I just saw the movie Baraka on Blu-Ray, and I thought that I'd throw out a list of some of the best obscure movies that aren't well known (and maybe pick a few gems off someone else). All of these movies are truly fantastic (in my > humble opinion).
In no particular order:
The Fall: Lee Pace in one of the most beautiful movies ever.
Baraka: The most beautiful movie ever (out on Blu-Ray)
Wonder Boys: Michael Douglas's best (other than American President).
My Life as a House: Fantastic emotional bonding movie.
Primer: The "thinkiest" movie on my list.
The Science of Sleep: The most bizarre foreign movie on my list.
Death at a Funeral: Good English comedy.
Repo: The Genetic Opera: Best Musical ever.
The Jacket: The OTHER great time travel movie.
Party Monster: AKA Disco Bloodbath
Igby Goes Down: Salinger for the new generation.
Pirates of the Great Salt Lake: SUPER great local indy flick.
The Gamers / The Gamers 2: Best RPG related movies ever made.
Any other good ones that I missed????
Posted by BandoCommando (Member # 7746) on :
Igby Goes Down was a weird movie, IMO.
My sister went to school with the guys who made The Gamers and its sequel. I got to meet them at her graduation. This was before the Gamers was produced, but after their oh-so-successful debut project of "Demonhunters". Ahhhh good times.
Posted by Godric 2.0 (Member # 11443) on :
Henry Fool
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
Soylent Green. One of my all time favorites.
The Fall. I can't stop watching it.
Let the Right One In. Comes out tomorrow!
The Brother From Another Planet. You can't do any better with no budget.
Perfume: the Story of a Murderer. Violent, and Beautiful, and it's not the violence that's beautiful, it's the aromas.
Bus 174. One of the most well-done documentaries I've ever seen.
Master of the Flying Guillotine. You'll never have to watch a kung-fu with a blind old man who can sense you with his eyebrows again.
Ikiru (To Live) - Arguably Akira Kurosawa's best.
Posted by Paul Goldner (Member # 1910) on :
Actually, I think this is a terrific example of a Good English Comedy trying desperately to cash in on Cheap American Laughs. I was severely disappointed.
However, I do enjoy:
Happy Accidents
Before Sunrise
Before Sunset
Noises Off!
Primer
et. al.
So many of the movies I love are obscurish Posted by Fyfe (Member # 937) on :
I wanted to see The Fall.
Oh, Noises Off was great - and nobody ever did see it!
Posted by Trent Destian (Member # 11653) on :
To start my seconds or thirds: My Life as a House Primer The Science of Sleep Death at a Funeral, although I argue that more than a few people know this one Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
In Addition: (I'd like to add that these may not be as obscure as I think, but that's only becuase I'm the only moviephile in my circle)
-The Station Agent -The Diner -Liberty Heights -Basquiat -Miller's Crossing, a cohen I know but most haven't heard of this one. -The Squid and the Whale -Smart People -Savages -Death Defying Acts -Proof -Whitnail and I
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Titanic
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
I don't know that I've spoken to anyone outside of my family who has seen Barry Lyndon; which amazes me. It got 11 academy award nominations of which it one 4. It is considered by many (including me ) to be one the most beautiful movies ever made; and yet no one I know has seen it! I'm sure there's a decent number of people here have seen it: maybe it's my generation or something but quite disappointing. I saw The Fall in theaters and thought it was gorgeous though I could never get engaged in any part of the film besides the visuals. I bring this up because even after all that I still think Barry Lyndon is more visually stunning.
I love Reggio's and Glass's Qatsi series: Koyanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi. The last one I thought wasn't as good, and I recognize that even saying I like them normally comes across as pretentious to the small number of people that have even heard of the films but... I do like them!
Pi isn't incredibly obscure, but I don't know many that have seen this either. I really enjoy this movie, and it provoked a lot of thought as well as being cinematically interesting (very impressive for a film shot on this kind of budget).
I also like Dark City Paul, though I don't know how obscure it is. I've actually been meaning to watch that for a few weeks... Same goes for Memento
Primer: good times! A lot of fun, though I should watch it again to see how well it holds up under repeat viewings.
Really anything by Errol Morris. The Fog of War was fantastic but is decently well known (for a documentary anyways). However, he's made some other pretty good ones (The Thin Blue Line, Mr. Death, etc...)
