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What are some of your favorite movies you think other people probably haven't seen...but would probably like if they did see them?
Mine fall into a few categories: old movies that have fallen out of fashion, newer independent movies that didn't make a big splash, and idiosyncratic movies that require the right audience to enjoy.
In the first category are movies like From Here to Eternity, A Man for All Seasons, and How Green was my Valley; you've probably heard of them, but you may not have seen them. Often it seems too much like eating your vegetables to go back and watch 'great' movies.
In the second category are recent favorites like Whale Rider, In America, and Strictly Ballroom. You probably have had a friend who saw them and recommended them to you but you never got around to actually seeing them.
And then there are the ones where I'm out of step with critics and the public at large, like Joe vs. the Volcano, Damsels in Distress, or Always. You probably heard these movies stink and never felt the need to actually watch them.
Anyone have some lesser-known favorite films? To provide an objective benchmark, say they have to have fewer than 50,000 votes/ratings on IMDb.
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Farewell My Concubine. It's absolutely incredible story writing. But it's also absolutely merciless in how sad it is. The acting is outstanding, the production is perfect. The ending feels a little perplexing, but I've seen it probably 5-6 times. I never tire of it.
Posts: 1194 | Registered: Jun 2010
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Kuffs w/ Christian Slater...kinda like Beverly Hills Cop, with campy 4th wall breaks like Deadpool & 17 year old Milla Jovovich who is to die for!
Baron von Munchowsen...Terry Gillian (of Monty Python & 12 Monkeys ilk) directs this charming farie tale set in 1700s(?) Europe is a cult classic w/ lots of cameos.
Posts: 6683 | Registered: Jun 2005
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It's a beautiful and haunting film about a group of Skinheads in Yorkshire in the early 80s, and how the movement was sabotaged and radicalized by white nationalists. This scene in particular is poignant, especially in light of recent events and the popularity of Donald Trump and his rabid anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim policies in America. I first watched it in a shitty little art theater in 2007, and I watch it every few years. I haven't ever met anyone else who's seen it.
It's also perhaps the most powerful abnegation of Thatcherism that I've ever seen.
Posts: 2222 | Registered: Dec 2008
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To amusingly nitpick, a couple of these have more than 50,000 votes by that "objective" benchmark*
Stay (2005) : 58,750 votes This is England (2006) : 97,395
* possibly the former is a lesser known film with the same name as what I found, such as Stay (2013)
The other thing I would share is due to how the Internet is segregated, Farewell My Concubine may be lesser-known by IMDB standards (17,040 votes) but on the Chinese IMDB equivalent (Douban) it has a whopping 471,312 votes outpacing even Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (134,821 votes) or Avengers: Age of Ultron (168,933 votes and 7th highest grossing film of all time in China).
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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That said, I'm definitely pro-Leslie Cheung. I've just never seen Farewell My Concubine although its reputation precedes it. It's on a short list of films like Grave of the Fireflies or Hachi: A Dog's Tale that I really should watch ... just later.
For my submission, I'd like to turn to a happier note. I would submit the older Stephen Chow films that didn't gain international attention but were at his prime as a comedic actor in front of the camera and had little to no CGI (or budget for that matter).
My favorite lesser-known film would be God of Cookery God of Cookery (5,707 imdb votes). This one can always get a smile out of me after a long day. Kung fu, BBQ on rice, the Shaolin Cookery Academy, it is perfectly paced to keep you amused.
I heard its also available on your Internet tubes, in HD.
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Mucus: To amusingly nitpick, a couple of these have more than 50,000 votes by that "objective" benchmark*
Stay (2005) : 58,750 votes This is England (2006) : 97,395
Well yeah, that's why I included the link for full disclosure. It's a film that's reasonably well known and loved in the UK (thus the high number of votes), but not known by many people outside of that. (thus the "probably haven't seen" qualification)
Posts: 2222 | Registered: Dec 2008
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Castaway on the Moon. Possibly my all time favorite film. It's funny, heartbreaking, uplifting, romantic, and just plain weird. No other movie has brought tears to my eyes just from watching a guy eat a bowl of noodles.
Posts: 891 | Registered: Feb 2010
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A road movie with three bothers whose relationship is not actually good and their father asks them to drive his old Coupe de Ville back to Florida where their father lives.
A Local Hero http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085859 I am not sure if this film is an unknown treasure, but it is VERY obscure here in Brazil. A business man is sent to Scotland to buy a whole village but he is captivated by its people and atmosphere.
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When it comes to movies, I don't see too many, so it's rare that I have seen something that other people haven't, let alone things I *really like*. I did see Whale Rider, so there's that.
Foreign films are a good way to find good things that most people haven't seen. One year in grad school, there was a "residential scholar" from Argentina in our dorm. He got to live there in exchange for programming, which meant we watched Argentinian movies, most of which are extremely depressing films about their government upheaval. Instead, this one was a caper movie and a lot of fun, and I made my family watch it.
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Raise the Red Lantern River's Edge Europa Report Once Upon a Time There was a Crooked Man State of Play Only God Forgives The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford A Most Violent Year Bone Tomahawk
Posts: 1407 | Registered: Oct 2008
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I have a go-to for this question: Bulletproof Heart aka Killer (1994), with Mimi Rogers and Anthony LaPaglia.
It has only 496 IMDB votes.
It's a wry, intelligent, self-reflective film noir that Robert Ebert gave 3 of 4 stars and called "thoughtful, surprising and haunting." There's a lightly BDSM scene and a few dead bodies, but it mostly turns on the writing and delivery of dialogue. There's a fair bit going on in the silences and glances, too.
I like this movie. Pattinson is good. Pierce is great. But it's the definition of 'not for everyone'. No one is conventionally likeable and it's just one depressing and slow snowball of a story. Very little is explained at the end as to why Pierce is hell bent on following them. You get a very minimalist answer.
Posts: 1407 | Registered: Oct 2008
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