NFT: Continuing the movie theme - your favorite little known film

Californiaaaaaa

A little New Zealand film starring Sam Neil
Directed by Taika Waititi

by the same guy that did Napoleon Dynamite.

It doesn't get good reviews at all, but I thought it was entertaining.

Lake Eden

if this is well known or not, but I never hear anyone talk about it.... The Way, Way Back...


BTW, I agree with you on A Midnight Clear... the snowball scene alone makes that movie, but that is one sad affair.

In comment 13563664 Vin R said:

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Californiaaaaaa

The Power Glove!

Fall (1997).

I think Eric Schaeffer needs a bankroll.

.

Ed Burns, Andy Garcia, Dustin Hoffman. Great cast and even better ending.

In comment 13563684 Eric from BBI said:

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if this is well known or not, but I never hear anyone talk about it.... The Way, Way Back... BTW, I agree with you on A Midnight Clear... the snowball scene alone makes that movie, but that is one sad affair.

Great call Eric.
I was going to say The way, way back.

I really enjoyed that movie. Have watched a few times. One of the best I have seen in a while.

Another movie that was very good was Moonrise Kingdom.

Great little comedy with the likes of Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn, Mark Ruffalo, and Paul Giamatti.

I love Moonrise Kingdom, and Grand Budapest Hotel (same people made both).

with disaster - great mid 90s black comedy starring ben stiller, patricia arquette, alan alda and tea leoni, didn't get a lot of promotion.

.

without much thought are Something Wild and Runaway Train. Probably are others.

Starring a very young Costner and Judd Nelson.

A goofy comedy about graduating college with the Vietnam War going on. Some absolutely hilarious parts.

Two that were pretty touted at the time but didn't do a lot of business:

"A Simple Plan"
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"

An obscure tongue-in-cheek Horror-Action picture from the 70s: "Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter". A "name" director you've heard of wants to remake it.

Little known fact - Howard Stern's wife plays one of the blonde beach volleyball players that Ben Stiller briefly thinks are his sisters.

Charlize Theron & Patton Oswalt.

Queens Logic
Dan In Real Life

That Dreaded Sundown that came out in the late '70s.

Moon, Matchstick Men to name a few...

I'm always surprised at High Fidelity when folks haven't seen it. Probably my favorite film of all time.

In comment 13563749 ryanmkeane said:

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Moon, Matchstick Men to name a few... I'm always surprised at High Fidelity when folks haven't seen it. Probably my favorite film of all time.

High Fidelity**

An obscure and excellent western, second only to "Tombstone" (IMHO) in the western genre.

Sam Shepard (Wild Bill Hickock)

My dad and I saw it at the Thalia as part of a double feature with Yojimbo, about thirty years ago. We went in knowing almost nothing about it. We both cried so hard we just sat there in silence at the end, holding hands.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.

Laugh out loud funny in some spots. Anna Kendrick is good in this, but the real hottie was Aubrey Plaza.

Stay with it til the outtakes at the end.

I went to middle school with the director, Keith Gordon. He has also done some excellent TV work, especially for HBO.

Starring James Gandolfini, Tom Hardy, & Naomi Rapaci (sp.). Great movie, with an unbelievable performance by Hardy, & Gandolfini. Based on the Lehane, novel of the same name. One of the few movies I can watch again, & again.

Not sure have to ponder other genre's

In comment 13563773 Big Blue Blogger said:

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I went to middle school with the director, Keith Gordon. He has also done some excellent TV work, especially for HBO.

You grew up with Jason Melon! Sweet.....

by American author Harlan Coben. The story is a pretty good and reasonably inventive mystery, of the James Patterson genre, and the 2006 French movie version turned out to be well acted and directed.

They've been planning an American version of the film for years, not sure why they haven't yet, but of course Hollywood's been very busy making shitty remakes of 1980s B movie cult classics

Greg from LI said:

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You grew up with Jason Melon! Sweet.....

Yeah, but he never came "back to school" after Jaws II - not with us, anyway.

