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Serial Lover (1998)
outrageously funny
A murder-slapstick-comedy. Reminded me a little of those old Louis de Funes movies, but Serial Lover is much more 90s, and much more bloody, too. The funniest film I've seen since Clerks.
I can't imagine anyone I know who wouldn't have a hell of a time with this movie. It's so funny! And the female lead does a perfect job of playing your average woman who suddenly has things getting way, way over her head, without knowing how she got into that mess in the first place.
While it may not be totally original all of the time, this movie has a certain kind of freshness to it that I haven't seen in comedy movies for years.
Did I say it is funny? It is. From start to finish.
See it before they make the (inevitable) americanized version.
Gokudô sengokushi: Fudô (1996)
Blew me away
And I'm not blown away easily.
Plot: Yakuza boss kills his older son to settle some gang matters. Younger son witnesses the deed, and swears revenge. After the son has built his own criminal network in school (recruiting his fellow students), he starts to extract revenge upon the yakuza, his father, and the older generation in general. Then it gets quite bloody. I mean, more so.
This movie is rather full of violence. And nudity. And stuff I probably can't mention without being censored :-) People of the "decent citizen" variety may get heart attacks.
The movie feels like a japanese manga strip turned to real live. A lot of typical elements are readily found: the cool high school crimelord, his deadly girl-henchmen in school uniforms, the bully kid that's twice as big as any teacher, little gadgets that came straight from James Bond, etc. Add to that a hefty dose of how some japanese seem to view that whole "respect your elders" stuff, and you get a hugely entertaining ride into the japanese subconsciousness. Or something like that, anyway.
The Unbelievable Truth (1989)
Hal Hartley's best movie
One of my (maybe even "the") all time favorite movies.
A film about some average people, basically. Maybe a bit weird, some of those people, but that's how people are, if you look closely. What makes it so rewatchable for me are the wonderful dialogues and the wonderful characters. They feel so true.
IMHO, the very tight budget and schedule helped this movie become so good. It is so... concise. Hardly a word or scene wasted.
If you like movies by Jim Jarmusch or Richard Linklater, you might like this one, too.