Top 5

Depressing holidays, dysfunctional families, foreign films you gotta love

This week on SpoutBlog, Chris Campbell will build these lists:

• 10 Best Dysfunctional Families in Movies
  

• 10 Most Depressing Holidays in Movies
  

• 10 Most Accessible Foreign Language Films of the Last 10 Years*

Does anyone have opinions on these? Here's your chance to influence Chris's picks.

*I had to laugh when Risselada leeroy711 called Amelie the "gateway drug" of foreign films in this Top 5 Overrated Movies discussion. (Sorry about my flub, leeroy!)

UPDATE 11/12: 10 Best Dysfunctional Families by Chris Campbell. I see that a couple of your suggestions showed up!

UPDATE 11/13: 10 Most Depressing Holidays Dang, I wanted Earth Day from Bio-Dome to show up! Good work, mercurial.

UPDATE 11/14: 10 Most Accessible Foreign Films A lot of you picked films that showed up on Chris's list. Plus, leeroy711 gets quoted! And by the way, I think benthams_head makes a really strong case for July 4 in Brokeback Mountain.

Re:Depressing holidays, dysfunctional families, foreign films you gotta love

SkyPilot:

This week on SpoutBlog, Chris Campbell will build these lists:

• 10 Best Dysfunctional Families in Movies
  

• 10 Most Depressing Holidays in Movies*
  

• 10 Most Accessible Foreign Language Films of the Last 10 Years**

 

Does anyone have opinions on these? Here's your chance to influence Chris's picks.

*How about Columbus Day in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery?

**I had to laugh when Risselada called Amelie the "gateway drug" of foreign films in this Top 5 Overrated Movies discussion. (Hey Rizzo, I can't find that quote now, did you delete it?)

I'll throw in one for each (for now):

Dysfunctional family-The Royal Tenenbaums

Depressing holiday-Groundhog Day

Foreign film-The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Re:Depressing holidays, dysfunctional families, foreign films you gotta love

Top dysfunctional families (in no particular order)

The Tenenbaums from The Royal Tenenbaums

The Buckmans from Rachel Getting Married

The Berkmans (coincidence?) from

The Squid and the Whale

The Burnses from Pieces of April

The Burroughses/the Finches from Running with Scissors

The family from Death at a Funeral (no last names were given)

Carrie and her mother from Carrie

The Torrances from the Shining

Weird bit of trivia: Peter Hedges, who wrote and directed "Pieces of April" also wrote and directed "Dan in Real Life," another movie about a dysfunctional family with the last name of Burns.

Re:Depressing holidays, dysfunctional families, foreign films you gotta love

10 Best Dysfunctional Families in Movies (in no particular order):

1.) Gosford Park

2.) Beetlejuice

3.) Happiness

4.) Little Miss Sunshine

5.) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

6.) Mommie Dearest

7.) Parenthood

8.) Slums of Beverly Hills

9.) The Virgin Suicides

10.) Welcome to the Dollhouse

Re:Depressing holidays, dysfunctional families, foreign films you gotta love

SkyPilot:

 

• 10 Most Accessible Foreign Language Films of the Last 10 Years**

 

**I had to laugh when Risselada called Amelie the "gateway drug" of foreign films in this Top 5 Overrated Movies discussion. (Hey Rizzo, I can't find that quote now, did you delete it?)

That was me. I was adding to what Rizzo had allready said something to the effect that Amelie seems to be the movie that people who maybe wouldn't otherwise see foreign movies will cling to as "their favorite foreign film"

So........... with that, here's my list:

1.  Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

3. Run Lola Run (1998)

4.  Amélie (2001)

5.  Downfall (2004)

6. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

7. The Lives of Others (2006)

8. Night Watch (2004)

9.  City of God (2002)

10. Volver (2006)

Re:Depressing holidays, dysfunctional families, foreign films you gotta love

Most Accessible Foreign Language Films of the Last 10 Years:

1.) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

2.) Kung-Fu Hustle

3.) Y Tu Mama Tambien

4.) Pan's Labyrinth

5.) Ringu

6.) Talk to Her

7.) The Spanish Apartment

8.) The Motorcycle Diaries

9.) CIty of God

10.) Amorres Perros

Re:Depressing holidays, dysfunctional families, foreign films you gotta love

Most Depressing Holidays in Movies:

1.) Pieces of April - Thanksgiving

2.) A Christmas Story - Christmas

3.) Bio-Dome - Earth Day

4.) 200 Cigarettes - New Year's Day

5.) The Nightmare Before Christmas - Christmas

6.) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - Christmas

More when I think of them . . . 

Re:Depressing holidays, dysfunctional families, foreign films you gotta love

leeroy711:

SkyPilot:

I had to laugh when Risselada called Amelie the "gateway drug" of foreign films in this Top 5 Overrated Movies discussion. 

That was me. I was adding to what Rizzo had already said something to the effect that Amelie seems to be the movie that people who maybe wouldn't otherwise see foreign movies will cling to as "their favorite foreign film"

Sorry leeroy! Thanks for the note. 

Re:Depressing holidays, dysfunctional families, foreign films you gotta love

I'd like to add Home for the Holidays under the dyfunctional family list. A perfect example of the ties that bind- and potentially strangle- during the holiday season. Plus, it is a movie about Thanksgiving- most are around Christmas.

SkyPilot:

This week on SpoutBlog, Chris Campbell will build these lists:

• 10 Best Dysfunctional Families in Movies
  

• 10 Most Depressing Holidays in Movies*
  

• 10 Most Accessible Foreign Language Films of the Last 10 Years**

 

Does anyone have opinions on these? Here's your chance to influence Chris's picks.

*How about Columbus Day in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery?

**I had to laugh when Risselada leeroy711 called Amelie the "gateway drug" of foreign films in this Top 5 Overrated Movies discussion. (Sorry about my flub, leeroy!)

Re:Depressing holidays, dysfunctional families, foreign films you gotta love

indieabby88:

Top dysfunctional families (in no particular order)

The Tenenbaums from The Royal Tenenbaums

The Buckmans from Rachel Getting Married

The Berkmans (coincidence?) from

The Squid and the Whale

The Burnhams from American Beauty

The Burnses from Pieces of April

The Burroughses/the Finches from Running with Scissors

The family from Death at a Funeral (no last names were given)

Carrie and her mother from Carrie

The Torrances from the Shining

Weird bit of trivia: Peter Hedges, who wrote and directed "Pieces of April" also wrote and directed "Dan in Real Life," another movie about a dysfunctional family with the last name of Burns.

Wow all of the family names start with B or T.  Strange.