It's is a 1982 American experimental film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass. The film consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse footage of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. It's spell-binding.

but I liked:

Amongst Friends (drama)
Up the Creek (Comedy)
Talihina Sky (documentary), and I don't really like Kings of Leon but this was very well done

.

Football movie where the entire Bills starting offence gets sick just as the playoffs start, so the second string steps in and takes them to the Superbowl.

In comment 13563764 Big Blue Blogger said:

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My dad and I saw it at the Thalia as part of a double feature with Yojimbo, about thirty years ago. We went in knowing almost nothing about it. We both cried so hard we just sat there in silence at the end, holding hands.

Yep. The greatest 'unknown' great film.

the Way Way Back is a great call, I know like 3 people who have seen it but it's excellent.

Dope, Blue Ruin, Dredd (remake), and Mudd are a few from the last 5 years or so.

It's a Christmas movie with Steve Martin, Liev Shreiber, Adam Sandler, funny as hell

1) THE SACRIFICE - OK, this one is not as fun to watch as some of the others, but it is a profound take on what it means to be alive and the meaning of life. Made by Russian master Tarkovsky, profound and brilliant. 1986.

2) KILLER OF SHEEP – Filmed for practically nothing (less than 10K I understand), it proves that great art does not have to cost much. Some may not like the plotless structure, but the look at life at it's most desperate is both at once horrifying and life-affirming. 1978.

3) WOMAN IN THE DUNES – I guess I'm picking films that are about who we are, why we are here, what is life, you know, little stuff like that. A Japanese film about a woman in a pit of sand that can't get out. That's it. 1964.

4) MIRACLE MILE – “You just found out that you have 24 hours to live. What are YOU going to do?” That's the tagline from IMDB. Not only that the world only has 24 hours to live. An unexpected masterpiece without a happy ending to boot. 1988.

5) THE FLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS – Italian director Roberto Rossellini took non-actors is more about coming to peace with all that is life. Stunning, sad and full of humanity. 1950.

6) LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN – A companion piece to the film above it is about life in Brooklyn in 1952. Great score, wonderful characters, terrific film. 1989.

7) MOONLIGHTING – No, not that one. This is Polish Director Jerzy Skolimowski's film about 4 polish workers in England that are working with papers. This story can be transformed to almost any culture or people. It's about desperation and wanting to live in freedom. The human condition at its most basic level. 1982.

8) WINGS OF DESIRE – William Wenders film about everything, sometimes criticized for being about too much, but an amazing piece of filmmaking. 1987.

9) BAD TIMING/A SENSUAL OBSESSION – This wild, over the top film deals with, well, just look at the title. Nicholas Roeg's masterpiece. 1980.

10) EL TOPO – Now I know nobody's ever seen this one. Kinna like David Lynch on steroids. Mexican director Alex Jodorowsky throws every symbol but the kitchen sink (maybe that too) into this over the top visual fest. Still don't know what it's about, but I think it's something important. 1971.

'The Gods Must Be Crazy' comedy based in Africa. Had me laughing out loud. I would pay for a recording of it, but I can't find it anywhere.

Spike13, 'The Drop' I also really liked. Could watch it again and again. Great tension.

Goood call on Fandango. Great little movie. Another one that was surprisingly funny was Sex Drive.

Horse racing movie starring Richard Dreyfuss. It's hilarious.

An incredibly entertaining documentary (and exercise in Schadenfreude) about the absolute asshole who directed The Boondock Saints.

-The Matador. Pierce Brosnan just kills it in that movie. I think my enjoyment of it was colored by the fact that I confused it for another Brosnan movie and kept expecting an unwelcome twist that thankfully never came.

-it's not little known, but still, You Can Count on Me should show up more often in best movie lists.

In comment 13563875 bceagle05 said:

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Horse racing movie starring Richard Dreyfuss. It's hilarious.

+1 Love this movie and watch it whenever it is on.

Thought it was going to be an action film turned out to be a Horror

Western: "Purgatory" as mentioned above. If you love westerns, give this movie a try. Entertaining as all get out.