It's not a movie but Fawlty Towers is far funnier than the Monty Python series (I think , and I own the complete set of both) and yet I've heard mountains about the latter and nothing from anyone else about the former.
Hobbes Posted by ambyr (Member # 7616) on :
Twilight Samurai.
One of the few movies I own, because keeping it out indefinitely on Netflix so I could show it to everyone I knew was an inefficient use of my queue.
Sweet, touching, wistful, and an astonishing level of historical accuracy (albeit with some rather modernized views of gender relations).
Posted by Herblay (Member # 11834) on :
The Myth: One of Jackie Chan's better efforts. My kids LOVE it.
Posted by Herblay (Member # 11834) on :
Maybe Baby: Hugh Laurie (House) and Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck) in a fantastically sad movie. Good cameo by Rowan Atkinson.
Posted by Fyfe (Member # 937) on :
This thread gave me the nudge to watch The Fall, and wow, it was good. Thanks, White Whale! I'm heading to Barnes & Noble to buy the DVD tonight!
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
The Way of the Gun.
Posted by trip9 (Member # 8498) on :
Not super unkown, but I think they qualify:
-Sunshine, directed by Danny Boyle. Probably my favorite "space mission" movie. A lot of people have issues with the final act, but I loved it.
-Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, with Robert Downey Jr. A hilarious and intelligent comedy that nobody seems to have seen.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I absolutely loved Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I didn't want to see it, but one of my best friends made me, and I'm sooo glad she twisted my arm into that one. Sunshine left me with a semi-permanent look of shock and horror on my face because that was not at ALL what I was expecting to see.
Noemon -
Too on the nose I think. Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
I know it's a TV series and not a Movie. But, I find myself replaying Victory at Sea more than anything on the shelf. I think I play if for the music, Richard Rodgers, arranged by Robert Bennett. Haw anyone else here ever seen/heard it
Posted by Vyrus (Member # 10525) on :
Oldboy-really quite beautiful, despite the really disturbing scenes.
I haven't seen most of these movies.
The other ones I've always loved are cult flicks, so I'll assume you've seen them before.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
quote:Originally posted by Fyfe: This thread gave me the nudge to watch The Fall, and wow, it was good. Thanks, White Whale! I'm heading to Barnes & Noble to buy the DVD tonight!
quote:Sunshine, directed by Danny Boyle. Probably my favorite "space mission" movie. A lot of people have issues with the final act, but I loved it.
The movie was pretty darn good, up until the ridiculous ending.
I just grabbed a boxed set of Werner Herzog movies (to go with my other set. Now I have 12 of his!), and wow some of them are good. If you haven't seen these, I'd recommend them if just to see what a Herzog movie is:
Fitzcarraldo, the story is good, but the fact that this movie is real is even better. Also, one of the best songs from The Frames was inspired by this and shares it's title.
Aguirre, Wrath of God - Klaus Kinski is beyond description.
Wild Blue Yonder - Brad Dourif is haunting, and the story (although science fiction) is awesome.
Encounters at the End of the World - No one else but Herzog could pull this off.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Bulletproof Heart: smart, wry, witty, and thoughtful without pendantry
quote:The long night moves on, with Archie providing the comic counterpoint. At one point, they end up in a cemetery, eating Chinese takeout food. They talk in that way two strangers can, when they know they will never see each other again. What is strange is why they will never see each other again.
At the end, when they come to the moment of truth, we think we know what the alternatives are. But we are surprised by the form the truth takes - how, and why. The movie is thoughtful, surprising and haunting.
Posted by Clive Candy (Member # 11977) on :
quote:Originally posted by ambyr: Twilight Samurai.
One of the few movies I own, because keeping it out indefinitely on Netflix so I could show it to everyone I knew was an inefficient use of my queue.
Sweet, touching, wistful, and an astonishing level of historical accuracy (albeit with some rather modernized views of gender relations).
Seconded. An absolute surprise that one was...it's the Samurai "Unforgiven."
Posted by beleaguered (Member # 11983) on :
Okay, here's my list of totally unrelated yet brilliant movies (in their own way) that aren't well known:
Equilibrium Boondock Saints Life is Beautiful Children of Heaven Run Lola Run
Edit Post: I had to include Run Lola Run, after I got to thinking.
Posted by Xann. (Member # 11482) on :
The Futurama movies, except the latest.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
Rubin and Ed, written and directed by Trent Harris.
