Brilliant overlooked, underrated movies.

I was just talking with someone today about Tim Burton's Ed Wood, which I think is just "Perfect!" (If you saw it, imagine Johnny Depp saying that line through a hopelessly ecstatic sigh.) Besides Martin Landau's brilliant, hilariously foul-mouthed performance as Bela Lugosi, which won him an Oscar, the whole film is worth seeing for its being a sustained ode to personal vision, however "bad," and passion, however misguided. A review in NY Review of Books pointed out that it's a satire of biopics as well. It works on so many levels. And the black and white cinematography and score are stunning.

Your turn.

It not only had a dream team of actors (Alec Baldwin, Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon, and the guy from the Infiniti ads), but it was so fucking close to how sales people are. I worked as a salesman as a summer job, and when I saw this movie, I was freaked at how close it was to the shit I had to put up with daily...

Desperation and despair. Great acting all around. I think it never received the attention it deserved because it's such a relentless downer.

... I've seen the movie twice and I really liked it, but I've always wondered how realistic a portrayal of the profession it was. You answered my question :)

can you? Even if it was a solo win for Landau. Ed Wood is a great movie.

More recently, I love the film Amelie. Just watched it again the other PM. It was up for 5 Oscars, but I don't think it won anything. Grande sentir-bonne chiquenaude. Drôle, aussi!

let alone know Landau won an Oscar for it. It's overlooked, anyway.

Ve Neill won for Best Makeup.

talk about levels.

Remember the guys on the scooters.

"Nice friends you have there, Otto."
"Thanks, I made 'em myself."

"See, it's all part of the Cosmic Unconsciousness. You'll be thinking plate or shrimp, then someone else says plate of shrimp."
"Take a lot of acid in the 60's, Miller?"

"Repo man's life is always intense!"

"I blame society. Society made me do it."
"That's bullshit - you're just a white suburban punk like the rest of us."

"Put it on a plate, son, you'll enjoy it more."

... my top 10 favorites of all times. I played it for my 10-13 year old sons, they were not impressed :(

"plate 'o' shrimp"

..at least by film people in the know are Kurosawa movies. If you haven't already, treat yourself to "Ran," "Yojimbo" and "The Hidden Fortress," my personal favorites. All his others are good, though.

:)

with Bob Hoskins. Absolutely brilliant.

:hi:

Excellent performances.

I'll take this opportunity to say the best American movie ever is "Shawshank Redemption"

Often overlooked...

n/t

"Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead". Picture two great English Psychos (Tim Roth and Gary Olman), throw in Mr. Holland, and mix in some Pink Floyd.

It's silly to be depressed by it. I mean one thinks of it like being alive in a box, one keeps forgetting to take into account the fact that one is dead...which should make all the difference...shouldn't it? I mean, you'd never know you were in a box, would you? It would be just like being asleep in a box.

I don't know if I would say they are brilliant, but some of these science fiction flicks get no respect. And, I rather enjoy some of them that are based in a futuristic type world where corporations have finally taken over control of governments and worlds and a few rule the many. They make you think.

Off the top of my head, I can recall, the following sci fi flicks that are in this catefory, ... Gattaca, the Robocop series (3 films), Fortress, Demolition Man, and even Ahnold's Running Man and Total Recall.

Anoyne recall any other sci fi flicks like that?

A brilliant cautionary tale from the 50s. We either learn to work together peacefully or we will eventually destroy ourselves. There is something quite messianic about "Mr. Carpenter"!

Lone Star
Secret of Roan Inish
Eight Men Out
Men With Guns
Matewan
Limbo

Yes, taking place in an unnamed Central American country, it's an account of a sheltered, apolitical medical school professor who goes into the countryside to look for some students who never returned from a volunteer stint. All the events (except for the magic realism-tinged ending) actually happened in one Central American country or another during the 1980s.

The soundtrack is great, too.

Sayles wrote and directed. Another excellent underrated film. Mary MacDonnell (also in "Matewan") got her second Oscar nomination for that film.

... and would add anything by Jim Jarmusch.

An early Jack Nicholson flick in black and white.

a really good movie

I could be misremembering it.

I just checked the box the VCR tape came in. It is in color. It might have been the monochrome uniforms and the drabness of the winter setting that threw me off.

which must have meant it was in color. You can almost count the films made in black and white in the 1970s on one hand. (Paper Moon is the only one coming to mind, unless Manhattan was released in 1979.)

perhaps memory fails me....but pretty much all of Nicholson's early films are damn good....
...even "The Missouri Breaks," which on balance was a terrible western, given the cast...Nicholson & Marlon Brando. Brando uses a different accent in every scene, appears in drag for no good reason in a couple ... given its potential, it's a dissapointment. Nicholson and Brando barely try throughout but....given the prescence & power of both, it's worth a look.

