By By JULIE RUSSELL – The Brewton Standard
Movies come from around the world, about people of different races, religions and ideologies. But as summer's Hollywood blockbusters storm into theatres with superheroes and remakes, it's easy to overlook the more quiet foreign films.
For the most part, people either really love or really hate foreign films – rarely is there an in-between. At the thought of having to read subtitles, some people turn red and see stars.
Other people don't like foreign films because sometimes, the cultural differences can be hard to comprehend.
But others believe that foreign films can help widen one's view of the world.
Foreign film enthusiasts, like Perry, and even those who haven't been exposed to many foreign films will soon have the chance to come together as a group to be enriched.
Starting the first Thursday of September, Brewton City Library Director Brooke Walker hopes to start a weekly foreign film night. She looks forward to seeing the response from the community, and she said she is "keeping fingers crossed" in hopes that it will be a success.
Walker got the idea for a foreign film night after seeing a foreign film that she particularly liked. She already has many films lined up to show in the library's conference room. The first movie that Walker will show is called "Lifelong Happiness and Prosperity," a Canadian movie starring Sandra Oh.
The library has a large collection of movies that patrons enjoy renting, and Walker has added many foreign films to the collection. Most of the foreign movies are British mysteries and dramas, since those are some of her favorites.
Walker touts the weekly get-together as "something to get us through winter months," and she urges everyone to participate, even those who are discouraged by subtitles.
Plus, with many of the films being Canadian or British, the actors will speak English.
As the film night at the library continues, Walker will be open to movie requests, as long as the movie is "not too explicit".
In the meantime, if you're interested in watching a foreign film, Movie Gallery has about 20 and Video Warehouse carries about 10. According to Bullard and Roberson, some of the more popular ones are new releases like "House of Flying Daggers," "Hero" and "So Close."
Perry suggests reading The New Yorker magazine to find reviews of various movies.