Probably the oddest and most funny movie I've ever seen.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
The Commitments: good music, great story, unforgettable characters
quote:Alan Parker's "The Commitments" is a loud, rollicking, comic extravaganza about a rock band from the poorest precincts of North Dublin that decides to play soul music. ... Rabbitte's logic is persuasive: "The Irish are the blacks of Europe. Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. North Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin." The movie is based on a novel by Roddy Doyle, a North Dublin school teacher, but it is founded on charm. Parker introduces a Dickensian gallery of characters, throws them all into the pot, keeps them talking, and makes them sing a lot. ... "The Commitments" is one of the few movies about a fictional band that's able to convince us the band is real and actually plays together.
--- Added:
Billy Elliot: makes you believe in a young British lad from a coal mining town who wants to dance classical ballet (and all of the expected trials and tribulations that go with that dream)
quote:The movie takes place in a British coal mining town, where Billy (Jamie Bell) trudges off to boxing lessons for which he is ill-equipped. Life at home is tense because his father (Gary Lewis) and brother Tony (Jamie Draven) are striking miners. One day, at the other end of the village hall, he sees ballet lessons being taught by a chain-smoking disciplinarian (Julie Walters), and his eyes grow large. Soon he is shyly joining her class, the only boy in a crowd of tutus.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Here's a consolidated list, as best I can do from above. If I missed something or there is an error, please repost an edited copy yourself or just add corrections in the thread below (i.e., it would drive me nuts to have to keep re-editing myself, so please don't ask. ).
Aguirre, Wrath of God Arlington Road Baraka Barry Lyndon Basquiat Before Sunrise Before Sunset Billy Elliot Boondock Saints The Brother From Another Planet Bulletproof Heart: Bus 174 Children of Heaven The Commitments Dark City Death at a Funeral Death Defying Acts The Diner Encounters at the End of the World Equilibrium The Fall Fawlty Towers (television) Fitzcarraldo The Fog of War The Futurama movies, except the latest The Gamers / The Gamers 2 Happy Accidents Henry Fool Ikiru (To Live) The Jacket Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang Law 3 Let the Right One In Liberty Heights Life is Beautiful Master of the Flying Guillotine Maybe Baby Memento Miller's Crossing Mr. Death My Life as a House The Myth Noises Off! Oldboy Party Monster Perfume: the Story of a Murderer Pi Pirates of the Great Salt Lake Proof Qatsi series: Koyanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi Repo: The Genetic Opera Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Rubin and Ed Run Lola Run Savages The Science of Sleep Smart People Soylent Green The Squid and the Whale The Station Agent. Sunshine The Thin Blue Line Titanic (please direct your tomatoes at Noemon) Twilight Samurai Victory at Sea The Way of the Gun Whitnail and I Wild Blue Yonder Wonder Boys Posted by martha (Member # 141) on :
The two movies I always ask for when I'm deciding whether a video store is worth belonging to are:
The Navigator (no, not Flight of &c.) The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T
...and another obscure favorite:
Drowning by Numbers
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T completely freaked me out when I saw it when I was a little kid. Not many movies have ever done that, even when I was young.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Undercover Blues
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
The Navigator Before Sunrise Before Sunset The Squid and the Whale Baraka
Edit:
I'll add one more that just came to mind: Federal Hill
[ March 16, 2009, 04:28 PM: Message edited by: Mike ]
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
I'm not sure if they're really "off the beaten Path", but two of my favorite are "Dragonheart" and "October Sky".
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is a movie from my high school days. We spent months replaying jokes from it. Anyone want to play questions?
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
Wouldn't that derail the thread?
Posted by Trent Destian (Member # 11653) on :
How do you play?
Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :
Boondock Saints isn't well known? I always kind of assume that if I've seen a movie(I rarely, if ever, watch movies- maybe 3 or 4 a year), it's well known. Huh.
No one around here seems to remember Fern Gully and The Last Unicorn.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
"Positive?" "Only fools are positive." "Are you sure?" "I'm positive."
Posted by Trent Destian (Member # 11653) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tinros: No one around here seems to remember Fern Gully and The Last Unicorn.
Well hell, if we're including animated features this thread is going to need some more space. Additionally, I would think those two would be more in the category "Remember those movies we watched when we were younger?" I think we all saw them. All being a gross exaggeration, but you get my point.
Posted by JennaDean (Member # 8816) on :
Oh, I remember Fern Gully. I've been trying to forget it, thankyouverymuch.
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