Edit* I had the Bahamas and Barbados mixed up

This year as a challenge I have set myself that task of watching a film set in every country, in order to expand the context and languages of my movie watching in 2023. And also to have a bit of fun!

My main goal is to stick as close to alphabetical as possible, with the ideal film being set in, produced by, or at the very least primarily filmed in this country. I will be watching bad movies, great movies and everything in between with a aim to keep it diverse in genre and budget. I will give my thoughts on the movies I watch each week to catalogue this theatrical trip around the world.

Feel free to recommend any films from countries I have not yet watched or tell me what you have thought about a film if you happen to have seen it.

Australia- Adventures of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert: Well this piece of Australiana really deserves the praise and I am glad I finally watched it. Funny, proud, well meaning and well acted. It's weird to be nostalgic about a time I wasn't alive for but this film definitely does it. As far as representation of our country, I think it does great, with shots across 3 states showing off the inner region as a stark contrast to the flamboyant characters. If you've never heard of it or just hadn't gotten around to seeing it like me, I totally recommend this film. 8.5/10

Austria - Immortal Beloved: A quite poor movie, not much of Austria shown and can only really be praised for set and costume design. Tells the story of Beethoven's life and the piecing together of that life by his assistant and fist biographer. Garry Oldman stars as Ludwig and hams it up for the whole movie. About 2 or 3 scenes had artistic merit while the rest were droll. 3/10

Azerbaijan - Ali and Nino: An elaborately produced romance/war film that shows off some stunning scenery. This film tugs at the heartstrings, offers plenty of on screen beauty from it's cast and has a score that stood out in a pleasant way. Basically all you need for a romance drama. This film is British and technically set in Russian controlled WW1 territory, however it is all about the independence of Azerbaijan. This challenge was to give me different perspectives and this film was able to offer two that I rarely consider ( even if they were offered at surface level). One being the introduction of western expectations in a previously eastern setting in the time period. The second was how shared borders with different religions builds both tensions and unions. 7.5/10

Bahrain - Dead Sands: The first zombie flick of the list and the first to be so bad it's good! Silly acting, poor dialogue but I had a good laugh with this one. Alfredo the Italian hairdresser is especially funny. This appears to be a low budget student or independent film with poorer quality than some YouTube channels. Interestingly dialogue flows between English and Arabic quite smoothly, I was unaware most Bahraini spoke English. I liked the shout outs to George Romero classics of the genre. 5/10 but only if you can find enjoyment in this type of bad/good movie. Otherwise 2/10.

The Bahamas - Into the blue: An American movie set in The Bahamas, Into the blue is an action flick that holds together ok but is hampered but some of the acting and insane amount of superfluous underwater dicking about. Outside of the perfect blue ocean and 1 single street you don't see much of The Bahamas which was disappointing. It's a fine action movie especially if you are a 13year old boy (plenty of T&A). Final sequence worth a point alone. 6/10

Thanks again for anyone reading. Have a watch if any interest you and let me know what you think.

Also please recommend any movies in the countries still to come.