Comedy: "The Dream Team" four mental patients are taken to NYC for a ball game. But their therapist gets mugged and the whack jobs don't know what to do so they take off in NYC. Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle ("Frank" from "Everybody Loves Raymond"), Lorraine Bracco (of "Godfather", "Sopranos" and "Goodfellas" fame, and most recently, Angela Rizzoli of "Rizzoli and Isles" TV show)

Romantic Drama"Phenomenon" John Travolta and Kyra Sedgewick

Romantic Comedy: "Return to Me" David Duchovny, Minnie Driver, Carroll O'Connor. Wife dies, but is an organ donor. Woman who gets heart by sheer coincidence ends up in love with the man who lost his wife, but neither know she is carrying his wife's heart.


Keaton in the "Dream Team" - ( New Window )

Hard to think of people not knowing these, but they stand out in my mind: Othello (Orson Welles 1951); The Third Man (Welles again 1941); Rashomon (Kurosawa 1950); The Magician (Bergman 1958). Yes, that was a long time ago.

In comment 13563684 Eric from BBI said:

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if this is well known or not, but I never hear anyone talk about it.... The Way, Way Back... BTW, I agree with you on A Midnight Clear... the snowball scene alone makes that movie, but that is one sad affair.

Yes, The Way, Way Back is very good. Midnight Clear as well.

Z(1969)
Resurrection Of Golden Wolf
New Battles Without Honor and Humanity
Geronimo: An American Legend(Walter Hill)
The Border(Nicholson)

I had never heard of it...and every time I bring it up in conversation no one has ever heard of it...

Entertaining from start to finish. Slick fun movie

Smoke

Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland. Western/Love story..

A bunch already listed here

And Stan, any old hippie saw El Topo, a classic for anyone stoned in those days.

As for another not named yet, Son of Saul, a fairly recent movie, was incredibly powerful, set as it is for the much of the time in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Well worth seeing, although as painful as seeing Neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville.

In comment 13563789 LauderdaleMatty said:

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Not sure have to ponder other genre's

Is that piss yellow?

My dick is in the punch!

a couple of hit men sent to chill in a beautiful Belgian city that I don't think I'd ever heard of before.

Nine Queens - Argentine con artists

Comedy: "State and Main" William Macy, Alec Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker, etc.

A group of Hollywood elites take over a small Vermont town to shoot a movie. The star of the movie to be made (Baldwin) can't keep his pants up and ends up banging an underage teen girl and getting caught, the starlet (Parker) won't take her top off and everything kind of goes to shit.

It's very original and like no other movie and definitely worth watching if you are a movie buff

Val Kilmer is (was) awesome

...not sure if obscure enough, though.
Murder by Death. 1976.
Peter Falk, Peter Sellers, Eileen Brennan
Spoof on all the murder mystery detectives.

The Money Pit is another good one.
Three O'Clock High.
29th Street.

time. Some of the best dialogue ever. Hilarious performances.

Movie about the Civil War in Missouri and the conflict between Confederate partisans and Kansas Jayhawkers.

Z was certainly not little known in its time.

I will also add Don't Look Now -- incredibly suspenseful, great cinematography and visual direction (Nicholas Roeg) and an incredible love scene with Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland.

In comment 13564009 mattlawson said:

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In comment 13563789 LauderdaleMatty said: Quote: Not sure have to ponder other genre's Is that piss yellow? My dick is in the punch!

Are u really Sasha Dubinsky. The one armed violinist

In comment 13564060 bluepepper said:

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a couple of hit men sent to chill in a beautiful Belgian city that I don't think I'd ever heard of before.

Both Bruges and In Bruges are definitely worth knowing about. That movie really surprised me -- I wasn't expecting it to be as emotional as it was.

It was like having your gall bladder removed without anesthesia, only more painful.

3 obscure movies: 1) "Garden State"
2) One that was actually an early TV mini-series, but was short enough to play well as a movie:"A Town Like Alice."
3) "The Search," with Montgomery Clift (fabulous);

saw it as opening film before planet of the apes i think (when they used to do double bills)

Love that flick.

