Thursday Movie Picks: Movies Adapted from Movies of a Different Language

I must have been at my most impressionable, as far as movies are concerned, during my junior and senior years in high school. I was not yet to a point of branching out into foreign language films. I saw movies based on who was in it or who directed it (in some cases). But so many of the movies that came out around that time have really stuck with me, even some bad ones. 

I had to do a Google for this post. I needed to browse a list, looking for foreign language films remade for American audiences. It didn't take long to have my picks, and, as it turns out, all of my picks were released during 2001-2002, when I was a junior, then senior, in high school. I, to this day, have not seen the original foreign titles on which these films are based. 

So, it's Thursday, a day for sharing some of my favorites as part of Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. This week, of course, we have Movies Adapted from Movies of a Different Language. 

Speaks Reviews: Creed

★★★★

A few months back now, I sat in a movie theater, totally unsuspecting, and watched a trailer for a new film called Creed, a sort of spin-off of the Rocky Balboa films about the son of Apollo Creed (made famous by Carl Weathers in Rocky - Rocky IV). I thought very little of it. Shit. I'd never even seen Rocky. 

Blind Spot 2016: Rocky

At a certain moment while watching Rocky, it occurred to me why people love this movie so much:  It doesn't care about winning. Which makes it a winner. It's funny. I wonder if audiences today would embrace this movie the same way they did in 1976. We have an acclaimed, crowd-pleasing movie from the Rocky Balboa Universe this year called Creed. I haven't seen it yet (I wanted to see this first.), but I wonder if it succeeded for the same reasons...

In Movie Lines (with Snow Days, 2015 Movies, and Spielberg): January 17 - January 23

Movies I've Watched

Week of January 17th, 2016

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

I was 10 years old when Pulp Fiction came out. I remember going to a Tennessee Football game on a Saturday around that time, maybe the next year, for it had come out on home video by then. I overheard my Dad and his friend, Charlie, talking about this movie. It was "wild" and "funny." It had just gotten some major Oscar love. John Travolta was in it. Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel went nuts about it on their weekly TV show, which I had already started watching.

Speaks Reacts: The 88th Academy Awards Nominations

Not long ago, I made a statement about 2015 being just okay. Then December and January came along to slap me right across the face. These Oscar Nominations are totally unexpected and just for me. Almost everything I wanted to happen happened.

Now, I know you're all upset about the lack of love for Carol, but to replace that is some big time love for The Big Short, my favorite and, in all seriousness, the most important movie of 2015. This plays into why I love this year's nods so much. For everything it snubbed, it filled the gap with something equally worthy.

Thursday Movie Picks: Post-Apocalyptic World

Thursday is upon us. It's the end of the world as we know it, and I'm feeling fine...and like showcasing some funny movies.

Post-Apocalyptic Movies can get a little bit heavy, and I haven't seen enough Mad Max movies for them to qualify. I also didn't want go Hunger Games-Divergent-Maze Runner on this one, nor did I want to get into the darkness of something like The Road.

So, another week of Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks.

Speaks Reviews Rants: The Hateful Eight

★★ 1/2** out of ★★★★

Do I have to? Ugh. This is gonna be hard.

Because I Love David Bowie,...

...here's the best use of his music in a movie.

In Movie Lines (with Movies from 2015 and Fantasy Football): January 3- January 9

Movies I've Watched

January 3rd - January 9th, 2016

Speaks Reviews: The Revenant

★★★★ out of ★★★★

The Revenant is a painful, punishing film heightened by an obvious level of dedication from its cast and crew rarely seen in modern cinema. It is also graced by the visual touch of Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki, the finest cinematographer in recent movie history. It is, for director Alejandro González Iñárritu, a work on the level of the best epics of the wilderness, reminiscent of the type of maniacal filmmaking achieved by the likes of Werner Herzog with Aguirre, The Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo or Francis Ford Coppola with Apocalypse Now.

Thursday Movie Picks: Downstairs People

A New Year is upon us! This also means a new year of Thursday Movie Picks. I'm stoked, and I am resolved to post every week. Here's hoping...

This week's theme...Downstairs People (in relation to Downton Abbey/movies about live-in domestic workers)...was a challenge for me. I know the familiar titles but few have I seen. I ultimately went with three that I feel are about as close as I can get. So, without further ado...

Speaks Reviews: Strong Women Edition

I was raised by a single mother. She has five sisters and no brothers. All of my aunts have daughters. I am one of two boys on my Mom's side, as far as biological cousins are concerned. Let's just say strong women outnumber strong men in my family. I've known the struggles, the fights, the good times and bad and everything in between.

Top Ten Movies of 2015 (That I Saw in a Movie Theater)

Let's be clear. I have a good deal in place as far as getting to see new movies. I publish reviews in a newspaper that pays me in movie tickets and meals. I contribute to the brilliant pop culture site Pop Depravity, which hooks me up with a little scratch. For those opportunities, I count myself lucky. This has been a great year. But this is not my job. I have a full-time job outside of my writings on movies, so it's not always easy to see as many movies as I'd like in a given year.

Like most of us, it will be March (at least) before I see most of the biggest movies of 2015 (and I'll never get to all of the them, especially the small ones). I only saw 30 movies at a movie theater in 2015, but almost all of them were good.