[wideawake]

You seem to labor under the illusion that:

(1) There are no cheesy throwaway pictures made in Japanm, South Korea or China - just the handful of high quality art films that justly become famous internationally.

Not the case.

(2) That Hollywood = the American cinema and

(3) That no American films are competitive in quality with Pacific rim art films.

I would argue that the recent film Capote is superior to at least two of the films you mentioned.

[MattinNJ]

Perhaps I overstated my case. I meant to infer that, whether it be a majestic period piece (Flying Daggers), a psychological thriller (Sympathy), or a horror movie (Audition), Hollywood's best can't touch Asia's best.

Having said that, I saw a great German movie over the weekend and highly recommend it. "Der Tunnel" tells the true story of a champion swimmer from Berlin who escapes East Germany as the wall is being built in August 1941. He tries to go back and get his sister out. Hollywood would never make a movie like that because it shows communism in it's true form. It really should be mandatory viewing for everyone 35 and younger because they have no idea what communism was.