A Time For Drunken Horses (Kurdish smugglers on the Iran/Iraq/Turkish border)

Big Deal on Madonna Street (Italian burglary caper, hilarious)

Ajami (slice of life of Muslims and Christians in Tel Aviv)

Jean de Florette (land grab drama, turn of the century France)

Billy Liar (English working class kid living in his own fantasy world)

Mister Hulot's Holiday (nearly silent French comedy about an eccentric's vacation at the beach)

Black Orpheus (the Greek myth set in carnival Rio, circa 1960)

Mustang (five orphaned Turkish sisters living with tyrannical uncle)

Great flick. Not "indie" but one that got screwed over by it's release date.

Another is "Get the Gringo" which some camps think is the sequel to "Payback".

I liked Smilla's Sense of Snow with Julia Ormond and Gabriel Burns. Loved the book by Peter Hoeg, and the movie didn't fall too short.

Also known as The Ninth(??) Configuration. Also like the Breaker Morant reference above

Goon (which actually seems to get some love on BBI given the hockey fan presence).

I Love You Phillip Morris.

The Vanishing, dutch version (Actually not positive this is lesser known)

Any Todd Solondz film - start with Happiness if you haven't seen any of his.

Nocturnal Animals I feel really flew under the radar last year which is a shame since it's great with some killer acting.

might not be too obscure, but I love that damn movie.

Drag Me to Hell is another. Scares the bejeesus out of me every time.

a movie about a girl in Afghanistan.

And on a lighter side - "Goliath" a movie about a cat kind of sort of. Pretty funny whatever it was about

Agree about Son of Saul - IMO a must see movie

Johnny Handsome and Runaway Train

I remember we watched it in French class in 7th grade.

In comment 13563855 UConn4523 said:

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the Way Way Back is a great call, I know like 3 people who have seen it but it's excellent. Dope, Blue Ruin, Dredd (remake), and Mudd are a few from the last 5 years or so.

I have seen way way back too. Loved it. Love movies like that.

In comment 13564213 santacruzom said:

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In comment 13564060 bluepepper said: Quote: a couple of hit men sent to chill in a beautiful Belgian city that I don't think I'd ever heard of before. Both Bruges and In Bruges are definitely worth knowing about. That movie really surprised me -- I wasn't expecting it to be as emotional as it was.

Agreed. In Bruges is probably in my top ten. It's a classic in my book.

The brother of that film's director made a very good movie himself, The Guard, also starring Brendan Gleeson.

A Matter of Life and Death (Was known in the US as Stairway to Heaven) with David Nivin and Kim Novak.

British Air Force pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) is on his way home to England from a World War II bombing mission in a badly damaged aircraft. Before he bails out of the plane into the ocean, he contacts June (Kim Hunter), an Allied radio operator with whom he shares what he believes to be his final moments on Earth. But Peter survives, finds June and they fall in love. A problem arises when a divine messenger (Marius Goring) arrives to escort Peter to heaven to rectify his wrongful survival.

In comment 13564475 Greg from LI said:

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The brother of that film's director made a very good movie himself, The Guard, also starring Brendan Gleeson.

I really liked The Guard too, Greg. Gleason played quite a character.

but you cannot just watch this film. You must pair it with the sequel (Manon of the Spring) starring the unbelievably beautiful Emmanuelle Beart or it's just another French movie.

It's interesting to see what some consider little known films. There are a few here I'll comment on.

In Bruges is definitely a top movie.

Miracle Mile gets a lot of praise, but I didn't care for it at all. I get what they were trying to do, but the production quality is terrible and the acting sucks. Not recommended.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a great movie - probably the best I've seen in the past 18 months or so.

The Gods Must be Crazy is a very fun film. Very different.

The Drop - well done, more recent release so not sure how little known it really is.

The Matador - absolutely a favorite of mine. Love this show, watch it regularly.

I really liked the Dream Team when it first came out, same with Quick Change. Neither film held up well though imo.

Extract is excellent - love this movie. Silly but fun. Can't tell you how much I hate the neighbor (David Koechner) - hits too close to home for me.

