It's a Small World After All

No today's blog post isn't about the ancient, and now overtly stereotypical, Disneyland ride (because in 2010, every Asian you meet is clad in a kimono, obviously).  Instead, it's a warning to start donning your glasses, and not the 3-D kind.  A string of great foreign films has started hitting theaters so you'll need your reading glasses for these subtitles.  Oh stop whining, you could use some culture.  Besides, the following that I've selected will keep you on the edge of your seat and are worthy of any Hollywood blockbuster.  And since they weren't made in Hollywood, that means they're probably even better!

First up, the biggest film to come out of Argentina since Evita, and this one doesn't come with Madonna OR Antonio Banderas.  You had me at hello.  Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, The Secret In Their Eyes follows a former criminal court investigator turned writer as he attempts to solve a 25 year-old unsolved rape and murder case.  In theaters April 16, this thriller looks like it might actually pack some punch, so it might be hard to read the subtitles with your hands over your eyes.  Regardless, I'm excited.  Check out the trailer.

Theoretically released on March 12, but just now appearing in theaters, at least in my area, comes another stirring foreign film, Mother.  This one isn't just a thriller, it looks downright terrifying.  And not just because it has a mother screaming in Korean - believe me, I had a Korean friend growing up and nothing is as intimidating as a Korean woman screaming at you to wake up after a sleepover.  In the movie, when her son is wrongly accused of murder, one mother stops at nothing to find the true killer.  I'll tell you one thing, if she was a Greek mother all she would've said is, "it's o.k., I make lamb."  Check out the trailer.

If you don't want an Argentine steak or Korean rice for dinner, why not have some Italian pasta?  Not the most horrifying movie I've selected for today, Vincere is surely scary in the fact that it's the only one to be based off a fascist Nazi supporter.  The movie is based on the secret true story of Benito Mussolini's mistress, considered by some as the dictator's muse and inspiration.  Nothing says I love you like war and mass murder.  "Happy Valentine's Day baby, I brought you a revolution."  Gee thanks Moose, way to make me look like a chump.  In theaters as of March 19, though I still haven't seen it around in my neighborhood, this movie looks stunningly beautiful and has something very Shakespearian about it.  Check out the trailer.