.

Wonderful performance by Jon Voight in a bleak, surreal setting. If you liked 'The Last Picture Show' it's a must-see.

This 1945 film depicts the lives of ordinary Italians during the occupation by the Germans. It was certainly not overlooked or overrated in 1945, but it is now. When Italian films are good, they are really good. This one is very worldly and well acted.

I also recommend the unflinching "Bicycle Thief".

a misundertood movie from an American Genius. It's slick style reflects the airbrushed desire in a sick heart. Fosse's script is a dark look at respect, fame, sex, money, hope, and obsession. Eric Robert's portrayal of Paul Snider is astonishing and compelling (even when we already know what he is capable of) Mariel Hemingway's distracted air serves Dorothy Stratten well. And I doubt that Cliff Robertson was ever welcomed to the Mansion after his turn in the pajamas. Even the tiniest supporting character is perfect-- the pickup's "It didn't mean shit to me" is one of the best moments
This is a disturbing film. But also a great one.

Last Night (1998)

When the movie starts, its 6 pm, and the world ends at midnight.

A very interesting movie. Brilliant for its ideas and audacity.

"Its not the end of the world... there's still six hours left."

Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach, and Estelle Winwood.
dir: John Huston

'an ageing cowboy falls in love with a stripper who then discovers he is involved in trapping wild ponies for sale to dog-food manufacturers..'

i'm not making this up, btw.
i believe this was Clift's last movie.

good luck finding a copy, wish i had one.

dp

Dance With A Stranger (1985)
The Earthling (1980)
Gallipoli (1980)
Leolo (circa 1991)
Let's Get Lost (1989)
Reversal of Fortune (early 1990s)
Stranger's Kiss (circa 1985)
Wetherby (1985)

There must be dozens of others, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

Hayao Miyazaki's (Spirited Away) first feature film. If you ever get a chance to see the uncut, subtitled version, don't pass it up. It has a great pro-environment message and the Music and Animation give me goosebumps. It's by far my favorite Miyazaki film and on my all time top 10 list.

It's not that it's overlooked or underrated, it's just impossible to find. I hear there's an english dubbed DVD coming in a few months, maybe people will finally be able to see this gem.

I agree 'Ed Wood' is brilliant, movies don't get much better.

wow...what to say!
No plot
Horrible acting
lots of chicks in bikinis
Footage used from "the Mole People" to fill in a non-existant plot point.
They had to be on some hevy acid to make that film.
So horrible, its perfect!

I've always been fond of this George C. Scott movie.

It was released in two different versions--the longer one is better, with a wild supermarket scene that ties up some of the loose ends the shorter version leaves hanging.

Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken. Brad Pitt and Val Kilmer had small roles (Val Kilmer played imaginary Elvis in silohette) Brad Pitt played the stoner roommate, several other great character actors, but can't remember their names.

love the scene with Hopper and Walken.....eggplant and cantaloupe. :bounce:

Directed by Hal Hartley.

'Pi' (I can't seem to print the mathematical symbol) is also very good.

There's also a documentary called 'Dark Days' which is very powerful.

which painted a terricly scary view of a dismal future where genetics rule. Astonishingly done.

Although it's GATTACA ;-) :hi: (GATC are the abbreviations for guanine (G), adenine (A), thymine (T) and cytosine (C) - the four types of nucleotide in the DNA.)

"Small Change"

"Bread and Chocolate"

There's a few more around, too. A bunch made years ago by Shepperton Studios that were just wonderful.

Quite possibly the best comedy ever (IMHO) - completly ignored at it's time.

movies. They are hysterical.

Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/5862/harold.htm

actually trashed that movie. It is the bomb.

The latter doesn't work on all levels, but is a great anti-war, what is reality, movie about making movies.

The scence where the hero, a viet-vet, reveals why he is running from the police is priceless. And Barbara Hershey ain't bad either.

"My Favorite Year" is a lovely film & "The Stunt Man" is twisted--but in a good way.

Another prime O'Toole performance: "The Ruling Class".

If I remember correctly, written by Eric Idle. Fantastic movie.

One of my all time favorites.

Nice to see Ed Wood and What's Eating Gilbert Grape on this list. I agree Ed Wood is a masterpiece.

:loveya:

I'll recommend one more, Dead Man. This is a black and white Jim Jarmusch film put out in 1995.

On the surface, DM is about a young man who travels west from Cleveland on the promise of an accountant's job. On a deeper level, it's a many layered tale approaching myth: the treatement of native Americans, visions of the after life, the meaning of "civilized." Oh yes, and having a working knowledge of William Blake's poetry is a necessity.

