After Life (1998) by Hirokazu Kore-eda

An interesting take on life, seen through the lens of afterlife. Highly recommended!

3 Iron (2004) by Kim Ki-duk

A film where everything is conveyed through glances.

Winter Sleep (2014) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Check it out on Letterboxd Over the years, I have increasingly gravitated towards films where supposedly “nothing happens”. Characters talk, no attempt is made to instill a moral point into the minds of the audience, which is usually accompanied with long, patient shots of people existing in their environments. This was an excellent specimen of the same dish. I had watched Once Upon a Time in Anatolia from the same director previously and much like films by Wes Anderson, I could immediately tell this was Ceylan’s film right from the start, although these two directors could not be any more different....

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ Check it out on Letterboxd A slow, methodical display of patience and absurdity juxtaposed on the vast landscape, this film has something else going for it. When you read the synopsis or look at the posters, you expect a certain police procedural drama - the kind of which you’ve been accustomed to till date. What you get is a completely different take on the trope....

Riding Solo to the Top of the World (2006) by Gaurav Jani

Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Check it out on Letterboxd Motorcycling community is laden with fist-pumping-muscle-bulging-neckbeardy-speed-ninjas-Harley-fans, and it usually gets a bad rap all across the world. Gaurav Jani is none of these things. His passion and humility and curious nature reminded me why I loved biking in the first place. This is a must-watch for anyone fascinated with two wheels and the places they enable you to visit.

Waking Life (2001) by Richard Linklater

Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ Check it out on Letterboxd There are films which you wish you had watched earlier in life, and there are others which don’t make sense until you have had your fair share of world experiences. Waking Life falls in the former category. The college sophomore me would have been really excited about discussing vague notions of self and freedom and free will and morality and dreams - and don’t get me wrong, mid-twenties me is equally as excited about these things as my former self, if not more so - but the problem lies in the superficiality of it all....

Oslo, August 31st (2011) by Joachim Trier

Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ Check out this review on Letterboxd Anhedonia. The Wikipedia entry for this word says: a diverse array of deficits in hedonic function, including reduced motivation or ability to experience pleasure. At one point or another, we have all experienced some version of this phenomenon - may be characterized by an oversaturation of love, or caused by a prolonged mediocrity in life, or as in the case of our protagonist here, the complete loss of will and motivation to feel anything....

The Darjeeling Limited (2007) by Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson and his colorful quirks