2046, Wong Kar-Wai (2004)
The blend of reality and fiction sets its place in a universe where one is bind by their memories, inescapable from the past. The metropolitan city of Hong Kong paints the scenery with lights and the bustling atmosphere of life, missed connections between individuals tinted with breathable tones. Emotions of the forbidden love between characters dressed the screen with futuristic touches of the unknown.
Genre(s) : Romance, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Drama, Cantonese
Comet, Sam Esmail (2014)
What would you expect to find after a meteor strike in the middle of the day? Will
it be the realization of a new lover stuck from the past? Or will it be the reunion of your present significant other? Comet shows the story of a 6 year long relationship coming to a pause and play in a dream, questioning if this bond was based on a miracle of survival or boredom.
Genre(s) : Romance, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Drama
The death and life of John F. Donovan, Xavier Dolan (2019)
Dolan’s first English-language debuts the plot of young boy reminiscing his idol, as the star struggles conflicts of his sexuality in the media. The film conveys the dilemma and anxious decisions to make when fame is given to a talented individual under the spotlight of millions. The touching ambitions of a young boy concedes with the melodramatic moments of the suffering artist that established a secret friendship be tween the two.
Genre(s) : Drama, Romance, LGBTQ
Weirdos, Bruce Mc Donald (2016)
This running-way-from-home murmurs its teen love between a young couple fleeting Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 1976 to Sydney, Australia. The eccentric couple hitchhiked in the beginning of their journey, drawing attention to their relationship and made them question if there was anything they shared in common, if what they have can be considered love.
Genre(s) : Drama, Romance, Indie, Canadian
Etoile, Peter Del Monte (1989)
Echoes and shadow dominate the still setting of the dance room of a prestigious ballet academy in Hungary, enters a young American ballerina with elegance and potential. Soon discovered the eerie cold chills haunting the young ballerina, the plot thickens when she discovered a broken soul of a deceased ballerina is keeping an eye on her, trying to claim her body.
Genre(s) : Drama, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Mélos, Alain Resnais (1986)
Mélo serenades the story of classical concerts and a love triangle. Mélo, short for melodrama lives up to its definition as the plot is filled with puzzling love affairs and emotional tantrums. Set in the 1920s, the city of Paris brought together a concert violinist and a fashionable flapper one fine evening, However, the toxic mind of the young lady led her to intentionally treating her already ill husband ever worse to kindle her intimate moments with her lover. Jealousy and misery intensifies till the end.
Genre(s) : Drama, Romance, French
Grass, Hong Sang Soo(2018)
The non-linear and monochromatic style of Hong matches the shy and approachable female lead, showering her with poetic aura and the ability to down a drink with determination. The verbal confrontation and debate stirs the mind of the characters and the audience. Listening to other’s miseries and fortunes urged the quite writer to document their experiences in writing, however conflicted with the truth of the story.
Genre(s) : Drama, Indie, Korean
Born to be blue, Robert Budreau (2015)
Saxophones and cellos beautified the imagery of this production of a fictionally re- ality portrayal of the talented Chet Baker. The overflowing atmosphere of Baker’s presence was captured in the setting of 1966, an exposure of Baker’s charisma, suc- cess, misfortunes, regrets. Distributed equally, a sensation of warmness elevated the symbolism of Baker’s performance.
Genre(s) : Romance, Drama
Isle of dogs, Wes Anderson(2018)
Located in a dystopian Japan, a canine virus outbreak disrupted the laws of the city, causing the city to all dogs to a deserted garbage island. This begins the mission of a 12 year old orphan to rescue his exiled dog, defying his uncle’s orders who happens to be the mayor of the city. Upon arrival, his presence was greeted by 5 dogs who agreed to help the boy find his lost best friend and return to the city to revolt for justice for dogs.
Genre(s) : Animation, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Adventure, Stop Motion
Death becomes her, Robert Zemeckis(1992)
Jealousy and betrayal caused a narcissistic actress to fall for the witchery of myste- rious beautiful woman who found the secret to eternal youth. Cynical thoughts ran through her mind as she is reminded of the sight of her husband involved in a love affair with a younger and blooming lady. This film exaggerates the whimsical perfor- mance of women fighting over pride and beauty.
Genre(s) : Comedy, Fantasy, Drama
Burning, Lee Chang Dong (2018)
Fields of rice and the scent of moist soil enters the scene, the empty escape from the bustling city of Seoul is a small town where two childhood friends reconnected after time passed. One dreams to be a writer, one is traveling to Africa. Everything changed when the return of the traveler brought a male company, showing him their local lifestyle that led to discovering a dark secret that should’ve stayed buried.
Genre(s) : Drama, Thriller, Mystery, Korean
The meyerowitz Stories, Nah Baumbach (2017)
Marnie, Alfred Hitchcock(1964)
Red, the colour of anger and passion, dominance and lust. Marnie despises men, she takes revenge and deceitful motives towards her trauma triggers. Blackmailing those who she deem are worthy of unluckiness, her won psychological states ignites the sexual desire that she suppressed and using it as her choice of weapon. The male gaze of the 60s follows her every move, manipulating her mental illness.
Genre(s) : Thriller, Mystery, Classic
I Origins, Mike Cahill(2014)
Molecular biologist Dr.Ian Gray drowned himself into the evolution of human eyes that led him to a life-changing encounter with a pair of hazelnut with tinted blue eyes. Captivated by her eyes, Gray lost hold of her and was left with frustration to see her. His persistent search was made global, hoping to find the same pair of his former lover.
Genre(s) : Romance, Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller
Only lovers left alive, Jim Jarmusch(2013)
Two sharp-fanged lover meet each other halfway between Detroit and Tangiers, the underground musician reunites with his hypnotizing lover, Eve. Their love story has survived for years but the sudden disruption from Eve’s younger sister, testing the solidarity of their relationship. When their wall of trust are shaken, will their forever binding promise withstand?
Genre(s) : Sci-Fi, Romance, Drama
