23-16

23. Valhalla Rising

Genre: Silence

Country: Denmark

Why You Should Watch It: Mads Mikkelsen walking around being a badass. This one of the Nicolas Winding Refn's (Drive) earlier films so expect a lot of style and not a lot of dialogue. Seriously, very little happens and this film isn't for everyone. Don't expect an action film but expect some awesome imagery and expect to fall in love with Mads.

Trailer: click here

22. The Devil's Double

Genre: Gold

Country: Belgium

Why You Should Watch It: A story about Saddam Hussein's son and the main character who is brought in to be one of his doubles. This is one of 3 movies on this list where an actor plays two people in the same film. Dominic Cooper is on display as someone who plays both an eccentric murdering psychopath and a shy average joe. There's nothing that really puts this film over the top, but it is a rather enjoyable experience.

Trailer: click here

21. Sound of Noise

Genre: Music Theft

Country: Sweden

Why You Should Watch It: Just watch the trailer....just watch it. It's just one of those films which is absurd enough that you'll enjoy it just because you got to see something you've never seen before. It's quirky, weird, not super well made, but you can just turn your brain off and watch it.

Trailer: click here

20. Fruitvale Station

Genre: Real

Country: USA

Why You Should Watch It: One reason to watch it is because Michael B. Jordan is an up and coming actor who gives a really good performance. Another reason is because it's a well made film about a main character who is far from perfect but still has you rooting for him and crying for him by the end of it. I'm not sure how close it is to the real event but on first watch it just seems like a real genuine story.

Trailer: click here

19. Upstream Color

Genre: Spiritual?

Country: USA

Why You Should Watch It: A decade ago Shane Carruth made a low budget time travel movie called Primer which stuck around as a cult classic and one of the more intelligent and complex time travel movies to date. This is his follow up to that movie. While it is a bit more strange and abstract it's still on the same level as Primer. You'll need to go into with an open mind and maybe have a quick read about it afterwards but it is certainly worth seeing.

Trailer: click here

18. Locke

Genre: Tom Hardy

Country: UK

Why You Should Watch It: Tom Hardy sits in a car for an hour and a half and acts for you. Not everyone will enjoy that but I certainly will. He manages to do that and entertain you and keep you on the edge of the seat for the whole time too. I always like a movie that tries something different so I give this film extra points just for that, but in my opinion it pulls it off pretty well....mainly because of Tom Hardy.

Trailer: click here

17. The Sunset Limited

Genre: Dialogue/Minimalist

Country: USA

Why You Should Watch It: Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones sit in a room and debate the meaning and importance of life. Two extreme sides are taken and the movie leaves you thinking about your own views on the subjects.

Trailer: click here

16. Robot & Frank

Genre: Adorable

Country: USA

Why You Should Watch It: Sci-fi movies that actually use the opportunity to tell us something different about ourselves and always an enjoyable experience. This movie is an easy to watch movie that shows us about our own humanity through the use of a robot. I don't think it gave me any life changing revelations, but it will put a smile on your face.

Trailer: click here

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15. Holy Motors

Genre: WTF

Country: France/Germany

Why You Should Watch It: It's something different. There are so many sequels and remakes and copies out there that sometimes you just need to see something different, and this is certainly different. The narrative wanders quite a bit and leaves a lot open to interpretation. I didn't really get a lot out of this but it kind of toppled the world on its side for a second and left me with some interesting imagery. I don't know how to explain it any better than that.

Trailer: click here

14. Take Shelter

Genre: Depressing

Country: USA

Why You Should Watch It: Michael Shannon. He's a great actor and this is one of his best performances. There's actually not much reason to watch it beyond that, but that reason is enough. It's an okay movie about paranoia and the mental downfall of a man, but Shannon gets every piece out of it.

Trailer: click here

13. The Act of Killing

Genre: Documentary

Country: Indonesia

Why You Should Watch It: This is a documentary about a couple of killers who go about bragging and re-enacting some of their many murders. Some movies are creepy and chilling because of the mood, music, or acting...but this movie is chilling because of just how cold and normal they make it all seem. The act of killing is reduced to sometime normal like go shopping or washing the dishes.

Trailer: click here

12. The Great Beauty

Genre: Italian

Country: Italy

Why You Should Watch It: The main reason why this is here is because it's just a damn well made movie. If it was made in the US it would be an automatic contender for Best Picture, but since it's a foreign film most people won't know about it. It takes an interesting look at the 'successful' lifestyle and should probably have #firstworldproblems somewhere in the description. Very beautiful though.

