International Cinema Updates: 'Lucy' Number 1 In Foreign Box Office, Martin Scorsese's Definitive Foreign Film List, and MKC's Top 25

As festival and awards season begins, film industry newbies may be wondering what films not made in the U.S. are worth a look. It's a good thing that Martin Scorsese, film genius himself, has made a comprehensive list of the top foreign films you need to see. Sadly though, Scorsese missed a country, South Korea, that has long been making a name for itself ("Old Boy" anyone?). Modern Korean Cinema fills in that gap with their release of their top 25 Korean films as apart of their 4th anniversary celebration. And if you're wondering what the rest of the world thinks of Hollywood, it may have to due with "Lucy" being the number one American film in the foreign box office.

Scarlett Johansson has been making a name for herself in the action film genre since her Black Widow introduction in Marvel's "Iron Man 2." Recently, she got the leading role in sci-fi action flick "Lucy" which premiered earlier this summer. Variety reported, "'Lucy' opened in first place in a number of major territories in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, including Israel, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom." They also reported that so far the film has made $216.8 million abroad. Perhaps the film is so popular abroad due to its multiple international locations, including China.

While "Lucy" makes waves abroad, its hard to be introduced foreign films in the U.S. due to a multitude of distribution. Nevertheless, Scorsese recently answered a fan request and generated a list of definitive foreign films to "see before you die." Indiewire shared the list along with their own generated list of trailers to go with it. Sadly though, one country was left out on the classic list, but given Scorsese's past support of South Korean cinema, it may have just been that the list doesn't include modern films.

Fear not international cinema fans! Modern Korean Cinema, a blog dedicated to all things related to the current state of South Korean film,  has released their list of top 25 Korean films. Thanks to them, South Korean directors like Bong Joonho and Park Chan-Wook (who both recently made U.S. debuts) will continue to gain exposure in the U.S.

For more info about upcoming foreign films gaining Oscar buzz, check out this article from Indiewire.