So I guess my pick is Misunderstood (1984). Gene Hackman, Rip Torn, and an unbelievably great job done by young Henry Thomas. I'm not really a guy who cries at films, but this one opens at the funeral of the mother of two little boys and focuses on the relationship between father and son. Really hits close to home for me and is a serious tear-jerker. I have a love/hate relationship with it because of how it impacts me emotionally. Anyway - not a big hit and is very difficult to find now. I've got a VHS copy and have watched for it from time to time, can't find it anywhere in digital format. Really wish I could get it.

The Room. Obscure but could not stop watching.

I've written down 6 or 7 movies that I've never seen that I now will watch (based on comments as well as avoiding horror, war, and tear jerkers - can't handle them). "The Matador", "Let it Ride", "In Bruges", etc.

If any of you guys watch a movie with a girlfriend or wife, watch "Return to Me" - women melt and men are touched. I can't say enough about the movie and have watched it at least once a year for years. It's also the last movie that Carroll O'Connor played in before he died and he was a remarkable actor and even more of a remarkable human being, even if most people can only think of his role as Archie Bunker, the antithesis of man he played.

is entertaining as all hell. Everyone I've recommended it too has loved and been surprised by it.

I thought Election wouldn't qualify for "little known," but just in case it is I'll mention it. Great film with characters who will resonate.

In comment 13563707 Eric from BBI said:

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I love Moonrise Kingdom, and Grand Budapest Hotel (same people made both).

2 great films. Although, I though the perspective thing seemed forced in Hotel.

I've enjoyed moments of his earlier films, but his whole aesthetic bothers me now. His characters don't really develop much beyond "the stoic guy who always hears a chef hat," or "the stoic girl whose glasses are funny," or, "The neurotic guy who always wears a yellow shirt."

wears a chef's hat

Because the perception of living in NYC is much different now than it was in 1993?

Ride With the Devil is a good call, some of you guys should definitely get familiar with the Criterion Collection.

asshole, but In Bruges is definitely not "little known" IMO, it may not have had wide cinematic release (though it grossed over 33M in the box office which is probably higher than almost any other film mentioned), and it was nominated and received many awards including an Oscar nomination for best screenplay and Golden Globe win for best actor for Farrell.

including in bruges that aren't really obscure or hidden. But whatever works.

is a comedy that I found fun to watch. I don't know if it's that obscure. Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson going through a divorce. Brosnan a successful businessman then finds his company has been taken by a hostile take over freezing all his assets and his ex-wife's. So they work together to steal a mulit-million dollar diamond from the asshole who hijacked their company. They decide to steal it back with the help of their long time neighbors, one who is ex-CIA that even his wife didn't know about.

In comment 13564802 Greg from LI said:

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Because the perception of living in NYC is much different now than it was in 1993?

I don't know, was just one of those folks I found really funny when it came out, then didn't see it for 20 years or so. Upon rewatching I didn't find it very funny. Could have been my mood, maybe will have to give it another shot.

The Gods Must Be Crazy, 1980 from South Africa. Who knew they had a sense of humor? Had a few of the funniest scenes I have ever seen.

"Mess with the best, die like the rest."

In comment 13563789 LauderdaleMatty said:

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Not sure have to ponder other genre's

great, great flick...

Written by Nick Cave (he of the Bad Seeds fame), stars Guy Pierce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, and has a great cameo by the legendary John Hurt. Takes place in 1880s Australia, aesthetically it's similar to a western. Pierce plays the middle brother in a family of outlaws who is give a difficult choice by a local law man: he has a week to hunt down and kill his older brother or his younger brother will be hung. It's a well written story, features beautiful cinematography, and has a great score written and performed by Cave.

I really don't know how this movie isn't more popular. It really is *that* good.

very good pick

Assassination of Richard Nixon?

including the Proposition, and Hackers.

A couple of others that flew under the radar: Spartan, and White Sands

that aren't necessarily "little known," but are well before the current generation. I would put "The Wrong Box" in that category-- a very funny 1966 screwball comedy.

is Things Change with Don Ameche and Joe Mantegna.

Raoul

Animated movie - Cheap Trick, Lou Reed, and Debbie Harry.