Trailer: click here

11. The Raid (1 & 2)

Genre: Fighting

Country: Indonesia

Why You Should Watch It: The best fighting scenes you will see in a movie. Seriously, the plot is extremely mediocre but nobody cares. The fight scenes can go non-stop for an hour and you'll still be on the edge of your seat the whole time. I don't care how cheesy it is, I absolutely love it.

Trailer: click here

10. Why Don't You Play In Hell?

Genre: LOLZ

Country: Japan

Why You Should Watch It: It's hilarious. There's even a couple of scenes that showcase a love of cinema that surprisingly outdoes other films that try (which is saying a lot), but mostly watch this because it's hilarious and different and you can enjoy it.

Trailer: click here

9. The Double

Genre: Minimalist

Country: UK

Why You Should Watch It: One of the best reasons to watch movies is to escape reality. This film may not have a big fantasy world or big special effects, and yet it brings into a different world to captivates you even though very little is going on. I can see some people being bored by this movie, but I found it extremely fascinating. On another note, Richard Ayoade will be a big shot director soon so be hipster and become a fan before he gets cool.

Trailer: click here

8. Only Lovers Left Alive

Genre: Style

Country: UK

Why You Should Watch It: Tom Hiddleston plays a hipster rock vampire in a movie directed by Jim Jarmusch. Vampires have gotten a really bad reputation lately, especially when you mix them with romance...but this movie comes and steals back their reputation. It somehow manages to make Twilight look even worse by showing that you can do a vampire romance movie really really well. Bonus: soundtrack is great.

Trailer: click here

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7. Intouchables

Genre: Fell good

Country: France

Why You Should Watch It: Quite simply, it will just make you feel good about yourself. At first it seems like a generic story of two people who are unlikely to be friends who end up being friends, and that pretty much what it is too. The shortcomings and vulnerability of each of the characters are what draw you in and make you share these same emotions with them. On another note, Omar Sy is likely to become a pretty big deal and land some good roles after this.

Trailer: click here

6. Stoker

Genre: Creepy

Country: UK

Why You Should Watch It: Style, watch this because of style. It's creepy enough to catch you off guard a few times while not falling into the generic type creepiness that would place it among all other suspense/horror films. As much as I dislike her, films like these force me to admit that Nicole Kidman is a good actress. That said, Wasikowska and Goode steal the show. It was also good to see Chan Wook Park (Vengeance Trilogy) finally make a good movie again.

Trailer: click here

5. Only God Forgives

Genre: Violence

Country: USA/Denmark/Thailand

Why You Should Watch It: If you liked 'Drive' then you'll be able to enjoy for similar reasons (probably because of the same actor and director combo). Even if you don't know what's going on and you're completely lost you'll still be able to love the soundtrack and cinematography. I spent most of my time watching this in a trance, just enjoying what was going on...but it's definitely worth a good read afterwards to get an idea of what it all means. It's fairly simple actually, it's just easy not to pay attention.

Trailer: click here

4. I Saw The Devil

Genre: Violence

Country: Korea

Why You Should Watch It: The bad guy is a legitimate violent psychopath that actually scares you when he is on the loose. The "good guy" cop is an equally sadistic badass which makes these two deserve eachother. I feel this the type of badass show-down that Batman vs. Joker should have been if it had not been toned down to a PG13 rating. The style of the movie is pretty phenomenal as well, with a particularly good taxi scene.

Trailer: click here

3. Cold Fish

Genre: Violence/WTF

Country: Japan

Why You Should Watch It: This movie successful does everything that most horror films try to do but just can't pull off. I don't know what to think of the 'based on true events' tagline because I just can't believe that. I hate every single character in this movie and yet I still love every second of it. I don't know what goes on in Sion Sono's (director) head, but it must be one of the scariest places on earth.

Trailer: click here

2. Enemy

Genre: Thought Provoking

Country: Canada

Why You Should Watch It: It's rare to watch a film that leaves you staring at the credits trying to figure out what you just watched, and that's exactly what this does. I don't want to say much more than that because I don't want to spoil it, but if you like metaphors and internal battles then you'll enjoy this. I also have to give it extra points for being a Canadian film. This film, in addition to Incendies and Prisoners, definitely puts Denis Villeneuve on the map.

Trailer: click here

1. Enter The Void

Genre: Drugs

Country: France/Japan

Why You Should Watch It: You probably shouldn't unless you have an open mind. It explores a few themes but I wouldn't expect too many conclusions out of it. Just...just let it happen. I enjoyed it for the unique film making of shooting entirely in first person perspective but ultimately respected it for making me acknowledge thought processes that I may have previously dismissed.

Trailer: click here

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