If you've never seen Dead Man, I can guarantee you it will haunt you long after you've seen it.

That was so..... so..
Haunting is a good word for Dead Man.
"Ooh, look Johnny Depp!" Says my friend.
"Have you seen this?" I ask.
"No, but its Johnny Depp! Its got to be good."
I concede, Johnny is so consistently good, even in movies that would be terrible otherwise. So, we get back and, yipes! That was not what we were expecting!
That was just.. wow.

the best Ellen Barkin has ever been.

One of my all time favorite movies, EVER.

That movie is terrific. Allegorical and action packed at the same time. Very clever stuff.

Way to pick 'em, Rad.
The Professor

The Coen Brothers' first movie. Brilliant, with Frances McDormand in her first role as well.

Establishes the Coen "kidnapping" theme that runs through so many of their movies.

Saw it when it came out in 1984 and it made me the Coen Brothers fan I am today...

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Okay so they nicked Hammett but this film has some amazing scenes and pretty nifty dialogue.

as the Ed Wood one. My favorite line, delivered like a master plumber instructing an apprentice: "Like I always tell my boys, just one bullet in da back adda head."

I saw it on IFC several times. Very good movie.

The ending was completely changed from the Dutch/french original.

Sorry, the :evilgrin: made me do it!

Another early Jack Nicholson movie.

With Gene Hackman and Al Pacino. Great movie! Also, "After Hours."

Clockwise: a John Cleese film from the 1980s. He plays an uptight, "zero tolerance for anything"-type schoolmaster who is tapped to give a speech on his disciplinary methods at a national conference. However, he gets on the wrong train, and from then on, his whole perfectly ordered life falls apart in hilarious ways. This Britcom came and went very quickly in the U.S., but I've shown it to a couple of groups of friends, and they all love it.

Peking Opera Blues This Hong Kong movie keeps the martial arts to a minimum and concentrates on slapstick comedy. The best thing about this is that it's full of gags that you've never seen before, and the poorly translated subtitles only add to the hilarity. It is marred by one gratuitous S%M scene, but otherwise, it had audiences at the Portland Film Festival ca. 1988 ROFL.

On the drama side, I like two Australian films:

The Fringe Dwellers: The main characters are Aborigines living in a shanty town on the edge of a rural community, but all the situations will be very familiar to anyone who has paid attention to race relations in the U.S. You see the many possible negative reactions to being the target of racism: internalizing the stereotypes, looking back to a golden past, having a chip on one's shoulder, disdaining one's own people, disparaging the efforts of others to overcome their status, fighting through the legal system. The attitudes of the white people in the film range from crude racism to patronizing charity to genuine puzzlement. Based on a novel by an Aboriginal author.

The Bank A more recent Australian film, this concerns a computer expert who approaches a bank saying that he has perfected a program that predicts the trends in the stock market. At first the bank officials laugh him off, but he proves that his program works and is hired at a huge salary and given every advantage. Yet there's an atmosphere of paranoia within the bank, and as the film progresses, the computer expert appears to be turning into a monster who will do anything to retain his money and status. Then we learn (after hints dropped throughout the film) who he really is, and everything changes suddenly and dramatically.

Many haven't heard of it but EVERY person I know (and I mean this literally) who has seen it absolutely loved it.

"There's just one thing, Dude..."

"What's that?"

"Do you have to use so many cuss words?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

Hilarious!

I don't think it's available on DVD yet, but GOD, see that movie.

The only truly science-fictional movie out there, in my opinion.

The movie has five segments, each showing one cab ride in a different city in the world on that one night. (The cities are LA, NY, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki.) Each is in the native language of its city, with subtitles in English. Interesting conversations and dynamic between the cabbies and their passengers.

But the best segmant, IMHO, is the one with Roberto Bengini in Rome. It was the first time I ever saw him, and tears were coming out of my eyes from laughing so hard. He was the cabbie and he picked up a priest, who he thought was a bishop, and he insisted in confessing to him. He rambled on and on, telling a story of how he grew up on a farm, and there were no girls around, so as he got to a certain age, he started fucking pumpkins. After a while, those weren't enough, and he graduated to sheep, one of which he fell in love with. He just kept going on and on with this story, with the priest totally uncomfortable. It was so fucking funny.

Some of the actors in other segments are Gena Rowlands, Winona Ryder, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez.

...I've already mentioned Jim Jarmusch - all of his movies are great, this one no exception. \

Also see "Mystery Train" and "Down by Law" and "Stranger than Paradise". :)

The first Paul Anderson movie "Hard Eight" I also thought his last movie "Punch Drunk Love' was underated.